Lancaster Royal Grammar School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including students in the sixth form, flourish at Lancaster Royal Grammar School.

Without exception, pupils said that they enjoy school. They feel safe and happy.

Pupils are proud to be a member of this distinctive school community.

They embrace and value different faiths and cultures. Pupils respect the rights and opinions of others. They develop into articulate, confident and independent young adults.

Pupils behave exceptionally well. They understand that teachers have extremely high expectations of pupils' behaviour. There is a calm and purposeful atmosphere around the school site.

In lessons, pupils are attentive and respectful. ...Pupils wear their uniforms, and students in the sixth form wear their business dress, with pride.

Pupils said that bullying is extremely rare.

They are confident that there are numerous adults 'to turn to' should an incident of bullying occur. They said it would be dealt with quickly.

Pupils enjoy a first-class range of enrichment activities.

Rich opportunities cultivate pupils' leadership skills and contribute to their character development.

There is a broad range of curriculum subjects on offer, including in the sixth form. Teachers have high aspirations for what pupils can achieve.

Pupils said they enjoy their learning. All pupils achieve well. Sixth-form students achieve exceptionally well.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders, including governors, are ambitious for all pupils at the school. They value and foster pupils' talents and abilities. Leaders ensure that all pupils leave the school as well-rounded individuals.

In recognition of this, a vast number of pupils willingly give up their time to help others. There is a strong, purposeful learning community at Lancaster Royal Grammar School, where pupils and staff support each other equally well.

Pupils have access to a broad and balanced curriculum.

Leaders have thought about the overarching topics that they want pupils to learn, and the order in which they should learn those topics. Across the school, pupils benefit from teachers' expert subject knowledge. Teachers typically deliver the curriculum skilfully.

This enables all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to learn well.

Even though pupils learn well, there are times when teachers are less clear about the essential knowledge that sits below the overarching topics. They are occasionally unclear about the exact knowledge that pupils must learn.

This can lead to some variation in how well the curriculum is implemented. Leaders do not always check on how well the curriculum is delivered as carefully as they should.In the sixth form, the range of courses is also ambitious.

Leaders tailor the curriculum to meet students' needs exceptionally well. High levels of subject expertise from staff allow students to gain a deep knowledge and understanding of the subjects that they study. As a result, students' progress through their subject curriculums extremely well.

They develop a deep body of subject expertise.

Overall, teachers use assessment strategies effectively to check on how well pupils are learning the curriculum. Nevertheless, there are times where some teachers have not aligned these assessments carefully enough to the knowledge identified in the curriculum.

This means that some teachers, on occasions, do not identify pupils' misconceptions quickly enough.

When pupils join Lancaster Royal Grammar School, their reading skills are already well honed. Across the school, leaders provide opportunities for pupils to engage with a wide range of texts.

Leaders promote a love of reading, deepening pupils' body of cultural knowledge.

The staff responsible for pupils with SEND are extremely well informed about their needs. Leaders identify pupils' needs quickly and efficiently.

They are well versed in supporting teachers so that pupils with SEND can access the content of subject curriculums. Pupils who require additional support, including those pupils with SEND, are assigned an older pupil as a mentor. Mentors successfully help pupils with SEND to build on what they have learned in lessons.

Pupils' attendance is exceptionally high. They are punctual to their lessons. Pupils are considerate, well-behaved, polite and respectful.

They build strong relationships with staff.

Pupils benefit from an extremely well-planned 'values' programme. Pupils enjoy the opportunities that they are given to engage with representatives from various worlds of work.

Through their engagement in charitable work, leadership activities, the 'Seward Council' and experiences such as the Cadets, pupils make a positive difference to their local and national community.

Students in the sixth form benefit from a carefully planned programme of work experience. Students soak up the guidance that they receive regarding the next steps of their employment, education or training.

They are incredibly appreciative of the enormous range of additional enrichment activities and opportunities on offer to them.

Governors are knowledgeable. They support staff and provide robust levels of challenge to leaders.

The overwhelming majority of staff are positive about the steps that leaders take to care for their workload and well-being. As a result, they enjoy working at the school and are committed to developing further the learning experiences of pupils.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders are proactive. They are aware of the risks that pupils and students face in their local communities. Leaders ensure that staff are well trained to recognise any potential signs of harm.

Staff understand how and when to act on safeguarding issues. Pupils know that there are adults in school that they can talk to about any concerns they have. The school's personal development programme is carefully constructed so that pupils are taught about issues such as healthy relationships and how to keep themselves safe online.

Leaders have strong relationships with external partner agencies. When required, leaders act in a timely manner to put in place the necessary early help and support for pupils and students.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• On occasions, the assessments that leaders design do not always link precisely enough to the core knowledge that teachers want pupils to know and remember.

Consequently, teachers do not always have a full enough understanding of how well pupils are learning the intended curriculum. Leaders must ensure that their assessment activities routinely help teachers to pinpoint the exact misconceptions and deficits in knowledge that pupils may have. ? Currently, some of the monitoring processes linked to the curriculum do not provide leaders with enough information about how well aspects of the curriculum are planned and delivered to pupils.

Consequently, there are times when some pupils do not learn elements of subject knowledge as deeply as they should. As necessary, leaders should fine-tune their systems for checking the quality of education that pupils receive. This is so that they gain a clearer insight into any small adjustments that they need to make to curriculum plans.