Marling School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations of its pupils and students.

Pupils and students uphold the school motto of 'let us go forward through study to character'. They are positive about their learning. Pupils especially enjoy debate and discussion.

They are curious and apply their learning with careful thought. Pupils and students in the sixth form achieve high outcomes.

Pupils are polite and courteous.

Students in the sixth form respectfully welcome the girls who join the school in Year 12. Pupils value the friendly relationships between one another. If pupils have a worry, the pastoral team supports them to manage their concerns.

The school plan... enriching experiences throughout school life. Local and international trips and visiting speakers enhance the learning of pupils. For example, a visiting string quartet work with pupils on their compositions.

Sixth-form students run clubs for younger pupils. Pupils participate in an array of enrichment activities. These include clubs such as learning Japanese, fencing or dissection with the medical society.

Sixth-form students lead pupils in discussing school matters. They encourage pupils to share their ideas to improve the school. The school is developing greater opportunities for leadership in the lower years.

Eco leaders and members of the school council contribute to developing the school.

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

The school has designed an ambitious, broad and personalised curriculum. It offers subjects beyond the statutory requirement of the national curriculum.

At each stage of their education, pupils choose courses that prepare them well for their future aspirations. From key stage 3, pupils study more than one foreign language. However, the number of pupils choosing subjects from the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) suite of subjects is not as high as the school plans for.

The school has made some decisions to refine and change the curriculum in key stage 3. Staff have worked together to be specific about what they want pupils to learn. The school ensures pupils learn the knowledge and skills they need to know in an appropriate order.

The school is vigilant in checking that pupils do not have gaps in their knowledge because of the changes it has made.

The learning motivates pupils. In the sixth form, students engage in seminar-style discussion.

The school has experienced some change and absence in staffing. When this happens, students work with the support provided to maintain high outcomes. In the sixth form, the school provides students with specific and precise guidance.

As a result, students achieve high grades. They are well prepared to proceed to their choices of universities and future training.

The school embeds an ambition for reading throughout the curriculum.

It makes sure it knows how well pupils can read. It chooses ambitious, diverse and rich texts for pupils to read. Younger pupils read to sixth-form students.

The school focuses on making sure pupils with English as a second language have support to read with fluency. The school has recently prioritised the work it does to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff receive the information they need to adapt learning for pupils.

Recent professional development ensures staff have the expertise to do this well.

Pupils travel from a wide distance to attend the school. Attendance is high.

The school is robust in the procedures and monitoring it does to maintain strong attendance. Around school, there is a calm and purposeful atmosphere. Poor behaviours are unusual.

The school has revised its approach to be more celebratory of pupils' achievements.

The governing body has been through a period of robust change. An interim school board has focused on the immediate school priorities.

They provide a high level of strategic scrutiny. As a result, a newly trained governing body provides challenge and support to the school. During a recent period of rapid change, communication with parents, staff, pupils and students had diminished.

As a result, these key stakeholders express their concern at the lack of communication from the school. The school has newly implemented systems for improved communication. New leaders share a refined vision for the school.

The embedding of this with stakeholders is underway.

The school builds enrichment through the curriculum. It builds on a long tradition of what it means to be a 'Marlingtonian'.

Changes to the house system concern pupils that there is less opportunity for competitive sports and arts. However, the school plans these experiences to continue through the 'learning communities'.

Through 'life skills' lessons, pupils and students in the sixth form learn about respect and healthy relationships.

The highly developed careers programme gives all pupils and sixth-form students a wide exposure to future careers, training and higher education opportunities.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some aspects of the key stage 3 curriculum are newly designed or re-sequenced.

This means staff are becoming familiar with the revised subject content and its implementation. The trust needs to make sure the new content is well embedded. ? The school does not ensure that there are strong lines of communication with key stakeholders.

As a result, parents, pupils and staff express frustration about the lack of communication they receive about important information. The school has recently introduced new mechanisms for communication, but these are in the early stages of use. The trust needs to ensure that communication between school and stakeholders is responsive and timely.