Myton School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Myton School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from and appreciate the wide range of subjects available to them.

They know that their teachers have high academic expectations of them and pupils are keen to fulfil these. Classrooms are places where learning is taken seriously. Pupils receive helpful information about their next steps and the many who choose to do so are well-prepared for university study.

Most pupils live up to leaders' high expectations around their attendance and behaviour. Almost all pupils settle to their learning quickly in lessons. Pupils interact with staff and each other well at social times.
...r/>Pupils appreciate and respect other pupils' artwork that is displayed around the school.

Most pupils are happy at Myton. They trust leaders to effectively tackle any bullying that happens.

Parents and carers value that leaders place equal importance on pupils' personal development alongside supporting them to achieve well academically.

Many pupils take advantage of the range of extra-curricular opportunities on offer. From book club to football to crochet, staff aim to provide opportunities that will appeal to all.

This is enhanced by the Myton Promise, which ensures that all pupils benefit from wider cultural and life experiences, such as the Year 9 trip to Newquay.

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

Leaders have constructed a curriculum that enables pupils to learn a broad range of subjects and develop creative and technical skills that will support future careers. Leaders regularly review the curriculum and adapt it when necessary to help pupils achieve strong outcomes.

As pupils approach key stage 4, they are encouraged to maintain a breadth of subjects through the options process. The sixth-form curriculum is an academic one where students have a significant number of subjects to choose from. Many join the school at the start of Year 12 and feel welcomed and well-supported.

Subject leaders have identified exactly what pupils need to learn in each subject. This learning is structured so that pupils build on their knowledge and understanding as they move from one year to the next. Teachers build opportunities into lessons for pupils to recall and remember their previous learning.

The strategies teachers use to help pupils learn mean there is often a vibrancy and buzz to lessons in key stages 4 and 5. However, this energy was not as evident in key stage 3 lessons. Teachers take fewer risks around using a wider range of strategies.

As a result, younger pupils are less actively engaged in their attempts to know and remember more.

The ambition for all pupils to be successful underpins the curriculum. For example, pupils can study several different modern foreign languages.

A small number of pupils, including some with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), have a slightly adapted curriculum to enable them to improve their reading skills via the English Boost programme. This means they quickly become more fluent and confident readers.

On the whole, pupils learn well and make good progress.

However, leaders are rightly concerned that outcomes for disadvantaged pupils are not matching those of other pupils.

Since the previous inspection, leaders have strengthened the personal development programme to ensure that pupils have time to learn in more depth. Pupils value the way that important topics, such as consent, are covered using thought-provoking resources.

The curriculum is enhanced through activities such as theatre visits, external speakers and trips to other countries. The school's LEARN curriculum helps pupils develop a sense of personal responsibility. Leaders regularly survey pupils so that their views can be taken into account and concerns can be shared.

Despite the large size of the school, leaders work hard to ensure that every pupil is known and valued as an individual. The strongest evidence of this work is the support for pupils with SEND. Leaders are highly ambitious for these pupils and take an impressively personalised approach to what success will look like for each pupil.

They accurately identify each pupil's needs and take a creative approach to provision beyond academic support that can include animal care, tending an allotment and sessions on living independently.

The value of strong relationships is important to leaders and influences their approach to pupils' behaviour. Almost all pupils are respectful towards each other and staff.

However, there is a small minority who have not yet bought into leaders' high expectations. Their peers can be frustrated by the negative impact these pupils have on some of their lessons. Leaders are addressing this.

Staff know that leaders take their workload into account. The recent introduction of a staff well-being group is appreciated by many staff.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders have ensured that there is a culture of vigilance. All staff are well trained in how to identify and pass on any safeguarding concerns about a pupil. The routines in place ensure that there are no gaps in communicating even the smallest of concerns.

Leaders take swift, appropriate action to ensure that any pupils at risk receive the support they need, including from external agencies.

Leaders make robust recruitment checks before staff start at the school.

Pupils learn how to stay safe through a structured programme in their 'life skills' and PSHE lessons.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders have not ensured that their strategy to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils is well understood and implemented by all staff effectively. Consequently, outcomes for disadvantaged pupils are not improving as quickly as they should. Leaders should ensure that every member of staff takes action to remove barriers and close gaps for disadvantaged pupils.

• Teachers adopt teaching strategies in key stage 3 lessons that sometimes limit opportunities for pupils to discuss their learning and achieve as well as they might. Leaders should ensure that teachers are supported to use strategies, including the development of oracy, to ensure that key stage 3 pupils participate well in lessons and learn effectively.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in February 2018.