Oakgrove School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Oakgrove School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

The executive headteacher of this school is Ian Tett. The school is part of the Kingsbridge Educational Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Peter Barnes, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Megan Crawford.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to be members of this school. They are motivated by the school's high expectations, which support them to achieve well. Pupils learn the importance of the school's values of 'excellence, innovation and... respect'.

They demonstrate these through considerate conduct towards others and their positive attitudes to learning. Across lessons, the calm and focused atmosphere supports high-quality learning.

The school's ethos of being a 'big school with a big heart' benefits pupils.

Across the school, pupils are well-known by staff. They appreciate the warm and respectful relationships with staff across the school. Importantly, pupils are well known by staff.

In the early years, staff enthusiastically develop children's self-confidence and familiarity with important routines. This lays the foundations for the positive behaviour pupils demonstrate across the school.

Pupils attend well and enjoy learning.

They are enthused by the range of wider opportunities provided by the school. Pupils enjoy the opportunity to try out and learn new skills through clubs such as 'Bee Club'. There is high participation in these.

Pupils are well prepared for life in the wider world. They reflect on how trips, including residential and visiting speakers, broaden their horizons.

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

The school's curriculum is broad and ambitious.

It starts strongly in the early years, when small steps support children in learning important knowledge and skills. The school has prioritised the development of subject curriculums which build and deepen knowledge from Nursery through to Year 13. In most subjects, learning is seamless as pupils progress through the school.

This supports pupils to achieve highly. In a minority of subjects, the order of knowledge and approaches to teaching continue to be developed. Consequently, in these subjects, pupils do not build a secure understanding over time.

While published entries for the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) are low, the school is taking effective action to grow this by increasing the number of pupils taking a language qualification.

Teachers have strong subject knowledge. They draw on this to present new learning clearly.

Pupils apply new learning to carefully developed learning activities. In the early years, well-considered activities help children to do this through play. Most teachers check pupils' understanding well.

However, some teaching does not identify whether pupils have gaps in their knowledge. As a result, pupils sometimes struggle with new learning because they lack understanding of some essential knowledge.

Reading is a strength of the school.

In the early years, highly skilled staff teach children phonics from the start. Throughout the school, pupils who are in the early stages of reading receive prompt and high-quality support. This helps them catch up quickly.

Across the school, the enjoyment of reading is promoted effectively through a wide range of diverse texts.

Across the school, the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are clearly identified. Staff draw on individual plans to make appropriate adaptations to learning activities.

These approaches help pupils with SEND to progress well through the planned curriculum.

Pupils' behaviour is calm and respectful. This starts in the early years, where children learn routines and language to help them manage their behaviour.

In the early years, children learn routines and develop language which help them in learning well. Across the school, pupils arrive on time for lessons and settle quickly to focus on learning. Typically, they learn with purpose.

In a few cases where pupils lose engagement, teachers quickly re-focus them on learning. Around the school, pupils act responsibly. The conduct of sixth-form students is exemplary.

They act as role models for younger pupils.

There is rich work to prepare pupils for life in modern Britain. They learn about the value of diversity and cultural differences.

This helps them to develop an understanding of the importance of fairness and respect. In the sixth form, students benefit from the 'excellence programme'. Through this, they gain experience volunteering, working with, or running activities for, younger children.

The school excels in preparing pupils for their next steps. This is demonstrated by the confidence pupils in Years 6, 11 and 13 have about moving on to their next stages of education. The high-quality careers curriculum supports them in making informed choices either post-16 or when they complete their sixth-form studies.

The school continuously reviews the impact of changes on pupils' achievement. Where improvements are identified, the school makes sure these are sustained and embedded. Governors and the trust provide strong challenge and support to this process.

Staff enjoy working in the school. They value efforts to manage their workload, which supports them to focus on teaching well.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a minority of subjects, changes to the curriculum are not yet fully embedded. As a result, in these subjects, pupils do not develop a secure understanding of important knowledge over time. The school needs to ensure that across all subjects, the curriculum supports all pupils to build secure understanding of important knowledge.

• The methods used in some teaching to check pupils' understanding do not identify whether they understand important knowledge well. As a result, some pupils can struggle to apply new learning because they lack understanding of some essential knowledge. The school needs to ensure that approaches to checking pupils' learning support teachers to address and fill knowledge gaps across all subjects.

Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade.

This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 for overall effectiveness in June 2019.

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