Pate’s Grammar School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders, including governors, have created a strong ethos at the school.

There is a balance of high expectations and extensive support. As a selective school, pupils join with high prior attainment. However, staff and pupils are not complacent.

Pupils work incredibly hard. They thrive academically and personally. This is underpinned by pupils' sense of responsibility to the school and community.

Pupils, and students in the sixth form, leave Pate's as ambitious, compassionate and well-rounded individuals.

Pupils flourish in this nurturing environment. Relationships between staff and pupils are built on mutual respect.

Pupils develop high leve...ls of independence. They show resilience and persevere when faced with challenges. In this school everyone is accepted and cultural differences are celebrated.

Parents are highly engaged in school life. They are overwhelmingly positive about the school. Many say their child is thriving at Pate's.

The school provides pupils with an extensive range of enrichment in the form of ex-tra-curricular activities and frequent trips. The rate of pupil participation in these op-portunities is high. The house system is an integral part of the school.

Pupils be-come leaders and act as role models to others. Pupils throughout the school aspire to become house officials. Inter-house activities are inclusive and celebrate success.

Pupils also learn to be gracious in defeat.

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

Pupils at Pate's benefit from an exceptionally high quality of education. As a result, pupils in Year 11 and students in Year 13 achieve exceptional academic success in external examinations across all subjects of the curriculum.

The school ensures pu-pils follow a broad range of subjects which are rich in quality. Many pupils study two or more modern foreign languages, for example. This extends beyond the mechan-ics of learning a language.

Pupils also develop a deep appreciation of different coun-tries and cultures.

Subject leaders have meticulously planned the knowledge they want pupils to learn. The sequence of this learning is thoughtful and successfully builds on pupils' prior knowledge.

Teachers follow the 'Pate's Learning Framework' to question pupils and model examples. They use assessment skilfully to check what pupils know and re-member. This informs future learning.

As staff know pupils so well, they tailor learn-ing to support pupils' needs, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). As a result, pupils make excellent progress.

Pupils display consistently positive attitudes to their learning.

They demonstrate a thirst for knowledge. Students in the sixth form make strong use of key terminology. They use this to articulate their understanding with a very high degree of confidence and expertise.

Pupils are highly motivated to continue their learning beyond the classroom. Many also enjoy reading for pleasure. Pupils make good use of the junior and senior libraries, for example.

School activities, such as reading week and the sharing of published work from alumni, raise the profile of reading further.

Every part of the personal development offer is deliberately planned to meet the needs of pupils. The curriculum is carefully targeted to be appropriate and relevant to pupils as they get older.

For example, pupils learn about financial budgeting in Year 7 and then re-visit this in Year 8 to learn more about how lifestyle choices may impact on future budgeting. Careful consideration is also given to the content of the sixth-form curriculum as many students join from other secondary providers.

There is an exceptional array of opportunities for pupils to pursue interests and de-velop talents.

These include maths society, climbing club, British Sign Language Club, belonging to the Combined Cadet Force and a 3D printing club. Many of these are led by staff. Many more are instigated and led by pupils.

During lunch time and after school, Pate's buzzes with activity. Leaders ensure that disadvantaged pupils, includ-ing those with SEND, benefit hugely from these opportunities.

The school creates meaningful opportunities for pupils to encounter the world of work.

A large number of students in the sixth form go on to successful placements at university. Others are supported onto different paths, such as degree apprentice-ships. Whatever their chosen destination, pupils are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to be successful.

The school is highly inclusive. There are only very rare examples of derogatory lan-guage which are addressed immediately and do not get repeated. Pupils behave well because they know it is the right thing to do.

School leaders carefully scrutinise attendance and punctuality. It is consistently high because pupils want to be in school.

Leaders, including governors, are passionate about ensuring Pate's is the best it can be.

They invest in staff and provide an outstanding professional development pro-gramme. Therefore, staff feel valued and are highly committed to their roles.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.