Plume School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to attend Plume School. They appreciate the support they receive from staff, particularly around their well-being. The school celebrates the diversity of its pupils.

As a result, they are tolerant and broad-minded.

Pupils get on very well with each other; they treat each other and adults with respect. They are polite and kind.

Pupils are increasingly resilient and independent. Staff have high expectations of pupils. Most pupils meet them; they behave very well.

When a small minority do not, the school provides them with support to improve.

The school offers a wide range of clubs, including sports and performing arts. Pupils ...learn how to be good citizens by raising money for local charities.

Lead students promote environmental issues. There are many trips and visits, both locally and overseas. These increase pupils' interest in the curriculum and broaden their horizons.

Pupils follow a broad curriculum that prepares them well for adulthood. They learn about different careers and gain the information they need to make informed choices at key points. Students in the sixth form build on the knowledge and skills they acquire in the main school, and as a result they achieve well.

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

The school has ensured that the curriculum is increasingly well-designed and delivered. As a result, pupils increasingly build a rich body of knowledge.Published outcomes for 2023 show that pupils in key stage 4 did not achieve as highly as they should.

However, this was principally the result of high levels of persistent absence by some pupils, and some disruption to the delivery of aspects of the curriculum.

The school has identified the key knowledge that pupils need to succeed. The curriculum is carefully designed, so that pupils gain, and can build upon, this important knowledge securely.

There are regular opportunities for pupils to revisit previous learning. In many subjects, pupils have well-designed opportunities to revisit and practise what they have learned. However, this is not consistently effective across all subjects.

As a result, the depth of knowledge that pupils can recall varies.

The curriculum is ambitious and well-adapted for pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school knows the needs of pupils well and checks how well they are doing.

When necessary, staff use this information effectively to provide specific adaptations so that all pupils can fully participate and gain the knowledge they need.

Both the school and its pupils value reading highly. Pupils read often.

They regularly 'drop everything and read'. Staff carry out checks to identify weaker readers swiftly. These pupils receive precise support.

This enables them to become increasingly fluent and accurate readers, which in turn ensures pupils can access the rest of the curriculum.

Pupils on the Fambridge Road campus, in Years 9 to 13, conduct themselves with maturity and consideration for others. On the Mill Road campus, most pupils in Years 7 and 8 behave well.

That said, some pupils do not always behave calmly around the building. As they come into lessons, they are, on occasion, slower to focus on their learning. This sometimes interrupts the learning of other pupils.

The school has a well-developed personal development curriculum. Pupils receive helpful guidance about different careers and routes to employment, such as apprenticeships. They learn important content about keeping themselves healthy and safe, for example online safety and the perils of gambling.

Students in the sixth form experience a high-quality curriculum that is well matched to their needs. Teachers build on their knowledge well. Students learn how to organise their time productively.

They use their time out of lessons well to broaden their knowledge. As a result, they are prepared well for employment, training, and university. The comprehensive personal development curriculum teaches them about current affairs and, in the run-up to Christmas, the dangers of drink driving.

The school is well led and managed, it engages well with parents, such as through the parent forum. It has developed systems that are improving pupils' attendance. Trustees challenge and support school leaders well.

Trustees check safeguarding in school. Staff, including early career teachers (ECTs) say that leaders are considerate of their well-being and provide them with the support and training they need.

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 few subjects, pupils do not have enough opportunities to revisit and practise important knowledge. Where this is the case, they do not recall their learning, including key subject vocabulary, as well as they could. The school needs to ensure that the revisiting of important knowledge, including the use of subject vocabulary, is consistently planned and delivered across all subjects.

• While most pupils behave well, some pupils, particularly on the Mill Road campus, are not always on their best behaviour around the building and when they come into lessons. This sometimes interrupts pupils' learning. The school should review its systems and procedures to ensure pupils display positive behaviours for learning throughout the school.