Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including students in the sixth form, receive an outstanding education at 'The Langton'. Several pupils praised how adults 'work with us' to ensure that pupils develop a deep knowledge across the curriculum. Pupils, including those who speak English as an additional language and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve extremely highly.

Behaviour is excellent. Pupils know that adults want them to be successful and happy in life. There are warm positive relationships between pupils and staff, and between pupils themselves.

Girls who join in the sixth form quickly settle in. Adults make sure that vulnerable pupils, including disa...dvantaged pupils, are fully included in the life of the school. A wide range of trips and visits augment pupils' academic education.

Several clubs and societies, often started by pupils themselves, ensure that pupils can follow their talents and interests. Pupils are rightly proud of their own achievements, but most impressively pupils delight in the successes of others too.

While many parents and carers praised how well the school communicates with them, some reported more negative experiences.

Overall, however, the vast majority are full of praise for the school and how it helps pupils to grow into extremely well-rounded young adults. This includes several parents whose children attend the school's specially resourced provision for pupils with SEND ('specially resourced provision') who have a diagnosis of autism.

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

The quality of education pupils receive at the school is exceptional.

The curriculum is designed so that teachers enrich learning by utilising their extensive expertise and 'teach to our passions', as many teachers reported. This ensures that pupils develop a love of learning and achieve excellent outcomes.

Teachers are experts in the subjects that they teach.

They are adept at checking what pupils know and understand. Teachers carefully reshape learning to help any pupils who might be in danger of falling behind or who need adaptations because of any SEND. This ensures that pupils quickly understand complex concepts in great depth.

Extra help for pupils who need it, including for those who speak English as an additional language, is well thought out and highly effective.

Pupils are encouraged to think deeply, embrace challenge and solve problems. They become experts in a wide range of academic, creative and artistic subjects.

In addition, pupils participate in high-quality academic research projects aimed at solving real-world problems. For example, students in the sixth form spoke powerfully about a project involving gene manipulation and another, which is researching materials that might help treat melanoma. During the inspection, pupils who study design technology were very successful in an international competition to design and build a racing car.

The school has increased its focus on pupils' personal development in recent years so that it is now excellent. Several parents praised the pastoral staff for how well they look out for pupils, particularly when pupils first join the school in Year 7 or Year 12. Pupils, including students in the sixth form, spoke positively about how well supported they are to develop good learning habits, healthy relationships and to understand how to look after their mental and physical well-being.

Pupils welcome the numerous opportunities to promote equalities and tackle discrimination in the wider world, be that through the feminist society, race equality group or by giving 'expert by experience' assemblies about autism. Many pupils sing regularly with a group of people in the local community who have Parkinson's disease. Several pupils and parents praised the school for its inclusive approach to sport.

There is a well-organised programme of careers education, advice and guidance. Pupils appreciate talks from professionals from a wide range of careers. The quality of the education they receive, in its broadest sense, helps pupils to achieve and sustain destinations at top universities and degree-level apprenticeships.

Attendance is high and behaviour is very strong. The school supports individuals who struggle to attend regularly. Similarly, where pupils need extra support to maintain positive behaviour, the school provides timely help and advice.

The school has started to monitor and evaluate overall attendance and behaviour more effectively. This is helping leaders to identify where there are minor weaknesses that they can learn from if they arise.

Staff feel a strong attachment to the school.

They are well supported in managing their workload. Those new to teaching are understandably extremely happy with the support and high-quality mentoring they receive.

In the last couple of years, the governing body and senior leaders have recognised that some aspects of leadership and management could be sharpened.

New monitoring and recording systems are starting to provide leaders with much better information about pupils' achievements, well-being, behaviour and attitudes. Leaders have accessed additional training in what to do with this information, including from the local authority and a local multi-academy trust. As a result, the school is much better than it has been in the past at providing the precise help and support that pupils need.

Governors rightly continue to identify where the school's policies and practice need further sharpening.

Several hundred parents responded to Ofsted's confidential survey, Parent View, with strongly positive views about the school. However, some parents commented that the way the school communicates with stakeholders can be confusing or appear defensive or dismissive.

Leaders and governors have reflected well on this, including by creating a new complaints policy.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders and governors have sharpened their work to keep children safe in recent years.

However, minor improvements are needed. In particular, the school has recognised that some safeguarding records do not identify issues clearly enough. Occasionally, staff are unsure whether to categorise a concern they have as a behaviour or safeguarding issue.

This makes it harder for the school to analyse and act on any emerging patterns or trends. The school is becoming more reflective about safeguarding issues. However, this is not always articulated well to parents and other stakeholders.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Sometimes, communications from the school are not well considered and the school occasionally comes across as not being receptive or reflective enough when facing challenge. This can lead to parents being unsure about how well their child is doing and can concern some parents. The school needs to ensure that it shares relevant information with parents in a timely, constructive and clear way, including when dealing with formal complaints.

• The school is improving its oversight and monitoring of how well its policies work in practice. This is providing leaders with more information than in the past around attendance, behaviour and safeguarding. The school should ensure that the information it now has available is used to identify any trends and patterns, and apply this learning to further improve aspects of the school, including in safeguarding.

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