Sutton Grammar School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including those in the sixth form, thrive at Sutton Grammar School.

Pupils are enthusiastic learners who work hard and achieve well. Staff are very ambitious for their pupils and expect them to do well. Pupils are happy and safe.

Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the education their children receive.

Pupils are very proud to attend this diverse and welcoming school. Pupils embrace difference and celebrate the rights and opinions of others.

They leave the school as well-rounded, independent and ambitious young adults.

In lessons, pupils have positive attitudes to their studies and they behave exceptionally well. The...y are respectful of their teachers and one another.

Outside of lessons, pupils enjoy each other's company, interacting with maturity and good humour. Bullying is rare and pupils say that leaders quickly respond to any concerns raised.

Leaders have ensured that pupils have access to an impressive range of extra-curricular opportunities.

Participation is very important to the school, and pupils in all year groups are eager to take on leadership roles. They take pride in serving their community.

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

Leaders have established a culture of high achievement, respect and participation.

All leaders and staff have a shared ambition for pupils attending the school. Pupils perform very well across the curriculum. They enter the school with strong reading skills.

Reading is promoted across the curriculum.

Leaders' curriculum thinking and subject expertise are a strength. The curriculum is ambitious, coherently planned and well sequenced.

Subject leaders have thought carefully about what teachers teach, and when. For example, in science, pupils learn about energy and forces and this knowledge is developed through exploring gravity and forces in space. Teachers understand the importance of returning to topics previously taught.

This helps pupils to apply their learning to more challenging content.

Pupils are very positive about their experiences at school. They say that strong relationships exist between pupils and staff.

Pupils arrive at lessons focused and eager to learn. They display high levels of self-control. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do very well at the school.

Leaders have ensured that learning is well matched to their needs.

Teachers have strong subject knowledge. They use questioning well in many subjects to check for understanding.

However, pupils' learning across the curriculum is not reviewed systematically. In some subjects, pupils' work was disorganised and showed a lack of care, which was not addressed by staff. This is because the school's approach to assessment and feedback is not clear to staff or pupils.

Sometimes, teachers and pupils do not know what aspects of learning have been well understood and what needs to be revisited.

Leaders have placed an emphasis on personal development across the school. They have created a detailed and well-planned programme that develops pupils' understanding of the wider world.

Pupils are very positive about these lessons and the range of specialist support available to them through the pastoral teams. Pupils enjoy and appreciate the many extra-curricular opportunities available to them. Careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) is not as well developed because the school does not provide information about the full breadth of opportunities to all pupils in Years 8 and 9.

Therefore the school does not meet the requirements of the Baker Clause. Sixth-form students are concerned that CEIAG is biased towards science, technology and mathematics subjects.

Pupils are keen to develop their leadership skills and take pride in doing so.

Pupils make a positive and significant contribution to the wider school. Sixth-form students enjoy being role models for younger pupils. Sixth-form students are involved in leading many clubs, including editing student publications.

Leaders, including governors, know their school well. They are proud of their staff and pupils. Leaders understand the many strengths of the school and are already working on the areas they have identified as priorities for further improvement.

For example, leaders have strengthened the quality of the curriculum and are now working to improve assessment and feedback. Staff told the inspectors that they are proud of the school and its leadership, and that it is a very happy place to work. Staff appreciate the training and development they receive.

Leaders prioritise staff well-being and workload. Staff, including those new to teaching, told us that they are well supported by leaders across the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders have ensured that there is a strong culture of safeguarding across the school. Highly organised systems ensure that a skilled team of staff, including governors, respond swiftly and effectively to any concerns. This ensures that pupils and staff are kept safe.

Staff are provided with regular, high-quality training and information which help them to respond appropriately to concerns raised. Safeguarding records show that leaders support vulnerable pupils well. Leaders work closely with external agencies so that staff and pupils are provided with expert and timely guidance when required.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority) ? Leaders' approach to assessment is not fully understood by teachers or pupils. Consequently, sometimes teachers do not understand how well pupils are learning the intended curriculum. Leaders must ensure that the use of assessment and feedback is consistent, understood and strengthens learning.

• CEIAG is mainly focused on science, technology and mathematics-based career routes. This means that pupils do not get equal opportunity to explore the full range of careers open to them. Leaders should strengthen the provision for all pupils, including meeting the requirements of the Baker Clause.