The Marvell College

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

The Marvell College continues to be a good school.

The headteacher of the school is Jake Capper. This school is part of the Hull Collaborative Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school.

The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Estelle Macdonald, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Malcolm Matthias.

What is it like to attend this school?

This is an inclusive, caring and friendly school. Leaders are ambitious for the pupils.

They have a clear vision for school improvement. This is having a positive impact on the school. Pupils say that they are happy and safe.

They have a trusted... adult to go to if they feel worried or upset.

Leaders have created a high-quality curriculum that supports pupils towards their future learning and employment. Pupils enjoy their lessons.

The curriculum is taught well and pupils are given opportunities to learn a broad range of subjects. Pupils take pride in their work. The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the school and the school has worked to address this.

Leaders have a strong commitment to the local community, and parents and carers say that the school cares well for their children.

Staff have high expectations for pupils. Pupils behave well in classrooms and on corridors.

Teachers use the school's behaviour systems effectively. Leaders have created a culture where positive relationships are important. As a result, pupils are courteous and respectful to staff and to each other.

Staff work together to ensure pupils' needs are met. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive effective support.

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

Leaders have created a highly ambitious curriculum.

They have focused on delivering topics that help pupils to know and remember more over time. Teachers collaborate effectively to ensure that lessons are well organised. They are encouraged to follow the Marvell learning cycle that sets out the structure of a lesson.

As a result, pupils experience a consistent approach to their lessons. Learning is logically sequenced and is designed to help pupils to build their knowledge and skills. This helps them to be ready for the next stage of education, employment or training.

Teachers have strong subject knowledge. They have created positive learning environments in the classroom. Most teachers are skilled at checking for pupils' understanding.

They use regular assessment to check what pupils know and understand. Teachers use recall tasks at the start of lessons to check what pupils know. As a result, pupils know and remember more of their learning.

In a small number of lessons, teachers do not adapt their lessons effectively to what pupils know. This means that some gaps in pupils' learning are not closed quickly enough.

Leaders have made a love of reading a priority.

Leaders used nationally recognised tests to track progress in reading and this is successful. Pupils with SEND are supported well. Leaders have created a culture where 'pupil passports' are used consistently well to meet their needs.

Nurture groups support pupils with specific SEND needs. These small groups help pupils with SEND to flourish. While SEND pupils currently achieve less well than their peers, leaders have a strong focus on helping them to make progress through the use of teacher 'SEND Champions'.

Leaders have worked relentlessly to improve attendance. The school has a robust approach to tracking attendance. It works with families and the local community to ensure that attendance is a priority.

While attendance is lower than leaders would like it to be, a large team of staff are working together to ensure that everything possible is being done to help pupils attend school more regularly.

There are a wide variety of clubs, trips and visits to support the personal development of pupils. This develops their interest in a range of areas.

An active school council works with leaders to increase the range of enrichment opportunities. The personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education curriculum helps pupils to understand the world around them and to develop their character. Pupils are very enthusiastic about trips to Paris and the Netherlands.

Some pupils lack the confidence, independence and resilience to participate in the many opportunities made available to them. This means that some pupils do not benefit from what these clubs and visits have to offer them.

Staff are proud to work at The Marvell College.

Leaders take care to ensure that staff workload and well-being constitute a high priority. Leaders, including those responsible for governance, have a good understanding of the strengths and areas for development of the school. The trust executive team provides a good level of challenge and support.

There is a collective will to succeed and a determination that The Marvell College continues to improve.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• On occasions, teachers do not routinely check what pupils have learned.

As a result, some gaps in knowledge are not identified quickly and pupils do not recall the knowledge that they need for future learning. The school should ensure that lessons are routinely adapted to address gaps in learning so that pupils can access subsequent learning. ? Some pupils lack the confidence, independence and resilience to participate in the many opportunities made available to them by the school.

As a result, they miss out on many opportunities for wider development. The school should take further action to encourage all pupils to access the enrichment offer available to them to support their character development.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

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 would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which 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 in June 2019.