Towers School and Sixth Form Centre

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

A sense of community and belonging ensures that pupils feel safe and happy at this friendly school.

Pupils speak highly of the care they receive from staff, who know them well. Pupils are proud to attend Towers School. Staff recognise when pupils try their best.

Clear rules and routines ensure most pupils behave very well. Pupils respect each other's right to learn. Disruption is rare, so pupils focus and are able to learn well in lessons.

Pupils' wider development is a priority for the school. Pupils learn about the importance of citizenship during their personal development lessons, where they have rich, purposeful debates about topics such as anti-social b...ehaviour. The impressive school council and Year 11 prefects are role models for their peers.

They play a key role in ensuring that pupils understand the importance of democracy through pupil voice. Pupils develop new interests and talents by engaging with a wide range of enrichment opportunities, such as cheerleading and chess club.

A small number of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not receive their entitlement to a full-time education for extended periods of time.

The school does not routinely review how effectively part-time timetables or external alternative provision supports pupils to re-engage positively with education. This means these pupils do not get the swift and precise support they need, further disengaging them from education.

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

The school ensures pupils access a broad and balanced range of subjects.

The curriculum carefully sequences important knowledge and skills, building on pupils' existing understanding. Teachers have strong subject knowledge. They use this to explain ideas and concepts clearly.

This helps pupils make sense of complex ideas. Teachers identify and swiftly address gaps in pupils' memory. Consequently, most pupils can remember learning long-term.

Pupils, including students in the sixth form, are achieving better in national examinations and assessments. In lessons, teachers insist that pupils learn and use the correct terminology in their work and discussions. Pupils learn to become confident and fluent at reading.

Those who need support to read well, receive effective help by expert staff.

Sometimes, teaching does not focus sufficiently on pupils developing important learning skills, such as problem-solving and independent thinking. This means some pupils are not confident when applying their understanding to more abstract ideas and concepts.

The school recognises this. Teachers receive regular training and coaching to develop teaching practice. However, not all staff apply this training consistently, limiting how well pupils develop the ability to think critically.

Typically, pupils with SEND are able to learn well alongside their peers. However, information about pupils' specific SEND needs is not always sufficiently detailed or reflective of their current needs. This means that some pupils do not receive the learning adjustments that they need to help them learn as well as they could.

Too many pupils are regularly absent from school. They miss important learning and do not benefit from the school's effective personal development provision. Staff provide targeted support for families to address barriers to regular attendance.

There have been some incremental improvements in pupils' attendance, including for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils. However, the school must raise attendance expectations further by strengthening its partnership with pupils, families and professionals.

Staff consistently manage behaviour very well.

Most pupils follow the school rules and behave kindly towards each other. The 'Rashford Centre' provides thoughtful support for pupils who need help to follow the school's clear expectations. This provision has reduced the school's use of suspension as pupils learn to take responsibility for managing their own behaviour.

The school ensures pupils are well prepared for life. Pupils benefit from a rich and engaging careers programme that instils them with a sense of ambition. Sixth-form students learn important study skills.

Those students who need additional help receive targeted academic mentoring to help them overcome barriers to achieving well. Pupils speak highly of the family feel in school. Year 7 pupils are well supported by Year 11 prefects, who guide them successfully through their first year of secondary school life.

Towers School is 'alive with the arts'. Alongside a very well-developed 'Performing Arts' curriculum, a vast offer of extra-curricular opportunities, such as trips to the theatre, enriches pupils' cultural capital. The school focus on making these opportunities accessible for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.

The school is well intentioned when using alternative provision or part-time timetables when needed. However, processes to review the impact of this support lack rigour and clear oversight. The school and trustees must take urgent action to improve how they evaluate the effectiveness of these provisions.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school does not systematically check how well part-time timetables and alternative provision help pupils to engage positively with education. Pupils who would benefit from additional support do not always receive the targeted help they need swiftly enough.

Consequently, these pupils do not receive their entitlement to a full-time effective education for extended periods of time. This puts these pupils at risk from further disengagement from education. The school and trustees must urgently review how they monitor and evaluate the use of part-time timetables and alternative provision to ensure pupils receive the swift help and support that they need to access suitable full-time education.

• Staff do not always have access to the most up-to-date and accurate information about the needs of pupils with SEND. This means that some pupils with SEND do not get the precise support they need to help them learn. The school should ensure that staff are suitably aware of the needs of pupils with SEND so that they can adapt learning to help pupils with SEND access the curriculum.

• In some lessons, teachers do not challenge pupils sufficiently to help them think deeply when solving problems or thinking critically. This means that some pupils struggle to apply learning to new ideas and concepts independently. The school must ensure that staff use their training to recognise when to remove support so that pupils learn with increased independence and automaticity.

• A small number of pupils are persistently absent from school. They miss out on essential learning, which potentially has a negative impact on their education and wider development. The school should further strengthen its work with pupils, families and professionals to overcome barriers to regular attendance.

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