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INSPECTION REPORT ON |
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Full Name of the School |
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DfES Number |
909/6025 |
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Address |
Croslands,
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Telephone Number |
01229
824210 |
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Fax Number |
01229
871440 |
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E-mail Address |
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Name of Headmistress |
Mrs
Isobel Nixon |
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Chair of Governors |
Mr
K J Fisher |
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3-18 |
Gender |
Mixed |
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Number of Pupils |
555 |
Number
of Boarders |
Nil |
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Inspection Dates |
14-18
October 2002 |
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This inspection report is
based on a framework laid down by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI)
and agreed with the DFES and OFSTED for the purposes of ensuring that
standards are maintained and that the school complies with relevant legal
requirements. Recommendations are
included to help the school improve.
The report will be lodged with the ISI, the Head of the School, the
Governors, the DFES and OFSTED. A
summary will be provided by the school for all parents free of charge and the
full report on request. Other
interested parties may have the summary or full report, subject to a charge
for copying and postage. The report
may not be selectively quoted in the school prospectus or other promotional
literature but may be used selectively within the school. The inspection does not
examine the financial viability of the school or investigate its accounting
procedures. The inspectors check the
school’s health and safety procedures and comment on any significant hazards
they encounter: they do not carry out an exhaustive health and safety
examination. |
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1.1
1.2 The school’s main strengths are:
· Teaching and learning in the Foundation Stage are of very good quality.
· The school has high academic standards and excellent examination results.
· Pupils are very well behaved.
· Pupils excel in sporting activities.
What the School Should Do Better
1.3 The school’s main weaknesses are:
· Several aspects of management have been unsatisfactory.
· The way in which the timetable is organized in 30-minute periods is inefficient.
· Teaching and learning would be improved if subject teachers had their own rooms.
· Parents are given too little information about their children’s progress.
· The systems of assessment are weak.
· Resources, including library resources, are inadequate.
· The school should comply with health and safety regulations.
Standards of Attainment and Progress in Subjects
1.4 In both the junior and the senior schools, the pupils’ standards of attainment and progress are high in relation to their abilities and are in line with those of schools with similar circumstances. The observation of lessons and a scrutiny of pupils’ work showed that standards of attainment and progress are high or very high in Reception and Year 1 and high in the rest of the junior school. Standards are also high in the senior school, particularly in the sixth form. The average scores for General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), Advanced Subsidiary (AS) and General Certificate of Secondary Education Advanced-level (GCE A-level) candidates have been consistently above the national averages for the nearest equivalent maintained schools. Throughout the school, the able, the less able and the average pupils progress at least as well as expected in their time in school and in lessons, but those with special educational needs are less well catered for.
The Quality of Pupils’ Learning, Attitudes and their Behaviour
1.5 In both the junior and the senior schools, the pupils are competent learners. They are well motivated and cooperative, show interest in their work and concentrate on the tasks set. They form constructive relationships with one another and with their teachers and other staff, work collaboratively when required, show initiative, are willing to take responsibility, respect the feelings, values and beliefs of others, behave well in class, around the school and in the locality, and are courteous and trustworthy. The standard of behaviour is high.
1.6 In the great majority of lessons, the teaching met the needs of most pupils, regardless of their abilities and circumstances, including those for whom English is an additional language, and it made a significant contribution to the quality of their attainment, progress and learning. Those with particular learning difficulties were, however, less well catered for. Teachers have a secure knowledge and understanding of the subjects they teach, they manage their pupils well and, in almost every lesson, they have high but attainable expectations of their pupils, they maintain good discipline and they organize tasks and activities to deepen the pupils’ knowledge and understanding. They use time and resources well, but make too little use of the pupils’ previous work and performance.
1.7 The pupils’ levels of attendance are not a cause for concern. Authorized absences are below the national average, and the school has no unauthorized absences. Form teachers do not, however, always use the standard coding system consistently to record the reasons for an absence. Attendance at lessons is not consistently monitored. Lateness was common. Pupils frequently interrupted teaching by collecting their belongings from classrooms after the lesson had started. To conform to statutory requirements, the school needs to keep an admissions register.
1.8 In both the junior and the senior schools, the systems for assessing and recording pupils’ attainment and progress are inefficient, insufficiently thorough and sometimes inappropriate for the age of pupils, their particular needs and their stage of development. Teachers’ marking is, in general, frequent and accurate, but in the senior school it is inconsistent between departments, and is not as effective as it might be because pupils have to adjust to different systems rather than receive the help that consistency might provide. In some subjects, marking is not sufficiently constructive or detailed to encourage pupils or to help them make progress. Teachers make too little use of assessment information to support curriculum development and planning. Procedures for identifying pupils with special educational needs are unsatisfactory.
1.9 The junior school curriculum contributes to pupils’ intellectual, physical and personal development and overall it is appropriate for their age and ability. However, it is not sufficiently balanced or broadly based, and the curriculum and its organization have particular weaknesses. The Foundation Stage, incorporating the Kindergarten and Reception class, is carefully planned to cover the six areas of learning necessary for children to achieve the Early Learning Goals. In the remainder of the infant and junior classes, most subjects usually found in schools for children of this age are included in the school’s provision and the curriculum is enriched by French and German lessons, although there are some omissions and the content of some subjects lacks breadth and balance. The senior school curriculum offers a broad and balanced general education suited to all pupils’ across the full age and ability range.
1.10 The junior school curriculum is mainly appropriate for pupils’ age, ability, gender and ethnicity, although the ineffectiveness of the assessment procedures can result in the curriculum being inappropriate for pupils with special educational needs. The senior school curriculum is broad and provides an appropriate variety of courses for the pupils’ intellectual, physical and personal development.
1.11 Overall, pupils have equality of access and opportunity to learn and make progress, but the procedures for identifying pupils with special educational needs are not sufficiently effective. Pupils for whom English is an additional language do not experience difficulty in using English in school. Teachers have high expectations of pupils and they provide challenging work that meets the needs of the very able. The curriculum is extended and complemented by extra-curricular activities, such as music, drama and sport, but they include few academically linked clubs. Trips and visits out of school, both locally and abroad, help to promote personal development.
Teaching and Non-teaching Staff
1.12 Teaching and non-teaching staff in both sections of the school are adequate in number and are suitably qualified and experienced for the roles they are expected to carry out. They contribute appropriately to the quality of education provided and the educational standards achieved. The staff-to-pupil ratios in the Kindergarten and Reception fulfil the legal requirements for children of this age. In the rest of the school, average staffing ratios are adequate but some classes are too large. The secretarial, administrative and support staff are adequate in numbers but, being widely separated in two different buildings, they are not always efficiently deployed.
1.13 The lack of a professional development programme, in-service training and appraisal restricts the effectiveness of the teaching staff. The geographical isolation of the school means that contact with other teachers has been limited, resulting in a lack of new ideas and stimulus. The mentoring and induction of newly qualified teachers meet legal requirements.
1.14 The books, equipment, materials and ICT needed to support the teaching, learning, study and recreation of the pupils at all levels, including those who are under 5 and those with special needs, are well managed and used effectively. Overall, however, they are limited in quantity and often of poor quality. T
1.15 In the junior and the senior schools, the range, availability, quality and accessibility of library stock and facilities are insufficient and do not effectively support pupils’ attainment, progress and quality of learning. The premises and stock are poorly managed. Pupils and staff make little use of the library. The library is not a good resource for personal study, and it does not encourage pupils to read and research widely either for information or for pleasure.
1.16 The buildings and accommodation are suitable for their purpose, but those in the junior school are limited in their quality and condition, and are not entirely appropriate for the numbers, abilities, ages and gender of the pupils. They are mostly well used but the accommodation does not always fully enable the curriculum to be taught to the best effect. The buildings, accommodation and other facilities in the senior school are well used, but inadequate for the numbers, abilities, ages and gender of the pupils. The quality and condition of the buildings and grounds are adequate, but the premises and accommodation do not fully support curriculum provision, teaching and learning. Overall, the classrooms, corridors and grounds are well maintained and in a good state of decorative order.
Links with Parents and the Community
1.17 Parents are not provided with satisfactory information about the school and about their children’s work and progress, but reports to parents are clear and useful. The opportunities parents have to be involved in the life of the school and with their children’s work are limited and do not sufficiently contribute to the pupils’ learning and progress. The school’s work and curriculum and pupils’ experience are enriched by links with the community, but pupils have no opportunities to take part in work experience.
1.18 The school provides a range of suitable opportunities through which its pupils can develop a system of spiritual beliefs and a moral code, as well as developing appropriately personally, socially and culturally.
Pastoral Care (including Welfare, Health and Safety)
1.19 The school effectively cares for its pupils’ well-being and development through its arrangements for pastoral and academic support and guidance, but it needs to strengthen its procedures for health and safety.
1.20 The structure and management arrangements relating to the governors, headmistress, and others with senior management responsibilities are well defined and provide a framework that supports effective management. The structure of middle management is less well defined. The senior management team is too large and is too biased in its composition towards senior pastoral staff. Although the quality of education and standards are high, the school is very short of written policies and other documentation to give it clear educational direction. Development planning is very sketchy and so its aims, values and policies are not supported by short- and long-term development planning. The school has a strong ethos, but its sense of purpose is limited because it tends to emphasize the importance of sporting and examination success and disregard anything other than high achievement in those areas. Some statutory requirements – an admissions register and aspects of health and safety – are not met.
Achievement and Quality in Activities
1.21 The activities programme the school offers is not well balanced. The emphasis on certain sports is out of proportion and the cultural, aesthetic creative and intellectual aspects are underdeveloped. At the moment, the programme offered to pupils does not result in appropriate personal development. The quality of the school’s sporting achievement is outstanding, pupils reaching national and international standards but, apart from an aerobics class and, in the junior school, ballet, little evidence was seen of physical activities purely for recreation.
Progress Made by the School since its Last Inspection
1.22 This is the school’s first ISI inspection. The OFSTED inspection of nursery education took place in October 2000. The only recommendation was that the school should provide more opportunities and activities for the children to develop climbing and balancing skills through the use of large equipment. This equipment has now been provided.
2.1 The school should consider the following recommendations:
R1 The school should consider reorganizing the timetable to make it more efficient.
R2 Subject teachers should have their own rooms as a subject base.
R3 Parents should be given more information about their children’s progress.
R4 The systems for assessing pupils’ work should be improved.
R5 The quantity and quality of resources, including library resources, should be improved.
R6 The school should comply with all health and safety regulations.
R7 The structure and processes of management should be improved.
3.1 National Curriculum nomenclature is used throughout this report to refer to year groups in the school. The year group nomenclature used by the school and its National Curriculum (NC) equivalence is shown in the following table:
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School |
NC |
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School |
NC |
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Kindergarten |
Under 5s |
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Infant 1 |
Reception |
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Upper 1 |
Year 7 |
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Infant 2 |
Year 1 |
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Upper 2 |
Year 8 |
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Infant 3 |
Year 2 |
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Upper 3 |
Year 9 |
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Junior 1 |
Year 3 |
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Upper 4 |
Year 10 |
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Junior 2 |
Year 4 |
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Upper 5 |
Year 11 |
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Junior 3 |
Year 5 |
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Lower VI |
Year 12 |
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Junior 4 |
Year 6 |
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Upper VI |
Year 13 |
3.2
3.3
The school, which is in a
mainly residential area of
3.4
Pupils can join the school at
any point from the Foundation Stage (below Year 1) to the sixth form, but in
practice most begin in the Foundation Stage and in Year 7. The pupils come from
3.5 The school takes a broad spectrum of ability, which ranges from mainly average to high. Pupils, so far, have not taken the National Curriculum assessments at 7, 11 and 14, but their results in the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), General Certificate of Education Advanced Subsidiary (GCE AS) and the GCE Advanced-level (A-level) examinations have been consistently very good in relation to those nationally.
3.6 Annual fees range from £2925 for pre-prep to £3025 for prep and senior school pupils. Some have been given assistance through the Assisted Places Scheme and through the school’s own scheme. Staff with children in the school are given some reduction.
3.7 The main aims of the school are outlined in its statement of intent: “We intend the school to be a happy and enjoyable place, which will provide the opportunity for all children to fulfil their potential in an attractive, well-resourced and stimulating environment. We will encourage them to become confident, independent learners, who are able to contribute positively to the community in which they live. The school community will provide a secure, caring Christian environment where everyone can appreciate their own self-worth in an atmosphere of tolerance, mutual respect and cooperation”.
3.8 A new headmistress has just been appointed. At the time of the inspection, she had been in post for only six weeks.
3.9 GCSE
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Most recently completed Year 11 |
Average for the last three Year 11s |
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Boys |
Girls |
All |
Boys |
Girls |
All |
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Entered for 5+ subjects |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
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Achieved 5+ @ A* - C |
92.6% |
96.0% |
94.2% |
96.1% |
97.0% |
96.5% |
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Achieved 5+ @ A* - G |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
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Average score per candidate* |
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