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INSPECTION REPORT ON |
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Baston School |
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Full Name of the School |
Baston School |
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DfES Number |
305/6001 |
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Registered Charity Number |
N/A |
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Address |
Baston
Road, Hayes, Bromley, Kent, BR2 7AB. |
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Telephone Number |
0208
462 1010 |
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Fax Number |
0208
462 0438 |
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Email Address |
admin@bastonschool.org.uk |
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Headmistress |
Miss
Katherine A Greenwood |
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Proprietor |
Mr
Charles R C Wimble |
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Age Range |
2
1/2 – 16 years |
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Gender |
Girls |
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Inspection Dates |
9th
– 12th October 2006 |
This inspection report follows the framework laid down by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI). The inspection was carried out under the arrangements of the Independent Schools Council (ISC) Associations for the maintenance and improvement of the quality of their membership. It was also carried out under Section 162A(1)(b) of the Education Act 2002, as amended by the Education Act 2005, under the provisions of which the Secretary of State for Education and Skills has accredited ISI as the body approved for the purpose of inspecting schools belonging to ISC Associations and reporting on compliance with the Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2003.
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. Their inspection of the premises is from an educational perspective and does not include in-depth examination of the structural condition of the school, its services or other physical features.
1.1 Baston School is a day school for girls from the age of two-and-a-half to sixteen years. It aims to:
· create a happy and caring atmosphere to enable each girl to reach her full potential;
· develop in the girls a confident, positive, caring and enthusiastic attitude to life, both in and out of school, by promoting their mental, spiritual, cultural and physical development;
· encourage girls to achieve high standards in all aspects of school life and to become independent citizens.
1.2 The school has always been proprietary. It was founded on its present site by two sisters in 1933. It was evacuated during the Second World War, first to Devon and then to Somerset, returning in 1945. Strengthened by the presence of girls from the west of England, the school took boarders as well as day girls and, for a short time, it also admitted boys. It was purchased by the family of the current proprietors in 1956. Shortly before Mr Noel Wimble died in 1983, Mrs Joy Wimble, his widow, became principal and his son, Mr Charles Wimble, became head.
1.3 Set in five hectares of playing fields, gardens and orchard, the school enjoys a pleasant green-belt location in the outer suburbs of south-east London, in Bromley, Kent. Given its small numbers, the school offers a wide range of subjects and activities. It also sets out to meet the individual needs of all pupils, of gifted and academic girls as well as girls who have learning difficulties or who are late developers. The very small classes and year groups enable its staff to know the pupils well.
1.4 The school last had a regular inspection in March 2000. Inspectors reported that the school’s significant strengths included the commitment of the staff, the behaviour of the pupils, small class sizes, very good care to pupils of wide-ranging ability, and the extra-curricular programme. Its weaknesses lay in health and safety, documentation on the curriculum, boarding facilities, provision for and use of information and communication technology (ICT), staff development, pupil records, communication with parents of girls who had learning difficulties, development planning, and its management structure. The school received a follow-up inspection in September 2001. By then, Mrs Joy Wimble had handed over leadership and management to Mr Charles Wimble. The school had also closed its boarding house, it had built two new science laboratories and it had equipped a food technology room. It had begun to carry out risk assessments. The follow-up report wrote of a “much greater sense of drive, enthusiasm and purpose about the school” than at the time of the regular inspection.
1.5 In the five years since the follow-up inspection, the school has undergone further changes. In 2003, it closed its sixth form. Mr Charles Wimble continued to run the school as head until August 2005 when, on becoming joint-principal, he transferred day-to-day management to the present headmistress, who herself had taught at the school in the 1980s. Mr Wimble and his mother remain the joint-principals and, together with another family member, are the directors of the company owning the school.
1.6 The pupils are in one school occupying the same site. At the time of this inspection, the number on roll was 149. The early years’ department (EYD) had 35 girls aged two-and-a-half to five years. The junior school (Years 1 to 6) numbered 48, with an average of eight girls in each year. Numbers in the senior school were 66, with an average of 13 in each year. Subject to space, girls enter in all years and their numbers generally grow in the course of each academic year. The parents, who are very supportive, have high expectations of their daughters and of the school. Girls move at the age of 16 to the sixth forms of maintained and independent schools, or to tertiary colleges in the area.
1.7 English is the first language of all the girls. One has a Local Education Authority statement of special educational needs (SEN), but the school considers that 22 in total, three of whom are in the EYD, have learning difficulties. The ability range of the pupils is wide. The ability of junior school girls is generally above that of girls in maintained primary schools nationally. On average, the ability of senior school girls is also above that of girls in maintained secondary schools nationally. In general, and if they are performing in line with their ability, the girls should achieve results that are above, and occasionally well above, those of girls in maintained primary and secondary schools.
1.8 National Curriculum nomenclature is used throughout this report to refer to year groups in the school. Girls aged from two-and-a-half to four years are in two Nursery classes: Lower Kindergarten and Upper Kindergarten.
The Educational Experience Provided
2.1 The school provides a good education which is consistent with the school’s philosophy of enabling each girl “to reach her full potential”, to develop “a confident, positive, caring and enthusiastic attitude to life”, and to become responsible, independent young adults. For the most part, girls follow an appropriate curriculum, which generally mirrors, but also supplements, the National Curriculum. Those in Year 11 take a balanced range of GCSE subjects, usually nine in total. In all years, physical education (PE) and sport make up a considerable part of each girl’s timetable.
2.2 The EYD prepares girls aged two-and-a-half to five years well for their years of compulsory schooling. The curriculum covers the six early learning goals of the Foundation Stage, and concentrates on the teaching of literacy and numeracy. Many of these children, however, cover the same topics simultaneously during each of their three years in the EYD. For instance, children in all three classes study the five senses in the same week. This very structured scheme of work does not encourage teachers to adapt to children’s interests or to introduce fresh topics that better meet the needs of these children as they grow older.
2.3 The curriculum is well planned. Teaching is well coordinated: teaching to girls in the junior school links well with teaching in the senior school. Apart from a very few girls who have learning difficulties and who do not study a modern foreign language, all girls have equal access to all subjects in the curriculum. The majority of teaching in many subjects, however, is undertaken by part-time staff, whose lack of availability occasionally affects the weekly timetable. For example, in an arrangement that is less than ideal, girls in Year 7 have lessons in mathematics with two different teachers. The classrooms, laboratories, computer rooms and other specialist teaching are all well equipped and well used. Girls make little use, however, of the senior library which is not equipped as a learning resource centre.
2.4 The curriculum for Years 1 to 11 provides girls with good opportunities for linguistic, mathematical, scientific, human and social, physical, aesthetic and creative development. It also enables girls to acquire necessary skills in speaking, listening, literacy and numeracy, as well as in ICT. Junior girls are taught to read music and to play the recorder. Coaching in a wide range of sports takes place in lesson time. Girls in the junior school follow a course in design and technology (DT). In the senior school, however, girls do not study DT. In Years 7 to 9, they all follow courses in food and nutrition and ICT, and a few topics in art and design contribute in a small way to the development of technological skills. In Years 10 and 11, just over half of the girls take ICT, and roughly a third of the girls take food and nutrition, to GCSE. However, the school does not have the facilities to offer courses in resistant materials and control technology so that, on balance, senior girls have fewer opportunities to develop technological skills than their counterparts in many other schools. In Years 7 to 9, girls follow a combined course of personal, social and health education (PSHE) and religious education (RE). PSHE is taught in the first half and RE in the second half of each term. This arrangement does not encourage girls to maintain an interest in both subjects throughout the school year, or enable staff to respond quickly to topical issues in either. Girls in Years 10 and 11 continue with PSHE but not with RE.
2.5 The school timetables four-fifths of the lessons for most pupils in the morning, to take advantage of their energy and, whenever possible, it timetables games in the afternoon. All girls enjoy a twenty-minute break each morning but, except for those in the EYD, they do not sit down for lunch until after 1.15 pm. Junior school girls, especially those who have left home at an early hour, some to attend the pre-school mini-tennis activity, have a very long wait between breakfast and lunch, so that their attention sometimes lapses in the hour-long lesson just before lunch.
2.6 The school makes suitable provision for girls who have learning difficulties. Of the 22 pupils on the school’s SEN register, 14 receive one-to-one tuition, mostly once a week, by withdrawal from other lessons on a rotational basis. The special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) undertakes all this additional teaching. She reviews the progress of these girls regularly and, prior to each lesson, draws up a new lesson plan for each girl. A file containing details of their learning difficulties is available in the staff room, but not all staff take note of the individual education plan (IEP) that the SENCO has prepared for six of her pupils. In conjunction with an external speech and language therapist, the school meets well the requirements of the statement of the pupil who has special educational needs.
2.7 The school encourages girls to take part in one or more of the good range of extra-curricular activities offered. Most of these take place during the extended lunch break, but several clubs also run before and after school. Most activities are open to all pupils; in a few of these, junior girls are able to participate alongside girls in the senior school. Sports activities are especially popular. Many girls enter individually for grade examinations in music and in speech and drama. Older pupils, in particular, engage voluntarily in community service activities. A major drama production takes place each year.
2.8 Girls are satisfactorily prepared for the next stage of their career. Staff from a local careers guidance agency interview and advise girls in Years 10 and 11. The school encourages parents of Year 11 girls to arrange work experience for their daughters in the weeks following the summer GCSE examinations. Few girls, however, take this opportunity and the school does not evaluate the benefits to those who do.
2.9 Almost all girls continue in education when they leave the school at the age of 16. Most go to take A levels in the sixth forms of other independent or maintained schools, or in one of the sixth-form colleges or colleges of further education in the vicinity. Thereafter, a very high proportion of the girls go to a university.
2.10 The school meets the regulatory requirements for the curriculum [Standard 1].
Pupils’ Learning and Achievements
2.11 The school intends that each girl should reach her full potential and become a confident, capable and responsible young adult, ready to take her place in the modern world. It fulfils this aim well, although many senior girls do not develop the independence of approach to which the school wants them to aspire.
2.12 Girls are well grounded in knowledge, skill and understanding in the subjects that they study. Most apply their skills effectively, while a significant minority think and act critically and creatively. Year 9 music pupils worked creatively and constructively to compose and play an Indian Dawn Raga successfully. Art pupils, however, do not have the same opportunities for creativity. They try to innovate, but presently do not have the necessary skills to be creative.
2.13 Girls do well in national tests and examinations. Numbers taking these are small and so variations in results during the years 2003 to 2005 are of limited significance. Those taking national tests at the age of seven reach levels that are well above and sometime far above, those achieved in maintained primary schools nationally. Those taking national tests at the age of eleven achieve results that are, in most years, also above those attained nationally in primary schools. Fourteen-year-old girls taking national tests similarly achieve results that are above those attained in secondary schools nationally. In all these tests, their results in English, mathematics and science are similar and indicate no significant differences in subject attainment. Girls’ results at GCSE are above those achieved by girls in maintained secondary schools. They are far above national averages in PE, and well above these in business studies and geography. In almost all other subjects, they are above national averages.
2.14 In addition, girls also do well in individual music, speech and drama, and other grade examinations for which they are prepared at school. All those taking the Trinity College of Music acting examinations in 2006 obtained passes with merit.
2.15 Girls perform strongly in a variety of sporting events, for which they prepare at school. They do especially well in mini-tennis, tennis, netball, lacrosse, gymnastics and athletics. In the last three years the school has numbered among its junior pupils a regional under 12 tumbling champion and a county 10 and under tennis champion. Together, girls do remarkably well, individually and in teams, in relation to the size of the school. Although during the school week sports practices sometimes take place at the expense of music and other activities, the school choir won the under-15 competition at the Beckenham Music Festival in 2003.
2.16 For the most part, girls develop the skills and the attitudes they need for successful work and study. Their learning in lessons is predominantly good and on occasions it is excellent. It is never less than satisfactory. Almost all girls have a very positive attitude towards their learning and they clearly enjoy their work. The minority of girls who receive additional tuition from the SENCO make satisfactory progress and achieve results that are in line with their abilities and learning difficulties.
2.17 Girls are articulate. They listen carefully and read intelligently. Junior school girls read clearly and confidently in front of staff, parents and other visitors at the junior harvest festival. Year 2 pupils, especially, show good reading skills. They sound out unfamiliar words proficiently and they read with expression. They write fluently and effectively. The school newspaper, the Baston Banter, contains many good examples of fluent and creative writing, some from girls in Year 1. Senior girls make notes efficiently and a few express themselves lucidly. A Year 11 girl wrote ably in the style of Charles Dickens.
2.18 Pupils apply mathematical concepts effectively. Year 5 pupils are able to use simple mathematical facts to solve more difficult problems. Year 11 pupils understand the meaning of irrational numbers and can manipulate surds.
2.19 In the main, girls are soundly competent in their use of ICT applications. Reception class children programmed a mini robot to move in various directions and then to return to its starting point. Girls following in business studies courses in Years 10 and 11 draw graphs and charts, using ICT, to illustrate and substantiate their coursework. Many other senior girls, however, make little use of ICT at school.
2.20 Many girls, in both junior and senior schools, reason, argue and think for themselves. During a science lesson on gases, Year 5 girls made sensible predictions as to which of the candles under three different glass jars would extinguish first. Two Year 11 girls, studying the suffragettes as part of their GCSE history course, ably argued why women had gained the vote after, but not before, the First World War.
2.21 Junior girls display good teamwork in all class activities. Senior girls, too, work effectively on their own, in pairs and in small groups. In a science lesson in which they were estimating the efficiency of various fuels, Year 7 girls worked particularly well as a team. Many senior girls, however, rely on staff to direct and prompt them before they embark on a task and few display initiative in their approach to their work. Although for many the library is only accessible in break times, the number of girls who use it then is very small. They do not use it for private study, do not seek advice from the part-time librarian and, in support of their class- and home-work, do not use the library computer to search the internet for information. In the main, girls undertake most of their additional research at home.
2.22 Girls, junior and senior, settle and apply themselves well in lessons. They know what is expected of them, they persevere and they apply themselves to their work. Year 5 girls display notable enthusiasm for practical work in science.
Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development of Pupils
2.23 Girls make good progress towards adulthood through their personal development. In all years, they take advantage of the good opportunities provided for moral and social development, and the more limited, but nonetheless satisfactory, opportunities provided for their spiritual and cultural growth. They develop the confident, positive, caring and enthusiastic attitude to life, in and out of school, for which the school aims. The school successfully promotes each girl’s mental, spiritual, and cultural development, although most senior girls have yet to achieve the independence of attitude for which the school also aims.
2.24 Girls make good progress toward acquiring self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence, but opportunities for them to grow in faith and develop a personal belief are limited. Girls in all years attend one or more assemblies each week, some of which have a spiritual emphasis. During the inspection, members of Year 10 led a senior assembly, involving music, acting, singing and poetry-reading, some of it composed by themselves, to illustrate a moving tale of the family problems that teenagers encounter. The vicar of the local Anglican church takes assembly twice a term. Leaders of other Christian denominations also visit the school to talk at assemblies. Beliefs and customs of other faiths are examined during the PSHE course; two religions are set for study each term. The school does not, however, teach RE as a discrete subject, and girls interviewed indicated that they had studied little apart from Christianity and Judaism. In Years 10 and 11, RE plays only a minimal part in PSHE.
2.25 The moral development of the girls is good. From an early age, they learn to distinguish right from wrong. They are well aware of the sanctions imposed by the school, and consider these to be just and fairly applied. Their awareness, however, of citizenship issues and of the wider world is limited. Senior girls are not well informed about national and international affairs.
2.26 Girls develop well socially. They accept responsibility for their behaviour, show initiative and understand how they can contribute to community life. In an after-school DT club, junior girls making the individual parts of a totem pole worked very well as a team. They talked about their ideas and listened sensibly to each other’s suggestions. Senior girls are asked to undertake a range of responsibilities, which they do graciously and well. Those in Year 11 who are chosen as prefects carry out their tasks maturely and efficiently. They organise school events such as inter-house sports events and an inter-house talent competition. The head girl proposes the vote of thanks at speech day. She also chairs the recently established school council, which has representatives from Years 3 to 11, and she presents the views of this body to the headmistress. Girls in all years belong to one of three houses for competition purposes. Year 11 girls serving as house captains take a good measure of responsibility, while Year 6 girls benefit from fulfilling the same role among junior pupils. Other girls serve as sports captains. The house system works well in giving girls a sense of unity and of responsibility.
2.27 Girls make sound progress towards appreciating their own and other cultures. An Indian couple wore their traditional costume as they talked to girls about their religious and ethnic heritage. Older girls make regular visits to the theatre and assemblies frequently centre on cultural issues, on China for example. They have, however, few opportunities to discuss cultural issues in the course of the taught curriculum.
2.28 The school meets the regulatory requirements for the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils [Standard 2].
The Quality of Teaching (Including Assessment)
2.29 The quality of teaching is good overall. The staff are highly committed and teach well. They also provide willing support and guidance which, in keeping with the school’s aims, enables the girls to make the most of their abilities.
2.30 Teaching is predominantly of good quality, with a proportion of satisfactory teaching. It is rarely less than satisfactory. It has many strong features. The great majority of lessons meet the needs of pupils of all levels of ability. For example, in mathematics lessons in the junior school, extension work is regularly provided for abler girls or for those who complete their work early. More able Year 5 girls benefited from more advanced work on the conversion of decimals to fractions and vice versa. However, in a minority of lessons, teaching does not provide enough challenge for pupils, for the more able especially.
2.31 Teaching is suitably pitched to encourage many aspects of girls’ intellectual, physical and creative development. As part of their business studies course, Year 10 and 11 girls are encouraged to carry out independent research and to think more for themselves but, in most subjects, girls rely heavily on direction from the teacher. Few girls think in terms of finding out more, or consider whether a question or topic could be approached in a different way. Those studying art do not, for the most part, work creatively.
2.32 Teaching is usually well planned, has good pace and is effective in supporting pupils of different abilities. Good use is made of teaching resources to make learning exciting and fun. Teaching in most lessons involves a variety of activities to maintain the girls’ interest. Modern language teaching takes place predominantly in the foreign language. The teacher of a Year 8 French class imaginatively used a commercial board game to develop girls’ language skills effectively. A sizeable minority of lessons, however, lack an imaginative structure.
2.33 Teachers know their pupils well. They have good subject expertise, although they do not always have appropriate expectations of pupil attainment and several do not refer to the IEP prepared on girls who have learning difficulties. At times, teachers could reasonably expect far more of their pupils and could encourage them to look beyond their textbooks. Teachers often go out of their way, however, to help those who are finding the work difficult. A year 7 science teacher gave sensitive and constructive assistance to a girl who has learning difficulties, so that she began to understand the work on energy that the rest of the class was doing.
2.34 Resources are suitable, often good, and they support teaching well. The school does not, however, make the most of displays in classrooms and around the school as vehicles for learning and to celebrate pupil achievement. Teaching rarely involves girls in additional research or use of the library.
2.35 Teachers mark securely. They use their assessment data to help individual pupils make progress, but they do not yet analyse it with a view to monitoring performance in each year group or subject, or to set targets for future improvement.
2.36 Teachers regard good behaviour as a keystone of the school’s ethos, and they maintain high standards without difficulty. Consequently, the discipline of the pupils is excellent.
2.37 The school meets the regulatory requirements for teaching [Standard 1].
3. THE QUALITY OF CARE AND RELATIONSHIPS
The Quality of Pastoral Care, and the Welfare, Health and Safety of Pupils
3.1 The school’s high levels of pastoral care contribute effectively and well towards the personal development of the girls. Girls flourish in the secure, safe and friendly environment.
3.2 Arrangements for pastoral care are excellent. Form tutors have detailed knowledge of the girls in their year groups. They ensure that this information is shared with other staff, so that they too can provide the girls with effective support. Relationships between the girls and the staff, as well as among the girls themselves, are respectful and very constructive. The girls’ behaviour is excellent. At lunch, younger pupils listen and talk to each other sensibly; they are polite and quietly confident when talking to adults. Very young girls greatly appreciate the help given to them, at lunchtime especially, by those who are a few years older, in Years 5 and 6. Senior girls, too, know most of those who are younger than themselves and take an interest in their welfare.
3.3 The school’s system of rewards and sanctions is clear and effective. The behaviour of the girls is exemplary. Teachers apply sanctions rarely but effectively. The school’s policy to combat bullying is comprehensive and widely understood. Throughout the school and in all subjects and activities, teachers award house points to reward and encourage girls.
3.4 Child protection procedures are clear and appropriate. The headmistress, the designated child protection officer for girls throughout the school, has received the necessary training, but training for other staff has not yet been provided.
3.5 Medical and first-aid arrangements are good. All teachers have had training in first-aid. In the event of an accident, one of the secretaries takes on the responsibility of deciding whether to transfer the patient to the sick bay. She has good systems to ensure that medication is safely kept and administered.
3.6 Although girls may bring packed lunches, many choose from the school’s own varied and healthy menu. Food is of good quality and is enjoyed by the girls.
3.7 Arrangements to ensure the health and safety of girls and staff are generally good. They have been improved since the March 2000 inspection. Appropriate measures to reduce the risk from fire have been taken, and a good proportion of staff have recently had fire awareness training. Staff carry out risk assessments on teaching and all other aspects of school life, including external visits. The bursar, who is the health and safety officer, regularly reminds staff of the importance of health and safety issues. The school’s programme for the testing of portable electrical appliances is behind schedule.
3.8 The school meets the regulatory requirements for the welfare, health and safety of pupils [Standard 3].
The Quality of Links with Parents and the Community
3.9 The school is very much involved in the locality. It has an effective partnership with parents and good links with the community. These relationships promote girls’ mental, spiritual, cultural and physical development.
3.10 Parents indicated very strong support for the school in their responses to the questionnaire sent out in advance of the inspection. They were particularly pleased with the high standard of the girls’ behaviour, with the worthwhile attitudes and views promoted by the school, and with the help and guidance given to the girls. By their responses, parents confirmed that they believe the school is fulfilling its aims.
3.11 Parents receive good information. This includes an information pack for new parents, a calendar of events each term and a fortnightly newsletter. The Contact Book, in which girls note their homework and other details, such as house points, maintains the flow of information from day to day. Several pages of the school website, however, are not up to date.
3.12 Parents also receive good information about girls’ work and progress. Staff write detailed reports of good quality on their attainment and progress at the end of each term. The school arranges meetings, at which parents can discuss academic and other matters with the staff, twice a year for each year group. Parents, especially those with children in the EYD and the junior school, frequently make contact with teachers, as need arises, from day to day.
3.13 All parents are encouraged to feel part of the school community. They are automatically enrolled in the parents’ association (PA). The PA, in which a small number of parents are especially active, assists at school events, such as assemblies, productions and sports day. It also arranges its own meetings, many of them to raise funds to buy equipment for the school. In the last few years, the PA has generously funded the EYD play area, bought a television and a computer for the Junior School, and contributed substantially towards the cost of the flood-lights around the main tennis and netball courts.
3.14 The school has a suitable formal complaints procedure, which no parent has yet invoked.
3.15 The school has good links in the community, especially with the nearby Anglican parish church and with a care home for the elderly. In the autumn, girls give the harvest produce that they bring to school to a local women’s refuge. In the summer, the school has a stand at the local Hayes fête, although this is not staffed by the girls.
3.16 Girls support a wide range of national and local charities, including those for the deaf and the blind. In turn, officers of these organisations visit the school to thank the girls and to talk about their work. Other speakers, a traffic warden for example, are also invited to talk to the girls at assembly and at other times.
3.17 The school meets the regulatory requirements for the provision of information and the manner in which complaints are to be handled [Standards 6 and 7].
4. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
4.1 The quality of governance is good. The school is proprietary and has, therefore, no governing body. The company directors are three members of the proprietary family. Two of these, the two former heads, retain the title of principal. One, the immediate former head, is responsible for financial management, staffing levels, building maintenance and the provision of educational resources. The headmistress, who has been in post for just over a year, reports to the company directors. Relations between the headmistress and the principals are excellent. She values their experience and wisdom, and they in turn have mutual regard and respect for her. They give her full authority in matters of day-to-day management.
4.2 Both principals continue to live on the school site. The immediate former head also retains an office in the main building and teaches a part-time timetable, so that he knows the staff and many of the pupils well. He also fulfils a number of trouble-shooting roles, as well as undertaking minor, but important, maintenance tasks during term- and holiday-time. The principals are aware of their responsibilities for educational development and for financial planning. In particular, the former head ensures that adequate resources are available to enable the school to offer a good standard of education in keeping with its aims and ethos. He has recently consented to the introduction of devolved budgets, to be overseen by the headmistress, for junior and senior school subject departments, as well as for the in-service training (INSET) of staff.
4.3 The company directors hold an annual general meeting (AGM). The headmistress reports to them informally through the former head, but does not attend their AGM and has yet to present an annual report for adoption at this meeting. Consequently, the proprietors have yet to learn formally of matters such as child protection, health and safety, and employment issues, for which they take ultimate responsibility. Similarly the directors have not formally approved the three-year development plan, which the headmistress has drawn up with the help of the senior management team.
4.4 The former head continues to take a very close and generous interest in the welfare and future of the school, its staff and pupils. His enthusiasm for the school is palpable and enduring.
The Quality of Leadership and Management
4.5 Leadership and management are in general satisfactory, but also have significant strengths. The school is well led. Too much responsibility, however, rests with the senior management team, the headmistress and the two deputy head-teachers, who are joined on occasions by the immediate past-head and the bursar. Middle management is under-developed, with the result that several staff have been reluctant to shoulder important management responsibilities.
4.6 The development plan for the years 2005-2008 is a thoughtful analysis of the school’s needs. The headmistress is well aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the school, as it aims to provide a good education based on traditional values and social skills. She identifies, in particular, the need to develop a curriculum which equips girls to become modern women with high aspirations. Included in this is the need to make better use of assessment data for the planning of teaching and learning, as well as moves to improve or introduce continuity of staffing, staff review and professional development, and to improve the marketing of the school. The school’s development plan details the first steps to be taken and targets for evaluation of these areas.
4.7 The two deputy head-teachers provide expert professional support to the headmistress, but they do not have a job description and their other responsibilities place heavy demands upon them. They teach a relatively full timetable and so they often have little time for strategic management. The lack of a clear policy on delegation to middle management further increases the burden on senior managers.
4.8 Middle managers, too, do not have job descriptions. Since their roles are not defined, many pay little attention to, for example, schemes of work, assessment, the monitoring of teaching and the oversight of other staff. A few senior school heads of department manage effectively, but a few have little contact with each other. In the junior school, subject co-ordinators have been identified, but have yet to assume their responsibility for the coordination and promotion of teaching and learning in subject areas.
4.9 Arrangements for the appointment of staff are good. The school undertakes all necessary checks prior to the employment of staff. The bursar applies for a disclosure, in most cases an advanced disclosure, from the Criminal Records Bureau, on all staff, teaching and non-teaching. The headmistress thoroughly checks the qualifications and references of all teaching staff before their appointment is confirmed, and the bursar similarly investigates the background of the non-teaching staff.
4.10 The school secures and retains good quality and well qualified teaching staff. It has, however, a large number of part-time teachers. In several subjects, this results in a lack of continuity in teaching. It also places a heavy burden of responsibility on the few full-time staff, who fulfil most management and pastoral roles. The headmistress has recently taken over as head of mathematics, a subject that she does not teach; this role was previously filled by a part-time member of staff. The school supports staff wishing to attend relevant INSET courses, but it does not have a broadly defined and structured approach to the professional development of staff. Training is not linked to appraisal or to the school development plan. The school has no newly qualified teacher at present.
4.11 The lack of clear budget allocations has restricted the planning that middle managers, such as subject heads, can realistically undertake. Budgets are now to be allocated, and this should encourage accountability and forward planning. Routine financial management is sound and serves to provide suitable resources. The school has recently invested in its ICT facilities, which are now up to date and well used.
4.12 The bursarial, administrative, maintenance and catering staff, although few in number, very effectively ensure the smooth day-to-day running of the school. The secretaries play a key role in supporting the school’s aims. They are a helpful and well informed first point of contact to girls, parents and visitors.
4.13 The school meets the regulatory requirements for the suitability of proprietors and staff and for premises and accommodation [Standards 4 and 5].
5.1 The school provides a good education. It meets both its parents’ expectations and, for the most part, its own aims. It is a secure and caring environment in which girls fulfil their academic potential and develop as very responsible, polite and considerate young adults. They and their parents are strongly supportive of the school. In all years, girls benefit from studying in small groups, and from the care and individual attention they receive from the staff. In Year 11, they gain GCSE examination results that are above, and in several subjects well above, national averages and that are often good in relation to their ability. They take part enthusiastically in a wide range of sports and have a good range of other extra-curricular opportunities. Relations between the girls and the staff are excellent, while older girls display great concern for those younger than themselves. In the main, however, senior girls are not required or encouraged to learn for themselves. The school has yet to adopt management structures and systems to enable it to implement good, modern educational practice.
5.2 Since it was last inspected, in March 2000 and September 2001, the school has made significant progress. Many changes followed the recommendations of the March 2000 inspection report. The strengths on which inspectors then commented remain. The school has greatly improved its accommodation and resources, for ICT in particular, and has drawn up a development plan. It has improved its provision for those with learning difficulties. The sixth-form has been closed and the school no longer takes boarders. A new headmistress has been appointed, the school has consolidated its position as a girls’ day school, and in the last twelve months its numbers have increased. Measures to promote health and safety have been introduced. The school has, however, still to define the roles of staff in senior and middle management, to provide for the appraisal and professional development of staff, and to use assessment data to monitor girls’ progress effectively.
5.3 The school meets all the regulatory requirements.
5.4 To improve further the good education it offers, the school should take the following steps.
1. Improve its management systems and structures by:
· appointing, as opportunity arises, more full-time, rather than part-time, staff and so distribute management responsibilities more appropriately;
· bringing forward plans for staff appraisal and professional development;
· making better use of the assessment data already collected;
· implementing plans to introduce sectional, departmental and INSET budgets.
2. Develop strategies, including more effective use of the senior library, to encourage more independent learning by senior girls.
5.5 No action in respect of regulatory requirements is required.
6. summary of inspection evidence
6.1 The inspection was carried out from 9th to 12th October 2006. The inspectors examined samples of pupils’ work, observed lessons and conducted formal interviews with pupils. They held discussions with teaching and non-teaching staff and with the principal, representing the proprietors, observed a sample of the extra-curricular activities that occurred during the inspection period, and attended registration sessions and assemblies. The responses of parents to a pre-inspection questionnaire were analysed, and the inspectors examined a range of documentation made available by the school.
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D Beeby |