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Introduction
The inspection was carried out by one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors and three Additional Inspectors.
Description of the school
Clough Hall Technology School serves students from four wards, three in Newcastle-under-Lyme and one in Stoke-on-Trent. The proportion of students eligible for free school meals is above the national average; however, the proportion with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is well below the national average. Few students are from minority ethnic backgrounds. Students enter the school with levels of attainment that are below the national average.
The school is in its third phase as a specialist technology school. The school recently achieved Healthy School Status, Artsmark Award and its Sportsmark on three consecutive occasions. It also achieved the Staffordshire Kite Mark for Work-Related Learning, Enterprise and Careers Education and Guidance.
| Grade 1 | Outstanding |
|---|---|
| Grade 2 | Good |
| Grade 3 | Satisfactory |
| Grade 4 | Inadequate |
Overall effectiveness of the school
Grade: 2
Clough Hall Technology School is a good school with some outstanding features. The headteacher and his staff have established a culture where high expectations, good behaviour and a fully inclusive ethos are the norm. Members of the local community, who play an active role in the life of the school through various projects, also speak highly of the changes that have taken place in the last 18 months. Many of them attend the Learn Direct Centre, which provides a wide range of education and training programmes, including information and communication technology (ICT).
Students' achievement is good overall. Their standards on entry to the school in Year 7 are below national averages. As a result of good teaching and learning, and excellent care, guidance and support, they leave Year 11 with broadly average results in the GCSE examinations. All groups of students make at least good progress, including those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. However, the school is aware that the progress of boys is not at fast as that of girls. Behaviour is much improved and is now good. Students now feel safe and enjoy school. They rate their lessons highly and have good relationships with their teachers. One parent commented, 'My daughter now looks forward to going to school'.
Students' personal development and well-being are good, with some outstanding features. They show mutual respect and have clear understanding of their rights and responsibilities. The students' council, with elected members from each class, plays an active role in the life of the school. The head boy and girl attend the senior leadership meetings to ensure that their voice is heard and relevant action is taken. Students have a good understanding of how important it is to adopt a healthy lifestyle and they have played an active role in the achievement of the Healthy School's Quality Mark. All students are involved in regular physical activity as part of the mainstream curriculum and many join in the numerous after-school activities. Students contribute to the community by getting involved in fundraising activities for various charities, including supporting the elderly and their link school in the Gambia.
The students' care, guidance and support are outstanding. Safeguarding procedures are robust and any students at risk are quickly identified and supported. Students say that bullying is very rare and are confident about whom to contact if it does occur. Students are very loyal and recognise that the school provides them with a calm and secure haven. Very good links with the primary schools and induction procedures ensure that students in Year 7 settle in quickly. The school successfully identifies the needs of a wide range of students and meets them effectively through, for example, setting by ability and by specialist support. The well-organised tracking system enables rapid identification of students who are at risk of underachievement, and they are quickly supported, often receiving additional help from mentors.
Teachers have good subject knowledge. They set high aspirations for students and have a good focus on meeting individual targets. Lessons usually have good pace, and teachers generally plan them well to meet the needs of individual students. However, in some lessons, learning activities and the challenge of work are the same for all students. This means that some students are not sufficiently challenged, and boys, particularly, tend to lose interest. The best lessons make good use of a range of strategies that sharply focus on what it is that the students need to learn. Teachers also ask questions that probe and use ongoing assessment to evaluate the students' understanding. However, marking of students' work lacks consistency and coherence within subjects and between departments. The curriculum is broad and balanced and provides a wide range of opportunities for students. Business and enterprise opportunities, including work-related learning, throughout the school are excellent and play a big part in students' good preparation for the future. A very good range of extra-curricular activities, events and visits complements the curriculum and broadens students' experiences.
The leadership and management of the school are good. The headteacher, senior leadership team and governors set a very clear vision for the school, seeking continuous improvement and high achievement for all. Target setting is based on secure assessment procedures and sets goals that are challenging. Systems for monitoring the school's performance and evaluating its progress are very effective. The majority of subject and pastoral leaders ensure that the priorities for their areas of responsibility are correctly identified and there is a good level of challenge and support provided to them by senior leaders. As a result, changes and improvements are successful. However, some middle leaders are not yet sufficiently skilled to lead their departments with the same rigorous challenge.
The school has used its additional resources, gained through the technology status, to support its improvement. The recently restructured and strengthened governing body holds the school to account effectively and knows its strengths and weaknesses. The school has responded well to the key issues raised in the previous inspection and it has outstanding capacity to improve even further.
Effectiveness of the sixth form
Grade: 2
The sixth form provides a good quality of education. Students enter with attainment that reflects a wide range of ability. Results vary widely but students do well, given their starting points. Teaching and learning are good, with teachers demonstrating secure knowledge of their subject and perceptive questioning skills. The curriculum is satisfactory. The school is working successfully with local partners to broaden its curriculum, particularly the vocational curriculum to meet the changing needs of its students. The percentage of students who do not go on to further education has reduced considerably.
The head of sixth form has been in post since September 2007. She has quickly identified the areas of strength and those for further development. She has high expectations of students and does much to raise their aspirations and broaden their horizons, although it is too early to assess any impact on standards. Students' attitudes to learning are positive and there is a strong desire by most to do well. Their personal development and well-being are good. Most are involved in a wide variety of extra-curricular activities and many take opportunities to demonstrate responsibility through, for example, the Duke of Edinburgh scheme and leadership courses. Students' progress is regularly reviewed and there is appropriate intervention for those who are at risk of underachievement. Students say that they appreciate the good support and guidance given to them by their teachers and tutors and value the opportunities given to them to take responsibility.
What the school should do to improve further
- Raise further the overall standards and achievement particularly those of boys, through teaching that consistently supports and challenges them.
- Ensure that marking in books is consistently good throughout the school.
- Develop further the ability of some middle managers to lead, improve and to be accountable for their areas of responsibility.
Achievement and standards
Grade: 2
Grade for sixth form: 2
Achievement and standards are good. When students enter the school, while a below-average number have learning difficulties and/or disabilities, many have enough difficulty with reading and writing to slow their progress in other subjects. By the end of Year 9, standards are still below average in English, mathematics and science, but good teaching has ensured that students are sufficiently well equipped with their basic skills to embark on GCSE courses. Here, students make good progress because, as well as the good teaching, they have targeted support in which the senior management team plays an active role. The proportion of students who attain five or more grades A* to C has improved markedly over the last three years. Results in the GCSE examinations in 2007 were broadly average and have continued the trend where students performed particularly well in English and communication studies. The school has identified relative underperformance in other areas and interventions are in place. Although girls perform better than boys at GCSE examinations, the attainment of both has improved as a result of the considerable emphasis placed by the school on raising achievement.
Progress of students overall is good. Students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and those who are gifted and talented make good progress because their differing learning needs are well understood, and they receive constructive support from staff in the school.
Personal development and well-being
Grade: 2
Grade for sixth form: 2
Students' spiritual, social, moral and cultural development is good. Students are polite and friendly and have positive attitudes to the school and each other. They respond well to an excellent range of opportunities to make a positive contribution to the school. Sixth form students take on responsibilities to support younger learners. Students from across the school make excellent contributions to the local community and the community at large. They take responsibility for, for example, raising funds. Students really appreciate the system of rewards and state that this played a major role in improving behaviour in and around the school. They feel valued and that their efforts are rewarded; for example, the school council played a significant role in the school achieving its Healthy School Quality Mark and the Sportsmark. Students feel safe.
The school is relentless in its pursuit of improved attendance. However, despite slight gains in the last year, attendance remains below national average. The weekly meeting with the education welfare officer is a positive step towards addressing the continuing problems of small number of persistent non-attenders.
Quality of provision
Teaching and learning
Grade: 2
Grade for sixth form: 2
Teachers are well-qualified specialists who have high expectations of students' performance. The school uses its technology status well, not only in improving the resources available but also in its use of technology by both teachers and students to help raise overall achievement. Teachers use the information available on each student well in targeting support. The best lessons are characterised by thorough planning, brisk pace and imaginative activities which engage students and keep them focused on learning. In the few less successful lessons, insufficient structure and challenge, too much talking by some teachers and too few checks on learning mean that students make at best satisfactory progress. Teachers generally manage pupils' behaviour well. However, in a few lessons, inappropriate behaviour and negative attitudes to learning by some students and the inconsistencies in some teachers' response limit students' progress. There are good procedures to judge and develop teaching through monitoring by the senior leadership team.
Curriculum and other activities
Grade: 2
Grade for sixth form: 3
The curriculum, particularly at Key Stage 4, provides a broad range of courses to suit the learning needs of students. The school continues to develop its provision for the 14–19 range through a more integrated programme with greater coherence and progression. The specialist status for technology has enhanced the learning provision of technology across the curriculum and provision for vocational courses. The school has responded well to the need to develop the skills young people require to function effectively in the world of work. The tutorial periods, however, do not engage students and the time available is not always constructively used. The sixth form provides appropriate pathways to higher education for students who wish to take that route and is further extending its range of vocational courses.
Care, guidance and support
Grade: 1
Grade for sixth form: 2
Through its good links with primary schools, there are excellent transition systems to help students settle quickly. The school provides a safe and supportive environment for learning. Child protection requirements and health and safety procedures are rigorously adhered to and understood by all staff. The quality of advice and guidance given to students is very much valued. Students' achievements are shared, celebrated and rewarded. The system for setting and tracking these targets is rigorous and is contributing to improved performance. The school aims to identify, with precision, what every child needs to do to improve and to target intervention where it will have maximum impact. The students receive excellent guidance on careers and options, which enables them to make informed choices on their future.
Leadership and management
Grade: 2
Grade for sixth form: 2
The headteacher has been the architect of the school's rapid transformation in the last 18 months. It is his vision and determination that has changed the culture of the school and the quality of its provision. The headteacher, with the support from his strong and effective senior leadership team, has set clear expectations for staff and students, and has been uncompromising in implementing the necessary changes. A developing team of middle managers is gaining confidence in being able to lead their own departments. However, there are still inconsistencies between and within subjects, for example, in how well students' work is marked.
Many of the improvements have been realised by the recently reorganised and restructured senior leadership team, which has built on individual strengths. Teachers have gained a confidence and the motivation to work hard. This has been achieved by successfully establishing a positive climate and a good working environment where students are happy to learn and teachers are able to teach effectively. The support offered both internally and externally has been focused effectively on improving key areas of weakness. For example, behaviour was of concern to students, staff and parents, and it is now good.
There is now a robust and honest self-evaluation, which is central to the school's improvement. Rigorous systems for checking the quality of teaching and all aspects provision have identified strengths and guided developments. Any weaknesses that have been identified have quickly and effectively been addressed, with some decisive action being taken.