The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have a developed a clear vision of ‘support, inspire and thrive’ and through effective long-term planning you have embedded and developed systems that support this goal. For example, you have created precise systems to measure teacher effectiveness over time, which leads to bespoke training programmes. Leaders, including governors, said that this was leading to a consistently good quality of education for pupils in all key stages. It was clear from the lessons that inspectors visited and through work produced in pupils’ books that pupils continue to make good progress. You have strengthened the wider leadership across your school, through the development of the ‘extended leadership team’. Along with some newly appointed faculty leaders, for example in English and mathematics, you have ensured that there is a joined-up approach to improvement that filters into all levels of leadership. For example, you rightly recognised that the progress of disadvantaged pupils needed to improve and through your extended leadership model, leaders were able to effectively monitor the progress of these pupils and ensure that they received targeted support centred on their needs. As a result, the progress of disadvantaged pupils has improved to a similar level to that of other pupils in the school. At the last inspection, you were asked to make sure that all teachers consistently follow the agreed approach to give pupils time to respond to clear advice about how to improve their work. It is clear from the lessons that inspectors observed and through the work that they looked at in books that pupils spend time improving the work that they produce. Students in the sixth form said that improving the quality of their work is the most consistent part of all their lessons. The change you have made to the length of lessons has ensured that teachers consistently give pupils time to evaluate their own and each other’s work. This is now a strength of the school because pupils regularly correct and make improvements to their work. You were also asked at the last inspection to improve pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare by developing their appreciation of the diverse world of which they are a part. It was extremely pleasing to see that this is now one of the strongest areas of the school’s work. The ‘wider world’ curriculum and the addition of the ‘personal development activities’ period creates opportunities for pupils to regularly discuss and debate the world around them. Pupil surveys indicate that nearly all pupils have a good awareness and understanding of the needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. By organising personal development activities into mixed year group classes, you have helped to build a strong community within the school. Pupils that were interviewed in Year 10 and students in the sixth form said that personal development activities were something that they enjoyed and valued. It is clear that you have created a strong community. Nearly all parents and carers said that they would recommend your school to others. You and the newly appointed line manager of the sixth form also took swift action to improve the progress that students make in Years 12 and 13. As a result, the leadership of the sixth form and the progress that sixth-form students make are now clear strengths. The senior leader responsible for the sixth form has put strong and efficient processes in place to ensure that all sixth-form students are effectively assessed, monitored and supported. The changes to the curriculum structure and personalised support are beginning to have a positive effect on student’s progress, attainment and attitudes. Students are extremely complimentary of the support and guidance they get from teachers and support staff. Safeguarding is effective. You ensure that safeguarding is effective through clear processes and procedures that staff and governors understand, including those new to the school. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed. Leaders know their pupils and communities well, which results in pupils feeling safe and happy. Pupils are confident that staff will deal effectively with any problems they might have. Leaders deal swiftly and effectively with any incidents and concerns to make sure they do not lead to a pupil being endangered. The school has a strong knowledge of particular risks that pupils may face, and leaders plan for this. For example, all pupils regularly use the internet on their own tablet computers during their lessons. Leaders have invested in technology that monitors website usage on mobile technology so that inappropriate websites are restricted. Any incidents are dealt with swiftly and effectively. Leaders also respond effectively to the changing needs of their community to 2 ensure that any emerging risks are appropriately managed. For example, assemblies and tutorials have targeted certain groups of students in the sixth form to offer guidance and support around issues such as mental health and suicide. Through intuitive responses such as this, it is of no surprise that the pupil survey indicates that the vast majority pupils state that the school supports them in looking after their emotional and mental health. Inspection findings You acknowledge that in Year 11 in 2018, outcomes for most able pupils in English did not represent good progress from their starting points. Leaders’ checks on the quality of teaching this year have identified that improving the achievement of most able pupils in this subject is a priority. Following the appointment of a new assistant director of faculty, leaders have now implemented strategies aimed at improving pupils’ achievement and these are starting to pay off. Inspectors saw good examples of pupils reflecting upon and improving their own work by using the model answers provided by teachers via tablet computers. This is helping pupils, including the most able, to produce work to a higher standard and to make better progress. You recognise that this agreed approach is not yet embedded and not used by all teachers across the English department. The current progress of the most able pupils in other subjects across the school is also variable because work sometimes lacks challenge. Most-able pupils in Year 11 in mathematics explained that they were ‘having to think hard’. These pupils’ books also showed that their work is typically challenging. However, this good practice is not evident in all classes and subjects. Although you know that improving the achievement of most-able pupils is an important next step, leaders’ plans of the actions they intend to take in order to do so require greater clarity. At the end of Year 11 in 2018, outcomes for pupils studying the English Baccalaureate subjects were variable. While pupils made good progress in science and humanities, their progress in languages was not good. Leadership in this area has now been strengthened and a detailed action plan to improve pupils’ achievement has been developed, including improving pupils’ speaking and listening skills. It was, therefore, pleasing to see Year 11 pupils being well supported by teachers and other adults to improve their pronunciation and fluency. Furthermore, following support from a teaching school alliance, leaders are making sure that teachers’ assessments of pupils’ skills, knowledge and progress in languages are more accurate. This is helping to ensure that pupils receive work and feedback that is more carefully matched to their needs and abilities. The quality of sixth-form provision is improving. Professional development for teachers has focused on making sure that planned work meets students’ varying needs and abilities more effectively. Teachers are encouraged to provide students with model answers. From this, students are able to identify their own strengths and learn how to improve their work. In Year 13 in history, for example, students clearly articulated to inspectors whether they needed to improve their knowledge and understanding or application and evaluation in 3 long-response questions. As a result, students make good progress. You acknowledge that, in the past, the sixth-form curriculum did not effectively meet some students’ needs and resulted in disappointing grades at AS level at the end of Year 12. All students, however, now follow two-year A-level programmes and no longer sit AS levels. You have taken effective steps to change and improve the curriculum, especially to better support the progress of less-able students. Students following vocational courses say that they enjoy learning. You have also revised the curriculum for those pupils retaking their GCSE in English and/or mathematics. Subject-specialist teachers now teach these courses. This has led to improved outcomes in recent external examinations, for example in mathematics. Although some curriculum changes are recent, it was encouraging to see the positive effect that these changes are having on students’ progress over time, in students’ work, school assessment information, and in the very positive comments made by all students spoken to about the quality of education they receive. Leaders have thought very carefully about how to best support sixth-form students in their studies and do so very effectively. Leaders, teachers and support staff work closely together to help students manage their private study time. From early in Year 12, students are encouraged to form good study habits and taught how to plan their revision effectively. Curriculum support booklets, often on tablet computers, help students to structure their recall and revision of knowledge. Students reported that regular tests of their knowledge in different subjects helps them to improve and that the use of tablet computers helps them to build their knowledge, organisational skills and access to teaching resources. As a result, students are confident in their knowledge, understanding and skills, and achievement is improving as a result. Students talk very positively about, and value, the high-quality support they receive. They are very proud of the school community of which they are part. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: all teachers follow agreed approaches to support pupils to produce work to a consistently high standard the most able are challenged effectively and consistently across all curriculum subjects. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for North Yorkshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Lee Styles Ofsted Inspector 4 Information about the inspection During the inspection, I held discussions with you and other senior leaders about your plans for improvement and your evaluation of the school’s effectiveness. I also held a meeting with members of the governing body. I met with a range of pupils from Year 10 and students in Years 12 and 13. I visited lessons with senior leaders, looking at pupils’ work and observing their learning. I conducted a scrutiny of pupils’ work in a range of subjects, including in the sixth form. I also scrutinised a range of documents related to safeguarding, behaviour and school improvement. I considered the responses of parents, pupils and staff to the online questionnaires.