Altrincham Grammar School for Girls

Unique Reference Number 106362

Local Authority Trafford

Inspection number 324381

Inspection date 18 September 2008

Reporting inspector John Coleman HMI

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

Type of school	Secondary
School category	Foundation
Age range of pupils	11-18
Gender of pupils Number on roll	Girls
School (total)	1218
Sixth form	327
Appropriate authority	The governing body
Chair	Mrs C Foan
Headteacher	Mrs D Ross-Wawrzynski
Date of previous school inspection	9 November 2005
School address	Cavendish Road Bowdon Altrincham Cheshire WA14 2NL
Telephone number	0161 9125912
Fax number	0161 9417400
Age group	11-18
Inspection date	18 September 2008

Introduction

The inspection was carried out by one of Her Majesty's Inspectors and one Additional Inspector. Inspectors evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and of the sixth form and investigated the following issues: students' achievement and standards, the impact of the school's Specialist Status on the opportunities available to students and the effectiveness of leadership and management, particularly that of middle leaders. Evidence was gathered from: the school's own self-evaluation form (SEF); national published assessment data and the school's own assessment records; curriculum, planning and monitoring documents; observation of parts of lessons; discussions with staff, governors and students; and from parents' questionnaires. Other aspects of the school's work were not investigated in detail, but inspectors found no evidence to suggest that the school's own assessments were not justified and these have been included where appropriate in the report.

Description of the school

Altrincham Grammar School for Girls is a larger than average selective school with a relatively large sixth form. Students who meet the academic standards set for admission are allocated places on the basis of living nearest to the school. It is a Specialist Language college and is also a Specialist Training school. The proportion of students eligible for free school meals is very low and the school has very few students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Around one in five students come from a range of minority ethnic groups and very small numbers do not speak English as their first language.

Key for inspection grades

Grade 1 Outstanding

Grade 2 Good

Grade 3 Satisfactory

Grade 4 Inadequate

Overall effectiveness of the school

Grade: 1

Altrincham Grammar School for Girls is an outstanding school. As one parent wrote, reflecting the views of many, 'The school engenders a very special sense of pride in its students and will stretch them to reach their potential and obtain a great sense of achievement.' Examination resultsareexceptionallyhighbuttheschoolshowsnocomplacencyandtheschool'sleadership isfirmlyfocusedonfurtherimprovements.Studentsworkveryhard,behaveimpeccablyand displayexcellentattitudestolearning.TheimpactofLanguageCollegeandTrainingSchool statuspermeatesthelifeoftheschoolandisveryeffectiveinprovidingmanyenriching opportunities for students and increases their impressive achievement.

Studentsentertheschoolwithwellaboveaveragelevelsofattainmentoverallwhencompared toallschoolsnationally,althoughtheschool'sadmissionpolicyresultsinalowerthanaverage attainmentonentrywhencomparedtomostothergrammarschools.TheendofKeyStage3 national assessments in 2007 reveal students reaching very high attainment levels in English, mathematics and science. Outstanding progress is made throughout the school and GCSE examinationresultsin2007showthat100%ofstudentsgainedatleastfiveA*toCgrades including mathematics and English. In all subjects at GCSE standards are above average. The proportion of students achieving the highest A*/A grades is four times the national average. Thisrepresentsexceptionallyhighstandardsandoutstandingachievement.

Studentsachieveoutstandinglywellbecausethequalityofteachingthroughouttheschoolis of a consistent high quality. The vast majority of lessons are good or better and many are outstanding. The relationships between teachers and students are first class and built upon mutual trust and understanding. Students say that teachers are approachable and always available,forexample,inthemanyextrasessionsatlunch-timewhenstudentscancatchup followingalesson.Theresultisthatstudentsdemonstratearemarkableappetiteforlearning: theyshowinterestandsustainconcentrationinlessonssothattheyachievethemaximumfrom theirteachers'input.Theleadershipoftheschoolisextremelyeffectiveindeployingalmost every teacher to teach lessons in their subject of expertise. They are also able to teach the subjecttoallyeargroups.Consequently,studentsgainfromlessonsinwhichthesubject knowledgeoftheteacherisveryhigh.Additionally,teachersareveryawareofthepriorlearning of students and of the next steps needed. This leads to well matched tasks for students which providestimulatingandchallengingactivities.Teachersengagestudentsbyusingavarietyof teaching styles and strategies but do not always provide sufficient opportunities for students to contribute activelyto their own learning.

Theschoolissuperblyledbytheheadteacherandcolleaguesspeakopenlyofherinspiration, driveanddeterminationtoattainincreasinglyhigherachievementsfortheschoolandits students. Overall theleadershipandmanagementoftheschoolareoutstanding.Thesenior leadership team, provide great experience and knowledge of the school, education and the relativestrengthsandweaknessesintheschool'sprovision.Thisisbecausetheproceduresfor checking the school's performance are very well structured, tightly organised and carried out withrigourandexpertise.Thishighqualityextendstotheschool'smiddleleaders.At departmentallevel,staffareconfidentintheirroles,clearabouttheirdirectionandkeento developtheirsubjecttothehigheststandard.Theyspeakwithpassionateconvictionabout their own professional development and praise the headteacher and senior leaders for distributing decision making and giving them autonomy. The skills of staff at all levels are greatlyenhancedbytheschool'sexcellentprovisionfortraininganddevelopment.Governors areverywellinformedthroughtheinformationtheyreceivefromtheschool'sleadership.They arefullyinvolvedinthelifeoftheschoolandtheirfrequentvisitsmeansthattheyarewell placedtofulfiltheirroleasacriticalfriend.Parentsareencouragedtobeinvolvedintheschool, suchasinthesixthform'dropin'sessionswhichtakeplaceduringlunch-times.Parent questionnairesreceivedbyinspectorsarefulsomeintheirpraiseandappreciationoftheschool's work.

Sincethelastinspectionthestandardswhichstudentsattainhascontinuedtorise.Thereisa trendofyear-on-yearimprovement.InparticulartheimpactofLanguageCollegestatushas beenexcellent.Thereisanextensivechoiceoflanguageswhichstudentsmaylearn.Theformal curriculum offers French, Spanish and German. The numbers of students opting for extra languagesisgrowingandtheparticipationinthesixthformisincreasingtoo.Gradesachieved inexaminationsatGCSE,ASandA2areveryhighandrepresentoutstandingachievement. Additionally,studentsmaylearnextralanguagesasextra-curricularactivitiesandtheseinclude Russian, Chinese and Japanese. There are several international links with other schools which arewellestablished.ExchangevisitstakeplaceforstudentsandteachersalsocometoAltrincham attracted by the school's experience and notable reputation as a training school. There are outstandingpartnershipswithlocalprimaryschoolsandstaffandstudentsprovidelanguage supportandguidancetotheyoungerchildren.Inadditiontheschooldisseminatesitsexcellent practicetoothersecondaryschoolsinthelocalarea.AstrongpartnershipwithManchester Metropolitan University provides trainee teachers with first-hand classroom experience. The school has outstanding capacity to improve.

The school's second specialism as a training school attracts extra funding which is well used to extend and enrich curriculum opportunities for students and professional development opportunitiesforstaff.Visitingspeakersofferexpertguidancetostudents.Forexample,during the inspection a chief examiner spoke to students about the value of A2 general studies. The programme of staff development includes opportunities for educational research and to gain externalqualificationssuchasmaster'sdegreestudies.Theschoolstaffhaverecentlyestablished a range of working parties to organise and coordinate staff training in the identified areas for wholeschoolimprovement.Staffarealsowideningtheirexperienceandhoningtheirskills through effective collaboration with other schools in different circumstances.

Effectiveness of the sixth form

Grade: 1

Thesixthformprovidesanoutstandingeducationforallitsstudents.Standardsareexceptionally highandachievementisoutstanding.Theproportionofstudentswhotransferintosixthform fromthemainschoolishigh(about85%)andstudentsspeakenthusiasticallyaboutthevery effective transition, which is due to the extensive guidance available when choices need to be made.Anoverwhelmingpercentageofstudents(99%)continuetostudyforAlevelsfollowing theirsuccessinASlevelsinYear12.Everystudentleavingsixthformin2007acceptedaplace at university or in higher education. The leadership and management of the sixth form are outstanding.Veryclosemonitoringofstudents'progressisachievedthroughanexcellent mentor system. Formal and informal systems complement each otherso that students' subject performanceisguidedandsupportedeffectivelyandstudents'personaldevelopmentisnurtured well.Thereareclosepartnershipswithotherinstitutions,externalagenciesandwithparents. Thereareincreasingnumbersofstudentschoosinglanguagesandworkexperienceisprovided inFrench,SpanishandGerman.Thecurriculumiswellmatchedtostudentsneedsandstudents saytheyareverypleasedwithoptionsavailable.Inparticular,studentspraisetheexcellent guidancetheyaregivenindecidingthenextstepsintheireducation.Headsofdepartmentare wellinformedaboutthemeritsofeachsubjectandtheirusefulnessforuniversityapplication. Thequalityofteachingandlearningisoutstandingwithparticularstrengthsinthesubject knowledge ofteachers.

What the school should do to improve further

■ Increasetheopportunitiesforstudentstocontributeactivelytotheirownlearninginlessons.

Annex A

Inspection judgements

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

School

Overall

16-19

Overall effectiveness

How effective,efficient and inclusive is the provision of education,integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners?	1	1
Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection	Yes	Yes
How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well being?	1	1
The capacity to make any necessary improvements	1	1

Achievement and standards

How well do learners achieve?	1	1
The standards1 reached by learners	1	1
How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners	1	1
How well learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make progress	1

Personal development and well-being

How good are the overall personal development and well-being of the learners?	1	1
The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development	1
The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles	1
The extent to which learners adopt safe practices	1
The extent to which learners enjoy their education	1
The attendance of learners	1
The behaviour of learners	1
The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community	1
How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being	1

The quality of provision

How effective are teaching and learning in meeting the full range of learners' needs?	1	1
How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of learners?	1	1
How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?	1	1

Leadership and management

How effective are leadership and management in raising achievement and supporting all learners?	1	1
Howeffectivelyleadersandmanagersatalllevelssetclear direction leading to improvement and promote high qualityof care and education	1
How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards	1
The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation	1	1
How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination eliminated	1
How well does the school contribute to community cohesion?	1
How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money	1
The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities	1
Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements?	Yes	Yes
Does this school require special measures?	No
Does this school require a notice to improve?	No

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