The Crompton House Church of England Academy
Rochdale Road
Shaw
Oldham
Lancashire
OL2 7HS
Head: Mr Karl Newell
T 01706 847451
F 01706 291454
E admin@crompton-house.oldham.sch.uk
A state school for boys and girls aged from 11 to 18.
Boarding: No
Local authority: Oldham
Pupils: 1307
Religion: Church of England
School report
■ Students' attainment is mostly above average and, at times, significantly above average.
■ Teaching is good in most subjects because teachers have high expectations of students. They create a very positive climate for learning, to which students respond very well.
■ There is well-targeted provision for students who need extra support, including those who have special educational needs.
■ Students' safety is outstanding. Excellent provision is made to ensure that students understand how to keep themselves safe at all times.
■ The behaviour of students is outstanding. Students conduct themselves well at all times. In most areas, they have very positive attitudes to learning.
■ Not enough teaching is outstanding. Leaders do not always check the impact of initiatives to improve the quality of teaching.
■ The outcomes of students in science are not consistently strong.
■ Marking and feedback of students' work is not consistently good, particularly in science.
■ The school's provision for careers advice and guidance in Key Stages 3 and 4 is not good enough.
■ Inspectors observed a wide range of part lessons, four of which were observed jointly with members of the senior leadership team. The headteacher worked jointly with inspectors in scrutinising students' work.
■ Inspectors observed, and spoke with, students during lessons and at break times. They also met formally with groups of students from Key Stages 3, 4 and 5. In addition, inspectors met with the school council and with the sixth form student management team. The team observed an assembly and tutorials.
■ Meetings were held with senior and middle leaders. Meetings were also held with governors, including the Chair of the Governing Body, and held a telephone conversation with the school's improvement partner. A further telephone conversation was held with the school's previous consultant headteacher.
■ Inspectors observed the school's work to monitor teaching and looked at a range of documents, including students' work in their books, the school's arrangements and policies for safeguarding, performance management procedures, and the students' attendance data. Inspectors also looked at information about students' progress and attainment.
■ There were 153 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) which were used to help inspectors to gauge the views of parents. There were 83 responses made by staff to the inspection questionnaire and these were reviewed.
■ This is a much larger than average-sized secondary school.
■ The large majority of students are White British.
■ There is a much lower than average proportion of disadvantaged students. These students receive support through the pupil premium funding, which is additional government funding for students who are known to be eligible for free school meals or who are looked after by the local authority.
■ The proportion of students who are disabled or who have special educational needs is below the national average.
■ The school does not enter students early for GCSE examinations.
■ A few of the students in the school attend courses at Oldham College.
■ The school meets the government's current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for students' attainment and progress by the end of Year 11.
■ The current headteacher was appointed in September 2014.
■ Further raise achievement, particularly in science and including in the sixth form, by:
- making sure that all marking is as good as the best seen in school, so that students know what they need to do to improve their work and consistently act on the advice given, especially in science
- ensuring that, through regular assessment of students' work, teachers plan activities which match students' needs very closely
- using the outstanding practice which already exists in the school as a model to increase further the proportion of teaching which is outstanding.
■ Improve further the impact of leaders and managers by:
- checking the impact of the teaching initiatives recently implemented
- addressing the need to develop a more coherent careers, education and guidance programme in Key Stages 3 and 4.
■ The leadership and management of the school are good. There are clear plans for improvement which have been implemented successfully. As a result, teaching is good and at times it is outstanding. The outcomes for different groups of students are good and sometimes outstanding. Where there were weak outcomes in science in the past two years, the school has worked well to make improvements and these are already evident.
■ The school's evaluation of its performance is accurate and robust. It identifies accurately where improvements have been made recently and where further improvements are needed to ensure that more teaching is outstanding.
■ The leadership of teaching is effective; there is regular monitoring and checks lead to the training of staff to generate improvement. In the last 12 months, there has been a period of change and innovation. During this time, senior leaders have not always checked which training has had the strongest impact and where further consolidation is now needed.
■ Training to improve marking and feedback has been successful on the whole. However, some marking is not regular enough and the feedback given is not sufficiently specific. This means that teachers do not keep updated as to how well students are doing and activities do not match students' needs. This is the case in a minority of classes, mainly in science. Elsewhere, marking is very regular and the feedback supports students to improve their work. This is seen in the large majority of classes. It is done very well in English.
■ Arrangements for the appraisal of teachers are thorough. School leaders, including the new headteacher and governors, identified weaknesses within the system. These meant that there was not enough accountability where teaching was not leading to good outcomes for students. As a result, the system was strengthened when the new headteacher became permanent. It is now ensuring better accountability and recognising strong and outstanding teaching.
■ Middle leaders are effective. A recent restructuring has allowed key subjects, such as science, to focus wholly on the achievement of their students. This has led to improvements in all departments, including science more recently. Middle leaders are well informed and develop their own strategic plans, based on whole-school priorities.
■ Leadership of the provision for disabled students and those who have special educational needs is good. These students make good progress and, at times, their progress is outstanding. Their learning is supported closely by a curriculum that considers where they have particular needs.
■ The school uses the pupil premium funding well; eligible students' achievement is improving and they make good progress. In addition, where these students have particularly complex needs, these are met exceptionally well. As a result, disadvantaged students have good choices for future pathways when they reach Year 11, and the school guides them well.
■ Although all students continue onto further education, employment or training, the guidance and support for most of them is minimal. There is very little careers education for students other than those in Year 11. The school is aware of this and has already taken steps to make improvements in this area.
■ The curriculum is broad and well balanced. Most students follow an academic route but there are vocational courses, as well as the collaboration with Oldham College. This ensures that students' needs are well met by the range of subjects and pathways on offer. Leaders work very closely with the college to ensure that students behave well and that the highest expectations assumed at school are reflected at all times during days spent at college. In addition, school leaders liaise closely with the college to track students' progress and support the college when intervention to improve outcomes is needed. As a result, students' attendance and behaviour at college is excellent. The progress they make is good.
■ The teaching of literacy, numeracy, communication and technology is strong, ensuring that students develop basic skills well in these areas. The school's reading policy ensures that students who arrive with lower than average levels of literacy are well catered for and that they make good progress during their time in the school.
■ The school provides well for students' social, moral, spiritual and cultural education. This is seen most particularly in the way that students work with one another. Students are aware of different cultures and religions, as seen through their religious studies lessons and the assemblies they regularly attend. They also participate very enthusiastically in charity fundraising, citing it as a very important part of their lives at the school. This demonstrates the students' awareness of life experiences that differ from their own. In this way, the school ensures students are well prepared for life in modern Britain. The school promotes equality of opportunity for students and does not tolerate discrimination.
■ The school uses a School Improvement Partner and, until recently, they retained the services of a consultant headteacher. Both have been effective in their support for the school; they have an accurate view of the school's strengths and what needs to be done in order to move the school forward. The support partners both commend the new headteacher and the governors for the rapid improvements made over the past 12 months.
- Governance of the school is good. Governors are very clear about what improvements have been made and can demonstrate how these have come about. The governing body provides strong support for the new headteacher and the other leaders in school. In no small way, the strategic work of the governors has worked to ensure that teaching is consistently good and everyone understands that underperformance is not accepted.
- Governors manage the finances well and are aware of the pupil premium funding they receive and how this has been spent. They have a good understanding of school performance data. They can also cite the strong impact this has had on disadvantaged students' achievement, as well as supporting the personal, social and emotional well-being of these students.
■ The behaviour of students is outstanding. Students' conduct is excellent, including during break time, at lunch time, during assemblies and tutorial sessions, as well as in lessons and between lessons. As a result, students are always punctual for lessons and no learning time is wasted because of lateness.
■ Students' attitudes to learning are excellent in nearly all areas of the curriculum. There is some lack of engagement in a small minority of lessons, mainly in science, where some students are unclear as to what to do.
■ In the vast majority of classes students are very enthusiastic and willing participants in learning activities. They work collaboratively to ensure that they get the most from the learning. For example, in some very small classrooms, students always consider each other's needs before their own. They routinely take turns to find resources, move out of the way for each other, pass resources to each other, and remain calm and enthusiastic about their learning at all times, despite the disadvantages of the environment.
■ Students of all ages demonstrate real pride in their school. They feel they are lucky to be at the school and a high proportion choose to stay for the sixth form. There are different opportunities for leadership roles in the school, such as the school council, which runs a variety of activities, including mentoring younger students. The students involved take great pride in their role in the school; those who benefit from the support are very respectful of the work of their peers.
■ The tutoring system in school is such that there are students of all ages in each tutor group. This system allows for students of different ages to work together on a very regular basis. As such, there is a very positive relationship between students. Younger students, in particular, are very pleased with this as they say they never feel less important than, or intimidated by, older students.
■ Students who go to Oldham College on a part-time basis attend well. They are offered incentives for good behaviour, and this leads to strong conduct by these students in both school and college. Their positive attitudes to learning also lead to good achievement in their courses.
■ Students' pride in and enjoyment of school is seen through their excellent attendance, which is much higher than average. It has been consistently above average over recent years and continues to improve year on year. It is also seen in their neat presentation of their work.
■ As a result of effective leadership in this area, there are very few exclusions of students for serious behaviour issues. Equally, there are very few more minor behavioural issues, as seen by the school's behaviour records.
■ Students and parents believe that behaviour is well managed.
■ The school's work to keep students safe and secure is outstanding.
■ Students say they feel very safe. This is promoted by a very comprehensive programme, delivered through assemblies and tutorials, which makes students aware of potential dangers they can face as young people. Students have a very clear understanding of different issues, from road safety to awareness of dangers on the internet. They know how to keep themselves safe and what to do if they have any concerns about something they encounter on the internet.
■ Students report that the close relationships between students, in particular with different age groups, means that there is an in-built support system which they can all rely on. Younger students say they feel immediately welcome at the school. Students who arrive after the start of Year 7 report that this is also the case. Several of these students report that this is the first time they have felt settled at a school, following some real turbulence earlier in their education, due to the welcome they received from both students and staff.
■ Despite some crowded areas around school, there is always a calm atmosphere in which students consider the needs of each other. This promotes students' safety, as well as ensuring that they are not late for lessons.
■ Students are aware of different types of bullying, including cyber-bullying and prejudiced-based bullying. Students report that there are very occasionally some cases of bullying, but these are dealt with quickly and not repeated. Parents also agree that bullying is dealt with well. School logs show that all bullying incidents are recorded in detail, along with the actions taken. These logs show there are no repeat offences.
■ The quality of teaching is good. This is the case in most subjects. In English, the quality of teaching is outstanding. In science, the quality of teaching is improving, although it is not consistently strong.
■ In the large majority of subjects, seen from lessons observed, work in students' books and the analysis of data, teaching matches students' needs well. The most-able students are challenged well to reach the higher levels. Lower-ability students access learning well. They benefit from extra support to help them move their learning on rapidly.
■ Questioning is a strength, with most teachers using it skilfully to identify what students have understood and where they need additional help. In most cases, this leads to teachers using the information to adjust the activities to suit students' needs closely. Assessment of students' understanding is undertaken regularly in most subject areas, and this also leads to teachers planning activities which challenge and support students well.
■ However, students' needs in science are not always considered closely enough because their work is not assessed regularly enough. As a result, students' misconceptions are not identified early enough and teaching activities do not match students' needs well. In science, this can result in activities that are far too challenging for the lower- and middle-ability students And this slows their progress over time.
■ The marking of work is mostly very regular. Students confirm that the feedback they receive supports them well in improving their work and this allows for rapid progress over time. However, they rightly recognise that marking is not regular enough in some areas. In science, inspection evidence showed that this was sometimes the case. This means that students do not receive regular feedback on how to improve their work. At other times, feedback was given but it was not constructive and did not support students' improvement. As a result, students did not respond to feedback and this went unchallenged by teachers.
■ Teaching in English is outstanding. This is seen in the outcomes of students, as well as their work. Students get regular opportunities to improve their work, which leads to the stronger quality of writing in particular. Students respond very enthusiastically to the variety, as well as the challenge, of activities. Because students' knowledge and understanding is regularly assessed, activities meet students' needs very well.
■ Teachers create a very positive climate for learning. There are excellent routines established in nearly all areas of the curriculum, meaning that students understand the expectations of their conduct in lessons and attitudes to learning. As a result of communicating these very high expectations, even when teaching is not outstanding, students always demonstrate very positive attitudes to learning.
■ The teaching of literacy, mathematics and reading is good. Students' literacy and reading skills are a priority in all subject areas and, as a result, students demonstrate strong knowledge and good use of key technical terminology in their work. They write well, and regular assessments of students' work ensure that they continue to improve their writing by including, for example, key details and ambitious language. Mathematics is well taught in the school. Elements of numeracy are reinforced in other areas of the school, such as science and design and technology, where students apply their mathematics skills practically.
■ From their starting points, different groups of students make good progress across most subjects. In English, students make outstanding progress during their time in school.
■ In 2014, Year 11 students did not make good progress in science. The progress of students currently in the school is not yet consistently good in science but it has improved. This has particularly been the case for the most-able students.
■ Disadvantaged students make good progress during their time at school. A significant number of very vulnerable disadvantaged students join the school during Key Stage 4. These students' pastoral needs are an urgent priority on arrival. The school deals with this exceptionally well, ensuring that students receive strong support. This leads to them remaining in the school until the end of Year 11 or the sixth form. None of these students leave the school without moving on to appropriate training or employment and the school maintains contact with them as they move onto other providers. The academic progress these students make during the short time they are with the school is good.
■ Disabled students and those who have special educational needs make good progress across different subjects, including English and mathematics. This is because there is strong teaching of these students, with extra support that targets students' needs well, as required.
■ The achievement of disadvantaged students is good overall. In Year 11 in 2014, across their best eight subjects including English and mathematics, disadvantaged students were about two GCSE grades behind others in the school and less than a grade and a half behind other students nationally. Data seen during the inspection shows that in English, disadvantaged students are making outstanding progress and good progress in most other areas. The standards disadvantaged students are reaching in their different subjects is rising and moving closer to the national average for other students.
■ The most-able students make good progress across different subjects. In English, they make outstanding progress because they are challenged well. As a result, a high proportion of the most-able students reach the top grades in many subjects, including English and mathematics, and increasingly so in science.
■ Students who attend Oldham College for a variety of applied courses achieve well. This is due to strong collaboration between the school and the college, where students' needs are understood well and their needs are met by the courses they undertake.
■ Students' achievement in the sixth form is good. Students are making good progress in most subjects, although it is not as strong in some, such as modern foreign languages. However, where achievement has not been good in recent years, there are clear indications of improvements for students currently in Years 12 and 13.
■ The quality of teaching is good. This is consistently the case over time in nearly all areas. Where there has been historically weaker teaching, clear improvements are evident, meaning that students currently in the sixth form are doing well.
■ Marking and feedback for students is strong across different departments. The regular assessment of students helps teachers to have a clear view of where students need extra support and allow them to meet students' needs well.
■ The behaviour and safety of students are outstanding. Students report that they receive excellent care, support and guidance. This was evident in the information around the school's pastoral programme, undertaken through assemblies and tutorials. This supports students to understand how to keep themselves safe now and as they move onto higher education and employment.
■ As in the main school, attendance is above average and continues to improve. Students demonstrate very strong attitudes to learning; they are keen to be involved and to understand how they can improve their outcomes. Students undertake independent research projects which prepare them well for their next stage of education.
■ Students enjoy coming to school and are very proud of their school and their sixth form. This is seen in the enthusiastic way they are involved in leadership in the school. A sixth form student management team is led by eight Year 13 students and supported by prefects in the sixth form. Between them, they oversee charity fundraising and entertainment events, as well as leading assemblies on a variety of topics. Younger students respect the sixth form leaders and the leaders themselves are very proud of their role.
■ The school provides strong advice for students in the sixth form as they make decisions about their next steps. As a result, students feel they have a lot of choices and believe that they are equipped with enough information to make the right choices. Consequently, all students carry on to complete higher educationcourses or go on to further training or employment.
■ Retention rates are good. Some students do leave courses early but the school supports them in moving to different courses or different providers, as appropriate. The curriculum provides mainly academic courses, which is appropriate due to the high proportion of students who achieve good GCSE grades.
■ Leadership of the sixth form is good, ensuring improving standards by the time students leave the school. This is due to good and improving teaching, as well as strong guidance and advice for the students. Leaders also work very effectively with students to ensure that they feel valued. As a result, students attend very well and behave very well.
School Grade Grade 1
Judgement Outstanding
Description
An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils' needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment.
School Grade Grade 2
Judgement Good
Description
A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils' needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment.
School Grade Grade 3
Judgement Requires improvement
Description
A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection.
School Grade Grade 4
Judgement Inadequate
Description
A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.
A school that requires special measures is one where the school is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school's leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.
Unique reference number 137294
Local authority Oldham
Inspection number 461780
This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.
Type of school Secondary
School category Academy converter
Age range of pupils 11-18
Gender of pupils Mixed
Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed
Number of pupils on the school roll 1,340
Of which, number on roll in sixth form 280
Appropriate authority The governing body
Chair Gordon Main
Headteacher Karl Newell
Date of previous school inspection 20 June 2012
Telephone number 01706 847451
Fax number 01706 291454
Email address info@cromptonhouse.org
Any complaints about the inspection or the report should be made following the procedures set out in the guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.
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The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.
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