Egglescliffe School
Urlay Nook Road
Eaglescliffe
Stockton-on-Tees
TS16 0LA

Head: Mr Simon White

T 01642 352570

F 01642 352571

E info@egglescliffe.org.uk

W www.egglescliffe.org.uk

A state school for boys and girls aged from 11 to 18.

Boarding: No

Local authority: Stockton-on-Tees

Pupils: 1,510; sixth formers: 315

Religion: Does not apply

Urlay Nook Road, Eaglescliffe, Stockton-on-Tees, TS16 0LA

Inspection dates                   8-9 May 2013

Previous inspection:	Outstanding	1
Overall effectiveness
This inspection:	Outstanding	1
Achievement of pupils	Outstanding	1
Quality of teaching	Outstanding	1
Behaviour and safety of pupils	Outstanding	1
Leadership and management	Outstanding	1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school.

Information about this inspection

• ■ During this inspection, inspectors observed 42 lessons, including three joint observations with senior staff.

• ■ They looked carefully at a wide range of students' written work, especially in Years 9 and 11.

• ■ There were meetings with the headteacher, representatives of the governing body, a representative of the local authority, senior staff, middle managers and several groups of students.

• ■ Inspectors scrutinised a wide variety of documentation, including the school's checks on how well it is doing, the development plan, analyses of students' attainment and progress and safeguarding procedures.

• ■ They took account of 66 responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) as well as responses to the staff questionnaire.

Inspection team

John Paddick, Lead inspector David Bridgewater

Julie Rimmer

Brian Hill

Nicholas Hurn

Full report

Information about this school

• ■ Egglescliffe School is a larger than average size secondary school and has a large sixth form.

• ■ It is a specialist school for performing arts, science and mathematics.

• ■ The school has many awards, including Investors in People, Inclusion Quality Mark Gold, Arts Mark Gold and Best Sporting School in the Tees Valley.

• ■ Almost all students are White British.

• ■ Proportions of students supported through school action, school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs are all below average.

• ■ The proportion of students known to be eligible for pupil premium is below average. (The pupil premium is additional funding for pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals, children from service families and those children who are looked after by the local authority.)

• ■ A very small number of students attend vocational courses at Stockton Riverside College.

• ■ The school meets the government's current floor standards which set the minimum expectations for students' attainment and progress.

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• ■ Set targets for the improvement of much of the good teaching to outstanding by:

• - ensuring that teachers always plan lessons to cater fully for all abilities

• - incorporating into lessons more activities to enable students to take more responsibility for their own learning

• - using the current outstanding teaching to provide examples of exemplary classroom skills

• - including in the school development plan a rolling programme for the improvement of good teaching to outstanding with quantitative targets and timescales.

Inspection judgements

The achievement of pupils                is outstanding

• ■ Students make excellent progress and achieve highly in a very wide range of GCSE, AS and A-level subjects. They join Year 7 with above average attainment in English and mathematics and build upon this strong foundation to gain GCSE results, which are well above national averages. There is a similar picture in the sixth form. After their success at GCSE, students join Year 12 with above average attainment and proceed to achieve exceptionally well at AS and A-level, where results, as at GCSE, are well in advance of national figures.

• ■ At GCSE in 2012, over a third of all subject results were either grade A* or A, and represented exceptionally high achievement. More than four out of every five results were at grade C or better. A-level results were of similar quality and provided most students with the qualifications they needed for university entry. Virtually every A-level result was in the pass range A*to E and three out of every five was A* to B.

• ■ GCSE, AS and A-level results have been well above average for many years. This is part of the reason why the school is so popular with students and their parents. Individual subject results vary over time but overall consistently reflect outstanding achievement. In 2012, GCSE results in English and mathematics dipped but they were still well above average, while science results were the highest in the school's records. GCSE and A-level results in the school's specialist subjects of performing arts, mathematics and sciences were all well above average.

• ■ The school's excellent tracking system shows that academic standards are being maintained at high levels across a very wide spectrum of subjects. This was confirmed by lesson observations and scrutiny of students' work. The school sets demanding targets for students and monitors their progress towards them rigorously. Any perceived slippage triggers interventions, which ensure that students make up for any lost ground quickly. Inspectors saw an excellent example of this where a group of students in Year 11 were being expertly taught at the C/D GCSE borderline in English. The school uses early entry for GCSE in mathematics just for some middle ability students to enable them to have two opportunities to achieve at least grade C. The success of this action is reflected in the fact that over 30 students at the C/D borderline have already achieved grade C this year.

• ■ Students of all ability, male, female, disabled students and those with special educational needs all achieve very highly compared to similar students nationally. When listening to reading, inspectors found that virtually every student who had joined the school with below average competence in word recognition and comprehension was able to read fluently and with expression. The school is using the pupil premium funding well and is rapidly closing the gap in performance between students known to be eligible for free school meals and other students in both English and mathematics. Students in Years 7 and 8 whose reading, spelling or writing is below the expected level receive effective extra tuition which enables most to close the gap between where they are and average attainment.

• ■ During lesson observations and through a scrutiny of students' written work, inspectors found that the school's previous outstanding achievement is currently being replicated across all year groups. Students produce extensive written work, present it well and take a pride in it. They express themselves well orally and in writing, and use and apply mathematics very confidently when the need arises. It is clear that most students are currently making at least good progress and that very many are doing better than that. For example, in an outstanding music lesson in Year 10, a large group of students reached very high standards and made exceptional progress in learning how to incorporate modulation into their composition and performance.

  The quality of teaching

  is outstanding

• ■ The school has maintained high quality teaching since the previous inspection. This is clear because students have continued to achieve excellent GCSE, AS and A-level results.

• ■ The school's own observations indicate that virtually all teaching is at least good and much is outstanding. This very closely matches the overall quality of teaching observed during the inspection. Evidence from the joint observations show that there is an exact match between the senior managers' perceptions of high quality and those of the inspection team.

• ■ Teachers demonstrate fully the qualities outlined in the National Teaching Standards. They prepare their lessons well, ensure that they start on time and proceed with a brisk pace. In class, relationships with students are universally excellent and much is achieved in the time available.

• ■ Where teaching is of the highest quality, teachers prepare exceptionally carefully to provide a wide range of interesting activities. These tasks build on what students already know and understand and so are always closely matched to the needs of the range of ability of their students. They ensure that all students make exceptionally rapid progress by providing opportunities for them to take responsibility for much of their own learning through group work, debate and presentation of findings.

• ■ All teachers explain work very clearly and generate an excellent learning atmosphere in the classroom. Usually they ensure that there is an excellent balance between their own input and the time available for active learning and for students to think things out for themselves. They consistently ensure that students have sufficient time to learn effectively and consolidate understanding before they move on.

• ■ Teachers integrate opportunities for students to develop their reading, writing and comprehension skills well in other subjects apart from English. Close collaboration between mathematics and science teachers ensures that students have extensive opportunities to develop their numerical, algebraic and graphical skills in real-life situations.

• ■ The difference between the outstanding and good practice lies in the quality of preparation and organisation of lessons. The best promote excellent progress for all students because they cater exceptionally well for different abilities and allow students to take much responsibility for their own learning. In the good lessons, many students also make excellent progress and most achieve well, but others could achieve more if activities were more closely matched to their levels of attainment.

The behaviour and safety of pupils

• ■ Students display exceptionally positive attitudes to learning and they are very eager to do well in their studies. They also take every opportunity to participate in activities outside the classroom. An example of this was found in the large numbers of students who arrive before school in the morning to participate in sport, either just for enjoyment and general fitness or for practise for participation at local, national and international levels. Another example is the time that students are prepared to devote to becoming proficient with musical instruments and reaching levels of performance of high quality.

• ■ Attitudes in lessons are exceptionally positive and they contribute greatly to their own excellent learning. In all of the observed lessons, pupils fully respected their teachers, cooperated with them and worked hard. Behaviour outside lessons is excellent. Students mix freely and socialise in a very mature manner.

• ■ Evidence strongly suggests that students' behaviour observed during the inspection is very typical of the daily operation of the school. Students, members of staff and most parents who responded via Parent View are all sure that behaviour in the school is at least good.

• ■ On the relatively rare occasions that pupils' conduct falls short of the school's high expectations, members of staff are very effective in putting measures in place to improve it. Exclusions for poor conduct are exceptionally low for a large secondary school.

• ■ An excellent range of internal support systems underpins students' welfare and learning. Students say that if they encounter problems they would be very confident about approaching members of staff to help them.

• ■ Inspectors interviewed many random groups of students over the two days of the inspection. They say they feel happy and very safe in school. They also add that bullying is rare and that if it does occur they have every confidence that members of staff would be effective in sorting matters out. Students fully understand the potential risks posed by alcohol, drugs and the internet.

■ Attendance is above average and persistent absence very low. This is because the school takes effective action to monitor and eliminate absence and also because students are keen to attend school and value what it provides for them.

The leadership and management

• ■ Egglescliffe School is so successful because the headteacher leads it in outstanding fashion. She has a very clear view about what constitutes a high quality educational experience. It not only enables the students to achieve excellent examination results, but also gives them great confidence, gained through success in a wide range of activities, particularly music, drama and sport.

• ■ She shares her view of education very effectively with her staff at all levels of seniority and is very ably supported by her senior team. The staff questionnaire shows that morale is excellent and that members of staff are proud to be employed by such an excellent establishment. Teachers and support staff work exceptionally hard to ensure that high standards are maintained year on year and they give their time willingly to work at extra activities with students outside lessons.

• ■ The school's checks on how well it is doing are accurate so managers and governors have a clear idea of the school's continuing strengths and where improvements are necessary. There is no room for complacency. Any dips in examination performance are taken seriously and quickly rectified. For example, following slight reductions in GCSE proportions of grade C or better in English and mathematics in 2012, managers scrutinised progress carefully and have ensured that standards have reverted to the usual high levels. They have done this through tracking students' progress frequently and providing extra tuition to counteract any underachievement.

• ■ The management of teaching is excellent and reflected in the consistently good and frequently outstanding quality of teachers' performance in the classroom. Lesson observations carried out by managers are accurate and performance management arrangements are robust and effective.

• ■ Leaders have designed an excellent curriculum which provides students with a splendid balance between a very large number of GCSE, AS and A-level courses and a quite exceptional range of extra-curricular activities. A small number of students in Years 10 and 11 benefit from a range of vocational opportunities at a local college. In addition to its very wide range of courses, the curriculum promotes students' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development to a very high level.

• ■ Safeguarding meets all requirements. Arrangements for checking the identities of all adults who have access to students are exemplary.

• ■ Equality of opportunity has a particularly high profile and managers ensure that all groups of pupils do equally well. Many students who would otherwise not be able to attend some activities receive financial assistance to enable them to participate in the same manner as other students. The school's outstanding work in this field is reflected in its Inclusion Quality Mark Gold.

• ■ The local authority fully recognises the high quality of provision that the school offers to its students. It provides useful light touch support and guidance and an accurate second opinion on its own evaluation of its work.

• ■ The governance of the school:

- Governors are extremely effective. They have an exceptionally clear idea of the school's very strong features and know how well it performs in relation to other schools nationally. They have an accurate picture of the quality of teaching and ensure that teachers merit salary progressions and promotions. They probe and challenge when appropriate and ensure that performance management arrangements are rigorous and productive. Training is up to date and enables them to use national data to check whether pupil premium funding is being used

effectively to drive up progress rates of the pupils who are known to qualify for it.

What inspection judgements mean

School
Grade	Judgement	Description
Grade 1	Outstanding	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.
Grade 2	Good	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.
Grade 3	Requires improvement	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.
Grade 4	Inadequate	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.

School details

Unique reference number

Local authority

Inspection number

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

Type of school	Secondary
School category	Community
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	1,452
Of which, number on roll in sixth form	284
Appropriate authority	The governing body
Chair	Janet Richards
Headteacher	Angela Darnell
Date of previous school inspection	17 September 2008
Telephone number	01642 352570
Fax number	01642 352571
Email address	info@egglescliffe.org.uk

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