Stowe School

About the school
Stowe School
Stowe
Buckingham
MK18 5EH

Head: Dr A Wallersteiner

T 01280 818205

F 01280 818181

E admissions@stowe.co.uk

W www.stowe.co.uk

An independent school for boys and girls aged from 13 to 18.

Boarding: Yes

Local authority: Buckinghamshire

Pupils: 800; sixth formers: 340

Religion: Church of England

Fees: Day £26,355; Boarding £36,660 pa

ISI Report

Independent Schools Inspectorate

Focused Compliance and Educational Quality Inspection Reports For Schools with Residential Provision

Stowe School

November 2018

School's Details

School

Stowe School

DfE number

825/6001

Registered charity number

310639

Address

Stowe

Buckingham Buckinghamshire

MK18 5EH

Telephone number

01280 818000

Email address

enquiries@stowe.co.uk

Headmaster

Dr Anthony Wallersteiner

Chair of governors

Mr Simon Creedy Smith

Age range

13 to 18

Number of pupils on roll

807

Boys          494

Girls

313

Day pupils      117

Boarders

690

Seniors         456

Sixth form

351

Inspection dates

27 to 29 November 2018

1. Background Information

About the school

  • 1.1   Stowe School is an independent day and boarding school for boys and girls, founded in 1923. The school site adjoins that of the Stowe National Trust. The school is a charitable trust administered by a governing body.

  • 1.2   Most pupils are boarders, who are accommodated in 13 boarding houses. Since the previous inspection, the school has opened a new music school, expanded its sixth form girls' boarding house, enlarged and refurbished its science buildings, and, most recently, opened a new boys' boarding house to create more places for day pupils.

What the school seeks to do

  • 1.3   The school aims to provide an all-round education of the highest standard, and to establish confidence and tolerance of others in a supportive family atmosphere and within a Christian milieu. It seeks to encourage pupils to develop academic excellence, sporting prowess and creativity. The school endeavours to develop in pupils a lasting sense of moral, social and spiritual responsibility, consideration of others and the encouragement of pupils to think for themselves, to challenge conventional orthodoxies and to pursue their own enthusiasms.

About the pupils

  • 1.4   Pupils come from a range of professional and commercial families. Most are white British, but there are a few pupils from overseas. Nationally standardised test data provided by the school indicate that the ability of senior school pupils is above average and that of sixth form pupils is broadly average. The school has identified 160 pupils as having special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), which include dyslexia and dyspraxia, of whom 58 receive additional specialist help. No pupil in the school has an education, health and care plan or a statement of special educational needs. English is an additional language (EAL) for 135 pupils, 37 of whom receive additional support for their English. The curriculum is modified for the most able in the school's population.

2. Regulatory Compliance Inspection

Preface

The registration authority for independent schools is the Department for Education (DfE), which directs inspection according to a specified frequency or at any time where the DfE has particular concerns about a school. The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) is the body approved by the Secretary of State for the purpose of inspecting schools which are, or whose heads are, in membership of the associations which form the Independent Schools Council (ISC) and reporting on the extent to which they meet the Independent School Standards (‘the standards') in the Schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014. Accordingly, inspection records whether the school meets each of these standards, which are arranged in eight Parts, each of which is divided into separate paragraphs. Additionally, the inspection reports on the school's accessibility plan under Schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010 and the ban on corporal punishment under section 548 of the Education Act 1996. It comments on the progress made by the school in meeting the compliance action points set out in the school's most recent statutory inspection.

This inspection also contains specific judgements on the National Minimum Standards for Boarding Schools (‘boarding NMS'). It also comments on the progress made by the school in meeting the compliance action points set out in the most recent statutory boarding inspection and it judges the extent to which the school currently meets the boarding NMS. It identifies any standards which the school does not meet and requires action to meet them. Findings are distributed across sections relating to the eight Parts of the standards.

All association independent schools will have an inspection within three years from April 2016, in accordance with the Framework and DfE requirements. The inspection may be of COMPLIANCE ONLY or a combined inspection of EDUCATIONAL QUALITY AND COMPLIANCE depending on a number of factors, including findings from their most recent inspection. Schools judged not to meet the standards, including the boarding NMS, may also be subject to a progress monitoring visit before their next routine inspection. The progress monitoring visit will judge whether the school has taken the necessary action to meet any un-met standards identified at their previous inspection.

The inspection was also carried out under the arrangements of the ISC Associations for the maintenance and improvement of the quality of their membership.

This is a FOCUSED COMPLIANCE INSPECTION which was combined with an inspection of EDUCATIONAL QUALITY, the report of which appears later in this document. The COMPLIANCE inspection reports only on the school's compliance with the standards, including the boarding NMS. The standards represent minimum requirements and judgements are given either as met or as not met. All schools are required to meet all the standards applicable to them. Where the minimum requirements are not met, this is clearly indicated in the relevant section of the report and the school is required to take the actions specified. In this focused compliance inspection, key regulations and standards have been inspected in detail. These are the regulations on safeguarding; measures to guard against bullying; arrangements for pupils' health and safety, arrangements to check the suitability of staff; the provision of information to parents; the handling of parents' complaints; and other related aspects of leadership and management, together with the NMS covering the same areas. The remaining standards and requirements are deemed to continue to be met unless evidence to the contrary has been found.

Inspections do not include matters that are outside of the regulatory framework described above, such as: an exhaustive health and safety audit; compliance with data protection requirements; an in-depth examination of the structural condition of the school, its services or other physical features; contractual arrangements with parents; an investigation of the financial viability of the school or its accounting procedures.

Inspectors may be aware of individual safeguarding concerns, allegations and complaints as part of the inspection process. Such matters will not usually be referred to specifically in published reports in this document but will have been considered by the team in reaching its judgements.

Links to the full regulations and requirements can be found here: The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014, National Minimum Standards for Boarding Schools.

Key findings

  • 2.1 The school meets the standards in the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014, the National Minimum Standards for Boarding Schools 2015 and associated requirements, and no further action is required as a result of this inspection.

PART 1 - Quality of education provided

  • 2.2 At GCSE in the year 2016 to 2017, performance has been above the national average for maintained schools. Results in IGCSE EAL, history, and English were higher than world-wide norms. IGCSE results in mathematics and English literature were similar to world-wide norms.

  • 2.3 In the sixth form, A-level results in the year 2016 to 2017 have been above the national average for sixth formers in maintained schools.

  • 2.4 The curriculum is documented, supported by appropriate plans and schemes of work for the pupils and covers the required breadth of material. The teaching enables pupils to make good progress, encompasses effective behaviour management and is supported by suitable resources. A suitable framework for the assessment of pupils' performance is in place.

  • 2.5   The standards relating to the quality of education [paragraphs 1-4] are met.

PART 2 - Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils

  • 2.6   Principles and values are actively promoted which facilitate the personal development of pupils as responsible, tolerant, law-abiding citizens. Boarders' views are actively encouraged, and their opinions and concerns are appropriately considered by staff. Any prefect system operating in the school is suitably managed.

  • 2.7   The standard relating to spiritual, moral, social and cultural development [paragraph 5] and NMS 17 and 19 are met.

PART 3 - Welfare, health and safety of pupils

  • 2.8   Arrangements are made to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils by means that pay due regard to current statutory guidance; good behaviour is promoted; bullying is prevented so far as reasonably practicable; health and safety requirements are met, including those relating to fire safety; provision is made for first aid. Pupils are properly supervised; admission and attendance registers are maintained, as required, and there is a strategic approach to risk assessment. A disability access plan is in place.

  • 2.9   An appropriate induction process for pupils new to boarding is implemented, and suitable provision is made for boarders' medical and health care, their food and drink and for managing boarders' laundry and possessions. Boarders have suitable contact with friends and family and access to a programme of activities. Boarding staff are appropriately trained and deployed.

  • 2.10 The standards relating to welfare, health and safety [paragraphs 6-16], the requirement of Schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010, the ban on corporal punishment under section 548 of the Education Act 1996, and NMS 2-4, 6-12, 15 and 16 are met.

PART 4 - Suitability of staff, supply staff, and proprietors

  • 2.11 The school makes appropriate checks to ensure the suitability of staff, supply staff, and governors and a register is kept as required. Visitors to boarding accommodation are appropriately supervised and the school's arrangements for guardianship are suitably managed.

  • 2.12  The standards relating to the suitability of those in contact with pupils at the school [paragraphs 17-21] and NMS 14 are met.

PART 5 - Premises of and accommodation at schools

  • 2.13  Suitable toilet and changing facilities, and showering facilities where required by the standard, and appropriate accommodation for their medical and therapy needs are provided. The premises are maintained to a standard commensurate with health and safety; acoustics and lighting are appropriate; water provision is adequate. Suitable outdoor space is provided for physical education and outdoor play. Boarding accommodation is adequate for the needs of all boarders, and safeguards and promotes their welfare.

  • 2.14 The standards relating to the premises and accommodation [paragraphs 22-31] and NMS 5 are met.

PART 6 - Provision of information

  • 2.15  A range of information is variously published, provided or made available to parents, inspectors and the Department for Education. These include details about the governors, the ethos of the school and the curriculum, and of the school's arrangements for admission, behaviour and exclusions, bullying, health and safety, first aid, details of the complaints procedure, and the number of complaints registered under the formal procedure during the preceding school year, and the provision for any with education, health and care plans or English as an additional language. They also include particulars of the school's academic performance during the preceding school year, inspection reports and (for parents only) a report at least annually of their own child's progress. The safeguarding policy is posted on the school's website. A suitable statement of boarding principles and practice is published by the school.

  • 2.16  The standard relating to the provision of information [paragraph 32] and statement of boarding principles [NMS 1] are met.

PART 7 - Manner in which complaints are handled

  • 2.17  Parental complaints, if any, are handled effectively through a three-stage process, (informal, formal and a hearing before a panel of three, one of whom is independent of the school). Each stage has clear time scales, and at the third stage the panel can make findings and recommendations which are communicated to the complainant. Records are kept appropriately, including of any action taken, whether or not a complaint is successful, and identifying those relating to the boarding provision.

  • 2.18 The standard relating to the handling of complaints [paragraph 33] and NMS 18 are met.

PART 8 - Quality of leadership in and management of schools

  • 2.19  The governors ensure that the leadership and management demonstrate good skills and knowledge, and fulfil their responsibilities effectively, so that the other standards are consistently met and they actively promote the well-being of the pupils. Appropriate leadership and management of boarding ensure that the required policies and records are maintained and effectively monitored.

  • 2.20 The standard relating to leadership and management of the school [paragraph 34] and NMS 13 are met.

3. Educational Quality Inspection

Preface

The EDUCATIONAL QUALITY inspection reports on the quality of the school's work. It focuses on the two key outcomes:

  • -   The achievement of the pupils, including their academic development, and

  • -   The personal development of the pupils.

Since the school was last inspected, the framework for inspection has changed. The current inspection framework uses different criteria and arrangements for grading from those used in previous inspection frameworks. The judgements made on this inspection are, therefore, not directly comparable to judgements made on previous inspections.

All independent schools are required to meet the requirements of the Independent School Standards. However, different inspectorates apply different frameworks that are suited to the different types of schools they inspect. The ISI terminology reflects quality judgements that are at least equivalent to those used by the national inspectorate, Ofsted. ISI reports do not provide a single overarching judgement for the school but instead give a clear judgement about key outcomes for pupils and information on the quality of the school's work.

The headline judgements must include one of the ISI descriptors ‘excellent', ‘good', ‘sound' or ‘unsatisfactory'.

Where necessary, National Curriculum nomenclature is used to refer to year groups in the school. Where the school's own names differ from those used nationally, the details are given in the table below:

School name

National Curriculum name

Third Form

Year 9

Fourth Form

Year 10

Fifth Form

Year 11

Lower Sixth

Year 12

Upper Sixth

Year 13

Key findings

  • 3.1   The quality of the pupils' academic and other achievements is excellent.

  • •   Pupils' knowledge, skills and understanding are very well developed across the curriculum.

  • •   In lessons pupils make at least good progress overall. Girls have higher attainment than boys.

  • •   Pupils with SEND and EAL make good progress. More able pupils achieve very well in project work.

  • •   Pupils demonstrate very positive attitudes to their learning and collaborate well with each other. Many pupils extend their enthusiasm for learning into external or out-of-school settings.

  • 3.2   The quality of the pupils' personal development is excellent.

  • •   Pupils show excellent qualities of resilience, self-knowledge, and self-esteem.

  • •   Pupils exhibit outstanding social skills. They work well with each other and relate well to teachers and other adults.

  • •   Pupils make strong contributions to the school and the wider community.

  • •   Pupils demonstrate notable appreciation and respect for people from different religious and cultural backgrounds.

Recommendation

  • 3.3   The school is advised to make the following improvement:

  • •   Raise the performance of all pupils in the small number of subjects where the results are currently in line with national averages, or worldwide norms, to match the results achieved in other subjects.

The quality of pupils' academic and other achievements

  • 3.4   The quality of pupils' academic and other achievements is excellent.

  • 3.5   Lesson observations and work scrutiny show that pupils make at least good and often excellent individual progress in lessons. Pupils with SEND and EAL make good progress. The progress of those with SEND is a clear consequence of the support given by teachers, teaching assistants, and the SEND department. Plans identifying targets and support for individual pupils with SEND are put in place and their progress in reading, spelling, and, if necessary, numeracy, are monitored closely. Pupils with EAL are subjected to standardised assessments to assess improvement on the skills they are taught. The results are shared with all teachers by being recorded on the school's data system and so that there can be a concerted response by all teachers to the pupils' language needs. More able pupils benefit from participation in the school's ‘academic highly talented' scheme: for example, those above a given threshold are invited into the Headmaster's Essay Society, and there is a concerted approach towards supporting applications to highly selective universities.

  • 3.6   The following analysis uses the national data for the academic year from 2016 to 2017. This is the only recent year for which comparative statistics are available. In this year results in GCSE examinations were above the national average for maintained schools. Results in IGCSE examinations in mathematics and English literature were similar to world-wide norms and those in other subjects were higher than world-wide norms. Results in A-level examinations were above the national average for sixth-form pupils in maintained schools. Almost all parents in their pre-inspection questionnaire responses agreed that the school enables their children to make good progress and that the school enables their children to develop skills for the future. Similarly, the overwhelming majority of pupils, in their questionnaire responses, agreed that the school enables them to learn and make progress. In a small number of GCSE and IGCSE subjects the results were similar to those in maintained schools.

  • 3.7 Pupils demonstrate good and often excellent knowledge, skills and understanding across the range of subjects. In a physics lesson, pupils demonstrated good practical and recording skills in an experiment measuring the infra-red radiation from different metal surfaces. They were able to explain their use of an infra-red camera and an infra-red temperature probe and recalled helpful and accurate information about fair testing. In the modern foreign language department pupils demonstrated appropriate levels of knowledge in French, Spanish and German. Sixth form pupils demonstrated a multiplicity of skills in a project to reconfigure part of the school's built environment.

  • 3.8 Pupils' communication skills are well developed across the curriculum. During an English lesson, older pupils demonstrated excellent verbal participation and clarity in conveying ideas as a result of the relaxed teaching atmosphere. Pupils' use of language, ability to listen to and question each other and build on each other's contributions were good. Older pupils, especially the most able, are provided with further encouragement to speak and debate in public in the activities accessible to them. An example observed was that of sixth-form history pupils being asked to justify views about private health care in the context of the history of the National Health Service.

  • 3.9 Pupils achieve very well in mathematics, as evidenced in scrutiny of their books and in lesson observations. In Year 9, when studying statistical variation, pupils were able to define accuracy and, with the teacher's guidance, arrive at criteria for deciding when results could be considered the same. In Year 11 pupils were able to understand the teacher's step by step approach in algebra and complex numbers. Pupils in the senior school were confident in being able to recall previous work from a range of mathematical topics including trigonometry, the algebra used in graphs, and the rounding of numbers. There were many examples seen of the use of mathematics in other subjects, such as, physics, biology, geography and computer science.

  • 3.10 Pupils exhibit good information and communication technology (ICT) skills overall and make good progress in computer science. For example, pupils were confident in coding in a programming language in order to construct a program to define time and distance and then calculate average speed. Some pupils were also able to refine the output to a specific number of decimal places and to move on to more complex challenges. All pupils, including SEND, EAL and the most able, make progress in their skills at an appropriate level. However, pupils' ability to apply, and develop, their ICT skills varies considerably across subjects. For example, during a music lesson, pupils made confident use of music notation software as part of a composition task to increase and decrease stave size. Other good cross-subject examples include film production in English, the use of the virtual learning environment in some subjects, and the frequent use of presentation software. But there equally were examples of missed opportunities for pupils to make ancillary use of ICT, most notably in the tabulation and graphplotting of data-sets, and where hand drawing was carried out instead. School pupils in Year 9 have all completed the Bronze Award in the iDEA programme, a “badging” scheme in ICT skills. One pupil completed the whole award over the holidays.

  • 3.11 Pupils draw knowledge from a range of sources beyond their teachers, and they display effective study skills for their age, which is evidenced in the high quality of work in Higher and Extended Project Qualifications (HPQ and EPQ) which many pupils follow. Pupils can think for themselves, hypothesise in straightforward situations, analyse data and text, and synthesise information with some success. They can apply their knowledge to new situations with guidance, as was demonstrated in a biology lesson on osmosis. Both work scrutiny and pupil discussion confirmed that pupils can plan and organise their work effectively and read critically and reflect on the knowledge they have gained. This particular skill has been significantly enhanced with the advent of leaders' recent introduction of ‘learning logs' across the whole school, in which pupils self-assess aspects of their progress.

  • 3.12 Pupils' attitudes to learning are very good. They are keen to succeed and respond well to the planning, delivery and helpfulness of their teachers. In discussion Year 11 pupils of different abilities all gave examples of how they tried to improve their understanding of different concepts in mathematics, either by using the school mathematics clinics or consulting their peers in prep. Similarly-aged pupils working in modern foreign languages demonstrated engagement and perseverance. Many pupils extend their enthusiasm for learning into settings outside the normal classroom. Particularly of note to inspectors were examples of older pupils in art and science choosing to take advantage of school facilities and staff availability in the evenings and outside normal teaching sessions.

The quality of the pupils' personal development

  • 3.13 The quality of the pupils' personal development is excellent.

  • 3.14 Pupils show high levels of self-understanding for their age in that they are self-reflective and have an objective and accurate awareness of their strengths and weaknesses. On a day to day basis in classroom and laboratory settings self-awareness is evidenced by the way pupils make use of their learning logs to focus on their own next steps in learning. Inspectors saw many examples of such activity taking place. Pupils adapt easily to new situations and learn how to cope with new challenges. For example, in core physical education in Year 9, pupils develop swimming and personal survival skills, supported by a constant focus on individual development and self-reflection on learning to help build self-confidence. Pupils know what they need to do to improve and speak positively of the marking and feedback they receive from teachers, which have developed as a result of the effective. response by the leadership to the recommendations of the previous inspection.

  • 3.15 Pupils also develop confidence and self-esteem by their positive participation in the huge range of competitions, sporting and team activities that are available to them. Pupils appreciate the full days which provide them with a foretaste of what further study is like as well as the pressures of the world of work. Pupils benefit from the enthusiasm and commitment of their teachers who work hard to maintain and develop the activities and opportunities for them. Pupils demonstrate resilience and perseverance in project work. For instance, examples were seen of science project work in which pupils had sought and accepted constructive criticism which had led them to draft and redraft work. In hockey pupils explained how they had had to persevere when faced with determined opposition. Almost all parents and most pupils who responded to the questionnaire agreed that the school helps pupils to be confident and independent.

  • 3.16 Pupils exercise decision making in a number of ways. In their classroom work they explained how staff expected them to make decisions and not be over-dependent on the teachers. For example, sixth form musicians indicated where they had made decisions which had determined the final shape of their compositions. To a large extent, pupils choose their activities, and this is a key element of being at Stowe. In addition, pupils have created a number of activity options on their own initiative, such as the ‘Pride Society' and the ‘External Debating Team'. Pupils confidently make suitable subject and career choices as a result of the effective career advice that they receive.

  • 3.17 Pupils appreciate non-material aspects of life and show well-developed aesthetic and cultural awareness. They are aware of and respond to the grandeur of their environment: some pupils spoke of their work on creating ornaments for a Christmas tree in one of Stowe's 'temples' and how their awareness of the building's role in entertainment in the past had developed. Cultural awareness and appreciation was also evidenced during a chapel service in which sixth-form pianists gave their own interpretations of a score. Pupils showed a mature level of religious understanding, as well as confidence and knowledge in sharing their ideas with peers of the meaning of the parable of the wise and foolish virgins.

  • 3.18  Pupils are well-behaved and have an excellent understanding of right and wrong. When they misbehave, they are able to take responsibility for their behaviour. They respond well to encouragement from the school to develop strong morals. They understand the importance of rules and appreciate the school's expectations of their conduct. Pupils said punishments are well thought out making those punished reflect on the effect on others. During the inspection pupils queued and moved around the lunch hall with purpose and with courtesy. They displayed good manners to each other and to the staff supervising them. Pupils' higher moral sense is shown by their high levels of commitment to develop the ecological awareness of the school. For example, many pupils have participated in a tree moving exercise with ground staff to help preserve the landscape. Others have taken the initiative to develop a Stowe Water bottle to combat plastic waste and are working in league with the school and the National Trust to get clean sources of water.

  • 3.19  Pupils demonstrate effective teamwork and communication, both of these being particularly evident in sports teams and co-curricular activities such as The Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme, the Combined Cadet Force, and in drama and music. Pupils say that they celebrate the similarities they find in others rather than identify the differences. Pupils enjoy working with their peers and do so in a wide range of contexts. Pupils spoke positively of the system whereby every pupil in Year 9 has a mentor and where support in Prep is provided by sixth-formers. Older pupils show a willingness to help younger pupils in this way, or as prefects.

  • 3.20  Boarders spoke of the benefits of boarding being the feeling of independence and the tangible feeling of belonging to a community. They said they had a pride in their house. They felt that as boarders they enjoyed an extra degree of academic support and cited their academic tutors and a weekly progress meeting. Staff consider that pupils have very good communication skills and are supportive of each other, for example in forming groups or societies and in helping each other with subjects they find challenging.

  • 3.21  Pupils demonstrated a very high level of awareness of those with different educational opportunities from their own. Those involved with a local maintained primary school reflected in a very mature way on their responsibility to build links and to share their time and resources. They explained their use of ICT and film equipment to ‘take primary pupils (and their favourite toy) to any world destination' Leaders have encouraged such linkages and fostered different ways of involving Stowe pupils.

  • 3.22  The overwhelming majority of pupils engage with volunteering as part of the ‘Service at Stowe' programme and are involved in charitable enterprise locally, such as visiting the elderly. Pupils support international initiatives designed to improve lives, such as the ‘Camps in Bangladesh' project and the setting up of a charity in Nigeria. ‘Stowe in the Community' is held each year and involves all pupils (with the exception of those doing examinations) participating in local projects, not just in fundraising but in giving their time and effort. There is also plenty of opportunity to hold positions of responsibility and Stowe pupils rise to such challenges. In their responses to the questionnaire, most pupils agreed that the school helped them to develop strong teamwork and social skills.

  • 3.23  A prominent feature of life at Stowe is its atmosphere of inclusion and acceptance. Pupils from different backgrounds form friendships and demonstrate knowledge and appreciation of different cultures. As a result, pupils look outwards, beyond the school itself. Interviews in the boarding houses demonstrated that pupils strongly respected diversity and the culture of others. Pupils unanimously agreed that all pupils regardless of origin or religion got on well with each other. In one of the lessons observed, pupils discussed legislation relating to transgender and immigration issues with sensitivity and understanding, with the discussion suitably facilitated by the teacher. Most pupils and almost all parents who responded to the questionnaire agreed that the school actively promotes values of democracy, respect and tolerance of other people.

  • 3.24 Pupils know how to stay safe, be healthy, and maintain their mental well-being, in line with one of the school's aims. They are physically active and have a balanced life style. They do seek out support when and if they need it. The school enables pupils to be physically active in a wide range of activities. The dietary requirements of boarders are carefully overseen by the house matrons. Almost all pupils who responded to the questionnaire said that they knew how to keep safe online. Citing potential poor health choices such as taking up smoking, pupils who spoke to the inspectors demonstrated understanding that the decisions they make not only impact upon themselves and their future but also those around them. Pupils demonstrated a concern with the well-being of others and how they could support this. For example, in a prefects' meeting, prefects shared views with staff and each other about how they could best help guide other pupils to make sensible choices with regard to the use of alcohol, drugs and smoking.

4. Inspection Evidence

4.1 The inspectors observed lessons, conducted formal interviews with pupils and examined samples of pupils' work. They held discussions with members of staff and with the safeguarding governor and the chair of governors, observed a sample of the extra-curricular activities that occurred during the inspection period, and attended house and form meetings, and chapel. Inspectors visited all the boarding houses. The responses of parents, staff and pupils to pre-inspection questionnaires were analysed, and the inspectors examined curriculum and other documentation made available by the school.

Inspectors

Dr Stephen Grounds

Reporting inspector

Mr Andrew Johnson

Compliance team inspector (Headmaster, HMC school)

Miss Julia Bowden

Team inspector (Senior teacher, HMC school)

Mrs Annie Prior

Team inspector (Former pastoral deputy head, ISC school)

Mrs Joanne Taylor

Team inspector (Senior deputy head, HMC school)

Mr Thierry Lauze

Team inspector for boarding (Director of teaching and learning, HMC school)

Rev David Owen

Team inspector for boarding (Chaplain, HMC school)

Mr Jay Piggot

Team inspector for boarding (Headmaster, HMC school)

Mr Alan Sturrock

Team inspector for boarding (Pastoral deputy head, SofH school)

© Independent Schools Inspectorate 2018

Stowe School - November 2018

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