Smithdon High School ‘requires improvement’
- By Elaine Bird
- 04 November 2019
- Hunstanton
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Following the recent Ofsted inspection on 1 and 2 October, Smithdon High School has been identified as ‘Requiring Improvement’ in quality of education, behaviour and attitudes and leadership and management and but were rated as ‘Good’ for personal development.
They noted that pupils are responding well to recent changes implemented by new headteacher John Hirst, telling inspectors that “they feel that their school, lessons and pupils’ behaviour are rapidly improving”.
They also told inspectors that the new rules were “strict but fair”, that they feel safe, that it is easy to strike up friendships and that adults are noticing and rewarding good behaviour. They also said that staff are now promptly dealing with incidents of bullying, with complaints that past issues were not always solved quickly enough.
However, the report notes that some pupils are taking longer to adapt to raised expectations and that some weak behaviour negatively impacts the learning of others, stating that this is a particular issue in classes with temporary and changing staff.
They note that curriculum plans are clear and implemented well in mathematics, English and science, but pupils are not getting enough time to cover the full curriculum in subjects such as art, history and languages. They note that on occasion, pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are not receiving the precise support or resources that they need.
Pastoral care and safeguarding were both deemed good and were improving in quality, with changes making pupils “feel very well looked after” and that several leaders in the school know what needs to improve and are addressing weaknesses in the school’s provision.
Improvements needed are listed in the report below:
- Leaders need to make sure that curriculum leaders build on their initial planning and put in place curriculum plans that are logically sequenced, delivered well, and enable students to build up the breadth and depth of knowledge that they need.
- Leaders need to develop appropriate strategies to ensure pupils are well supported to behave well and learn effectively.
- Pupil absence is higher than it should be – leaders need to review and change their strategies to increase a small number of pupils’ attendance.