Range High School requires Improvement according to this years Ofsted report

In the recent Ofsted Report for Range High School in Formby, the results show that 'It requires Improvement' when the previous inspection was Outstanding.

The Inspection dates from 27th to 28th November this year shows that improvement is needed for:

1 - Overall effectiveness,

2 - Effectiveness of Leadership and Management,

3 - Quality of Teaching, Learning and Assessment,

4 - Personal development, behaviour and Welfare,

5 - Outcomes for Pupils.

The Ofsted report says that this is a school that requires improvement. The poor behaviour of a minority of boys is having a disproportionately negative affect on the care, welfare, education and personal development of the significant majority of pupils. The attendance of some groups of pupils is poor. Leaders are not achieving the ethos and culture they seek to promote. Leaders have very recently introduced training for teachers on how to improve behaviour in their classrooms through improved teaching. However, it is too early for this to have had a significant impact on the overall quality of teaching and learning.

School leaders and governors know the aspects of the school that need to improve. However, they do not know the extent of the weaknesses. They have been slow to improve the school. Leaders at all levels, have extensive information about how well pupils perform in their areas of responsibly. However, they do not have an accurate understanding of what this information is telling them. This limits their capacity to make improvements. Leaders have a clear vision of how the curriculum and enrichment opportunities should support strong progress and personal development for all pupils. These elements of provision are not yet reaching leaders’ aspirations. Leaders do not make good enough use of additional funds that the school receives to support pupils who are disadvantaged or need to catch up.

Most pupils are polite, well mannered and keen to learn. A small number of pupils, most commonly boys, can display inappropriate behaviour, which others find intimidating. Staff said that they rarely hear pupils swear. This, however, is not the experience of pupils who said that the use of inappropriate language is prevalent, and they believe some teachers who hear it do not challenge the behaviour. Again, there is considerable variance in classrooms. Pupils mostly behave in lessons and work hard. A small number of pupils slow the pace of learning through low-level disruptive behaviour and, very occasionally, more overt misbehaviour. Pupils said that this is much more common in lower sets where teaching is weaker.

Public and school analyses of pupils’ attendance cannot be accurate because of the inappropriate coding of reasons for absence. However, the pattern of attendance is declining and likely to now be below the national average. The attendance of some groups of pupils is poor. Expectations of pupils’ behaviour are not high enough. Leaders do not employ effective strategies to help a small group of challenging boys feel positively towards their school and their education. The use of exclusion as a means to improve behaviour is increasing.

The Ofsted report said that the school has the following strengths. Pupils in the sixth form receive a good education. Their progress is broadly at the national average. Their strong personal development is promoted through carefully planned activities and opportunities. Progress made by current pupils is improving. Pupils make consistently strong progress in mathematics and art. Girls make very strong progress overall.

The A-Level results tell a different story as Students celebrated fantastic A-level results in August this year, with over half of students achieving grades A*-B in a year when course content and terminal exams have made the qualification more challenging than ever before.

Headteacher Graham Aldridge said: "I want to congratulate all our students on these fantastic results, especially considering the challenging reforms this year. Their hard work means our students can now look forward to starting courses at the best universities.”

Range High also celebrated in August this year as 79% of pupils achieved at least a grade 4 in Maths and English, the current Government measure.

Headteacher Graham Aldridge said: “I want to congratulate all our Year 11 pupils on their outstanding results. This has been the most challenging GCSE year, with harder exams all taken at the end of Year 11, and we are very proud of the results our pupils have achieved. The staff at the school and the pupils’ families have supported them throughout, and I know they are well placed to be successful in the next stage of their education.”

Here is the full report of ten pages for you to see: