Hillview School for Girls

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. • Students achieve well in the range of different subjects they study, especially in English and the performing arts.

They are now making better progress in mathematics and the dip in 2012 has been reversed. Achievement in the sixth form is improving. • Disabled students, those who have special educational needs, students who have English as an additional language and those in receipt of pupil premium funding achieve as well as their peers.

• Teaching is good. Teachers have good subject knowledge and students are very well supported. Data are effectively used to target underperformance so that intervention is personalised and effective.<...br/>
• This is a caring, supportive school. It makes a good contribution to the welfare and well-being of its students. As a result, students enjoy coming to school and say that the school helps them to keep safe.

• Students behave well in lessons and around the school. Students are punctual, attendance is improving and fixed-term exclusions have reduced. The respectful and harmonious ethos permeates the school community.

• The acting headteacher and other leaders, including members of the governing body, have taken decisive action to improve teaching and this is having a positive impact. Leadership in the sixth form is better focused on improving teaching and raising achievement. It is not yet an outstanding school because: • Progress for all students and groups of students is good, but not yet excellent.

Over time, there has been some variation in how quickly students make progress in some subjects, including science and history. • Achievement in the sixth form is broadly in line with national averages, although examination results are rising and retention rates improving. • The development of students' research skills is very evident in performing arts, but not yet consistent across the school, and this sometimes restricts progress.

• The quality of teachers' feedback does not always provide students with clear guidance on what they need to do to improve their work. • Students' literacy and numeracy skills are not sufficiently and consistently promoted across all subjects in the curriculum.

Information about this school

• Hillview School for Girls is a very large 11 to 18 girls' secondary modern with a mixed sixth form.

Approximately half of the students in the sixth form are from other schools. The school converted to an academy in August 2011. • At the time of the inspection, the school was being led by the acting headteacher who has taken responsibility for the running of the school in the absence of the substantive headteacher who is currently recovering from major surgery.

• The school has a specialism in performing arts, selecting 10% of students based on their aptitude in dance, drama or music. • The majority of students are White British with small numbers of other White, Asian, Caribbean and African students. The proportion of students from minority ethnic groups and those who speak English as an additional language is below the national average.

• The proportion of students supported by school action is in line with the national average. The proportion of students supported by school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below the national average. • The proportion of students known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which is additional government funding for students known to be eligible for free school meals, looked after children and children from service families, is below the national average.

The number of students eligible for the Year 7 catch-up premium is small. • A very small number of students are educated off site at Grow2Grow, Hadlow College, West Kent Health Needs, West Kent Student Support Centre and the Tonbridge Lighthouse Project for students who are at risk of permanent exclusion or non attendance. • The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for students' attainment and progress at the end of Key Stage 4.

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