Kesteven and Sleaford High School Selective Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. Achievement in English and mathematics is outstanding.

All groups of students, including disabled students and those with special educational needs, make at least good progress in their learning. Teaching is good with a significant proportion that is outstanding. Senior leaders have been effective in improving teaching, which is well supported by the professional development of teachers.

High quality relationships between students and with their teachers contribute strongly to learning and progress. Students are very keen to learn. Their outstanding attitudes to learning and behaviour are a key factor in their high achievement.

...Students feel safe and bullying is rare. Exclusions are very low and attendance is well above average. Parents express high levels of satisfaction with the school.

Governors know the school exceptionally well. They challenge and support the school to maintain its strengths and make improvements. The sixth form is good and improving rapidly and consequently, students achieve well.

It is not yet an outstanding school because : Not enough teaching is outstanding to ensure that students make outstanding progress across all subjects. Written feedback to students does not provide them with sufficient guidance on what they need to do to improve their work. Opportunities for students to extend their literacy and numeracy skills across all subjects are underdeveloped.

The rigour with which subject leaders monitor and evaluate their areas of responsibility is inconsistent.

Information about this school

Kesteven and Sleaford High School Selective Academy converted to become an academy on 1 November 2011. When its predecessor school, Kesteven and Sleaford High School, was last inspected by Ofsted in 2007, it was judged to be outstanding in its overall effectiveness.

The main school takes girls only and selects students in the locality in the top 25% of the ability range. The sixth form is co-educational, with a small number of boys attending. The school is smaller than the average sized secondary school.

Most students are of White British heritage and almost all speak English as their first language. The proportion of students known to be eligible for the pupil premium (which provides additional funding for children in care of the local authority, pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and children from service families) is much lower than the national average. The proportion of disabled students and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is much lower than average.

The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is much lower than average. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for students' attainment and progress. The school does not use alternative provision for its students.