Newquay Tretherras

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Newquay Tretherras continues to be a good school.

The headteacher of this school is Gemma Harries. This school is part of Cornwall Education Learning Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school.

The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Lisa Mannall, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Geoff Brown.

What is it like to attend this school?

Newquay Tretherras is ambitious for all pupils, and students in the sixth form, to 'achieve highly, communicate convincingly, engage fully and decide wisely'. The school has carefully planned the curriculum and wider activities so that pupils can develop these skills and at...tributes.

Pupils behave well at this school. The school has high expectations for pupils' behaviour, attitudes and involvement in school life. However, it does not always consistently uphold these expectations.

This has led to some pupils feeling that systems are unfair. Leaders are taking steps to communicate with pupils, parents and staff to build confidence in the school's procedures.

The school is keen to provide pupils with a voice in school life.

A school council, led by senior students, discusses and suggests changes to improve the school further. Pupil groups, such as the Cultural Empowerment Group, develop projects to educate other pupils in wider issues. Students in the sixth form work closely with adults to support this work across the school.

The school provides a range of opportunities to develop pupils' talents and interests. Pupils perform in school concerts, compete in sports and complete personal challenges such as the Duke of Edinburgh's Award. Pupils and staff are members of one of the five school houses.

They enjoy good-natured competition to earn rewards and celebrate successes.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school has planned an ambitious curriculum. Pupils' knowledge and understanding build over time so that they are successful in examinations and develop skills for life.

For example, the English curriculum builds pupils' confidence and communication skills. The school has increased the number of pupils studying a modern foreign language at key stage 4. This means the school is moving closer to the government ambition for more pupils to study subjects that form part of the English Baccalaureate.

The school has planned formal assessment opportunities within the curriculum. These enable teachers to check pupils' understanding. Activities are planned within lessons to help pupils to recall their learning.

However, sometimes, these activities do not accurately identify the gaps in pupils' knowledge. Where gaps or misconceptions are not addressed, it hinders pupils' ability to learn more and remember more over time.

The school has developed an effective literacy curriculum.

The 'Word Project' supports pupils to learn subject-specific vocabulary. As a result, pupils are confident to use sophisticated language. This particularly prepares students in the sixth form for higher education.

The school identifies and supports the weakest readers to catch up with their peers. Sixth-form students act as buddy readers to younger students to help them build their confidence and fluency. Pupils read a range of texts during the tutor reading programme.

These have been deliberately chosen for their challenge, diversity or cultural significance. The school community enjoys the opportunity to share in these stories.

The school identifies the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Learning plans outline what support pupils should receive. The curriculum is appropriately adapted for pupils in most cases. Students with SEND are particularly well supported in the sixth form.

The school also provides additional support for pupils returning to full-time education after periods of absence. This is helping to raise attendance.

The school's personal development curriculum provides age-appropriate relationships and sex education.

Pupils learn to keep themselves safe. This includes learning about online safety and mental health support. Lessons, assemblies and other school events enable pupils to explore moral and social issues.

Students in the sixth form value the breadth of skills they develop for adult life. Car maintenance, personal finance and cooking all feature as part of the curriculum.

Careers education is embedded within the curriculum.

Flexible work experience, careers fairs, workshops and trips excite and interest pupils. They learn about potential pathways and receive impartial advice to make informed decisions about their next steps. As a result, most pupils successfully move to the next stage of their education or employment.

The school is considerate of staff well-being and workload. Staff value the approachability of leaders. The trust provides professional networks and training opportunities for staff.

Those newest to the profession are well supported. Consequently, staff feel invested in and are proud to work at the school. The trust recognises the need to continue to engage with the local community.

The trust holds events to gather parental views and share plans for the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Assessment strategies sometimes do not accurately identify the gaps in pupils' knowledge or understanding.

This means that some pupils do not receive the support they need to learn the curriculum as well as they might. The trust should ensure that assessment is used to inform teaching so that it closes the gaps in pupils' knowledge. ? The school's high expectations for positive attitudes towards learning are not always realised in all areas of school life.

At times, lapses in pupils' behaviour or attitude towards their work are not addressed consistently. The trust should ensure that pupils, parents and staff have a collective understanding of the expectations and the systems in place to support pupils to meet them.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in September 2013.