School report The Mountbatten School Whitenap Lane, Romsey, SO51 5SY Inspection dates 24–25 March 2015 Previous inspection: Not previously inspected as an academy Overall effectiveness This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Summary of key findings for parents and pupils This is a good school. Leaders are committed to ensuring that every Students study a full and imaginative curriculum. It student makes good progress. They know what has particular strengths in science, music and needs to improve further. performing arts. Leaders, including governors, recognised that The behaviour of students around the school and in results in Year 11, in 2014, were disappointing. a large majority of lessons is good. Very few They have acted quickly and put in place a wide students are excluded. Attendance has improved range of measures to rectify this. and is now above the national average. Attainment is improving rapidly due to recent The academy makes a strong contribution to the changes. Students generally achieve well in the personal, spiritual, moral, social and cultural large majority of subjects. development of students. The influence of Earl Teaching is mainly good, with some aspects Mountbatten is clear and leads to students outstanding. Some of this outstanding practice is understanding well fundamental British values. increasingly shared across the academy. Teachers Students benefit from a wide array of extra- benefit from regular training provided by middle curricular activities, including many music leaders. A few have received additional well- ensembles and team-based sports. Students from focused support from external advisers. the academy are set to participate in this year’s Students who fell behind with their reading in Montreux Jazz Festival. primary schools are successfully helped to catch The academy’s work to keep students safe and up. secure is strong. The academy’s innovative programme in Year 7, Pastoral care is extremely impressive so that the known as STAR, has an extremely positive impact vast majority of students thrive. Those facing on a small group of students and helps them intense personal challenges are supported make rapid progress. effectively to reduce the impact on their studies. It is not yet an outstanding school because Leaders do not always apply lessons learned In 2014, not all lower attaining students were able rigorously or swiftly enough from outstanding to study an English literature qualification which practice in the academy or schools elsewhere. showed they had made good progress in English They do not compare standards in the academy overall. regularly to work in other schools. In 2014, results in mathematics were not good Students do not always receive specific enough compared to schools nationally. written guidance which helps them improve their The downward trend in GCSE results has only been work. reversed in the current academic year. Inspection report: The Mountbatten School, 24–25 March 2015 2 of 10 Information about this inspection Inspectors observed learning in 52 parts of lessons, of which 10 were jointly observed with senior leaders. Inspectors met with the executive headteacher, other senior leaders, teachers, a group of middle leaders and representatives of the governing body. Inspectors examined a range of the academy’s documentation including its self-evaluation summary, a development plan and minutes of the meetings of the governing body. Each inspector looked at a wide array of information about students’ attainment and progress. Inspectors met with three groups of students and considered their views. One of the inspectors held a telephone conversation with the academy’s partner education providers. Inspectors considered 88 responses to a confidential staff survey. The lead inspector met with a group of seven parents and took into account the 166 responses to Ofsted’s online survey (Parent View). The lead inspector also reviewed from parents one letter, one email and notes of a telephone call received by the inspection service provider. Inspection team Dr Simon Hughes, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Janet Simms Additional Inspector Noureddin Khassal Additional Inspector Martin Watson Additional Inspector William Alexander Additional Inspector Inspection report: The Mountbatten School, 24–25 March 2015 3 of 10 Full report Information about this school The Mountbatten School converted to become an academy school on 1 April 2011. When its predecessor school, The Mountbatten School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good overall. The Mountbatten School is a much-larger-than-average secondary school. The large majority of its students are of White British heritage with English as their first language. The academy serves a dispersed community with below average levels of deprivation. The proportion of disabled students and those with special educational needs is below average. The proportion of disadvantaged students who are eligible for the pupil premium (additional government funding) is well below average. A small number of students every year are educated off site at the academy’s alternative education providers: AEC and Eastleigh College. The academy charges for a range of outreach activities to other schools locally, primarily in music and sports. The academy meets the current government floor standards. What does the school need to do to improve further? Increase the accuracy of teachers’ assessment of students’ progress, especially in mathematics, by: more rigorously checking each other’s work and comparing it with that of teachers in other schools insisting that teachers’ marking, in all subjects, regularly provides specific, written feedback. Sharpen all leaders’ checks on the quality of teaching by: comparing carefully current monitoring arrangements with those in schools judged to be outstanding sharing more widely the effective practice that exists already in the academy challenging quickly and robustly any practice which falls short of the school’s expectation. Increase significantly the proportion of lower attaining students who make expected progress in English by: extending across the school the innovative work undertaken in Year 7 with those needing to catch up in reading providing access to appropriate English GCSE qualifications, including for lower attaining students increasing the support available to teachers to help lower attaining students prepare for English literature examinations. Inspection report: The Mountbatten School, 24–25 March 2015 4 of 10 Inspection judgements The leadership and management are good The executive headteacher leads the school effectively. She is well supported by a newly appointed head of school and an effective senior team. The recent appointment of the head of school was the result of a thorough internal review. The review was undertaken as a response to the GCSE results in 2014. Leaders recognised the executive headteacher’s need to keep tight oversight of the academy’s outreach work with other schools. Senior leaders are committed to ensuring that every student, including those who attend alternative placements, make good progress. Leaders are aware that there are some aspects of the academy’s work which need to improve further. For example, they know that standards in mathematics are not good enough for many students. Leaders have, over time, however, built a harmonious and caring community. Students and staff get on well and even the most vulnerable students thrive. Many of the values of Earl Mountbatten permeate the school so that students develop a strong sense of what it means to be British in the 21st century. The academy houses a community learning centre which enables adults locally to benefit from a range of educational programmes. Leaders at all levels check teachers’ work regularly. They use detailed systems for tracking teachers’ performance. Most are able to judge accurately the quality of teaching. However, they are overgenerous in their assessment of the quantity of teaching, which they believe to be outstanding. There is not enough teaching which is inspiring and develops in students a genuine interest or passion for learning. Leaders have not looked widely enough externally to find good examples of truly effective practice. The recent appointment of directors of learning has added strength to the leadership of teaching. Consequently, many teachers are improving their practice quickly. The academy’s contribution to students’ personal, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strong. Students are able to explore their creativity through an exemplary programme of curricular and extra-curricular music. There are many impressive ensembles, such as the senior girls’ choir. The big band has been asked to appear at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Students also explore their creativity through art, drama and dance. In religious studies, students are provided with many opportunities to explore the diversity of religious experience in the United Kingdom. Students cooperate well with each other socially and many take on leadership roles. This helps them appreciate democracy and participation. Issues of right and wrong are examined fully in, for example, form time, history and many English lessons. The academy has a broad and varied curriculum. Some of it is innovative, such as the inclusion of a single period of choral singing