OFSTED

01963 32368

Full OFSTED Report (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Summary of the Inspection Report

Date of inspection: 4th - 7th March 2002

The school was inspected by 12 inspectors, led by Mr Roger Holmes. This is a summary of the inspection report, which is available from the school.

Information About The School

King Arthur's Community School is a mixed comprehensive, taking boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 16. There are currently 732 pupils on roll, which is fewer than in most secondary schools. Numbers have risen in recent years as the school has become more popular and drawn pupils from an increasingly wide area around Wincanton. Almost all of the pupils are white and all but two have English as their first language. Six per cent of pupils have free school meals, which is lower than in most schools. This reflects the high level of employment in the area; other social indicators for the area are also above average.

When they come into the school at 11 years of age, pupils' attainment is very close to the national average and has a wide range, including roughly equal numbers of pupils well above and well below the expected level for their age. Twelve per cent of pupils are on the school's register for special educational needs, which is lower than average and five per cent have statements, which is more than in most schools.

The school has recently achieved sports college status and has had a large sports centre built, which is used jointly by the school and surrounding community.

How Good The School Is

King Arthur's is a good school. Pupils achieve well in almost all subjects, as a result of good teaching. The school has very effective leadership, which has established a strong sense of purpose. Pupils are treated very well and they respond positively, developing well in maturity and lively self-confidence. The school provides good value for money.

What the school does well

Pupils make good progress in almost all subjects.
Standards are high in mathematics and physical education.
Teaching is good and pupils have positive attitudes to work.
Relationships are very good.
The headteacher provides very good leadership.
Links with the community are very strong.
Provision for pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is very good.
Support for pupils with special educational needs is very good.

What could be improved

Boys do not do well enough in Years 7 to 9.
The use of assessment information in a few subjects.
The use of monitoring to improve the quality of teaching.
The teaching in literacy across the curriculum, especially the use of spoken language in some lessons.
the areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors' action plan.

How The School Has Improved Since Its Last Inspection

The school has improved well since its last inspection in November 1996. All four of the key issues raised in the report have been addressed: provision for information and communication technology (ICT) has been improved considerably; spelling is now taught effectively; good use is now made of speech in French; monitoring of teaching has been introduced, although this still needs some development. The school has also achieved Sports College status and has well-developed plans to build on this success in order to raise standards generally. The school is well placed to continue moving forwards.

Standards

The table shows the standards achieved at the end of Year 11 based on average point scores in GCSE examinations.

Performance in:	compared with
	all schools			similar schools
	1999	2000	2001	2001
GCSE examinations	B	B	B	D

Key

A well above average
B above average
C average
D below average
E well below average

Pupils' standards of attainment are very close to the national average when they join the school at age 11 and cover a wide range of ability with roughly equal numbers of pupils well above and well below average. They make sound progress overall in their first years in school, and when they take their National Curriculum tests at the end of Year 9, the results are in line with national averages for English, above in mathematics, and below in science. This has been the pattern for the last few years. Girls do better than boys, even more than in most schools. The relatively low performance of boys and the results in science are causing the school's progress to begin to fall behind the rate of progress in other schools at this stage. In the work seen in school, standards are lower than expected in science, and at the expected level in English, design and technology, geography, music and religious education. They are higher in mathematics, art and design, history, ICT, modern foreign languages and physical education.

The school's results at GCSE are better than at the end of year 9. They have been consistently above the national average for several years and this represents good progress from pupils' starting points when they joined the school. A larger proportion of pupils achieve the highest grades of A* and A than in most schools and the school's overall targets for GCSE performance are met. Girls attain higher grades than boys, but the difference is far less marked than at Year 9. The highest results are in mathematics, physical education and statistics. Results in other subjects are at least as high as in most other schools. Standards of work seen in the school are at the expected level in science, geography, ICT, music and religious education. They are higher in English, art and design, design and technology, history and modern foreign languages. Standards are particularly high in mathematics and in physical education.

Pupils' Attitudes And Values

Aspect	Comment
Attitudes to the school	Pupils have positive attitudes to the school and take a pride in doing well.
Behaviour, in and out of classrooms	Good. Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. They respond well to the responsibilities they are given.
Personal development and relationships	Relationships are very good in the school. Pupils develop a lively self-confidence as a result of the way they are treated in school.
Attendance	Satisfactory overall, with less unauthorised absence than in most schools.

The school gives the pupils considerable responsibility, trusting them to use the school's facilities at break and lunchtime and respecting their views and ideas. They respond particularly well, developing into considerate, confident and self-assured members of society.

Teaching And Learning

Teaching of pupils:	Years 7 - 9	Years 10 - 11
Quality of teaching	Good	Good

Inspectors make judgements about teaching in the range: excellent; very good; good; satisfactory; unsatisfactory; poor; very poor. 'Satisfactory' means that the teaching is adequate and strengths outweigh weaknesses.

Teaching is good overall and even better in the older classes than earlier in the school. A high proportion of very good and excellent lessons were taught, amounting to almost one in three lessons in Years 10 and 11 and one in four overall. This is an improvement on the situation at the time of the last inspection. The great majority of lessons are planned carefully and meet the pupils' needs. They are often lively and stimulating so that pupils learn well and make good progress. Teaching is at least satisfactory in all subjects, but there are some inconsistencies, which have not been picked up or addressed through monitoring. In English, design and technology, history, ICT and modern foreign languages, teaching is good. It is very good in mathematics, art and design, physical education and for pupils with special educational needs.

Literacy and numeracy skills are taught satisfactorily across the school. In accordance with the government's schedule numeracy is less well developed because the strategy has been introduced more recently. Approaches to literacy are well established and effective in English, history, modern foreign languages, art and design and in personal, health and social education (PSHE).

Other Aspects Of The School

Aspect	Comment
The quality and range of the curriculum	Good. The curriculum is broad and balanced and there is a very good range of extra activities. Provision for PSHE is very good and careers education is good.
Provision for pupils with special educational needs	Good overall. Provision is very good when pupils are given specialist support, particularly when they are withdrawn from lessons. This specialist support is often not available to pupils in classes and provision is then satisfactory.
Provision for pupils with English as an additional language	Very few pupils need this support. Provision is satisfactory.
Provision for pupils' personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development	Very good overall. Provision for spiritual development is good; arrangements for moral, social and cultural development are all very good. The strength of this area of the school's work contributes well to pupils' good behaviour and the way they grow in maturity.
How well the school cares for its pupils	The school takes very good care of its pupils. Arrangements for accessing how well they are doing are satisfactory and improving.

The school has a satisfactory partnership with parents. They have a high regard for the work of the school and the way it treats its pupils. Links with the wider community are very strong and contribute well to the pupils' learning.

How Well The School Is Led And Managed

Aspect	Comment
Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff	The headteacher provides very effective leadership and with the strong support of the senior management team he has established a clear sense of purpose for the school, understood by all. The school is well managed and runs smoothly.
How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities	Governors are very committed to the school. They are well informed and carry out their duties responsibly. Apart from the provision of a daily act of collective worship, all statutory requirements are met.
The school's evaluation of its performance	The school analyses its overall performance effectively and bases its development plans on these findings. The performance of some individual teachers is not monitored well enough.
The strategic use of resources	Resources are used effectively. The school has been particularly successful in gaining sports college status and has imaginative plans to use this position to enhance provision throughout the school.

Overall the school has adequate resources and accommodation to support its work. Spending decisions have been made wisely after due consideration of alternatives.

Parents' And Carers' Views Of The School

What pleases parents most	What parents wold like to see improved
* Pupils make good progress * Teaching is good * There are high expectations * The school is approachable * Management is strong * Children grow in maturity * There is a wide range of extra activities * Pupils like school	* The quality of homework - some want more, others less * More information about pupils' progress * More opportunities to work with the school

The inspection team agrees with the parents' overwhelmingly positive views of the school. With regard to their concerns: homework is used well in most subjects but the timetable is not always followed, so that there are peaks and troughs; reports are useful, but do not always give enough details on progress; the school provides ample opportunities for parents to become involved in its work and encourages them to do so.