Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and successful at this caring and ambitious school. They work well together, listening and contributing thoughtfully in lessons and form time.

Pupils display a sense of purpose and rise to the high aspirations that the school has for them. They attain well.

Pupils relish the challenges posed by their expert teachers.

They have adapted swiftly to the mixed-sex form groups and lessons. Pupils support and encourage each other well, working confidently as individuals or in groups. Their respectful approach in lessons continues around the school towards each other and visitors.

Although some need gentle reminders to wear their lanyards on... the walk from one school site to another, they show responsibility and consideration for others.

Most pupils take advantage of the wide range of extra-curricular activities on offer. From drama and music to sports and Combined Cadet Force and overseas trips, there is something for everyone.

Pupils appreciate the range and variety.

Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the support the school provides for their children. Frequently, their comments speak of their children being 'happy and thriving', and many responses note that a culture of respect runs through the school.

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

The school has established an ambitious curriculum that meets the needs of pupils. All pupils follow the same curriculum in their mixed-sex classes and have settled well into this new organisation. There is clear ambition for all, but this is not realised as securely for disadvantaged pupils.

Overall, these pupils do not routinely achieve the high outcomes that other pupils do at GCSE. While the school has started to address this issue, recognising that the lower attendance of this group is a factor, the intended impact is not yet realised.

Throughout the school, staff demonstrate their expertise in their subjects.

Pupils recognise and appreciate the challenges posed. The recently introduced whole-school approach to help pupils recall and apply earlier learning to current topics is particularly successful. The school has also been successful in developing teachers' learning techniques.

For example, the methods of checking what pupils know and can remember support staff and pupils to recognise where some topics might need revisiting.

The ambition for pupils extends to their reading. While all pupils arrive at the school with secure reading fluency and confidence, the school provides additional support for those who need to grow their reading stamina.

This ensures that pupils meet the expectations for reading across the curriculum. Alongside this, there is a culture of reading, and pupils discuss the varied books they read with enthusiasm. Sixth-form students who want to attain a higher grade for their GCSE English and/or mathematics are supported to do so successfully.

Pupils behave well, engaging with each other and their learning with care. Many report that the school is calmer now that classes are mixed. Inspectors found focused and respectful pupils across the school.

The school's work to improve attendance has been successful for most, particularly in the sixth form. However, there are still some sixth-form students who need to improve their punctuality. The school is aware of this and is addressing it.

The work to support pupils' personal development is well considered. It is matched to the needs of pupils and the local context. Pupils benefit from the rich activities to further their spiritual and moral understanding, particularly those linked to the local community and historical events that past pupils were involved with.

Support for pupils' careers information, education, advice and guidance is impressive. The school has designed relevant and useful personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education for sixth-form students, but restrictions in timetabling mean that some cannot access the full offer. Some of the sessions are not delivered to the quality that the school intends.

Leaders have ensured that the change to the way that the school organises pupil groups has been achieved successfully. Staff are enthused by the support they have received with this and with the focus on developing their knowledge of learning strategies. This approach has carefully taken the workload and well-being of staff into account.

Those responsible for governance have engaged very well with the external support they commissioned. They display a greater understanding of their role and the knowledge required to achieve this. There is a clear commitment to continue this journey of learning so that they can hold leaders to account and fulfil their statutory duties successfully.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Those responsible for governance are still on a journey of improvement. There remain gaps in their knowledge, and therefore in their effectiveness.

They should continue the learning they have started so that they can fully hold leaders to account for school improvement and fulfil their duties effectively. ? Pupils who are disadvantaged do not attend or achieve as well as other pupils. The school should ensure that all staff have the knowledge and skills needed to make the appropriate adaptations for pupils to help them attend routinely and to achieve highly.

• The recent changes to provision for PSHE for students in the sixth form are not being implemented as leaders intend. This means that some students do not benefit fully from this important learning. The school should ensure that all students access the full PSHE offer routinely and that all staff deliver the sessions as intended.