School Development Plan 2015-16

Key Performance Indicators: These paint a very healthy picture of the school with the quality of teaching being extremely high, examination results at GCSE being simply amazing and a good performance at A Level. Our destinations of leavers are very pleasing as is the pastoral data that we monitor very closely with attendance being a particular strength. Our key areas of focus are now students in the U6th who have Special Education Needs and ensuring more students are accessing their first/second choice universities.

To enhance levels of Engagement and Deep Thinking in the Sixth form to create students who are prepared to be the successful undergraduates of tomorrow: The success of this target was well demonstrated in Formal Learning Observations but day to day learning walks suggested that Sixth Form students were still a little passive although clearly very focussed. A huge 94% of students, however, agree that the quality of teaching for the Sixth Form is high. This target has now been carried into the 2016-17 SDP as part of the Deep Thinking Challenge strategy.

To plan effectively for curriculum change at GCSE and A Level so teacher’s knowledge and understanding of course specific content and skills is ‘outstanding’.Staff seem extremely confident in their delivery of reformed specifications with Professional Predictions putting last year’s Y9 in the 1st percentile for progress nationally and L6th in the 25th. Student surveys suggested both year groups are very confident in understanding how they can be successful in their final examinations. Dedicating large amounts of CPD time to this last year appears to have been highly successful. The school will continue to dedicate this time to planning for new specifications.

To ensure and enhance staff and student wellbeing: Staff Comments has continued to be an effective mechanism for staff to raise concerns that can be rapidly addressed by SLT. Morale appears to be high with staff rating the school 4.1/5.0 for ‘Working at this school is satisfying and fulfilling’. It is also pleasing to see the number of student mental health referrals decline significantly. This year, key actions such as implementing a new printing contract and undertaking research projects into the working day and growth mind-sets in appraisal should continue to see high staff morale.

To ensure school governors have an excellent understanding of the new Ofsted framework and support senior staff in meeting the ‘outstanding’ criteria contained within this: The governing body continues to go from strength to strength in this respect. A new system of Lead Advisors for different areas of the Ofsted Framework will help the Local Advisory Board continue on this ever improving trajectory.

To ensure an effective Performance Management system is implemented for Non-Teaching Staff: PM is now fully embedded in the vast majority of NT Staff departments and is working well. There will now be more of a focus on CPD and sharing good practice through work shadowing.

To develop further the built environment of WCGS and its capacity in presenting accurate financial and staff absence data. With a new build nearly complete, Student Services fully operational, an enhancement in Sixth Form Private Study space and extensive refurbishment work complete, the built environment gets better and better. PS Financials is also now fully operational. We will now look to secure the CiF bid for a new DT and Music block.

Pupil Outcomes 2016

GCSEs

  • The school is expected to be in the top 2% of all schools nationally for Value Added (progress made from Y6 to Y11).
  • There was no significant Pupil Premium gap (5th percentile)
  • There was no significant Special Educational Needs gap (5th percentile)
  • There was no significant English as an Additional Language gap (1st percentile)

2016 Percentages / 2015 Percentages / 2014 Percentages
Entries / A* / A*/A / A*-B / Entries / A* / A*/A / A*-B / Entries / A* / A*/A / A*-B
1545 / 39 / 72 / 90 / 1576 / 40 / 76 / 93 / 1510 / 37 / 76 / 93
  • Our %A*-A ranking in the Boys Academic State School Group (BASS) was 13/26. This is a significant achievement as this group comprises the the highest performing boys selective schools in the country.
  • In terms of Value Added, our most successful Subject Areas were:
  • Mathematics (1st percentile)
  • English Literature (5th percentile)
  • Biology (5th percentile)
  • Physics (5th percentile)
  • History (5th percentile)
  • Hospitality (1st) and Catering (5th)
  • Religious Studies (5th percentile)
  • In terms of Value Added, the Subject Areas that will be an area of focus for the coming year will be:
  • Latin (70th percentile) – although VA has increased massively from -0.46 of a grade in 2015 to -0.14 of a grade in 2016. Our Advanced Skills Teacher is deployed to lead this course and we are extremely confident in the interventions he is taking, including well targeted catch up sessions and assessment responses.
  • Spanish (99th percentile) – a centre remark has been triggered for the writing paper because of the inaccuracy of assessment by the exam board (EdExcel). We will also be supporting one teacher in particular whose class scored significantly lower in VA than the others.
  • Art (99th percentile) – marking was moderated down by the exam board due to perceived inaccuracies at the lower end. We have secured a mentor for the Subject Leader to improve the accuracy of assessment and she has also applied to be trained as an exam board moderator.
  • Electronic Products (60th percentile) – although VA has improved from

-0.83 of a grade in 2015 to -0.04 in 2016. JBE will continue to Line Manage this Subject Area to improve assessment and tracking routines still further to secure excellent outcomes. Our aim is to have minimal students drop EP this year.

  • Resistant Materials (99th percentile) – we have recruited a new and experienced RM teacher who will drive forward improvement in this course.
  • Business Studies (99th percentile) – coursework was moderated down and our appeal against this decision was unsuccessful. We have recruited a new and experienced Subject Leader to lead improvement in this course.
  • Music (99th percentile) – both our Music teachers have now returned from maternity leave to drive improvement in this Subject Area.
  • Overall, the school’s Professional Predictions, grades that guided our intervention, were very accurate, estimating that students would be in the 1st percentile for progress and coming out in the 2nd. 75% of predictions were either exactly right or within one sub grade (e.g. the student was predicted a B1 and got an A). This is a figure we still aim to improve on.

A Level

  • The school is expected to be in the top 40% of schools for Level 3 Value Added in the country (progress made from Y11-Y13).
  • There was a Pupil Premium Gap with this group expected to perform in the 90th percentile. This was down to a very few students who we have written intervention case studies for.
  • There was a SEN gap with this group expected to perform in the 90th percentile. This was down to a very few students who we have written intervention case studies for.
  • There was an EAL gap with this group expected to perform in the 80th percentile. Again, case studies have been prepared to show our intervention with this type of student.
  • There was a gender gap with girls performing in the 70th percentile. A compelling one sider has been written analysing this issue.
  • All these gaps, except for SEN, are expected to close entirely in the current U6th.

2016 Percentages / 2015 Percentages / 2014 Percentages
Entries / A* / A*/A / A*-B / A*-C / Entries / A* / A*/A / A*-B / A*-C / Entries / A* / A*/A / A*-B / A*-C
529 / 19 / 56 / 84 / 94 / 523 / 24 / 63 / 88 / 96 / 459 / 15 / 49 / 79 / 94
  • Our %A*-B ranking in the BASS group was 12/26. Again, this is a significant achievement.
  • In terms of Value Added, our most successful Subject Areas were:
  • Chemistry (20th percentile)
  • Classics (1st percentile)
  • History (1st percentile)
  • Philosophy (1st percentile)
  • In terms of Value Added, the Subject Areas that will be an area of focus for the coming year will be:
  • Art (90th percentile) – although VA has increased significantly from –0.83 of a grade in 2015 to -0.44 in 2015.
  • French (99th percentile) - although VA has increased significantly from -0.57 of a grade in 2015 to -0.23 in 2015. The Subject Area was also ranked first out of all BASS schools. This percentile therefore masks an excellent performance.
  • Geography (99th percentile) – this will be the second year in post for the new Subject Leader and significant support is being put in place by the Learning Strategy Team and CTO to improve the performance of one particular member of staff in the Subject Area.
  • Government and Politics (70th percentile) – again, this will be the second year in post for the new Subject Leader and significant support is being put in place by CTO.
  • Further Maths (90th) and Design and Technology (99th) were also a cause for concern but will not be an area of focus. Further Maths allows a lot more candidates to sit it than is normal in order to boost their mathematics A Level grade. This is a successful strategy and will continue. DT will cease to run as an A Level as we are no longer in a position to fund it.
  • Overall, the school’s Professional Predictions, grades that guided our intervention, were extremely accurate, estimating that students would be in the 40th percentile for progress and coming out in the 40th. 68% of predictions were either exactly right or within one sub grade. This is also a figure we aim to improve on.

Self-Evaluation Form 2015-16

Our Self Evaluation Form states that WCGS is an ‘outstanding’ school. The five most important arguments that demonstrate this in each Ofsted category are as follows:

Effectiveness of Leadership and Management

The leadership and management of Wallington Country Grammar School is outstanding because:

  1. We have a culture of excellence which flows from the high aspirations of our governing body, through highly motivated and skilled staff and into well-rounded, high achieving students.
  2. We have a highly capable, empowered middle leadership team who contribute to and drive whole school change in appropriate ways for their teams. Examples of this include their assistance in co-constructing the School Development Plan, their bespoke delivery of the school’s AfL policy and their engagement in the Pixl Raising Standards Leader agenda.
  3. We have a creative and dynamic Senior Leadership Team who are able to construct then implement well designed strategies to raise standards across the school and then evaluate their impact thoroughly and accurately. These include the rigorous yet responsive Appraisal System and the ‘Common Agenda’ which focuses all senior and middle leaders on whole school priorities.
  4. We are highly engaged in leading inter-school collaboration to create a model of self-improving schools by: setting up the Sutton Alliance Review system; leading the delivery of the National Professional Qualifications for Senior and Middle Leadership; being the Subject Hub Leads for School Direct Science and English; and developing the Folio Education Trust.
  5. The School forms an effective part of a wider safeguarding system, working closely with multi-agency support, maintaining public trust that a safe environment is established where all children can learn. When issues do occur, swift and decisive action is taken to eliminate any future or related risks.

Quality of Teaching, Learning and Assessment

This aspect of the Ofsted framework is outstanding in Wallington County Grammar School because:

  1. 98% of our teachers are rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ with 60% being ‘outstanding’ at the end of the 2015-16 Academic Year. These judgements have been informed and quality assured by: appraisal evidence including learning observations, drop ins and work samples; regular SLT quality assurance meetings; paired observations (which are the norm); Subject Area Reviews and annual external quality assurance reviews.
  2. Our rigorous focus on developing and supporting the very few staff who are not consistently good or outstanding, means student outcomes are not compromised and all students continue to make fantastic progress at GCSE and A Level.
  3. Annual student feedback demonstrates that they believe the quality of teaching they receive is very high because they are well challenged, highly engaged and understand how to make progress.
  4. The subject knowledge and passion of our teachers enthuses students to be highly motivated and engaged both in and outside of lessons. This is reflected in the wide variety of academic clubs and societies on offer and their exceptionally high attendance.
  5. The school has made huge strides in increasing the quality of feedback through the Assessment for Learning Policy so that teachers: mark work regularly and thoroughly using green pen; encourage students to reflect on their own and each other’s work in red pen; and then ensure they respond to feedback appropriately in purple. Questioning and ‘capturing key learning’ strategies have developed so that staff target their questions precisely and use them to shape the learning of the class, in the best cases by ‘bouncing’ ideas and concepts around different students.

Personal Development, Behaviour and Welfare

This is one of the key strengths of Wallington County Grammar School because:

  1. All students feel safe at all times. Every employee and volunteer within the organisation has a clear understanding of the role they play in keeping children safe. It is clear that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and priority.
  2. Our attendance is extremely high at 97%.
  3. Our school is extremely diverse, tolerant and accepting of other views, religions and cultures. Examples of this include the work of our female leadership team and our Islamic Society. We also run wellbeing lessons and ‘SMSC days’ to enhance the social, moral, spiritual and cultural development of our students.
  4. Instances of bullying are rare and, when they do occur, they are dealt with swiftly and effectively with the full involvement of all key stakeholders.
  5. Current issues relating to the safety of students are dealt with very effectively including eSafety and anti-radicalisation.

Pupil Outcomes

The outcomes for pupils at Wallington County Grammar School are exceptional because:

  1. As well as attainment at GCSE being far in excess of national standards, our students consistently make progress (from their already high starting points) in the top 2% of schools nationally at GCSE. Progress in core subjects is exceptionally high, almost always in the top 5% in the country and often in the top 1%.
  2. Our disadvantaged students make progress far above other disadvantaged students nationally with similar starting points and even made progress in the top 5% of all students at GCSE in 2016. In 2014 we were recognised for our work by being awarded a ‘Pupil Premium Award’.
  3. Our students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities also made progress in the top 5% of all students in the country at GCSE in 2016.
  4. Our assessment at KS3 is accurate in identifying students who are underperforming so that intervention can be put in place and students last year made excellent progress in both year 7 and year 8, averaging 1 level of progress in each year group. We will soon be rolling the new GCSE grading system down into KS3 and using Teacher Professional Predictions to track their progress like in all older year groups currently.

Effectiveness of 16-19 Study Programmes

Our Sixth Form provision is outstanding because:

  1. Our students made progress in line with the top 20% of schools nationally at A Level in 2015, top 40% in 2016 and are expected to be in the top 25% in 2017. We are focussing on increasing Sixth Form progress very effectively by using the Pixl Raising Standards Leader agenda, creating Personal Learning Checklists that are used with all cause for concern students and focussing relentlessly on the accuracy of our assessment at A Level through the ‘Common Agenda’.
  2. In 2016, 97% of our U6th Leavers went onto university or took a gap year with the aim of applying in 2017. The other 5% entered direct employment. 5% of students went on to study in Oxbridge universities, 10% went on to study either medicine or dentistry and 54% gained places in Russell Group universities.
  3. Pastoral care, safeguarding and child protection permeates the entire Sixth Form ensuring all children experience effective care, enabling them to achieve the best outcomes and move forward to their next destination of education, employment or training.
  4. We have a superb co-curricular and enrichment programme that equips students with the skills to be successful undergraduates. This is supported by outstanding pastoral care which helps support students with their emotional health and careers guidance.
  5. We have an empowered and highly effective student leadership team that run whole school events and act as excellent role models for younger students.

School Development Plan 2016-17

Targets that have been generated for 2016-17 and the reasons why are as follows:

To challenge all students through the use of Deep Thinking Challenges.A Deep Thinking Challenge is a task or question designed to stretch and challenge students’ thinking and that can ideally be accessed throughout the lesson by all students, particularly the most able. This target was chosen out of a desire to see greater levels of challenge, particularly for our most able students. This was an area that the Sutton Alliance Review advised we focus on which supported evaluations that had been carried out by senior and middle leaders as well as school governors. It is also supported by current educational research on ‘acceleration’ presented by the likes of Professor John Hattie. We plan to make this a three year target with the long term ambition of creating an even more academic environment centred around achievement and scholarship.

To enhance relationships and engagement in the Sixth Form by maximising attendance and learning outside of the classroom. This target continues the work we have done through last year’s SDP to enhance achievement in the Sixth Form by focussing on engagement. Sixth Form outcomes are still an area of focus with our students making progress in the top 40% of schools when we aim to be in the top 20%. Ensuring all students are in as many lessons as possible and increasing expectations of how much they achieve when not in lesson through homework and directed study will maximise students’ progress and lead to ever greater levels of professionalism.