School Validation Report(OFSTED equivalent) June 2009

SUMMARY OF THE VALIDATION REPORT

Les Beaucamps High School

Summary of report for parents and learners

Introduction
The validation was carried out by a team of four validators, who spent three days in the school observing lessons, talking with students and looking at their work, engaging in discussions with staff and parents, and looking at school records and other documentation.

Main findings
The validation confirms that the school has an accurate understanding of how well it is performing and what it needs to do to improve further.
Students at Les Beaucamps make good progress in their academic work and personal qualities. They much enjoy their time in school. They grow steadily and securely in their self-confidence and their capacity to take responsibility and contribute to the welfare of others. This results from the good and improving quality of education they receive, and the continuing drive of the headteacher and his colleagues to move the school forward while retaining its focus on each student’s welfare.
The school’s effectiveness was tellingly summed up by one parent who wrote: ‘The school has turned my insecure and angry son into a considerate and mature student who is happy to learn; they have changed his life and the day-to-day life of our family.’

Outcomes for learners
Students achieve well in their academic work. Standards have risen markedly in recent years and are now broadly equal to the English average for all types of maintained secondary school. Some areas of achievement are excellent, as seen in the recent display of art work by GCSE students in a public gallery. Students are developing well the skills they will need for the next stages of their lives.
Students much enjoy their time at school and are well motivated. Attendance is good and they engage in the school’s many activities enthusiastically. Students’ self-belief develops well as a result of the school’s very supportive environment. This was summed up by another parent who said: ‘Les Beaucamps excels in producing confident and socially balanced young people.’  Students display very responsible attitudes to others and to the environment. They make a substantial contribution to the school and local communities.

The quality of provision
Students are well taught. Good relationships are a hallmark of lessons and a strong platform for teaching and learning. The range of activities in classrooms contributes very well to students’ enjoyment of their work and their all-round development. Staff plan work carefully so that students of all abilities can do well. They rise above the limitations posed by cramped accommodation and successfully help students to build key skills and prepare well for the next stage of education and their future working lives.
The broad curriculum engages the students’ interest well and meets the aims of the Guernsey curriculum statement. It matches work well to the needs of students of all abilities and builds carefully on previous learning. The school provides a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities that are much enjoyed by the students.
Staff care for and support students very well, through both their personal commitment to each student’s welfare and the good systems the school has in place. Students are well supported when they enter and leave the school, and they benefit from increasingly good arrangements to track their progress and to help them if they are falling short of their targets.

Leadership and management
The school is strongly led by the highly respected headteacher.  Along with his senior colleagues, he has created a collaborative approach so that staff at all levels think carefully about their work and help to identify areas where improvement is needed. This, together with the increasingly good use of data, helps the school to evaluate accurately how well it is performing and how to improve.
The school’s leadership and management have created a team spirit among staff and a determination to continue making the quality of education better. Plans for development are drawn up well and goals for the continuing professional development of staff are linked to them. Targets to raise standards are used well, especially in Key Stage 4. The school has been very successful in creating a supportive community so that all students have the opportunity to do well.
The school’s track record of improvement demonstrates that it has a very good capacity to continue moving forward. It has well-judged priorities to enable it to do so.

Main areas for school improvement
The school is working well in all areas but recognises that there are ways in which it could perform better still. This validation confirmed that there are two main things the school could do. The first is to improve the quality of teaching and learning by making sure that the best practice is more widely found, particularly in the way that work is set and assessed. The second is to extend the ways in which managers monitor the school’s work so that they are even more fully informed about where to target their support.
June 2009