Lancashire secondary school told it requires improvement for the fourth time in six years

Carr Hill High School in Kirkham was inspected by Ofsted between March 12 and 13 this year, and in a new report published on Friday, it was given a rating of ‘Requires Improvement’.

The school, home to 856 pupils, was previously classed as requires improvement in a monitoring visit in 2023 and in two full inspections in 2021 and 2018 respectively.

If a school requires improvement it means it is not yet good but overall provides an acceptable standard of education, and it will receive a graded inspection again within a period of 2.5 years.

If a school has been judged as requires improvement at two successive inspections, as Carr Hill has, it will also be subject to monitoring from inspectors to check its progress.

Find out what the inspectors had to say in the latest report below:

What does the school do well?

The report starts by saying that “in recent years, staff have raised their expectations of pupils’ achievement” and “the school is strengthening its approach to help pupils foster positive attitudes towards learning” meaning that “many pupils are increasingly interested in their learning and they want to do well. “ Inspectors also noted that some pupils, including SEND, forge positive relationships with their teachers and “in the main, pupils respond positively to the new behaviour management system”.

Regarding the curriculum, inspectors said “the school, and members of the governing body, have brought about some positive changes since the previous inspection. For example, pupils now have access to a broad and balanced curriculum...This is preparing them better for their future career choices.”

The school is also said to have “redesigned the subject curriculums to ensure that the knowledge that pupils need to learn is identified clearly” and the “personal, social, health and economic education curriculum is designed carefully to develop pupils’ awareness of personal safety and healthy living.”

Carr Hill was additionally praised for the high priority placed on reading and for recently developing new opportunities for pupils to take on roles of responsibility.

What does the school need to do to improve?

The report states that “the way in which the subject content is presented does not enable pupils to build on their knowledge securely” meaning some pupils, including those with SEND, do not achieve well, and so some teachers should be “better equipped to deliver the curriculums so that pupils know and remember more.”  

Some teachers are also not said to check on pupils’ learning effectively or address pupils’ misconceptions well enough.

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Inspectors added that “the behaviour policy is not implemented consistently well by some staff” and “[o]ccasionally, the strategies to manage behaviour are not effective in addressing the poor conduct of some pupils.”

As a result of this, inspectors continued to say “Some pupils do not enjoy school due to the continued disruptive behaviour of other pupils. The school should support staff to use the agreed behaviour management strategies so that they have the desired impact.”

The report then ends by saying “The school does not promote its extra-curricular offer well enough. This means that the participation in clubs and visits is low, especially among disadvantaged pupils. This limits pupils’ understanding and experiences of the wider world. The school should design opportunities to promote pupils’ wider development better so that more pupils can broaden their experiences, talents and interests.”