SUMMARY OF THE VALIDATION REPORT

LES BEAUCAMPS SECONDARY SCHOOL

Les Beaucamps School is a non-selective secondary school for boys and girls aged 11 -16There are 511 students on roll.They are taught by 36 full time and 2 part time members of staff providing a student/teacher ratio of 13.7 : 1.The contact ratio is 76.4%.

Background

The validation team consisted of twelve experienced inspectors. Eleven were Ofsted inspectors fromthe UK and one was an education adviser from Jersey, all of whom had completed the Islands' Federation for the Evaluation of Schools (IFES) training course. The team was led by a former senior HMI and Ofsted Registered Inspector.

The team was introduced to the staff at an informal meeting on Sunday evening, and then spent four days inspecting the school. The school provided a range of documentation and information in advance of the visit, having spent a

year working on its self-evaluation activities. Most staff had attended the Education Department's IFES Internal Evaluator training course on how to carry out a self-review.The evidence base to validate the school's findings was collected through :

* observation of 172 whole or part lessons;

* scrutiny of a wide range of whole school and departmental documentation from the last three

years,

including School Improvement Plans, minutes of meetings and examination results;

* examination and discussion of teachers' planning;

* attendance at assemblies, form tutor periods and some extra curricular activities;

* examination of students' current and previous work;

* approximately 25 hours of planned discussions with teachers and other staff, students and

parents;

* observation of students on arrival and departure from the school and at other times around

the buildings and grounds;

• scrutiny of letters and returns from the parental questionnaire.

At the end of the week, heads of department received an oral feedback on their subject area from the specialist inspector. On Friday, the team leader and deputy leader reported the main findings of the inspection team to the headteacher and his senior management team at the school. This was followed by a verbal report to the Director of Education.

Main Findings

Les Beaucamps is a very good school which has continued to make impressive progress in many areas since the last inspection in 1997.

It is well led and managed. The headteacher's pro-active, open and participative style of management has earned him the respect and loyalty of his staff , and he receives positive support from an experienced senior management team (SMT).

• A purposeful, warm and supportive ethos has been established.
• Students are courteous and wellbehaved. They respond positively to a learning environment which is well ordered and enhanced by lively displays of work. Most students enjoy school and have good relationships with their teachers and one another.
• The school's self evaluation exercise was extremely well planned and carried out in a very professional manner. It was assisted by the school's now well established system of regular self review and forward planning.The school's internal report is commendably accurate in identifying its strengths and areas for development, and provides a secure platform for continued improvement.
• The validation team observed 172 lessons. Of these, an impressive 94% were of at least satisfactory standard, and a commendable 59% were either good or excellent in the quality of teaching, learning and attainment. All subject areas provided some exemplars of good practice. Most lessons are well planned and purposeful, with clear learning objectives. Activities and resources are well matched to students' abilities.
• In the small number of unsatisfactory lessons, features include lack of clear planning, weak class control leading to poor behaviour, and inappropriate work.
• The curriculum has been broadened since the last inspection, and now meets the requirements of the National Curriculum ( Guernsey) in all respects. The amount of teaching time per week in Guemsey secondary schools remains below the UK minimum. Timetabling is efficiently organised by the first deputy head. The establishment of a Route A curriculum for some students at KS4 is proving to be successful, offering more vocational and work related courses, including a well organised Youth Award scheme.
• Most subject areas are well documented, with appropriate policies, schemes of work, action plans and targets. Several new GCSE courses have been successfully introduced, such as in business studies, English,drama, history and PE.
• Attainment levels have improved since the last inspection, and monitoring has improved through suitable use of available MidYis, Yellis and Autumn Package data. The analysis of entry level attainment at Y7 shows that the school successfully adds value to students' levels throughout the school, particularly by the end of KS3.
• GCSE results have improved significantly, and in 2002 63%of students gained five or more A * -C grades. Girls perform much better than boys. These levels of attainment are high in comparison with all UK maintained secondary schools, and very high in comparison with secondary modern schools.
• Good progress has been made in the school's systems for assessment, recording and reporting. There are now clear guidelines for assessing attainment, effort, homework, and reporting to parents, with increasing use of NC(G) levels and GCSE grading. Continued monitoring by the SMT and heads of department will be necessary to ensure consistency in the application of the guidelines.
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