16. Good teaching supports good earning and good achievement across Years 7 to 9. Teachers manage behaviour very well and create very good relationships so that pupils are confident and there is an excellent ethos where people listen to each other with real respect. The school deliberately groups pupils with different levels of competence together in most subjects. This arrangement effectively helps the most competent to deepen their understanding when they help other pupils. It also builds and protects the confidence of less competent pupils. As a result of these factors pupils spend almost all of every lesson working hard. They are encouraged to remember that their success will be more closely related to the amount of effort they put in than to any success or failure in previous earning, Almost all of the pupils accept this philosophy and are able to make a success out of it.

17. There is a significant amount of very good teaching, across all years, and some excellent practice which is characterised by a wider variety of teaching and learning approaches which pupils find more exciting and stimulating. Teachers adjust work carefully to ensure that the highest attainers and those who have more difficulty can achieve well. They share their own enthusiasm to captivate and engage pupils, and expect very high standards regardless of ability. They use questioning very effectively to probe and push pupils to explore ideas, They maintain a relentless pace, but still provide extensive opportunities for pupils to discuss ideas amongst themselves to clarify and refine their understanding. This allows more competent pupils to support those who are less confident which builds confidence throughout the class. In the very best lessons the techniques which recent government initiatives have promoted as best practice are completely embedded. Teachers plan imaginatively to ensure that pupils are totally involved, and always active, and they make expert use of the most modern resources. In the less stimulating lessons, particularly in Years 7 to 9 teachers do not use such effective questioning techniques. Often their questions ask for facts, rather then speculation or opinions, and there is insufficient opportunity for pupils to talk to each other to clarify their thinking before they are asked to write. The most competent pupils are not always fully stretched, whilst some others are left to struggle or drift off task because teachers are unaware of their difficulties. In these situations teaching weaknesses still lead to satisfactory learning overall because of the excellent behaviour that pervades the school. Despite some passive response or loss of momentum, pupils still try to complete the tasks they have been set.

18. Teaching in Years 10 and 11 is consistently very good and promotes very good learning and achievement. The principal factor supporting this success is the trust between teachers and pupils. There is a clear understanding that everyone in the school is working together, and that this will result in success in GCSE examinations. This is strengthened by the very high level of expertise amongst teachers across all the subject areas. Teachers know the GCSE requirements very well, and understand exactly how they can support pupils to succeed. Within this overall very good picture there are high spots of excellence. Here the teachers’ enthusiasm and their own excitement about learning infects the pupils. Highly imaginative ways of introducing a topic such as prohibition in American history mean that pupils engage very quickly with learning and are able to persist through whatever difficulties they encounter. Excellent behaviour is the norm, as is the respect that aHows pupils to work together effectively, and to risk failure to gain success. This was particularly evident when Year 11 boys were able to empathise with victims of domestic violence in an excellent drama lesson.

19. The school has its own well-established and very effective system of monitoring based on objective assessment of pupils’ efforts with their work. Assessments are very carefully correlated to give both parents and pupils a very clear understanding of how hard any individual is trying compared to the rest of the class. For all concerned this provides a reliable indication of how successful they are likely to be in GCSE examinations.

20. The management style within the school means that each department is encouraged to seek the very best way of marking and assessing pupils’ work from day to day. Inevitably this leads to some variation in the quality as well as the style of marking and assessment. The history department, for example, has developed an excellent system where time is not lost in routine