Ryedale School Local Authority Report 2015

Local Authority Review of Ryedale School 1
Children and Young Peoples’ Service
Education & Skills
Review of Ryedale School
28th
& 29th
September 2015

Introduction
The review was carried out at the request of the school.
Information about this review
 During the two day inspection, 27 part-lessons were observed, including visits
to assemblies and tutorial time.
 Meetings were held with: the headteacher, senior leaders, middle leaders,
members of the governing body, and two groups of students.
 The review team looked at: planning and school self-evaluation
documentation; information on students’ progress; examples of students’
work; and a range of policy documents.
Review Team
Nick Horn Team Lead Secondary Lead Adviser
Martin Pearman  Team Reviewer Headteacher Ripon Grammar School
James Durran Team Reviewer LA Adviser for English
Description of the school
Ryedale School is a smaller than average size secondary school serving a mainly
rural community, situated to the north of York. The number of students with learning
difficulties and/or disabilities is well below the national average, as is the number of
students eligible for free school meals. The majority of students are from a White
British background.

Overall Effectiveness is outstanding
 The great majority of students achieve exceptionally well at Ryedale. The
proportion who attain five A* to C grades, including English and mathematics,
is consistently above the national average.
 Leaders have ensured consistently high quality teaching. Consequently, all
groups of students make rapid progress in a wide range of subjects. This
includes disadvantaged students, who are supported increasingly well through
the prudent use of additional funding.
 Teachers routinely plan work which motivates and engages students
effectively. Work is very well pitched to match the needs and interests of
students of all abilities. Homework makes a very strong contribution to
students’ development of a wide range of skills, including in literacy and
numeracy.
 The relationships between students and staff are excellent. Students
appreciate the efforts made by teachers and other adults to provide enjoyable
and challenging learning activities. In most cases, teachers’ marking is highly
effective and gives students clear guidance on how to improve their work.
 Students conduct themselves around the school site with maturity and respect
for others. They have excellent attitudes to learning. This underpins students’
typically responsible and courteous behaviour in lessons.
 Students report that they feel very safe in all parts of the school. They are
highly knowledgeable about a wide range of safety-related matters. This helps
them to stay safe outside of school as well as when on site.
 The headteacher provides excellent leadership to the school. He, alongside
other senior and middle leaders, has created a culture where academic
success is expected from all students, regardless of ability. The school has
maintained consistently impressive levels of achievement over time.
 Leaders put a very strong emphasis both on students achieving well in their
courses and on how well students develop as well-rounded young people.
 The effective governing body holds the school to account robustly for its
performance.
 Students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is very well
promoted. Consequently, all groups of students are prepared exceedingly well
for the next stage of their education.
The Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding.
Following a year as acting Headteacher, the Headteacher was appointed to the
substantive post in 2014. He has pursued relentlessly and successfully his vision of
maintaining the school as an outstanding provider of education in the local area.
Senior leaders, other staff and the governors have supported him ably. Staff are very
positive about the school and a sense of optimism pervades the school.

Key to this success has been continued improvement in the quality of teaching,
learning and use of assessment. Arising from accurate analysis, very effective
training and support for all staff has been provided and, when needed, robust action
has been taken. As a result, teaching is of a consistently high quality. Staff morale is
excellent, with all staff following agreed policies to ensure that students are clear
about what is expected of them. Staff are supportive of the school ethos and the
future direction of the development of the school.
Middle leaders are held to account by the senior leadership team (SLT) but are
equally aware of their accountability to the students in their department. There is a
well-founded trust by the SLT in the middle leadership team to develop teaching and
learning in their areas, which they respond to well. Middle leaders also effectively
hold staff to account; consequently, the quality of teaching and learning continues to
improve.
Middle leadership is outstanding. Subject leaders know about recent developments
in their subject and are anxious to bring about further improvements in students’
achievement. For example, reflection on assessment and feedback is well managed
and underpinned by a desire for continuous improvement. An example of the impact
of this is the increasingly incisive feedback that students receive, both written and
within class. Observation in lessons and work scrutiny show that students value this
feedback and respond well to it, consequently making excellent progress. The SLT
recognises that this excellent practice is still to be embedded in some areas.
The curriculum provides students with the right courses to move on to post-16
education or fulfilling employment and training opportunities.
Students leave school well prepared for life in modern Britain. They understand
matters such as tolerance and democratic values. Deficiencies in their skills of
reading, writing and mathematics, present on entry to the school, are rectified
quickly.
Expectations of students’ behaviour are very high. Their response is excellent
because these expectations are straightforward and are made very clear. Students
comment favourably on the high expectations of staff and the very positive climate
for learning. This extends to matters such as punctuality and smartness of
appearance. Students are happy and engaged as evidenced by their politeness and
their willingness to smile.
Additional funding for disadvantaged students is used exceptionally well. Gaps in
their performance when compared with other students, both within the school and
nationally, are small. As with all students, the progress this group are making is
checked regularly and action is taken quickly where progress might have slowed.

This work will be further improved following the recent appointment of Progress
Leaders for all year groups and an Academic Mentor for Disadvantaged students.
Safeguarding of students is outstanding. Safeguarding and child protection
arrangements go well beyond the minimum statutory requirements. Both teachers
and students have a keen sense of risk and are knowledgeable about what to do if
there are problems. Outstanding arrangements contribute to keeping students safe
at school and help them know how to keep themselves safe outside of school too.
Leaders make sure students know about bullying. Although it is very rare, students
know there is always an adult to talk with, if they have worries. Students are
adamant that they will be listened to and that issues will be dealt with. Governors are
well trained and arrangements to make sure only appropriate adults work with
children are detailed and well established.
Independent advice and guidance for those who are leaving education or who wish
to continue their education is of high quality. Post-16 providers and North Yorkshire
Business Education Partnership (NYBEP) come into school offering independent
careers advice for students. Students say they are aware of the future pathways
available to them.
Governors are highly effective. They have a very thorough understanding of the
school’s many strengths and of those areas that are in need of further development.
They know how the school’s performance relates to that of other schools. There is
an awareness that this needs to develop further. They use this knowledge well to
challenge senior leaders to make further improvements, both within the school and
the wider community. For example, whilst the governors have a good awareness of
the financial challenges the school is facing they are considering federating with local
primary schools. They hope that the federation will benefit the wider community
through a more cohesive education experience for young people in the area.
Governors keep a very close eye on the quality of teaching across the school. They
know how teachers’ performance is evaluated and how the information is used to
reward outstanding performance. They also understand the actions taken to remedy
shortcomings. Governors check that additional funding for disadvantaged students is
having the desired effect in improving their performance. They meet the
requirements for publishing information on the school web site. Governors also meet
requirements for keeping students safe.
There is a governors’ development plan. This year’s focus is on improving
communication, including the production of an annual report. There is also a focus
on being better able to recruit governors for the future long-term sustainability of high
quality governance.

The Quality of Teaching, Learning and Assessment is outstanding.
Teaching and learning is confidently and thoughtfully led and has a very clear
strategic direction. Quality assurance is measured and intelligent and is backed by a
shared belief across the staff in the importance of the highest possible practice.
Productive learning relationships are at the heart of hard-working classrooms in this
school. The expectations of teachers are consistently very high, so students know
what is expected of them and they meet these expectations. Students talk
enthusiastically about their learning. They have explained that they know what they
need to do and are motivated to improve and to succeed. They demonstrate
considerable resilience, which teachers actively develop.
Regular, accurate assessment enables any slowing of progress to be spotted
quickly. Help is then arranged that best meets the needs of the individual.
Peer and self-assessment is well embedded and students are used to acting
positively on written and verbal feedback. For example, in a Year 7 PE lesson the
teacher skilfully balanced and integrated physical activity with reflection and
feedback, so that students were able to make clear progress in the development of
skills. Students not taking part in the lesson were involved through assessing and
commenting on their peers’ performance. Another example was observed in Yr 7
Dance, where students were able to reflect critically on their own and each other’s
performance. It was pleasing to note that students bringing higher-level skills from
outside school were modelling techniques for other students.
A deliberately flexible school policy on marking and feedback allows departments
and teachers to adapt their practice for subjects and circumstances and is an
example of how respect for teacher autonomy works well with the high levels of
professionalism in the staff. In the majority of subjects, teachers give students the
opportunity to respond to their comments and to complete the additional tasks they
set within the lesson. Students know what to expect and respond to teachers’
requests to improve their work and what they need to do in order to achieve a higher
grade. Students say that they value their teachers’ feedback. SLT recognise that
there is some variation in the quality of written feedback and this is an identified
focus for ongoing improvement across the school.
Lessons are very well planned and teachers make effective use of the extensive
information they have on each student’s progress. This is used, for example, to
direct questions at particular students or groups of students. This strategy is often
used very effectively to ensure, for example, that lower ability students or those with
special educational needs are fully included in discussions.
Teachers effectively question students throughout the lesson to draw out
understandings and to encourage articulation of ideas. This ensures that teachers
understand the progress made, and support the development of literacy skills,

especially the use of technical vocabulary. Teachers help students to rectify and
learn from their mistakes through further, more probing questioning. Follow-up
questioning is also used to challenge higher-level thinking and debate. In a few of
the lessons observed pace is sometimes being maintained at the expense of
developing depth of understanding.
In a curriculum, where virtually all lessons are taught by specialists, the subject
knowledge of teachers is an evident strength. Where students are challenged to
think deeply, for example in a Year 10 English lesson on ‘The History Boys’, this is
supported by teachers’ knowledge and expertise. Many teachers know the skills and
knowledge that are taught elsewhere and support students in drawing upon these.
For example in a design lesson students were looking at how the design of clocks
was influenced by the ‘emergence of the atomic age’ they were reminded of the skills
they learnt in art to analyse and evaluate work.
Homework is used well to enhance students’ learning, although this is not always
challenging enough for all learners or structured sufficiently to ensure their progress.
Completion of homework is checked regularly with highly effective teacher feedback.
As a result of SLT having established a clear focus on developing literacy, MLT and
teachers have ensured that literacy in the classroom is effective. This is especially so
in students’ oral and discursive work, where the use of English is confident and well
developed in the overwhelming majority of students. Expectations of students’ basic
literacy are high. For example, in a Year 10 English lesson it was made clear that
basic errors of punctuation and spelling would not be accepted and that feedback
would focus on higher level learning instead. This underpins the excellent progress
that students make.
The promotion of reading across the school is driven by passionate and imaginative
leadership and there is a rich programme of reading and literacy events, coordinated
with the excellent library, which is itself a dynamic and responsive learning resource.
The senior leader with responsibility for literacy is eager to continue to develop
classroom practice across the school.
Owing to the increasing number of students on role the school is having to convert
some areas to teaching spaces. This is limiting the use of areas such as the library.

Leaders acknowledge there is more to do to ensure such strength in numeracy
beyond mathematics lessons. The plan for this development is well thought out and
the team have demonstrated that they have the capacity to ensure that it will be
successful.
The planning of lessons is consistently thoughtful and imaginative and makes strong
use of a rich learning environment and classroom resources. For example, in a Year
8 French lesson, students used letter tiles, wall displays and boxes of cards all at
once, to scaffold their construction of sentences, allowing them to make rapid
progress.
There is excellent practice in English lessons, with students being challenged to
engage at a high level with texts, which they discuss with considerable maturity. The
planning of English lessons is backed by strong subject knowledge and expectations
on students are very high. At Key Stage 3, an emphasis on skills of analysis is
sometimes at the expense of the development of personal and creative response
and this is limiting some students’ progress. The Head of English is very aware of
this and is working to broaden and to deepen the way students develop as readers
and as writers.
Ryedale has a very high proportion of students being ‘bussed in’; however dedicated
staff provide a vast range of extra-curricular opportunities, both after school and
particularly on a lunchtime. Students are very enthusiastic and take up is high.
Opportunities in sport and the performing arts are numerous and students with a
range of interests and abilities are supported through the clubs on offer. In an
observed school band practice the students had clearly rehearsed their pieces at
other times and when being conducted were performing at near professional levels.
The teacher conducting actively listened and acted on students’ suggestions for
improvement as well as correcting mistakes and improving performance.
The schools reporting system ensures that parents are well informed of the child’s
progress.
Personal Development, Behaviour and welfare.
Behaviour - Outstanding
The behaviour of students is outstanding. There is a clear sense of high standards
and expectations and students adopt those values in all they do. They wear their
uniform with pride. They talk with each other and adults with respect and display
good manners at all times. Students socialise well, including in unsupervised
situations. They contribute to the positive environment by ensuring that there is no
litter or graffiti around the site, which they treat with respect.

Students actively support their school and work to make it as good as it can be.
Disruption of any kind in lessons is extremely rare. Students take pride in their work,
and try hard. They display highly positive attitudes to learning. For example, peers
support each other in their learning through group work and insightful peer
assessment. These excellent attitudes are contributing strongly to the outstanding
progress that is made.
Students say, and school records show, that incidents of bullying are very unusual;
however, on the very few occasions they occur, leaders deal with them robustly.
School records show that cyber bullying is the most reported issue, in the context of
very low overall levels of bullying. Students say, and the review shows, that e-safety
is very strong in the school.
Attendance rates remain better than the national average for all students bar the
disadvantaged. Similarly, Persistent Absence remains better than the national
average for all students whilst FSM is higher. The school is taking robust action, to
address this gap. The new appointment of an Attendance Officer and other
strategies, such as outreach work with parents, supporting them to ensure their
children attend school, will ensure that overall attendance and the gap between
disadvantaged and others is reduced in the coming year. Evidence of the impact of
these actions can already be seen in the reduction of persistent absence for some
low attenders.
Leaders expect excellent punctuality and students respond accordingly. Students
arrive on time for school, and for each lesson, appropriately equipped, as matter of
routine each day.
Personal Development and welfare is outstanding.
Students say they enjoy coming to school and they feel safe. Leaders have rapidly
embedded the Prevent strategy and ensured that it has become a routine aspect of
their excellent safeguarding strategy.
All members of staff know about safeguarding arrangements in the school and they
receive regular update training. In lessons, staff show a keen awareness of health
and safety risks and this encourages a similar awareness in students. It is clear that
this helps students to understand the necessity for rules and to recognise risks.
The recently appointed leader for Careers is effectively building on the work of
others. The well founded vision being developed will ensure that career guidance is
embedded in the school through Years 8 – 11 and has the capacity to improve
teaching and learning through ensuring students better understand the relevance of
their learning. Amongst the excellent material displayed around the school is up to
date information for employment opportunities in the area and guidance on careers.
The school has re-introduced a one-week work experience programme. This is
enabling students to see the relevance of their learning in real life contexts.

The school has highly effective arrangements to ensure that students benefit from a
wide range of learning opportunities. These include visits out of school and extra-
curricular activities, to broaden and deepen their learning and knowledge of the
world around them. This ensures that all students have equal opportunities to thrive
and develop as young adults. It helps them develop socially and morally. They
appreciate and celebrate diversity in their school as a consequence.
Ryedale School has addressed the area for development arising from the last
inspection. A middle leader with responsibility for coordinating cultural development
has established links with a school in Bradford and students have benefited greatly
from a range of cross curricular projects hosted by both schools.
The Outcomes for Pupils are outstanding
The school has a strong track record of success in enabling students to achieve
extremely well. The vast majority of students from all starting points and from
different groups make at least expected progress against the school’s high
expectations and above national. Students’ work shows that higher than average
proportions of students are on track to make expected and more than expected
progress, particularly in mathematics. These are mirrored in the progress made in
science and foundation subjects. Progress at this high level is sustained over time.
From a strong starting point, achievement in English is improving. In mathematics
and science in particular achievement is consistently strong. This is because
excellent teaching enables students to progress at a rapid rate in both subjects.
Literacy and, increasingly, mathematical skills are extremely well developed across
the whole range of subjects. This helps students to be highly successful in a range of
areas.
The most able students achieve extremely well as a result of teaching which
challenges them effectively. In 2015, attainment at GCSE grades A* and A, 34%, is
likely to be well above the national average. The school is rapidly closing the gap for
disadvantaged students in both progress and attainment. This is a particular focus of
the school for 2015/16.
At KS3 students make rapid progress, which is sustained. This provides a strong
foundation for KS4. Yr 7 literacy and numeracy catch up funding is well used for
targeted effective intervention; this ensures that these students are making rapid
progress. Attainment and progress of other groups including disadvantaged and
SEND are above national comparisons for these groups.

Destination data shows that students not in education, employment or training
(NEETs) are exceptionally low. A higher than average proportion of students go onto
post-16 education.
Recommendations
 The continued development of the school website to better reflect the KS3
curriculum offer.
 The school to work to work with the LA to improve teaching spaces.

Ryedale School Local Authority Report 2015

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Ryedale School Local Authority Report 2015