Alder Community High School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 16 April 2024

Pupils feel well cared for in this school. They benefit from high-quality pastoral support. Some pupils spoke warmly about how staff help them to look after their mental well-being. A culture of care and compassion helps most pupils to feel happy in school. Pupils are encouraged to make meaningful contributions to the school community. For example, the student council recently helped to review the school's anti-bullying policy. Pupils have an increasingly strong voice in the school. They value opportunities to work with staff to improve further their educational experience. Most pupils conduct themselves sensibly. There is little disruption to lessons. When pupils' behaviour reflects the 'Alder values', staff give them points to spend in the school shop. Pupils particularly delight in being rewarded in this way. Although published outcomes indicate that pupils typically attain well in national tests at the end of key stage 4, weaknesses in the curriculum mean that they do not build a broad and rich body of knowledge within each subject. Recently, the school has increased its expectations of pupils' achievement, particularly of those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). It has prioritised improving the quality of education that it provides. The school has a comprehensive understanding of what remains to be done.

What the school should improve

• Some staff do not check that pupils' prior learning is secure before moving on to new content. In addition, in some subjects, staff are not sufficiently clear about the knowledge to prioritise when checking what pupils have learned. As a result, some pupils develop misconceptions and gaps in their knowledge that staff do not address. The school should ensure that it supports staff in using assessment strategies consistently well and that they focus these on the key knowledge that pupils should remember.
• Some staff do not have the teaching knowledge to deliver the curriculum as effectively as they should. A lack of understanding of the purpose of some learning activities, including those aimed at helping pupils to remember important knowledge over time, means that at times, pupils do not learn what staff intended. The school should ensure that staff receive training and guidance to enable them to deliver subject curriculums consistently well.
• Some staff do not adapt the delivery of the curriculum effectively enough to support pupils with SEND. This means that at times, these pupils do not learn as well as they should. The school should ensure that staff have the expertise to enable them to meet the needs of these pupils and to help them to achieve well.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)