Cox Green School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 19 March 2024

Pupils are happy and safe. Pastoral support is a strong focus. The school has a clear antibullying policy. Staff address bullying when it is reported. Despite this, some pupils and parents do not have confidence in how the school deals with bullying. Recent efforts to improve communication to parents and pupils about precisely what constitutes bullying and the consequences of it are ongoing. The school is calm and orderly. Staff and pupils know routines well. Relationships tend to be positive. However, low-level disruption in lessons is common, predominantly in key stage 3. Here, teachers' expectations are not high enough and pupils' learning is frequently interrupted. This is not the case in key stages 4 and 5 where pupils' focus is strong and their learning is improving. Pupils and staff are rightly proud of the large range of clubs provided at lunchtime and after school. Sports clubs are plentiful, such as climbing, handball and basketball. Many pupils take on positions of responsibility, such as becoming prefects or joining the school council. Sixth-form students relish the opportunities to be sports leaders and many take part in the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme. This teaches them vital organisation and leadership skills.

What the school should improve

• Not all teachers check what pupils know or remember effectively. As a result, gaps or misconceptions in pupils' knowledge and understanding are not addressed as well as they should be. The school needs to ensure that all teachers accurately identify gaps and misconceptions and adapt their delivery of lessons to rectify these.
• The school has not ensured that their ambition for pupils who are disadvantaged, particularly pupils who are eligible for free school meals, is being enacted robustly enough. This means that the achievement gap between disadvantaged and non- disadvantaged pupils is not being narrowed. The school must ensure that sufficient support is given to disadvantaged pupils to enable them to catch up and keep up with their peers.
• Some staff do not address low level disruption in lessons, particularly in key stage 3. This means that pupils often experience disruption to their learning. The school must ensure that all staff are trained to recognise and address low level disruption and that there is consistent application of the school's own behaviour management policies.
• While there are processes in place to address bullying effectively, some pupils and parents are not confident that bullying is dealt with effectively. The precise identification and accurate recording of incidents is not as robust as it should be. This means that some pupils and parents do not have faith in the school to deal with bullying effectively enough. The school needs to ensure that parents and pupils understand and trust that bullying is dealt with effectively and improve how records are maintained to reflect this.

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