Heworth Grange School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 12 November 2024

Pupils at the school are polite, friendly and respectful. The school cares for its pupils. It provides them with effective pastoral support. It also works with parents and carers to remove barriers to pupils' success. This is a welcoming school in which pupils are safe and feel valued. The school has high expectations for what pupils can achieve, both at school and in their future lives and careers. Some pupils realise these high expectations. However, pupils in key stage 4 have not experienced a consistently effective curriculum. Some pupils have high levels of absence. This means that some pupils have fundamental gaps in their knowledge. This limits what they can achieve. Most pupils behave well. They work hard in lessons and conduct themselves in a calm and sensible manner. However, the behaviour of some pupils can be disruptive. The school deals with poor behaviour well. This minimises its impact on the learning of other pupils. The school prioritises pupils' personal development. Pupils enjoy a wide range of clubs and activities. They benefit from educational visits. They discuss and debate important issues that affect their lives. Indeed, the school prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain.

What the school should improve

• Sometimes, teachers do not adapt their teaching with sufficient expertise. This results in some pupils not securing foundational subject knowledge and other pupils not getting the opportunity to deepen and extend their learning. The school should ensure that it provides teachers with the professional development they need, both in pedagogy and pedagogical content knowledge, to secure, deepen and extend pupils' learning.
• Levels of absence and persistent absence are high, particularly for disadvantaged pupils. This means that a significant number of pupils are missing too much of their education. It also means that by the end of key stage 4, these pupils do not have the knowledge and understanding they need to achieve well in their examinations. The school should ensure that it sustains its rigorous approach to improving pupils' attendance.
• The behaviour of a significant minority of pupils is persistently disruptive. This means that these pupils miss too much of their education through being suspended from school. This affects their ability to achieve well. Also, the behaviour of these pupils sometimes disrupts the learning of other pupils. The school should ensure that it improves the consistency with which teachers manage pupils' behaviour. It should also ensure that it provides pupils with the support that they need to improve their behaviour.

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