Newent Community School and Sixth Form Centre

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 19 March 2024

Newent Community School's values lie at the HEART (honesty, excellence, accountability, respect, teamwork) of the school. Pupils feel safe at school and value the pastoral support they receive. They have an adult they can talk to when they have concerns. However, pupils' experiences of school and the quality of education they currently receive are variable. While the school has the ambition for all pupils to achieve academic success, this is not currently realised in the work and examination outcomes of pupils. The curriculum design and its delivery do not enable pupils to learn effectively. Some pupils struggle to remember what they have learned. The school is developing an ambitious curriculum, yet it has some way to go to establish this so that it has impact. Some pupils do not achieve as well as they should because they do not have the knowledge they need for the next step in their learning. Behaviour around the school is calm. However, sometimes, when pupils' behaviour disrupts learning, it is not consistently managed by staff. The school offers a range of wider opportunities, such as sports and performing in the school musical. Pupils speak excitedly about the recent performance of 'Billy Elliot'. They compete in their 'houses' and participate in charity events. Some sixth-form students develop their leadership skills by mentoring younger pupils, while others take on roles in the leadership team.

What the school should improve

• The curriculum is not taught consistently well. The work that pupils complete does not always enable them to acquire new knowledge or apply what they have learned before. As a result, they do not always learn as much as they could. The school needs to make sure that teaching is effective so that pupils know more and remember more.
• The school has identified the weakest readers. However, not all these pupils are receiving support with their reading. As a result, these pupils do not have the reading knowledge to access the curriculum. The school needs to ensure there is a comprehensive programme to support pupils who are in the early stages of reading to improve rapidly.
• Some staff say they do not feel supported by the school in managing incidents of poor behaviour. Therefore, some pupils experience inconsistent use of the behaviour policy, and learning is sometimes disrupted. The school should ensure that staff are supported in implementing the agreed approaches to managing behaviour so that incidents are reduced.

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