Introduction

Kelvin Hall School was inspected by one of Her Majesty's Inspectors and four additional inspectors in 2009. The inspectors visited 33 lessons, held meetings with governors, staff and groups of pupils and also spoke to parents.

The inspectors observed the school's work and looked at documentation including the school improvement plan, governing body reports, the school's mentoring records and safeguarding documentation. They also took account of questionnaires filled in by 384 parents or carers, and 131 students.

During their inspection, they looked at:

• The effectiveness of the new leadership and management in bringing about improvement
• The quality and consistency of teaching and assessment across the school
• The effectiveness of the curriculum, care, guidance and support available and how it meets pupils' needs
• The attainment of students and their progress in all year groups

Inspection judgements

Overall effectiveness or how good is the school. Grade Three

The school's capacity for sustained improvement. Grade Two

What inspection judgements mean

• Grade one - Outstanding - These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils' needs.
• Grade two - Good  - These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well.
• Grade three - Satisfactory - These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils.
• Grade four - Inadequate - These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

Main findings

Kelvin Hall is a satisfactory and improving school. The strong and energetic leadership provided by the new headteacher led to a rapid improvement in GCSE results and attendance in the last year. As a result of clear analysis and effective communication by senior leaders, the governors and staff have an accurate picture of the strengths and weaknesses of the school and its key priorities. Staff work together with a common purpose.

Many systems are new and developing and have not yet been applied widely enough or for long enough to eradicate the variability in performance. Nevertheless, the good pace of improvement is evident across a wide range of the school's work and the school has a good capacity for sustained improvement.

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Download the whole report by clicking on the link below.

• September 2009
• March 2013