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Dartford Grammar School

Dartford Grammar School
Inspection report
Unique Reference Number
118878
Local Authority
Kent
Inspection number
313129
Inspection date
21 May 2008
Reporting inspector
Patricia Metham HMI
This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.
Type of school
Grammar (selective)
School category
Foundation
Age range of pupils
11–18
Gender of pupils
Boys
Number on roll
School
1258
6th form
496
Appropriate authority
The governing body
Chair
John Field
Headteacher
Anthony Smith
Date of previous school inspection
20 September 2004
School address
West Hill
Dartford
DA1 2HW
Telephone number
01322 223039
Fax number
01322 291426
Age group
11–18
Inspection date
21 May 2008
Inspection number
313129
Inspection Report: Dartford Grammar School, 21 May 2008
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© Crown copyright 2008
Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk
This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that
the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.
Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must
provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost
of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied.
Inspection Report: Dartford Grammar School, 21 May 2008
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Introduction
The inspection was carried out by two of Her Majesty's Inspectors and one Additional Inspector.
The inspectors evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and investigated the following
aspects: achievement and standards; teaching and learning; leadership and management;
inclusion; curriculum; and the school's specialist status. Evidence was gained from lesson
observations, from discussions with leaders, teachers and students and from the evaluation of
a range of documentation. Other aspects of the school's work were not investigated in detail
but the inspectors found no evidence to suggest that the school's own assessments, as given
in its self-evaluation, were not justified. These have been included where appropriate in this
report.
Description of the school
Dartford Grammar School is an oversubscribed school with a co-educational sixth form. Entry
to the sixth form is dependent upon achievement of at least seven A* to B GCSE grades or
equivalent. While the school does offer AS and A-level courses in the sixth form, the greater
proportion of students follows the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme. The IB pathway
through Years 7 to 11, known as the Middle Years Programme (MYP) is being established up
through the main school, and has now reached Year 10. There is a specialist unit within the
school to support students with visual impairment. The school has specialist status as a language
college and is a mentor school in the Raising Achievement Transforming Learning (RATL)
programme. It has been an International Language College since 1995.
Key for inspection grades
Grade 1
Outstanding
Grade 2
Good
Grade 3
Satisfactory
Grade 4
Inadequate
Inspection Report: Dartford Grammar School, 21 May 2008
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Overall effectiveness of the school
Grade: 1
Dartford Grammar is an outstanding school, aptly described by a governor as 'high achieving,
with enormous corporate pride at every level, where everybody is valued'. The school combines
strengths traditionally associated with grammar schools – such as high aspirations and academic
challenge – with an unusually well developed flair for innovation and enterprise and with active
care for the wider community. The executive headteacher, spoken of by colleagues as 'the
visionary here', has most successfully led the school's development as a centre for excellence
in modern foreign languages, with great benefits for adult learners and primary schools in the
local community as well as for his own students and their parents. The school's leadership team
has considerable skill in recognising and developing potential amongst academic, administrative
and support staff, providing demonstrable equality of opportunity and making the school highly
cost effective in its deployment of staff and resources.
Academic selection for entry and strong competition for places ensure that students are very
able and strongly motivated. Standards attained throughout the school are exceptionally high.
To ensure that students do not lose momentum and to increase opportunities for breadth of
study in the following years, national tests that are more usually taken at the end of Year 9 are
now taken here a year early. Results are significantly above national averages and reflect
excellent progress. This pattern continues across Years 9 to 11, with students taking some
GCSEs early, such as double award science, a modern foreign language and an information and
communication technology (ICT) qualification. All students make similar rates of progress. A
very thorough system of assessment and data analysis quickly and accurately identifies
underachievement. Action is then prompt and effective. Interventions include one-to-one
mentoring, booster classes and use of the school's flexible and well designed ICT resources.
GCSE results are excellent, with particular strengths in history, French and religious studies.
Students in every year group are emphatic that they are happy and that the pressure to achieve
high standards is no more than they expect and can manage. Attendance rates are well above
average. Students have an excellent understanding of the need to establish a healthy lifestyle;
their participation in sports and activities is very strong. They treat each other and adults with
cheerful consideration and say they feel very safe in school, confident that any problems will
be quickly and effectively dealt with. They respond sensibly to opportunities to make their
views heard and to participate in important events such as the appointment of a new assistant
headteacher. They greatly value leadership opportunities offered by the house system, by team
sports and by community service. The Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) element of the
International Baccalaureate (IB) is well embedded throughout the school. Students' personal,
spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding, supported through the
curriculum, school assemblies, a broad range of visits, including overseas exchanges, and the
pervasive ethos of respect for the individual. Excellent communication, numeracy and ICT skills
and a good grounding in work-related learning equip these students extremely well for life
beyond school.
Students recognise how much they benefit from outstanding care, guidance and support. One
young student spoke of the 'amazingly constructive criticism' he was given by his teachers in
writing and through discussion. A parent's response reflects the views of many: 'My son is
constantly stretched but he is not stressed because help is always available to him and us, his
parents, if and when required.' Students begin to make important subject choices at the end
of Year 8 and speak with great confidence about the guidance they and their parents receive.
Inspection Report: Dartford Grammar School, 21 May 2008
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As the range of choice extends over subsequent years, including that between AS and A-level
courses and the IB programme in the sixth form, the reliability and timeliness of academic and
careers guidance contribute hugely to students' excellent results and to the high numbers who
complete their courses. Academic and pastoral support complement each other very effectively,
with external agencies involved whenever appropriate. The school's provision for visually
impaired students is impressive. Safeguarding systems are very robust and child protection
issues well understood. This is a strongly inclusive and cohesive community.
Despite difficulties locally in recruiting staff, the school has a very strong team of subject
specialists with the confident subject knowledge, skills and verve needed to engage students
and to respond to changes in content and approach associated with the school's introduction
of the IB. Through debate, group work, investigation and experiment, students are encouraged
to be curious, analytical and creative. Evaluation of teaching and learning is frequent and
rigorous and shapes the school's extensive programme of continuing professional development.
There is excellent practice across the curriculum, with well directed support for those members
of staff who, while highly competent, do not consistently strike the most effective balance
between a more traditional, teacher-led approach and one that encourages independent enquiry
through new technologies and an evolving curriculum. Students are keen to learn; they respond
with enthusiasm and confidence to expanding opportunities for independent learning as well
as to the academic disciplines they are encouraged to develop. They value the variety of teaching
methods used to support their individual learning styles and the essential contribution to their
achievement made by engaging teaching, which was summed up by the head of an extremely
successful department: 'That first spark you can't get from a book. You need someone to light
your imagination.'
The school provides an outstanding and dynamic curriculum, complemented by an ambitious
and very popular activities programme. In Year 7, the 'Learning to Learn' strand helps students
develop a range of skills, such as collaborative problem-solving, alongside National Curriculum
subjects. Concentrating three years' curriculum into Years 7 and 8 allows greater breadth of
study in Years 9 to 11. The emphasis on language acquisition and intercultural understanding
promoted by the IB Middle Years Programme, now established in Year 10, strongly supports
the school's languages specialism. The range of languages taught is impressive, including
Japanese. There are opportunities for early GCSE entry and a programme of enrichment activities
to challenge the most able. Gifted musicians benefit from a joint scholarship scheme that gives
free access to the Junior Department of Trinity College of Music.
With enthusiastic but carefully considered support from governors, the executive head and
senior team have developed a clear and exciting vision for the school. They are balancing with
great skill and persuasiveness the responsibility to provide an outstanding quality of education
for their own students with the two-way benefits of becoming a widely recognised and influential
centre of excellence for languages and a lead school in raising attainment and improving
teaching and learning more widely. It is evidence of effective distributed leadership and secure
planning that the executive head's part-time secondment as mentor to a school in difficulties
has not inhibited Dartford Grammar School's steady development. Leadership and management
at all levels use challenging targets to improve teaching and learning and to enhance students'
achievement. Capacity to improve is outstanding: the school's self-evaluation is realistic; the
commitment to excellence is firmly embedded; financial management is sound; and the requisite
skills and resources are in place. There is an exceptionally constructive partnership between
academic, administrative and support staff, with mutual respect and equality of opportunity
promoting high morale and a shared sense of purpose.
Inspection Report: Dartford Grammar School, 21 May 2008
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Effectiveness of the sixth form
Grade: 1
The success of the sixth form is underpinned by extremely effective leadership and management,
using challenging targets and very close monitoring of teaching and learning to ensure that all
students do as well as they can. High achieving students make outstanding progress on
challenging courses that deepen and broaden their skills and understanding. They leave the
school with excellent qualifications that enable them to fulfil their potential in universities with
very competitive entry, and with attributes and attitudes that will enable them to make a
positive contribution to the community. Students have a choice between a broad range of AS
and A-level courses, including applied or vocational subjects, and the IB programme. In this
way, the school very effectively supports those whose strengths and interests are concentrated
within one part of the academic spectrum as well as those who relish the breadth and style of
study required by the IB programme. Students speak enthusiastically about the guidance they
receive in making this choice and in deciding their future pathways. Girls who join Dartford
Grammar School's sixth form settle quickly, are made to feel they belong and, like their male
contemporaries, make excellent progress to achieve outstanding results.
Many of those not choosing the IB route take on the IB's requirement for 150 hours' Creativity,
Activity and Service, which they value for its focus on self-discipline, enterprise, personal
organisation and self-review. They take full advantage of opportunities to make a positive
contribution both within school and in the wider community, for example working with primary
children on the languages programme, and participate enthusiastically in a broad range of
activities, including exchange visits with students in several European countries. They exemplify
the school's vision of 'a learning community developing global citizens'.
What the school should do to improve further
Ensure that the high quality of teaching is entirely consistent across the school.
Inspection Report: Dartford Grammar School, 21 May 2008
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Any complaints about the inspection or the report should be made following the procedures set out
in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website:
www.ofsted.gov.uk.
Inspection Report: Dartford Grammar School, 21 May 2008
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Annex A
Inspection judgements
Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3
School
16-19
satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate
Overall
Overall effectiveness
How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of
education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting
1
1
the needs of learners?
Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since
Yes
Yes
the last inspection
How well does the school work in partnership with others to
1
1
promote learners' well-being?
The capacity to make any necessary improvements
1
1
Achievement and standards
How well do learners achieve?
1
1
1
1
The standards1 reached by learners
How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant
1
1
variations between groups of learners
How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make
1
progress
Personal development and well-being
How good is the overall personal development and
1
1
well-being of the learners?
The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural
1
development
The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles
1
The extent to which learners adopt safe practices
1
How well learners enjoy their education
1
The attendance of learners
1
The behaviour of learners
1
The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to
1
the community
How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will
1
contribute to their future economic well-being
The quality of provision
How effective are teaching and learning in meeting the
1
1
full range of the learners' needs?
How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the
1
1
range of needs and interests of learners?
How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?
1
1
1 Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly
below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.
Inspection Report: Dartford Grammar School, 21 May 2008
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Annex A
Leadership and management
How effective are leadership and management in raising
1
1
achievement and supporting all learners?
How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear
direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of
1
care and education
How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets
1
to raise standards
The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation
1
1
How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination
1
tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can
How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are
1
deployed to achieve value for money
The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards
1
discharge their responsibilities
Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current
Yes
Yes
government requirements?
Does this school require special measures?
No
Does this school require a notice to improve?
No
Inspection Report: Dartford Grammar School, 21 May 2008
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Annex B
Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection
23 May 2008
Dear Students
Inspection of Dartford Grammar School, Dartford, DA1 2HW
As you know, we visited your school recently to see how effectively it is enabling you to fulfil
your potential. We greatly appreciated the cheerful courtesy and openness with which you
spoke about your experiences at school, which are clearly overwhelmingly positive.
We agree with you that Dartford Grammar is an outstanding school. Well-directed care, guidance
and support, teaching that challenges and supports you and a wealth of opportunities beyond
the classroom ensure that your individual strengths and your needs are responded to
exceptionally well. Within a culture that a parent described as 'both caring and challenging',
you develop very impressive levels of confidence, independent thinking, communication skills
and problem-solving ability, which will serve you well in later life. It was good to hear that you
do not feel under undue pressure, although you and your school expect high standards, and
to know that you trust each other and those with responsibility for you to ensure that any
problems are quickly resolved. You take full advantage of the school's outstanding provision
for modern foreign languages and of its engagement with the local community.
To ensure that Dartford Grammar School continues to be a centre of excellence, we have asked
the governors and senior leadership team to ensure that the high quality of teaching is entirely
consistent throughout the school, so that changes in the school's curriculum and the ability of
new technology to support independent learning are fully exploited.
Your school most successfully builds a forward-looking and civilised community out of the
great variety of talents, interests and backgrounds that you represent.
With good wishes,
Patricia Metham Her Majesty's Inspector