Transparency data

Sir Thomas Rich’s School (Gloucestershire) URN: 136306

Updated 14 February 2020

This transparency data was withdrawn on 14 July 2023

The Selective Schools Expansion Fund is closed and there are no plans to run future rounds.

Applies to England

Fair access and partnership plan summary

The above school has made a commitment to deliver the following fair access and partnership plan by 2020 (and in subsequent years) as part of its successful Selective Schools Expansion Fund bid.

Admissions

The school has increased its year 7 published admission number (PAN) by 30 places from 120 to 150 for September 2019 and intends to increase its year 12 PAN by 20 places to 100 for September 2020.

After the admission of looked after and previously looked after children in both years 7 and 12, children eligible for the pupil premium will be given priority for available places.

The academic entry requirements for the sixth form will be lowered for pupil premium pupils. They will be eligible for admission even if they do not meet the over-arching academic entry requirements for the sixth form provided they meet the requirements for the individual subjects they wish to pursue.

Outreach

Existing partner schools for the outreach programme are:

• Tredworth Junior School
• Grange Primary School
• Robinswood Primary School
• Kingsway Primary School
• Kingsholm C of E Primary School
• Widden Primary School

Work will continue with these schools. New target schools include:

• Brockworth Primary Academy
• Calton Primary School
• Field Court Junior School
• Churchdown Parton Manor Junior School
• Cooper’s Edge School
• Harewood Junior School
• Hester’s Way Primary School

These are local schools identified by the school as having higher levels of students in receipt of Pupil Premium Grants.

Sir Thomas Rich’s School (STRS) has found that the biggest hurdle in preventing it from rapidly increasing the number of pupils on roll who qualify for the pupil premium, is encouraging families and pupils entitled to this status to apply to sit the Gloucestershire Grammar Schools Entrance Test.

To mitigate this the school will be taking forward several new strategies.

One of the rooms in the new build being an Outreach Hub which will be made available for specific learning activities aimed at pupils from partner feeder schools.

A free pack containing ten hours’ worth of practice materials being provided by STRS to any families from partner schools. These resources will also be made available on request to any other families from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The school will look to provide free familiarisation sessions on-site, when the new teaching block is constructed, open to pupils in receipt of Pupil Premium in year 5 at any Gloucestershire Primary School.

Tests can be sat at any of the seven Gloucestershire Grammar Schools around the county. The school will investigate the possibility of offering further testing centres in areas of high deprivation such as the Forest of Dean.

Existing but continuing activities

CEM Free Familiarisation Materials are available via the school website. This will continue.

To enable primary school pupils, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to experience the ethos and environment of a grammar school and dispel some of the myths that may prevent them from applying the school also does the following:

The school directly engages with years 4 and 5 children in partner schools, offering Science assemblies, teaching science and language lessons in primary schools and providing fun activities. The school will extend these activities to other curriculum areas such as Mathematics. Some primary schools have invited parents in for a targeted event during the school day during Governors or staff from the school were able to introduce the school and answer questions.

The school runs a science link through which children from local primary schools including Tredworth Junior School, Grange Primary School, Robinswood Primary School and Kingsholm C of E Primary School visit the school for science lessons.

These sessions enable children to utilise equipment and facilities not available in their own setting.

The school arranges sports events such as football tournaments for year 4 pupils from local primary schools.

Each of the partner schools is offered a meeting for pupils in years 4 and 5 with the express intent of raising awareness of the opportunities to apply to selective schools and demystifying both the process and the understanding of what the schools are about. STRS will seek to combine such visits with an opportunity to speak to parents or arrange separate meetings for parents in partnership with primary schools. This activity has, to date been trialled with a small number of schools but will be extended, as new activity, to all target schools.

Partnership

New partnership activities include:

• the school running teacher training courses in how to address the needs of the most able pupils

• the school will also offer courses for teachers focused on English (with a focus on transition from key stage 2 to key stage 3), Mindfulness, Disadvantaged Pupils and Primary Science

Continuing partnership activity

A STRS science teacher guiding staff from partner schools to deliver lessons on key stage 2 topics. These schools are local primary schools including many of those identified by the school as having high proportions of Pupil Premium pupils and focused on schools within the City of Gloucester.

The school also aims to establish a similar link programme for Modern Foreign Languages and other STEM subjects.

The school regularly hosts colleagues from other schools who visit on a more informal basis, usually to investigate a particular area of development for their own setting. In 2017-18 STRS welcomed colleagues from a variety of local schools including Pittville School, Gloucester Academy, Barnwood Park, Ribston Hall School and from schools further afield such as Bishop Vesey’s in Birmingham. More specifically, in January 2018 the school hosted four colleagues from Cleeve School who wanted to investigate the delivery and leadership of MFL, Science, Maths and English.

The programme included discussion with subject and pastoral leaders as well as senior leaders and lesson observations in order to identify effective practice. Other visits have focused on leadership of the Sixth Form, provision for pupils with High Prior Attainment and questioning techniques to challenge the most able pupils.