Ofsted & Performance

Ofsted said:

Leaders have not created a school environment where pupils are safe and feel safe. Pupils, parents and staff worry about the violence and nastiness that pupils experience at school. Too many pupils do not feel that they can talk about their concerns with staff at school. Leaders need to create a safe environment where pupils feel that they are well looked after and able to find help at school when concerns arise.

Our priority is to ensure that all students are aware of who, among the staff, they can talk to should they have any safeguarding related concerns.  This is through ensuring that the safeguarding team are introduced and publicised effectively to students and that students are able to contact staff either personally or anonymously should they wish to with any concerns they may have. 

We are supporting students with feeling safe at school by understanding where and when they do not feel safe and addressing those concerns with greater understanding. 

We are addressing the sense of nastiness that can be experienced through the use of unpleasant or discriminatory language by first gathering pupil voice to understand the language being regularly used and ensuring that prejudice related incidents are recorded effectively so that educational/restorative conversations can take place.  We are also introducing specific sessions tackling homophobic language and sexual harassment.  Our personal development curriculum now includes specific safeguarding updates to tackle current concerns within the school community. 

Through our work with Danes Educational Trust we are preventing the reoccurrence of incidents by improving our systems for logging safeguarding incidents so that these are logged accurately, patterns and trends are identified and students for whom reoccurring incidents are identified will be flagged and more closely monitored. 

The school community is being educated on acceptable and appropriate forms of behaviour on an individual basis, and on a cohort basis focusing on trends within each area of the school.  Half-termly reports are being prepared in order to ensure that the focus is current and is being proactively managed. 

Pupil safety continues to be addressed with urgency through the use of consistent processes and the raised profile of safeguarding leads within the school. 

Prejudice related incidents and bullying are being recorded effectively by ensuring that key information is detailed with a process involving either restoration, education or sanctions, and in some cases more than one of these actions, so that students feel that their voice is heard and acted upon throughout the school.

Ofsted said:

Leaders have not developed a school ethos where pupils behave well and focus on their learning. This is because staff are not unified in their approach, acting inconsistently when managing pupils’ behaviour. Leaders must clarify their behaviour policy and procedures, and train staff so that they understand the agreed approach. Leaders must ensure that staff manage pupils’ behaviour using leaders’ behaviour policy and procedures.

We have clarified the consequences for inappropriate or unacceptable behaviour in line with the school’s Behaviour for Learning Policy using a set of descriptors which have been shared with staff and students.  The consequence chart is displayed in all classrooms and is being used to ensure a consistent approach to behaviour management is adopted across the school. 

We are addressing the attitudes and experiences of children through the school by continuing to develop our behaviour curriculum through a programme of assemblies and events which will address issues including racism, homophobia and transphobia.  The associated form time and assembly programme has been mapped and is being implemented across the school alongside the use of anti-bullying resources and targeted small group focus sessions regarding prejudice attitudes and modelling expected behaviours and interactions between students.  We are also ensuring that greater accountability is in place for the quality of form time provision.

Whole staff continuing professional development and training has been put in place for behaviour management so that staff are trained and understand the agreed approach to behaviour in the school as set out in the Behaviour Policy, and so that all classrooms are calm and productive learning environments.  Disruptive behaviour is being addressed immediately and repetitive disruptive behaviour is being addressed with consistent consequences.  Students are being rewarded for pro-social behaviour.

We are continuing to develop the use of inclusion spaces such as Solutions and The Hub for supporting pupils whose behaviour can be difficult and for those students that are vulnerable for a range of different reasons.  This includes the use of revised withdrawal and internal suspension procedures, a focus on restorative practices and ensuring that students have access to productive working environments that support their learning needs.

Within subject and faculty areas internal withdrawal procedures are continuing to operate, with teachers taking responsibility for behaviour management in classrooms and faculties working with students to address behaviour concerns, and communicating effectively with parents regarding student conduct.

We are continuing to work to reduce persistent absence across years 7 to 11 through regular monitoring, targeted pastoral support and improved parental engagement opportunities.

We have developed student voice through a regular schedule of student voice meetings to discuss topics in line with school improvement priorities, and are tracking and feeding back on student opinion through a range of surveys to ensure that students feel part of the school, that they feel listened to and that they are part of the decision making process regarding school improvement.  To do this we are publicising school improvements with students, involving them in the development of rewards and have provided them with leadership training so that they are empowered to take a leading role in moving the school forward.

Ofsted said:

Pupils experience discriminatory language far too often and this is significantly affecting the well-being of some pupils. Leaders need to improve how staff support pupils’ personal development so that they are prepared for life in modern Britain, living alongside people with different backgrounds and lifestyles.

Through our clarification of the likely consequences set out in the Behaviour for Learning Policy in our consequences chart, we have set out and are now able to apply consistent consequences for prejudicial actions so that students and staff feel that where prejudicial acts take place there is a consistent approach to dealing with them. 

With support from Danes Educational Trust we have changed categories on our safeguarding software to ensure that data and records of prejudicial acts are more accessible, in improving capacity for monitoring and therefore understanding of prejudicial acts in the school and how these affect students. 

Staff have been trained on clear steps to be taken to deal with prejudicial incidents so that there is an improved awareness of this and of communication with parents.  Expectations assemblies have been conducted, alongside form time focus on the consequences chart and a letter to parents explaining those consequences so that students also understand what to do when encountering prejudicial behaviour, and we continue to engage with students in relation to their perceptions so that they feel the school is listening and acting on their concerns. 

Training for staff when dealing with prejudicial incidents is an ongoing process based on the evaluation of previous actions and further feedback from students on their perceptions of prejudicial behaviour. 

Whilst there are very many aspects of the school’s personal development curriculum that are effective, these are not yet coherently mapped and therefore this is a priority so that we are able, through clear mapping of when issues related to prejudice are addressed in school, are able to have an aligned approach to dealing with important issues in each year group. 

We are continuing to identify issues which are current in the media or in the school so that our awareness can inform responses as they arise both in school and the wider society, for example, gender issues, antisemitism, and the issues of being a practising Muslim in school.

We are integrating work on understanding what is meant by being an ally and being a bystander into the personal development curriculum so that there is improved student buy in to the school values and the school Code of Conduct. 

We are also reviewing displays and messaging around the school to ensure that we present positive messages on inclusion and diversity so that there is clear representation for all of the school community evidenced within the fabric of its buildings, and we will ensure, through curriculum review and development that the curriculum we offer is representative of the issues facing modern Britain.

Ofsted said:

Leaders have not enabled teachers to support pupils with SEND and those who find reading hard effectively. This results in these pupils not overcoming the challenges they face or learning as well as they could. Leaders need to train staff how to adapt their teaching to support pupils with SEND and those who struggle with reading.

Through the use of accelerated reader, we have tested the whole school for their reading ages and to identify specific needs relating to gaps between reading age and chronological age.  This data has been shared with all staff and where students have been prioritised for a place on the reading intervention programme, regular testing is identifying both progress and ongoing needs for support. 

The intervention programme itself is one of tiered support. It ranges from one-to-one teaching assistant support with phonics, form time reading with teaching assistants using Accelerated Reader books and reading quizzes to timetabled reading intervention lessons. The Accelerated Reader books are closely connected to the phonics knowledge that pupils are taught when they are learning to read, and those students will be supported by teaching assistants when reading during form time. 

The teachers of years 7 and 8 core English groups and English intervention staff are being trained on teaching reading explicitly and progress is being delivered through curriculum maps and schemes of work, alongside assessments to evaluate progress. 

Within the English Faculty itself, an audit of the entire reading curriculum is underway which maps the whole reading curriculum in English with strengths and any gaps in provision being identified so that the curriculum supports all pupils to improve fluency, confidence and enjoyment in reading.

Across the school, reading is being prioritised to allow students to access the full curriculum offer.  Training has taken place for all staff on how to support pupils to read. Whole school form time reading twice a week and additional form readers and activities are also in place.  This reflects the belief that all teachers are teachers of reading and the fundamental importance of literacy, reading and writing, regardless of the subject taught. 

We are continuing to work on ways to communicate with parents about what takes place in interventions/English lessons so that parents are able to support from home. Communication with parents about their child's reading age has been made. We are maintaining a focus on raising the profile of the importance of adapting teaching to support pupils who find reading hard across the curriculum through continuous CPD.

For students who have special educational needs or disabilities, we brief staff on a weekly basis, identifying key students and students new to the SEND register and ensure that all staff know the strategies that are recommended to support their students.  These are clearly outlined on their pupil profiles.

With assistance from Danes Educational Trust whole staff training on adapting teaching to support SEND pupils so that pupils with SEND have their needs met in their classrooms is taking place, enabling them to engage in the learning and make more progress.  Staff continue to be trained on the how to use the strategies identified in individual pupil profiles and regular online clinics are being held for staff to maintain the focus on adaptive teaching.

Ofsted said:

Leaders have not planned the whole curriculum well enough. They need to clarify exactly what pupils must know and understand. Leaders must also ensure that teachers teach the intended knowledge in ways that help pupils remember what has been taught.

Whilst the curriculum is articulated for students, staff and parents on the school website, this is not consistent enough or of high enough quality across the curriculum as a whole.  An audit is underway to identify gaps within curriculum planning at the level of teachers’ schemes of work, and curriculum mapping accessible to students, staff and parents via the website.  Those gaps are being addressed and work is underway to ensure that curriculum descriptors for all subjects are on a par with the best examples. 

Although the subjects at key stage 4 and 5 are clearly defined through their examination syllabi and grade descriptors, the school is working on subject level descriptions of what is taught and assessed at each reporting stage.  These reporting cycle definitions are also being placed on the school website so that we report progress using a set of long term reporting cycle definitions by subject which accurately reflects the curriculum content taught. 

Additional information is being provided including revision signposting and access to a wider range of resources for support. 

A more rigorous approach to learning walks and work scrutiny is being implemented so that all subject areas take part in regular monitoring processes with action feedback provided.  

Teachers are being supported in developing their own teaching practice through building their own teaching and learning portfolios with internal observations focusing on the provision of high quality feedback on aspirational practice within the classroom, and case studies published to encourage the sharing of that good practice.

We are also working to increase the quantity and improve the quality of home learning set so that parents are able to support students and school staff in integrating home learning within the wider school curriculum.