Setting

Aviation House 125 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0300 123 1231 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Mrs L Parvez Headteacher Kelmscott School Markhouse Road Walthamstow E17 8DN

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bullying practice in schools

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of your staff and students, during my visit on 19 October 2011 as part of our survey of schools’ work to create a positive school culture and prevent and tackle bullying.

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bullying practice in schools

The visit provided valuable information which will contribute to our national evaluation and reporting. Published reports are likely to list the names of the contributing institutions but individual institutions will not be identified in the main text without their consent.

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bullying practice in schools

This letter briefly summarises our discussion at the end of the visit.

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Strengths of this aspect of the school’s work

 Kelmscott is an inclusive school with a consistent approach to ensuring that all members of the school community are accepted and valued. Students are confident that they know who to ask when they need support and they say that they feel safe and welcomed in the school. Year 7 students are clear that any fears they may have had about starting secondary school soon disappeared.  Anti-bullying strategies are a clear priority for the school. There are statements in the students’ journals and posters on the wall and the students themselves speak of the importance of this issue. The school has also responded to students’ concerns and increased the supervision in some areas of the school. However, some opportunities to systematically reinforce the school’s approach, for example in tutor times, are missed.  The policies on behaviour and anti-bullying set out expectations and communicate effectively the emphasis that the school places on high

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Strengths of this aspect of the school’s work

standards of behaviour. Incidents of bullying are recorded at an individual student level but there is no central record.  Students speak with some passion of a need to accept difference and are particularly robust in their condemnation of behaviour which stigmatises disability. The school reflects this approach by providing a variety of supervised places where students can go to during break times. There are areas for sport as well as the library and group seating for those who want to take a quiet break.  Students have some opportunities to reflect on their behaviour and to develop the skills of reconciliation but there is little systematic evaluation of these approaches across the school.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 using more opportunities to reinforce the school’s firm approach to eradicating bullying behaviour  developing a central log to record incidents of bullying so that frequency and type can be monitored  strengthening the evaluation of the pastoral curriculum.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

I hope that this visit has been useful in the further development of this aspect of the school’s work.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

As I explained previously, a copy of this letter will be published on the Ofsted website. It may be used to inform decisions about any future inspection. A copy of this letter is also being sent to your local authority.

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