St Ignatius College

Age group 11−19 Inspection date(s) 25−26 May 2011 Inspection number 355118 St Ignatius College Inspection report

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Unique Reference Number 102058 Local Authority Enfield Inspection number 355118 Inspection dates 25−26 May 2011 Reporting inspector Anne Wellham HMI

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This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 under pilot arrangements; it was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act .

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Type of school Secondary School category Voluntary Aided Age range of pupils 11−19 Gender of pupils Boys Gender of pupils in the sixth form Boys Number of pupils on the school roll 1120 Of which, number on roll in the sixth form 216 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair J Donnelly Headteacher J P Morrison Date of previous school inspection 21 May 2008 School address Turkey Street Enfield Middlesex EN1 4NP Telephone number 01992 717 835 Fax number 01992 652 070 Email address enquiries@st-ignatius.enfield.sch.uk achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and

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other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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Royal Exchange Buildings St Ann's Square Manchester M2 7LA

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

This pilot inspection was carried out by one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors and four additional inspectors. Inspectors carried out observations of one full lesson, and 50 part lessons taught by 49 teachers. Four learning walks comprising of short visits to lessons in English, science, information and communication technology (ICT) and learning support were carried out jointly with the leaders of these departments. The work of the inclusion unit was observed. Meetings were held with students, staff, parents and carers and five members of the governing body. Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a wide range of documentation as well as 390 questionnaires completed by parents and carers, questionnaires completed by students and 60 completed by staff.

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Information about the school

St Ignatius College is a larger than the average sized over subscribed Catholic comprehensive school. It is one of only five Jesuit secondary schools in the United Kingdom. Students come from a wide range of socio-economic, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Two thirds of the students live in Enfield with the remainder travelling from Haringey, Hackney, Waltham Forest and Hertfordshire. The large majority of students are from minority ethnic groups, mainly from Black African, Black Caribbean, White Irish or White European backgrounds.The proportion of students who speak English as an additional language is above average with very few at the early stages of acquisition. The proportion of students with special educational needs and/or disabilities is below that found nationally, as is the proportion known to be eligible for free school meals. The school has met government floor targets during the past three years. It received humanities college status specialising in history,

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Information about the school

geography and religious studies in 2006 and was awarded the Inclusion Quality Mark in 2009, the International School Award in October 2009 and took part in the Comenius European School Programme in May 2010.

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Information about the school

At the time of the inspection students from Years 11, 12 and 13 were on study leave. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Behaviour and safety 2

Does the school adequately promote the pupils’ well-being? Yes Does the school adequately promote community cohesion? Yes Does the school provide value for money? Yes

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Key findings

 The school has improved on previously satisfactory performance to become a good school. The headteacher provides strong leadership. He is supported well by senior leaders who share his vision for improvement, and some able middle leaders have introduced changes that are effectively tackling the weaknesses identified at the last inspection.  A particular strength of the school is the outstanding promotion of students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development which underpins their good behaviour and makes a strong contribution to their good learning.  Examination results have improved steadily at GCSE and A level and are above the national average. The gaps in performance between different subjects and different key stages are closing.  Different groups of students perform equally well. Students with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those who are learning to speak English as an additional language or those who are potentially vulnerable receive

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Key findings

personalised intervention and guidance, which makes an important contribution to their quality of learning and allows them to make good and sometimes outstanding progress.  There is more good and outstanding teaching than at the last inspection. Students make slower progress at Key Stage 3 and in science where teaching is inconsistent. Teaching that is no better than satisfactory does not engage students fully or challenge them sufficiently, so they lose concentration and very occasionally their behaviour deteriorates.  Students hold clear views about their learning and well-being. Attendance is well above the national average and punctuality is good. Students behave very well in the vast majority of lessons and conduct themselves very responsibly around the school. They value the very safe school environment and embrace the strong spiritual, moral and social values that determine and guide their Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate

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Key findings

Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key findings

personal development. Any challenging behaviour in school is dealt with quickly, effectively and with zero-tolerance.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the quality of satisfactory teaching to good or better, particularly in science and at Key Stage 3, by ensuring that all teachers: - take account of students’ prior learning and preferred learning styles to plan challenging, interactive activities using a wide range of imaginative resources, including ICT - reduce the amount of time spent talking to the whole class, allowing more time for students to work independently and collaboratively - provide regular high quality written feedback informing students how to move on to the next level.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase parents’ and carers’ confidence and understanding of students’ good behaviour by: - increasing parents’ and carers’ knowledge of the code of conduct - providing information about the outcomes of actions taken to challenge and confront anti-social behaviour.

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Main report

There have been a range of important changes leading to improvement at St Ignatius College in the three years since the school was last inspected. Students now make good progress and enjoy a good quality of learning. Leadership across the school has been strengthened and a number of effective strategies are being used to improve the consistency of teaching and further drive up students’ achievement. The school's capacity to continue its improvement is good because:

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Main report

 the headteacher provides the school with a clear and purposeful direction and is supported well by senior leaders  the quality of middle leadership is now more consistent and performance has improved, particularly in English, science and ICT  systems to monitor and evaluate students’ achievement and the quality of teaching are more extensive and rigorous so that leaders and managers have a detailed, accurate and realistic understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development  the use of assessment information to track students’ progress against accurate targets, which was underdeveloped at the last inspection, is now secure at whole-school, departmental and teacher level and allows the school to target additional support more effectively  improved data about students' targets and progress are helping senior leaders to hold staff accountable for students' achievement  data about the achievement of different groups of students, including those

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Main report

Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Main report

with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are being monitored very carefully to ensure that all groups are making similar progress and effective action is taken to narrow any gaps in performance. A good example is the improved achievement of Black Ghanaian students, identified as a group whose performance was falling behind their peers.  the ability of the governing body to challenge leaders is enhanced by the improved accuracy of monitoring and evaluation. Better quality data about students' achievement are available for governors although there is scope to further develop their understanding about students' progress relative to their starting points.

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Main report

The large majority of teaching is now good or better because senior leaders are building up a more detailed and accurate understanding of strengths and weaknesses in teaching. Teaching is satisfactory, rather than good or better, in a minority of lessons. Outstanding practice in using more active and engaging teaching styles and effective behaviour management is being identified and shared across subjects. Middle leaders are being trained to observe lessons accurately and feed back to staff to help them to improve their teaching, although there is still some variability in the extent to which they provide challenge and support to staff in their teams. Inconsistent teaching within departments is a key factor in preventing the school from moving from good to outstanding achievement.

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Main report

Teaching in outstanding lessons typically has the following features:

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Main report

 teachers’ excellent subject knowledge inspires students, provides them with high levels of challenge and accelerates their progress towards specific targets  students enjoy their learning because tasks are varied and interactive and take full account of preferred learning styles and individual learning needs  imaginative use is made of ICT to develop understanding and very good literacy and numeracy skills are developed as part of the subject  excellent relationships between students and with their teachers create a very positive learning environment and no time is wasted  frequent checks are made on students’ learning and regular feedback using a range of assessment information allows students to know precisely how to improve their work.

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Main report

Teaching in the satisfactory lessons typically has the following features:

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Main report

 lesson objectives are not linked closely enough to students’ different levels of ability and achievement  there is too much teacher talk and insufficient opportunities for independent and collaborative work  repetitive tasks are overly directed by the teacher so the pace of learning is slow  students are passive and do not engage enthusiastically with the lesson  students’ learning is not checked and consolidated sufficiently by the teacher  the quality and usefulness of the written feedback about students’ work is Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Main report

The school’s promotion of students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development continues to be outstanding. It is at the heart of the school’s ethos and is the key factor that underpins students’ good learning and progress and the good care, guidance and support they receive. The school’s work as a specialist humanities college makes a strong contribution to raising standards and provides students with opportunities to contribute to the wider community. Students’ behaviour and safety are good.

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Main report

Students are proud to attend St Ignatius College. The school is very effective in meeting its duties to promote equality and tackle discrimination to create a harmonious environment where students from a very wide range of ethnic backgrounds work together and respect each other. Safeguarding is robust. Students are unfailingly polite, articulate and friendly, and they behave well in most lessons and around the school. They confirm that they feel extremely safe and secure and that bullying is very rare and dealt with quickly and effectively. They report that they do not always feel so safe outside school because of the dangers of gang culture, knife crime and anti-social behaviour that exists in some of their local neighbourhoods. The school does not shy away from confronting these issues and adopts a proactive and innovative approach. The reinforcement of high standards of behaviour and positive role models are used to confront the moral and social

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Main report

complexities surrounding peer group pressure and provide opportunities for students to reflect on the consequences of their own behaviour. Students are very effective in supporting and guiding their peers in their choices of how to behave. Students who attend the Manresa internal referral unit respond well to actions taken to improve behaviour. The unit is effective in building self-esteem and supporting reintegration for those students who may otherwise be at risk of exclusion.

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Main report

Many parents, carers and students who completed questionnaires are aware of the few students who present challenging behaviour. Some commented that the school does not manage behaviour well and that lessons are disrupted. Inspectors observed good behaviour in lessons and around the school. Students show high levels of respect for each other, adults and for the school environment. Behaviour is satisfactory in lessons where the teaching does not engage students’ interests. Students report good behaviour over time and show a good understanding of rewards and sanctions. A few parents and carers are unfamiliar with the code of conduct. The scrutiny of case studies and the school’s monitoring data support the positive impact of strategies to sustain good behaviour over an extended period.

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Ofsted invited all the registered parents and carers of pupils registered at St Ignatius College to complete a questionnaire about their views of the school. In the questionnaire, parents and carers were asked to record how strongly they agreed with 13 statements about the school. The inspection team received 390 completed questionnaires by the end of the on-site inspection. In total, there are 1120 pupils registered at the school.

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Statements Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Total % Total % Total % Total % Q1 My child is happy at school 168 43 204 52 14 4 3 1

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q2 My child feels safe at school 141 36 220 56 23 6 3 1

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q3 The school helps my child to achieve as well as they can 155 40 212 54 16 4 4 1

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q4 The school meets my child’s particular needs 134 34 220 56 26 7 5 1

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q5 The school ensures my child is well looked after 156 40 206 53 20 5 5 1

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q6 Teaching at this school is good 127 33 244 63 11 3 3 1

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q7 There is a good standard of behaviour at this school 94 24 211 54 71 18 8 2

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q8 Lessons are not disrupted by bad behaviour 52 13 173 44 123 32 27 7

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q9 The school deals with any cases of bullying well 131 34 209 54 24 6 7 2

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q10 The school helps me to support my child’s learning 123 32 229 59 31 8 5 1

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q11 The school responds to my concerns and keeps me well informed 152 39 183 47 42 11 6 2

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q12 The school is well led and managed 183 47 189 48 12 3 2 1

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

The table above summarises the responses that parents and carers made to each statement. The percentages indicate the proportion of parents and carers giving that response out of the total number of completed questionnaires. Where one or more parents and carers chose not to answer a particular question, the percentages will not add up to 100%.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 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.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 46 48 6 0 Primary schools 6 47 40 7 Secondary schools 12 39 38 11

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Sixth forms 13 42 41 3 Special schools 28 49 19 4 Pupil referral units 14 45 31 10

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements were introduced on 1 September 2009. This means that inspectors now make some additional judgements that were not made previously. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 December 2010 and are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk ). The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools. Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100. Sixth form figures reflect the judgements made for the overall effectiveness of the sixth form in secondary schools, special schools and pupil referral units.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning, development or training.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils’ work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving. Inspectors base this judgement on what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school’s overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school. The following judgements, in particular, influence what the overall effectiveness judgement will be:  The achievement of all pupils.  Behaviour and safety.  The quality of teaching.  The effectiveness of leadership and management. and taking into consideration  how well the school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils’ attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of St Ignatius College, Enfield EN1 4NP

Thank you for the very friendly and polite welcome you gave us when we inspected your school recently. Your school is providing you with a good education and helping you to make good progress in your learning. It is a very special place because of the exceptional ways in which you are helped to develop strong spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding and to become responsible, articulate young adults. We were impressed with your good behaviour, the respect that you show each other and the efforts you make to help those less fortunate than yourselves. The headteacher and senior staff lead your school well. They make sure that you are continually encouraged to have high expectations of yourselves and others. The sixth form is a very important part of the school and the sixth form students set an excellent example for younger students to follow. You told us that you enjoy most of your lessons and learn a lot but you were

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Inspection of St Ignatius College, Enfield EN1 4NP

concerned that there are a few lessons where teaching is weaker and that you learn less. We have asked the senior leaders and heads of department to make sure that all teachers plan challenging, interactive activities, use a wide range of imaginative resources, including information and communication technology (ICT), allow you to have more opportunities to work independently, and provide regular high quality written feedback about your work to tell you how to move on to the next level. You can help by telling the teachers what makes you learn best.

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Inspection of St Ignatius College, Enfield EN1 4NP

Some of the parents, carers and students who completed questionnaires are concerned about the few students who present challenging behaviour. They think that the school does not manage behaviour well and that lessons are disrupted. We saw good behaviour in lessons and around the school. You show high levels of respect for each other, adults and for the school environment. The school’s records and the students we talked to reported that good behaviour is typical and any bullying or harassment are rare. We have asked the school to give your parents and carers clearer information about the behaviour in the school. You can help by continuing to be good role models if students need guidance and support to behave well.

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Inspection of St Ignatius College, Enfield EN1 4NP

We wish all of you at St Ignatius College a very successful future.

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Inspection of St Ignatius College, Enfield EN1 4NP

Anne Wellham Her Majesty's Inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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