Eltham Hill School

Age group 11–16 Inspection date(s) 11–12 January 2012 Inspection number 376365 Eltham Hill Technology School for Girls Inspection report

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Unique reference number 100182 Local authority Greenwich Inspection number 376365 Inspection dates 11–12 January 2012 Lead inspector Samantha Morgan-Price HMI

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Type of school Secondary School category Community Age range of pupils 11–16 Gender of pupils Girls Number of pupils on the school roll 865 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Suzanne Clay Headteacher Madeleine Griffin Date of previous school inspection 14 November 2006 School address Eltham Hill London SE9 5EE Telephone number 020 8859 2843 Fax number 020 8294 2365 Email address info@elthamhill.greenwich.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 other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked

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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 surve y reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when.

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You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

Samantha Morgan-Price Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. Inspectors observed 33 teachers teaching 35 lessons, of which four were joint lesson observations with members of the senior leadership team. Meetings were held with the Chair and two members of the Governing Body, three groups of pupils, a representative from the local authority and school staff including senior and middle managers. Inspectors observed the school’s work, and looked at a number of documents including: records of lesson observations, the school improvement plan and self-evaluation documents, minutes of governing body meetings, various school policies, achievement, and attendance and exclusion data. The inspection team scrutinised questionnaires from 372 parents and carers, 253 pupils and 65 members of staff.

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Information about the school

The school is smaller than the average sized secondary school. The proportion of students known to be eligible for free school meals is above average. Students represent a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Approximately a third of students are White British, with the second largest group being Black African. This group make up around a fifth of the school’s population. The proportion of students who speak English as an additional language is three times higher than average. The proportion of students who are identified as being disabled or having special educational needs is higher than average, including those students with a statement of special educational needs. The proportion of students entering or leaving the school other than at the usual times is higher than the national average for secondary schools. The school exceeds the current floor standard, whereby the government sets the minimum expectations for attainment and progress.

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Information about the school

The school is a technology college and has obtained the specialist status for Raising Achievement and Transforming Learning. It has also achieved the Healthy Schools status. Since the last inspection, the school has received funding through the Building Schools for the Future scheme for a new building, due to be completed in September 2013. Plans are now underway for the start of a new sixth form prior to the completion of the new building. The sixth form is set to open in September 2012. 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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Key findings

 This is a satisfactory school. It has improved well since the last inspection, particularly since 2010, when standards of attainment rose considerably.  Students, parents and carers are positive about the school and acknowledge the improvements, especially in behaviour, over recent years.  Students achieve satisfactorily through the school. GCSE results are now broadly average after a long period of being low and students achieve particularly well in the school’s specialist subject of design and technology and also in religious studies. White British students do not achieve as well as many of their peers, especially in mathematics.  Higher attainers are making better progress to achieve an increased number of high grades. Students who require school intervention are predicted to have improved attainment at the end of the year, although many are still making satisfactory progress.  Teaching is satisfactory through the school. Although aspects of teaching have

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Key findings

improved, there are still weaknesses in the way teaching meets the needs of all students within lessons and over time. In a significant proportion of lessons, the needs of higher attaining students were not addressed, meaning that they were not stretched or challenged in their tasks. Marking is inconsistent in helping students to improve their work.  The re-designing of the curriculum has resulted in the school providing good programmes for lower attaining students, especially for those whose circumstances may make them more vulnerable.  The vast majority of pupils behave well and the school has worked hard to ensure that instances of poor behaviour are tackled quickly. Students from the wide spectrum of ethnic backgrounds get on well together. A good tutorial programme enables students to take some ownership and develop leadership skills in delivering sessions in their form times. Students say they feel safe.

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Key findings

 The headteacher and senior staff know the school well, and they know what needs to be implemented to further improve teaching and increase attainment, especially for White British students who have not made the good progress that other students have achieved. 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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Key findings

Schools whose overall effectiveness is judged to be satisfactory may receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the achievement of all groups of students, especially White British and increase the proportion of good or better teaching across all subjects by:  increasing the level of challenge that students receive in the tasks they undertake  ensuring teachers plan lessons that engage students of all abilities in lessons  ensuring teachers provide consistently detailed feedback to students on the performance in their written work to ensure they know what their next steps are to improve.

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Achievement of pupils

In 2010, the proportion of students reaching five or more A*to C grades including English and mathematics at GCSE was the highest the school had achieved in the last four years. Unvalidated results for 2011 show that the school maintained this increase. Students’ attainment is average overall.

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Achievement of pupils

Students’ progress is satisfactory and improving. However, there is some variation in how well students achieve. In 2011, Black African, Indian and those students from a White background other than British, Irish, Gypsy/Roma or traveller of Irish heritage made good progress compared to students nationally. Students who require school support, White British students and those who are higher attaining are not making the same significant gains in their learning over time. They do make progress broadly in line with similar students nationally. Current school assessment of students’ progress suggests that those who require more intensive school support make satisfactory rather than good progress. Most students enjoy their lessons and are keen to learn. There are instances when students are not motivated or challenged by their tasks in lessons. The best learning takes place when teachers plan for students’

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Achievement of pupils

differing needs and students feel the work is challenging but achievable. Good learning was seen when students were actively involved in their lessons and there were good opportunities to discuss and evaluate their learning. A very large majority of parents felt their daughters were making good progress at school. Although many groups are making significant gains in their learning, some, such as White British students, who make up a sizeable proportion of the school’s population, do not achieve as well as they could.

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Achievement of pupils

Assessment information is used by all teachers to identify the needs of most students. It is used to provide the targeted support for those students requiring low 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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Achievement of pupils

levels of intervention. This has been successful in supporting these students to achieve their targets when they are falling behind.

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Quality of teaching

The quality of teaching is satisfactory over time, but there are indications that it is improving. In well-taught lessons where complex tasks are set to encourage deepened thinking, these are devised and carefully structured to encompass the differing needs of students in the class. As a result, students are fully engaged in their learning and enjoy these lessons extremely well. For example, in one lesson, the teacher and the trainee teacher used role-play to contextualise the period leading up to the English Civil War and the tensions between the King and Parliament. In a good Year 8 English lesson, complex descriptive writing techniques were introduced to students who gave good examples of occurrences of ‘connotations and rhetorical writing’. In a geography lesson, students were encouraged to discuss the sensitive topic of race well to aid their cultural and social understanding.

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Quality of teaching

Teaching often makes good use of the planned curriculum in most subjects and enable students to enjoy learning. This was especially seen in instances where teachers planned for students to be actively engaged in their learning. In some lessons, there are good opportunities for students to develop their skills in reading, writing and communication, but this is not always the case. A very large majority of parents felt their children were taught well. However, in some lessons, students are not challenged by the tasks they are given. In too many lessons, teachers use the approach of ‘one size fits all’, with little variety or extension for students and little opportunity to assess their own learning or to participate in discussions about what they have learnt. Students do not always receive consistently good guidance on their written work to help improve it further.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

A very large majority of students say that they feel safe in school. They have a good understanding of the risks which they are open to both within and outside of school. They have a positive attitude to learning and in the main demonstrate respectful behaviour to their peers and staff. Despite building work which restricts students' space, they conduct themselves safely around the building.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

The number of fixed term exclusions is high, particularly for White British students, although exclusions are now reducing and are fewer this year compared to the previous year. The number is high, partly due to the school’s zero tolerance policy and the number of pupils taken in through the borough’s ‘Fair Access’ panel. School leaders have communicated and enforced high expectations. Although the number of exclusions is high, this does not reflect the behaviour of the large majority of students who behave well. A very large majority of parents felt that there is a good standard of behaviour in the school. There were a few parental and student concerns about behaviour and disruption in lessons. The school has clear effective systems in place to support some students to improve their behaviour and to tackle the few Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

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

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

incidents of bullying. This includes working with school staff such as counsellors and mentors and with outside agencies.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

The school has put in place a number of strategies to improve students’ attendance and this has worked. Overall, the level of students’ attendance is high having been broadly average at the last inspection. The school has focused on many measures, including ‘fast track’ interventions that have brought about improvements. However, the level of attendance for a few students is below the national expectation for similar students, although it has improved in the last three years.

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Leadership and management

Despite the extensive building work, school leaders have maintained it is ‘business as usual’. The clear insightful leadership of the headteacher has enabled students’ standards of attainment to rise, and significantly so in the last two years. Good attention has been paid to the weaker performing subjects in 2011; the majority are now demonstrating strong improvements this year. The school is narrowing the gap in respect of students’ achievement in mathematics. School leaders have been solid in their approach to raising expectations and providing a curriculum mainly based on GCSE examinations. However, since the last inspection, the school has introduced relevant work-related learning programmes for less able students. Students have many opportunities to develop their social, moral, spiritual and cultural awareness in the devised tutorials and extra-curricular opportunities. This has included arts

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Leadership and management

projects on identity, which involved working with creative partnerships to develop their understanding of cultural diversity. Self-evaluation pinpoints the school’s key priorities, and the track record of improvements in raising attainment and attendance demonstrate the school has good capacity to improve further. School leaders recognise they are still on a journey of improvement.

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Leadership and management

Much effort has been focused on improving the quality of teaching, which has resulted in a significant reduction of inadequate teaching and a rise in the quality of good teaching. Effective professional development has been put in place to support weaker teaching. The actions planned to improve teaching are well considered.

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Leadership and management

The procedures to secure the safety and well-being of students are robust and there is good partnership working with outside agencies to safeguard the well-being of the most vulnerable students. Racist incidents are low and the school works hard to promote equality and tackle discrimination. Although the achievement of White British students in particular is yet to equal that of most of their peers, the gap has narrowed year-on-year, and therefore the school promotes equality of opportunity satisfactorily. Students work well together in a multicultural environment. The school has succeeded in ensuring the extensive building work causes as little disruption as possible.

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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 46 8 0 Primary schools 8 47 40 5 Secondary schools 14 38 40 8 Special schools 28 48 20 4 Pupil referral units 15 50 29 5 All schools 11 46 38 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data 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. Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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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

Attendance the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school’s efforts to encourage good attendance.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils’ punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and 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 governors and 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.

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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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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons, and their understanding of risks. Pupils’ freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning.

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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 Eltham Hill Technology College for Girls, London SE9 9EE

I am writing to let you know what we thought about the school. We would like to thank you for helping us when we came to find out how well you are getting on. We particularly enjoyed visiting your lessons and talking to you. We judged that your school is satisfactory and that the principal, the senior teachers, the governing body and other staff within the school are working hard to improve the quality of education that you receive. We judged leadership and management of the school to be good.

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Inspection of Eltham Hill Technology College for Girls, London SE9 9EE

You achieve satisfactorily throughout the school. Your attainment in your GCSEs is average, although it is improving and is set to improve further this summer. The technology specialism has added additional enrichment to your curriculum and given you opportunities to undertake cultural visits outside of school. The school has created a harmonious atmosphere and your senior teachers have done really well to achieve this despite all the building work that is taking place. Your behaviour at school is good and your attendance is high for the vast majority of you. The majority of you agreed that behaviour was good at least most of the time in lessons and around the school.

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Inspection of Eltham Hill Technology College for Girls, London SE9 9EE

There are some things that the school can improve upon to help all of you achieve well. These are things we have asked leaders and managers in the school to do.

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Inspection of Eltham Hill Technology College for Girls, London SE9 9EE

 Raise your attainment, particularly for those who are White British, and increase the proportion of good and outstanding learning by ensuring that all teachers increase the level of challenge in your activities to ensure you produce your best work and achieve well.  We have asked that teachers plan their lessons to suit the needs and abilities of all students.  We have also asked that all teachers mark work consistently to enable you to know how to improve your work.

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Inspection of Eltham Hill Technology College for Girls, London SE9 9EE

All of you can help by attending regularly and contributing to your lessons at all times.

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Inspection of Eltham Hill Technology College for Girls, London SE9 9EE

Samantha Morgan-Price 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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