Twyford Church of England High School

Age group 11–18 Inspection date(s) 2–3 May 2012 Inspection number 397848 Twyford Church of England High School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 137546 Local authority Ealing Inspection number 397848 Inspection dates 2–3 May 2012 Lead inspector Peter McGregor

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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 Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 11–18 Gender of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 1,458 Of which, number on roll in the sixth form 500 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Neil Yates Headteacher Alice Hudson Date of previous school inspection 24 April 2007 School address Twyford Crescent Acton London W3 9PP Telephone number 020 8752 0141 Fax number 020 8993 7627 Email address office@twyford.ealing.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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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

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. A total of 39 lessons were observed, taught by 38 teachers. Inspectors took account of the responses to the on-line Parent View survey in planning the inspection, observed the school’s work, and looked at documentation. This included school development planning, tracking data, the governing body minutes, and safeguarding policies and procedures. Discussions took place with groups of pupils, staff and members of the governing body. As well as taking account of responses from pupils and staff, the team received and analysed 686 questionnaires from parents and carers.

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Information about the school

Twyford is larger than the average-sized secondary school, with more boys than girls on role. It accepts pupils from a very large number of primary schools and has a large sixth form. Current floor standards are met. These are the minimum standards for attainment and progress expected by the government. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is broadly average. A well-above-average proportion of pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds, mainly Black or Black British, mixed race, Asian or Asian British, and White other than British. The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs who are supported through school action plus, or with a statement of special educational needs, is below average. These needs include specific and moderate learning difficulties, behavioural, emotional and social difficulties, speech, language and communication needs, visual impairment, and Autistic Spectrum Disorder. The school

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Information about the school

has specialist status in music and modern foreign languages. Since the previous inspection, the school has become an academy. The headteacher is the executive head of Twyford and a Free School to be opened in September 2013, established with the support of the London Diocesan Board for Schools. 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 an outstanding school. The sixth form is also outstanding. The governing body’s vision of a very caring school, where all strive for academic excellence, is promoted exceptionally well by the headteacher and staff, and it is achieved. Resilience and enjoyment are key characteristics of this highly successful school.   Pupils’ achievements are outstanding throughout the school. Pupils of all backgrounds and abilities make excellent progress in their studies and achieve well in almost all their lessons. Attainment is high in GCSE and A-level examinations. At age 18, many pupils gain places at their chosen, popular universities.   The quality of teaching is exceptionally good. The outstanding curriculum and wide range of courses available help to ensure that work is very well matched to pupils’ needs. Teachers’ excellent understanding of their subjects and their pupils, and the use of engaging activities, motivate pupils and facilitate their

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Key findings

learning and progress.   Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding and they feel extremely safe. They are very courteous and have exceptionally positive attitudes to learning. They cooperate very well with one another and with teachers. A common, positive vision of what constitutes appropriate conduct helps to achieve an excellent atmosphere where hard work and success are greatly valued.   Leadership and management are outstanding. A continuous drive to manage aspects of the school’s performance, including improvement in the quality of teaching, so that pupils maximise their achievement, is at the heart of the school’s success. Continuous professional development of staff has a high priority. The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development outstandingly well and provides an excellent, popular range of clubs, activities and visits. Middle leaders are successful in many ways but some

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Key findings

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

inconsistencies in practice cause reduced effectiveness in a few areas. Parents and carers, pupils and staff are exceptionally positive about all areas of school life.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of middle leadership through:  clarifying lines of communication between heads of year and subject leaders when either of them identifies issues concerning the learning of individual pupils  ensuring that school assessment procedures are implemented with greater consistency.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils make outstanding progress as they move through the school. They enter Year 7 with above average attainment and attain high standards in their GCSE examinations. Those who stay on into the sixth form, and those who join Year 12 from other schools, are also very successful, attaining high standards.

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Achievement of pupils

In most lessons, pupils make good or outstanding progress. They succeed because they are exceptionally well taught and come to lessons prepared to learn. Pupils’ strong literacy and reading skills support their learning in other subjects. Work in a Year 8 geography lesson, for pupils with a wide range of prior knowledge, typified learning in Key Stage 3. Pupils listened very attentively, displaying a keen desire to learn about data collection techniques in the study of weather and climate. A low- attaining Year 11 GCSE English class made excellent progress revising key themes in Of Mice and Men because they were engaged by detailed, well-paced explanations from a very knowledgeable teacher. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, including statements, were very successful because a teaching assistant, who knew their individual needs, supported and praised their endeavours most effectively. Year 13 mathematicians who were revising integration supported

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Achievement of pupils

one another in an excellent manner, under the teacher’s supervision, generating a real buzz of learning. Pupils had individual targets which they worked hard to achieve. These three examples, from across the key stages, exemplify the quality of learning that takes place.

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Achievement of pupils

Achievement in English has been high for many years, and in mathematics has risen to high over the past three years. The proportion of pupils gaining five A*-C passes at GCSE including English and mathematics is high, at 85%. In those GCSE subjects, such as additional science, where progress, although good, was not exceptional last year, pupils’ coursework outcomes and the school’s own data show significant improvement this year. This reflects successful intervention and effective teaching. 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

The gap between these subjects and the most successful has been narrowed considerably. The gap is also narrowing significantly between the performance of certain minority ethnic groups, such as Black African and Caribbean pupils, and their peers at Twyford. They have done well in the past compared with national averages for their heritage group, and are now catching up with national norms for all pupils. The progress of disabled pupils, those with special educational needs and those known to be entitled to free school meals is excellent. Success in the sixth form reflects that in Years 7 to 11. Here, too, the school focus on narrowing gaps between subjects has resulted in very positive outcomes and an overall excellent picture, with a high proportion of pupils on track to achieve aspirational academic and vocational course grades.

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Achievement of pupils

Almost all the large number of parents and carers responding to a questionnaire about the school said that their children make good progress and develop skills in literacy and numeracy. Pupils in their responses also said they learnt a lot in lessons. Inspection findings confirm these exceptionally positive views.

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Quality of teaching

In a very large majority of the lessons observed, the quality of teaching was good or outstanding. Teachers have very high expectations of pupils’ learning behaviour, work rates and achievement, and take many opportunities to enhance their reading and literacy skills. They enjoy teaching and often show a great passion for their subject, which engages and captivates the pupils, particularly in the sixth form. Interesting and imaginative methods in an AS English lesson, including a discovery exercise involving an unseen poem, typified this dynamic approach. Questioning was very demanding and the homework built on class work, encouraging independent endeavour. In a Year 7 history lesson, pupils’ behaviour and attention were exemplary as the teacher carefully asked questions requiring insightful and reflective answers. The teaching assistant supported pupils with any additional needs exceptionally well. All showed a high level of knowledge and understanding of events

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Quality of teaching

in the reign of King John. The expectation that pupils should carry out ‘prep’ before each lesson is having a very positive impact on pupils’ independent learning skills. Weaknesses in teaching observed were rare. Occasionally, where pupils’ progress was not as rapid or sustained as in most, teacher assessment information was not used effectively enough to inform planning.

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Quality of teaching

The distinctive learning culture of the school is apparent in the very strong promotion, in lessons, of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Enjoyment and a reflective approach are modelled by teachers, who expect all pupils, whatever their backgrounds, to cooperate, participate and achieve. Teachers are very knowledgeable about the pupils they teach and the school provides a substantial range of courses and subjects that pupils wish to follow, which facilitates effective teaching. Pupils’ questionnaire responses indicate that they believe teaching is excellent. Almost all parents and carers who responded also reported that their children are very well taught and that the school helps them to support their children’s learning. One parent’s comment reflects the views of many: ‘Twyford is a 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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Quality of teaching

first class teaching institution, instilling high moral qualities and empowering all of its pupils to achieve their best possible academic performance….’ a view echoed by inspection findings.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Almost all the pupils’ questionnaire responses recorded how safe they feel at school, how happy they are to come to school and the good behaviour around the school. Most also said that all types of bullying are dealt with well and behaviour is good in lessons. Parent questionnaire responses were similarly very positive about all these areas. Their comments included reference to the excellence of the pastoral system, underpinning their children’s academic progress, including provision for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. Discussions with pupils confirmed these strongly positive views. Bullying incidents, including physical, name-calling and using new technology, are very rare, as are racist incidents. Key causes of this success are the school’s zero tolerance approach to such conduct, the establishment of a supportive, caring and reflective culture, where pupils learn to understand the

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

implications of their actions, and rigorous vigilant supervision. Sixth-form pupils model excellent behaviour around the school and through their support for younger ones. Younger pupils say they feel confident in asking senior pupils for help, as they do with staff.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Exclusions of pupils have fallen over time, as have internal withdrawals from lessons. Temporary exclusions are below average and permanent exclusions are broadly average. Exclusions of Black Caribbean boys has been higher than for other groups in the past but a specific focus on these pupils’ needs, responding with an effective curriculum, has reduced the number of incidents. When pupils are excluded for inappropriate behaviour, they benefit from being registered as ‘school action’, with a behaviour plan and substantial focused guidance. Behaviour in lessons is often outstanding and hardly ever less than good, reflecting pupils’ keenness to learn and participate. For occasional misbehaviour, senior staff work closely with the pupils and teachers concerned to ensure that the cause of the problem is identified and resolved. Attendance has improved and is above average. In the sixth form, it is very high. Punctuality to lessons is very good.

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Leadership and management

The school’s work is the pursuit of academic excellence in a stimulating and reflective environment, where enjoyment of learning plays a major contributory part. There is no complacency. Lesson observation is carried out regularly and accurately by senior leaders who carry line-management responsibility for subjects. Staff benefit from school-based coaching and in-service training focused on improving teaching and learning, with specific support provided for individuals when teaching is not of a good or better quality.

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Leadership and management

The team of senior leaders with complementary skills, extremely well led by the headteacher, is held to account by a knowledgeable and highly effective governing 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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Leadership and management

body. Parents are exceptionally pleased with the leadership and its effect, encapsulated in comments such as ‘an excellent school with inspirational leaders and encouraging teachers’. Heads of year and subject leaders know their roles well, but not all are equally successful in bringing about improvements in their areas. Communication between heads of year and subject leaders is not always as effective as it should be when individual pupils are identified as underachieving, although intervention in general is very good. Some heads of subject find it difficult to tackle colleagues’ inconsistent compliance with school assessment procedures and do not always follow through with sufficient rigour.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is outstanding. Great efforts are made to match pathways to pupils’ differing needs so each can achieve at their maximum capability level. Vocational and academic routes are valued and pupils know the extensive guidance they receive will be suitable for them individually. Equality of opportunity is a key curriculum principle, throughout the school. The extra-curricular provision is quite exceptional with an excellent range of opportunities. The provision in music and modern foreign languages is exemplary, reflecting the school’s specialist status. Many music groups, from the gospel choir to the main orchestra, involve over half the pupils at Twyford. Latin has been introduced and over two hundred pupils were involved last year in foreign language and cultural visits to countries as far apart as China and Mozambique. Sport has an increasing profile, with a wide range of games available

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Leadership and management

including inter-school fixtures, and academic and creative clubs are very successful.

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Leadership and management

Discrimination of any form is not tolerated. The strong spiritual, moral, social and cultural ethos of the school, promoted by all the staff with strong support from the chaplaincy, holds the key to social and cultural cohesion apparent in lessons and generally around the school. Tutor time and assemblies involve excellent moments of reflection, for example sixth-form pupils leading short prayers during their tutor time. Safeguarding is secure with all requirements met. Recruitment records are detailed and accurate, and child protection measures are rigorously applied. Staff are trained and policies are thorough and applied consistently.

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Leadership and management

The school was judged outstanding in its previous inspection five years ago. Since then, pupils’ attainment and progress have improved, as has the quality of teaching and pupils’ behaviour. The governors and senior leadership team have not allowed themselves to be distracted from their core purpose, of achieving further improvements at Twyford, through their involvement in establishing a Free School. This has been, and continues to be, a helpful extra dimension. The school has excellent capacity to improve further.

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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 54 42 2 2 Primary schools 14 49 32 6 Secondary schools 20 39 34 7 Special schools 33 45 20 3 Pupil referral units 9 55 28 8 All schools 16 47 31 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 to 31 December 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

Floor standards the national minimum expectation of attainment and progression measures.

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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 Twyford Church of England High School, Acton W3 9PP

Thank you for the very warm welcome you kindly gave us when we visited your school. Your questionnaire responses and views in discussions were extremely helpful. It was good to hear how very positive you are about all aspects of your education at Twyford.

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Inspection of Twyford Church of England High School, Acton W3 9PP

You are attending an outstanding school. The quality of teaching is excellent and this, with your very positive attitudes to work, enables you to be very successful in your examinations at age 16 and in the sixth form. You are doing well in all your subjects, particularly so in English and mathematics. Staff work very hard to provide an exceptional level of care for you all, whatever your background or ability, and you said how much you appreciate this and how much you enjoy school life. Your behaviour is excellent and you told us how safe you feel. We appreciated how courteous you were to each other and to visitors like us. You are developing into well-balanced and caring young adults with a bright future ahead of you, because of the great start Twyford is giving you. Your headteacher is leading the school exceptionally well and she is extremely well supported by the school governors and the staff. The range of courses available is outstanding, so each of you can find the

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Inspection of Twyford Church of England High School, Acton W3 9PP

right subjects to study. The choice of extra-curricular activities and clubs is outstanding and many of you take up these opportunities offered.

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Inspection of Twyford Church of England High School, Acton W3 9PP

We have asked the headteacher to continue to improve the school by helping the heads of year and subject leaders to be even more effective in their roles. All of you can help by continuing to work hard, enjoy learning and aim to be as successful as you can be.

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Inspection of Twyford Church of England High School, Acton W3 9PP

Peter McGregor Lead inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is ava ilable 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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