Setting

Mr Peter Travis The Headteacher Broomfield School Wilmer Way London N14 7HY

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Special measures: monitoring inspection of Broomfield School

Following my visit with Sarah Hill and Steven Smith, Additional Inspectors, to your school on 20 and 21 June 2012, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings.

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Special measures: monitoring inspection of Broomfield School

The inspection was the second monitoring inspection since the school became subject to special measures following the inspection which took place in October 2011. The full list of the areas for improvement which were identified during that inspection is set out in the annex to this letter. The monitoring inspection report is attached and the main judgements are set out below.

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Special measures: monitoring inspection of Broomfield School

Progress since being subject to special measures – satisfactory.

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Special measures: monitoring inspection of Broomfield School

Progress since previous monitoring inspection – satisfactory.

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Special measures: monitoring inspection of Broomfield School

Newly qualified teachers may be appointed in the modern foreign languages, humanities and performing arts faculties only.

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Special measures: monitoring inspection of Broomfield School

This letter and monitoring inspection report will be posted on the Ofsted website. I am copying this letter and the monitoring inspection report to the Secretary of State, the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for the Director of Children’s Services for Enfield.

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Her Majesty’s Inspector

Tribal 1-4 Portland Square BRISTOL BS2 8RR T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0845 123 6001 Direct F 0117 315 0430 Direct email :rebecca.jackson@tribalgroup.com

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place in October 2011

 Strengthen leadership and management by:   improving the accuracy, consistency and robustness of self-evaluation   increasing the impact of senior leaders in addressing key weaknesses   strengthening school improvement planning by ensuring that planned actions are measured against clearly defined timelines and that success criteria are linked, precisely, to measurable outcomes for students.   Raise attainment in science by:   ensuring there is no inadequate teaching in science and that the large majority of science lessons secure at least good progress   ensuring that the science curriculum is sufficiently well planned to enable all students to make good progress   ensuring that the leadership and management of science have a clear, immediate and rapid impact in raising achievement in Key Stage 4 and in the sixth form.   Improve the quality of teaching and learning by:  ensuring there is no inadequate teaching

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place in October 2011

 increasing the proportion of good and outstanding teaching through sharing the best practice seen in teaching and the use of assessment to promote better learning.  Raise achievement and attainment in the sixth form by:  reducing the proportion of students who fail to pass or complete their courses in Year 12  ensuring teachers and students have a clear understanding of students’ targets and that progress towards these targets is monitored consistently so that underachievement is identified and addressed more quickly  strengthening the impact of monitoring and evaluation on outcomes for all students.  Ensure the curriculum at Key Stage 4 and in the sixth form fully meets the needs and aspirations of lower-attaining students. 

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Evidence

Inspectors observed the school’s work, scrutinised documents and met with the headteacher, a representative from the local authority, several different groups of staff and senior leaders, two different groups of students, the Chair of the Governing Body, the Chair of Rapid Recovery Group and the two consultant headteachers working with the school. In addition, they talked informally to students during lessons and break times. Inspectors observed 23 teachers teaching 23 lessons. Twelve of these lesson observations were carried out jointly with members of the senior leadership team.

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Context

Since the Ofsted monitoring inspection in March 2012, there have been further significant staff changes. A new headteacher was appointed in April 2012 and joined the school in June. Two new deputy headteachers have also been appointed. One of these, an acting deputy headteacher, has taken up his permanent position from June 2012. The other is due to take up her role in September. The assistant headteacher with responsibility for science is leaving the school at the end of term and being replaced, at assistant headteacher level, from September by an experienced head of science seconded from one of the support schools. A new Key Stage 4 science coordinator has joined the school and a new Key Stage 3 coordinator has been appointed, starting in July. At the time of the inspection, three temporary teachers were covering parts of the science timetable. The school is planning to recruit several new teachers for September. The governing body has begun to re-introduce

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Context

its committee structures and has appointed several new governors.

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Achievement of pupils at the school

The school’s new data system is starting to be embedded across the school. Extra assessment and data entry opportunities since the previous monitoring visit are giving the school increasingly robust evidence about the achievement of students. This knowledge has been used to provide intervention with underachieving students in Year 11. While the impact of these interventions will not be completely clear until the outcome of GCSE examinations become available, the school is predicting that the results of the current Year 11 will be in line with those of their predecessors. This will represent faster progress considering the lower starting points of the current Year 11.

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Achievement of pupils at the school

Achievement across the curriculum remains inconsistent. Progress in science in the main school has been inadequate over time and there remains a legacy of underachievement. Nevertheless, the school has worked hard to improve teaching and learning and improved provision is beginning to close the gaps in students’ achievement in science. Most groups of learners make adequate progress in their learning across the curriculum, but the school’s own data show that there remain a few groups for whom progress is inadequate, including disabled students and those with special educational needs identified by the school as needing significant extra support.

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Achievement of pupils at the school

Sixth form leadership has established rigour to track the progress of current students. Students know their targets and most have a good understanding of the likelihood of reaching them. Provision has been inconsistent across the curriculum and staffing difficulties in some subjects, for example law, have slowed students’ progress. Nevertheless, far fewer students than in the previous year are likely to fail their courses. Additional options to meet the needs of a wider ability range are in place for September 2012 and students are being interviewed to establish progression routes from Year 12 to Year 13. This has a very positive impact on retention rates. The school has established a level 2 pathway, starting in September, to provide for students who previously entered the sixth form without securing C grade or above in any or all of GCSE mathematics, English and science. All learning seen in sixth form lessons by inspectors, including in science, was satisfactory or

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Achievement of pupils at the school

Progress since the last monitoring inspection on the areas for improvement:  raise achievement and attainment in the sixth form – satisfactory  raise attainment in science – satisfactory.

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The quality of teaching

The proportion of teaching that is good or better has risen slowly since the last inspection as a result of the whole-school focus to develop teachers’ skills and understanding. The school’s teaching and learning team, which now includes recently appointed Teaching and Learning Champions, has supported measurable improvements in the quality of teaching in a few curriculum areas. Professional development has focused on key areas of teaching; being regular and well received by staff.

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The quality of teaching

The school, with the support of local authority advisers and national support school staff, has sought, with some success, to improve the quality of teaching. Improved teaching schemes have been put in place in Key Stages 3 and 4 and a revised curriculum plan is established for September. The timetable has been rearranged to prioritise the learning of examination groups. Rigorous recent reviews by the school and local authority show that the majority of teaching in the sixth form and main school is good or better. Inspectors found this to be true where substantive members of staff took lessons. However, there remains too much inadequate teaching and learning in those lessons taken by supply staff. Overall, the proportion of inadequate lessons, while still too high, has reduced markedly over time.

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The quality of teaching

Students are usually engaged in lessons, particularly where teachers make use of paired or small-group activities interspersed with teacher summaries. Students say that they enjoy active lessons where they are expected to think for themselves; comparing this unfavourably with working from books with little opportunity for dialogue with other students to assist their understanding. For example, in a Year 10 history lesson, students enjoyed taking responsibility for their own learning when discussing the Black Panther movement. The teacher facilitated the class discussion which extended students’ thinking across a range of perspectives and ensured students considered the reliability of their sources. Where the quality of teaching is best, teachers use targeted questioning to explore any misunderstandings and to re- shape the learning activities to match students’ capabilities better. Too many teachers limit their questioning to those students who volunteer to answer, lowering

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The quality of teaching

expectations across the groups. Missed opportunities for teachers to assess students’ progress and to deal with emerging misconceptions persist in weaker lessons.

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The quality of teaching

Curriculum leaders have a developing understanding of what constitutes good progress and value the increasingly accessible student attainment data. All teachers have these data to hand and almost all are beginning to use them in their planning. However, the use of attainment data to plan lessons which incisively match the capabilities of students is inconsistent. Most teachers’ planning incorporates learning objectives and some share these with the students at the start of lessons. In many cases, learning objectives are overly focused on activities rather than deepening students’ understanding whilst extending their knowledge. Marking of students’ work is uneven as is the presentation of their work and application of literacy skills. Marking which informs students of their current achievement and how to improve is increasing in frequency. However, there is little evidence of students being given the

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The quality of teaching

opportunity to re-shape their work in response to good-quality guidance, diminishing its impact. In some lessons, teachers provide structured opportunities for students to extend their literacy skills, including reading.

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The quality of teaching

Progress since the last monitoring inspection on the areas for improvement:  improve the quality of teaching and learning – satisfactory.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Students feel safe in school. They consistently report that support mechanisms are successfully implemented and that bullying is very rare. Most students continue to behave responsibly around school and in the lessons where the quality of teaching is at least satisfactory. However, weak teaching can lead to instances of poor behaviour. This is partly because the new behaviour code is inconsistently implemented across the school. Attendance, while rising, remains broadly average in the main school. Action taken to reduce the proportion of students that are persistently absent has been effective.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Clearer expectations about regular attendance in the sixth form mean that it is improving. Telephone calls to any student in the sixth form who is absent, in line with practice in the main school, help to reinforce expectations. A sustained drive by the school, since the previous monitoring visit, to improve students’ punctuality to school has been very effective in the main school and sixth form.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

The new senior team and supporting consultant headteachers have worked effectively to establish secure foundations to improve the school. All key appointments in the new leadership team have been made to deliver the post-Ofsted action plan. With senior leaders either recently appointed or still to take up their posts, roles and responsibilities are not fully established, but senior leadership functions well. Improved data systems aid more robust self-evaluation. Leaders are aware there is further scope for the communication and dissemination of the capabilities of these systems. The school now has a much sharper understanding of its strengths and weaknesses, including those areas that can be rapidly improved and those that will take more time. For example, a new curriculum plan is in place for September 2012, with an increased number of suitable pathways for lower attaining students in Key Stage 4 and particularly in the sixth form. The school is

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

aware that the fruition of curriculum plans and their impact on students’ outcomes will not be fully realised until the autumn and beyond.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

Departmental reviews and marking scrutiny are established as part of the self- evaluation process. These are giving a clear understanding of the consistency within, and between, departments. Senior leaders fully understand there is much still to be done generally and also to develop middle leadership. Middle leaders, in turn, are positive about the approach of the new headteacher, especially his willingness to delegate and engage with them. Review and monitoring systems have securely established the quality of the teaching in the school; inspectors and senior leaders were fully in agreement regarding the quality of lessons they co-observed. However, systems for teaching review do not capture an incisive analysis, based on the impact of teaching on students’ learning, of the key strengths and areas for development for individuals and/or groups of teachers. Senior leaders are aware there is scope to further develop systems of review and sharpen the focus of continuing professional

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

development, implementing bespoke programmes for individuals and/or groups of teachers.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

The Chair of the Governing Body and other governors have been involved in local authority reviews. This has enhanced their understanding of the strengths and remaining challenges facing the school. Increased engagement with parents and carers is achieved through regular clinics and parental meetings. Committee structures are being re-established to normalise operations and allow the rapid recovery group to concentrate on areas of greatest need. Governors have received training on school data systems but recognise their ability to challenge the school effectively is still developing.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

Progress since the last monitoring inspection on the areas for improvement:  strengthen leadership and management – satisfactory  ensuring the curriculum at Key Stage 4 and in the sixth form fully meets the needs and aspirations of lower-attaining students – satisfactory.

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External support

The local authority continues to provide the school with a high level of support. The ongoing brokered support from the national support schools helps the new headteacher’s induction and the planned withdrawal of this support over time is in place. The focus of this support, to enhance leadership capacity, remains and helps the development of data systems and supplying seconded leadership from the support schools where required. The considerable support allocated to science continues with advanced skills teachers and advisers working with the department. This has had a positive impact on the quality of teaching and learning.

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