Harlington School

Harlington Community School Pinkwell Lane, Hayes, Middlesex, UB3 1PB

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Attainment is below the national average but standards are rising, particularly in English.  Students do not make as much progress in mathematics as they do in English and science. This is particularly true of White British students and those known to be eligible for additional support.  Progress requires improvement in mathematics, where teaching is not good students do not learn as much and as fast as they should and do not achieve well.  Some teachers do not expect enough from their students. As a result, some groups gain results that are below the national average.  Policies, systems and procedures put in place by senior leaders, including governors, consistently communicating high expectations and challenging the quality of teaching, are still to become fully effective in raising achievement.

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The school has the following strengths

 There is an upward trend of improvement in students’ progress in English and science.  The sixth form is good. A wide range of subjects at Key Stage 4 and sixth form provides guided subject choices for the majority of students.  Good provision for vulnerable students enables them to continue in school and prepare for the next stage in their education, employment or further training.  The vast majority of sixth formers gain a place at university.  Attendance and punctuality have improved over the past year and there have also been fewer exclusions over the past four years.  The school is a diverse and welcoming community, where students display good behaviour, are polite and courteous to each other and staff.  Students of all ages feel safe both in school and on their journeys to and from home.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 34 lessons, seven of which were joint observations with senior leaders. In addition, the inspection team made a number of short visits around the school.  Meetings were held with five groups of students, two members of the governing body, school staff, including curriculum leaders, and telephone conversations with the Chair of the Governing Body, the school improvement partner, the headteacher of the local pupil referral unit and a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors analysed the school’s own parents’ surveys and the 42 responses to the staff questionnaire; there were eight responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View).  They observed the work of the school and looked carefully at numerous documents, including checks on teaching, minutes of governors’ meetings, case studies relating to exclusions, support for vulnerable students, and policies and records relating to students’ achievement, attendance,

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Information about this inspection

punctuality, behaviour, safety, bullying and safeguarding.

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Inspection team

James Coyle, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Janet Morrison Additional Inspector Mehar Brar Additional Inspector Kanwaljit Singh Additional Inspector Babrul Matin Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a larger-than-average secondary school, which serves students in the London Borough of Hillingdon.  The proportion of students from minority ethnic backgrounds is well above average.  Students come from a wide range of ethnic groups, with many speaking English as an additional language.  The proportion of students supported by school action, school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average.  The proportion of students known to be eligible for additional support through funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and looked after children is well above the national average.  Many students leave and join the school during the school year many without prior attainment data.  The school has arrangements with Uxbridge College, Hewens College, the Skidz Charity and Hillingdon Tuition Centre for a small number of students in Key Stage 4 who take alternative

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Information about this school

work-related courses there.  The school has on-site inclusion facilities in the form of satellite and seclusion support centres.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for students’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the consistency of teaching and learning by ensuring that:  sufficient challenge is set in all lessons which enables students to extend their learning and ensure that they are engaged effectively  students follow up and complete work and act upon the good written advice that teachers give in order to raise their achievement.  Increase the proportion of students making expected, and better than expected, progress in mathematics by:  giving students more opportunities to solve mathematical problems  developing real-world application to mathematics including data handling.  Ensure school leaders maintain a focus on improving teaching and raising achievement by:  Continuing to share good and outstanding teaching practice across subject areas in the school  making sure that the key targets that are in place are matched closely to national requirements especially at Key Stage 3  ensuring all governors, particularly those recently appointed, continue to be rigorous in

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

challenging senior leaders for the progress made by students  an external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The proportion of students, including those from minority ethnic groups, who attain five A* to C GCSEs, including English and mathematics, has improved significantly but remains below the national average.  Students join the school with standards well below those found nationally. During their time at the school, they make good progress in English.  Students do not do as well in mathematics as they do in English and science. The two main reasons for this are that there are missed opportunities for students to develop their skills in problem solving in different ways and through using different real-world examples. This means that students do not learn as much and as fast as they could.  The school has introduced new initiatives to provide extra help for vulnerable students, those eligible for the pupil premium, disabled students and those who have special educational needs so that they make progress in line with their peers. The school is using smaller class sizes and

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

additional staff as well as internal inclusion arrangements to help students to learn.  Data over a two-year period show a narrowing in the gap between students known to be eligible for free school meals, looked after children and the rest of the school population for English but no movement in mathematics.  The support provided for students who speak English as an additional language is used to help them to improve their speaking, listening and writing skills, in particular in Year 7. However, closer and more regular monitoring of their progress would improve its effectiveness.  Students make good progress in the sixth form given their starting points but attainment is below the national average and many students do not attain the higher grades at A level. In most lessons observed, it is the more able students who have developed the necessary higher levels of knowledge and understanding required to make good progress and achieve well in

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

contrast with those lower down the school who still require support. The guidance students receive when transferring into the sixth form helps them develop the necessary study skills needed for higher-level study.  The majority of students achieve relevant qualifications that help them to move on into higher education, employment or further training. A small number of students study courses, such as construction and motor vehicle maintenance at college, and attend and achieve well. They are monitored closely by the school’s staff.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The majority of lessons seen were good or better, reflecting improving progress in the school, but the quality of teaching remains inconsistent across the school; consequently, not all students make good progress.  In lessons that require improvement or are inadequate, teachers do not always provide work that is hard enough because they underestimate what students can do. For instance, in one mathematics lesson, students repeated work unnecessarily and were taught again to plot co- ordinates rather than use their existing knowledge applying it to grids or maps. In others, the pace is too slow; teachers do not always question incisively or teachers do not listen to students in order to find what they already know. Therefore, they fail to make the most of students’ keenness and spend too long explaining things, rather than allowing students time to learn by finding things out for themselves or helping those who are stuck.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In good or outstanding lessons, students respond eagerly to enthusiastic teachers who have a good understanding of the subject and who plan work which caters for the ability levels of all students. They ask searching questions that probe students’ understanding and encourage students to check their own and each other’s work, notably in science, humanities and English. They are acutely aware of the progress of individual students. In an outstanding chemistry lesson, the teacher displayed expectations by providing a series of challenging tasks requiring them to collaborate and report back on their findings. Effective questioning then extracted what they had learnt and areas for improvement.  A small number of teachers do not mark the students’ work regularly enough and, as a result, students are not given enough written guidance on how to improve their work. These weak aspects of teachers’ performance are not being tackled with enough urgency by the school.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

Opportunities are being missed by senior leaders to ensure that all teachers learn from the best.  Additional support assistants helped students understand what they needed to do, especially in small groups and, in one case, coached them through reading the instructions and questioning to complete the task rather than doing it for them. However, there was an inconsistency in their use resulting in a lack of clarity about their role in how to best support students .  Sixth formers remark on the strength of relationships and support they receive in gaining university places.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Students behave well in lessons and around the school and treat each other and adults with respect. They are punctual in getting to class and their attitudes in class are mainly good.  Surveys of parents and staff and discussions with students provide evidence that confirms the view that behaviour has improved and is now mainly good and the school is a safe place for learning. However, some concerns were raised by a small number of staff about behaviour.  In class, students are keen to learn and when activities are well planned and engaging inspectors found good involvement in lessons, such as chemistry, religious education, art and English.  A range of strategies employed by the school, including first-day phone call, text service, early education welfare officer referral, tracking and an attainment attendance link up for parents explaining the detrimental effect absence has on students’ progress, is having an impact,

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

especially among the Somali community, and has improved the attendance rate which is now moving closer to the national average.  The school uses a range of measures to address permanent and fixed-term exclusions, including inclusion facilities and programmes for vulnerable groups, notably the satellite school and seclusion school initiatives, which have started to address and drive down the numbers of exclusions which were above average.  Students report very few instances of racist, homophobic or e-bullying and have a good understanding of these forms of bullying. They say that when bullying does occur it is dealt with effectively by the school. Students are aware of how to stay safe through personal, social and health education sessions which are part of the school’s social, moral, spiritual and cultural programme.  Senior leaders monitor students attending courses on other sites to ensure they behave well and

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The leadership and management require improvement

 A committed headteacher, senior leaders and governors are clear about what they have to do to improve the life chances of the students at the school and communicate this to the school community through a well-thought-out and comprehensive development plan that builds on earlier inspections. However, some key policies, practices and procedures have still to be embedded fully in order to become as consolidated, consistent and effective as established policies that have already demonstrated impact.  Although monitoring systems for checking on the quality of the school’s work and their success in reaching key targets are in place, they are not always matched closely enough to national requirements especially at Key Stage 3.  New staff have taken charge of mathematics but the changes taking place have yet to improve students’ results sufficiently well to meet the national average.  The performance of teachers and checks on students’ learning is managed well and professional

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The leadership and management require improvement

development is a feature commented on by teachers. However, some good teaching has gone unrecognised and is not shared across different subject areas.  The range of subjects taught and other activities are broad and balanced and have been designed around students’ interests and are organised well. These features are still to be seen in the range of courses in the sixth form, where students comment on the limited choice. There is some alternative and work-related offer with local providers allowing progression routes to the next stage of education, training or employment for individual students.  The school has used the additional funding it received from the pupil premium initiative to try to improve students’ attendance and literacy levels by reducing class sizes and providing more classroom support. There is some evidence of how well these initiatives work in practice and whether or not they are providing good value for money: for example, confident readers in Year

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The leadership and management require improvement

7; improved attendance rates among Somali students; and tracking data that shows a reduction in the number of these students working below target.  Students are offered the option of early entry into GCSE examinations and more able students achieve well as a result.  A whole-school philosophy and ethics programme as well as a new personal, social and health education programme contribute to students’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural development. Senior leaders work hard to ensure all students have access to all areas of the curriculum and that there is no discrimination.  Statutory safeguarding requirements are met. The school checks on students’ attendance and achievement when attending courses off site.  The local authority has a diminished role for secondary provision: this has meant that the previous monitoring that took place as a school requiring support has ceased. However, a school improvement partner was retained by the governing body to provide guidance on driving

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The leadership and management require improvement

improvement and the mathematics advisor was recruited to set up and carry out data analysis to set key targets and drive progress. As a result, the governors are aware of the need to improve on the 2012 results and raise achievement across all subjects.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 The governance of the school:  A new Chair and some fresh faces appointed with close community links and with raising attainment at the heart of what they want, have invigorated the governing body and have set up systems that ask questions of the headteacher and school’s senior teachers about how well students are taught and how well they are doing. Discussions with governors and records show that this has still to embed itself within and across the school in order to become consistent in communicating high expectations and raising achievement. A recent system of regular governing body meetings now monitors data on students’ progress and teachers’ performance in the classroom as well as setting the headteacher’s and overseeing teachers’ targets and pay progression. The new Teachers Standards have been embedded into the school’s appraisal policy. The emerging improvements in teaching quality and students’

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The leadership and management require improvement

achievement have yet to be consolidated. The governing body fulfils its statutory requirements. Governors are aware of how the sizable pupil premium funding is used and its impact in engaging community groups notably Somali parents, establishing small class sizes, providing additional support assistants, additional language support for new entrants to the United Kingdom and reading mentors. They point to improved attendance rates among students as well as less time out of mainstream lessons and tracking data as evidence to support better progress by these students. Governors liaise with parents through local community groups, newsletters and surveys .

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 102451 Local authority Hillingdon Inspection number 404820

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School details

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

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School details

Type of school Secondary School category Community Age range of pupils 11–19 Gender of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 1116 Of which, number on roll in sixth form 209 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Iain Groark Headteacher Elizabeth Horrigan Date of previous school inspection 30–31 March 2011 Telephone number 020 85691610 Fax number 020 85691624 Email address enquiries@harlingtonschool.org guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', 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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School details

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 and as part of the inspection.

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School details

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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School details

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 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

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School details

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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School details

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

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