Park View School

Park View West Green Road, London, N15 3QR

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  From low starting points students make good progress and achieve well.  Teaching is good overall and some is outstanding. As a result, all groups of students, including disabled students, those who have special educational needs and those supported by additional funding, make good progress and achieve well during their time at the school.  In the best lessons, teachers use their very good subject knowledge and information about students to plan well for their individual needs. Teachers use questioning skills to check on progress then adapt their approach in order to improve understanding and learning.  There is a strong focus on developing students’ literacy skills. This supports their good achievement across a range of subjects.  Students behave well and have good attitudes to their learning, to each other and their teachers in class and around the school.  Leadership and management are outstanding.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

The inspired headteacher leads an excellent team and their highly effective work has led to major and sustained improvements since the last inspection.  The experienced governing body provides robust challenge to senior leaders.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The proportion of outstanding teaching is not high enough to ensure that all students make rapid and sustained progress. The best practice in providing challenging tasks that stretch students is not yet widespread across the school.  There are inconsistencies in the quality of marking. Students have still to benefit from high quality marking and feedback to help them learn and achieve better.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 41 lessons, of which seven were joint observations with senior leaders. In addition, the inspection team made short visits to lessons around the school as part of a themed walk.  Meetings were held with four groups of students, staff, including support staff, middle and senior leaders, the Chair of the Governing Body and a headteacher from a feeder primary school. A telephone discussion was conducted with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors analysed the 16 responses to the on-line parent questionnaire (Parent View) and the 88 responses to the staff questionnaire during the inspection.  They observed the work of the school and looked at a number of documents, including those relating to the monitoring of teaching, performance management documentation, extracts from the minutes of governors’ meetings, case studies relating to support for vulnerable students, records relating to attendance, exclusions, behaviour and safety and bullying, and documents

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Inspection team

James Coyle, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Helen Neal Additional Inspector Catherine Robinson Additional Inspector Jalil Shaikh Additional Inspector Angela Cook Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a larger-than-average-sized secondary school.  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 well above average.  A higher proportion of students than is usual join the school at times other than the start of Year 7.  The proportion of students known to be eligible for additional support through extra government funding, known as the pupil premium, is well above the national average.  The school accesses additional vocational education for some of its Year 10 and Year 11 students through the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London, Southgate College and Waltham Forest College.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of outstanding teaching across the school by;  ensuring all lessons are well planned to match students’ individual needs and provide high levels of challenge for all, notably in mathematics  checking that all marking is regular and, together with feedback, helps students to improve their work.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Students, including a high number who join the school at various stages throughout the year, often arrive with very low attainment levels when compared to the national average. As a result of good teaching they all make good progress during their time at the school when compared with national figures.  The Year 11 examination results over the past three years show an upward trend of achievement. In 2012, examination results were broadly in line with the average representing an increase on previous years. All groups of students achieve well, although in observed lessons fewer students exceed typically expected progress in mathematics and Spanish compared to other subjects.  Observations during the inspection, together with information from the monitoring and tracking system used by the school, indicate that different groups of students make good progress from their starting points. Targeted support provided by teaching assistants, mentors and the work of

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The achievement of pupils is good

a ‘heritage team’, has had a positive impact on the achievement of disabled students and those who have special educational needs, as well as those students supported by additional funding through the pupil premium. Gaps in attainment between this group and other groups of students within the school, as measured by average point scores in national assessments, are narrowing.  Students from different minority ethnic groups achieve well. This is particularly evident in the recent work carried out to support Somali students. Support for students who speak English as an additional language is effective in meeting their needs and helping them to develop speaking, listening and writing skills.  A strength of the school is the promotion of literacy skills. For example, for a small number of students in Years 7 and 9, who each have a statement of special educational needs, the monitoring and progress of their reading levels form the basis for liaison between the English

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The achievement of pupils is good

and special educational needs departments. This results in teaching assistants providing supported reading in class, as well as attachment to a bi-lingual ‘buddy’ and additional lessons, so that literacy acts as the bedrock for engagement with the curriculum and involvement in school life.  Students displayed good skills in reading, writing and communication in many of the lessons observed. In a Year 8 drama class, students had to perform a role play based on parent/child conflict. Students were seen to listen, negotiate and solve problems in response to challenging situations and then provide feedback, including peer assessment based on the quality of performances.  In other lessons observed students were aware of what level they were working at what they needed to do to improve. However, the quality of feedback through marking is variable and does not always help students to move on quickly to the next level.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Where teachers plan to meet individual needs precisely, students make particularly good progress. For example, in a Year 8 English lesson students with a very diverse range of abilities were asked to write a script of a play. They were enthusiastically engaged in activities which were designed specifically for them. As a result, they understood what they had to do, were supported and were able to make rapid progress.  Vocational provision at local colleges, including courses in construction, hair and beauty and public services, provides some personalised programmes for students whose progress would have otherwise been limited. This ensures that they are prepared well for the next stage of their education, training or employment.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The overall quality of teaching is typically good and there are some examples of outstanding practice. In an outstanding Year 10 physical education lesson, an enthusiastic teacher conveyed high expectations and through a series of key words, a video clip and skilful questioning, kept students fully engaged and motivated. Consequently, they gained a clear understanding of how role models influence participation in sport. They knew how their responses related to different target grades and how they could improve.  Features of good teaching in the lessons observed included positive working relationships, high expectations, effective target setting and secure subject knowledge. Most teachers carried out frequent checks on whether students understood what they were expected to know.  Where teaching was less effective, the work set was not always challenging enough to stretch students and ensure that they made the maximum progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Marking and assessment of work do not follow a consistent approach across the school. Some books had evidence of marks linked to grading systems, which were understood and valued by students. Others lacked both marks and advice on how to improve. In some cases, information on students was held on computers and was not always readily available.  Survey evidence from parents and carers indicates that they consider teaching to be good.  Teaching assistants are deployed effectively to support and aid the progress of students, notably in literacy, and ongoing training has been a priority for the school.  Teaching of students who are disabled or have special educational needs is effective in helping them to make good progress, as is support for those entitled to free school meals.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Students’ attitudes in class are consistently good and often exemplary. There is a positive ethos around the school and the highly cohesive community contributes to good behaviour in lessons and around the school. Students consistently show respect to each other and adults.  Surveys of parents, carers and staff, and discussions with students, confirm the view that behaviour is good overall and that the school is a safe place for learning.  Students are involved in their learning and are particularly keen to learn when activities are well planned and engaging, such as in physical education, history, physics and music.  A range of successful strategies and systems have been deployed over time to improve attendance including awards of merits, together with parent liaison. As a result, attendance rates rose and are now in line with the national average.  Permanent and fixed term exclusions are low. Although an analysis of data revealed that most

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

students excluded are from Black Caribbean and Kurdish/Turkish backgrounds, mentoring, inclusion facilities and programmes for vulnerable groups have been effective in driving down these numbers.  Students report few instances of bullying, including racist, homophobic or cyber bullying. They say that when this does occur it is dealt with by the school. Students are aware of how to stay safe and benefit from a good quality personal, social and health education programme.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The highly regarded and inspirational headteacher leads a highly effective leadership team that reflects the diversity of the student population. Its members have the passion to drive improvement in order to help students achieve their dreams.  Senior and middle leaders use very effective monitoring and evaluation systems to check on the quality of the school’s work and drive for continuous improvement. This enables them to identify precisely the main areas for development and improvement planning is of high quality. As a result of this excellent work, the school has continued to improve considerably since the last inspection and standards have also risen.  Leaders carry out performance management of staff in a rigorous and supportive way. They provide professional development that is tailored to teachers’ needs. Consequently, the quality of teaching has improved and continues to improve.  The subject offer is broad and balanced, driven by the choices and needs of students. The

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The leadership and management are outstanding

strong focus on literacy supports reading, writing and communication across all subjects. A vocational programme includes courses at local colleges, supports inclusion, engages students and provides a progression to the next stage of education, training or employment. There is no inappropriate early entry of students in GCSE examinations.  Internationalism has a strong focus and celebrates the 96 languages spoken in the school. ‘Parkstock’ is an annual heritage event that provides a focus for cultural events such as music, dance art, sport and theatre. Black History Month also contributes to students’ exemplary social, moral, spiritual and cultural development and enables the students to thrive in a supportive, highly cohesive learning community.  Parents and carers are positive about the school and this is shown in regular school surveys and Parent View responses.  Statutory safeguarding requirements are met by the school. These include monitoring for

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The leadership and management are outstanding

students when off site.  The local authority has worked with the school to introduce an effective student tracking system. Personnel from the local authority have supported reviews of English, mathematics, science and humanities and provided support for English and mathematics teaching in response to concerns about past examination results. They provided advice on assessment for learning to support literacy. The impact of this work is evident in the achievement of students in Key Stage 4. They commended the work of the headteacher in chairing the local partnership group that ensured smooth transition of pupils from the primary phase especially the most vunerable.  The governance of the school: – An experienced governing body has systems and structures in place to provide challenge and hold the headteacher and leaders to account for the school’s performance. The governors have a good understanding of data on how well students achieve and are aware of the

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The leadership and management are outstanding

school’s performance when compared to other schools. Governors regularly appear in school, meet staff and students and observe lessons. The new Teachers’ Standards national expectations have been embedded into the school’s appraisal policy and governors are involved in discussions on the performance management of staff. They are highly effective in management of finances at the school, in particular the link between staff salary progression and performance. They track the allocation and impact of the pupil premium using the money to maintain small class sizes, provide mentors and support staff. This is resulting in low absence, exclusion figures and good progress for students. Work has been done to develop relationships with parents through the appointment of liaison officers, 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 131757 Local authority Haringey Inspection number 402507

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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 11–16 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 1,114 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Tim Fyles Headteacher Alex Atherton Date of previous school inspection 3–4 March 2010 Telephone number 0208 8881722 Fax number 0208 8818143 Email address admin@parkview.haringey.sch.uk 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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