Cambridge School

Cambridge School 61 Bryony Road, White City, London, W12 0SP

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 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:

 Not all staff effectively inform students about their current targets or how to improve their learning.  Teachers do not always have high enough expectations and they do not always plan tasks that match each student’s needs or abilities.  Teachers do not check on pupils’ understanding sufficiently, for example through probing questions.  Students do not get enough opportunities to write at length in English or solve problems in mathematics.  The information about students’ progress is not always used well enough in the school.  Strategies to improve teaching and students’ achievement are recent and not yet evident throughout the school.  Too many management responsibilities are held by the senior staff. Staff at other levels do not have enough responsibility for supporting the school’s improvement and developing their own leadership skills.  Checking of teaching does not result in teachers being given sufficient help on how to

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

improve.  The governing body does not always challenge the leadership team sufficiently enough to improve students’ achievement.

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The school has the following strengths:

 Since the appointment of the new headteacher, the school is moving forward at a significantly faster pace.  Students’ behaviour is good, both in and out of lessons. They enjoy being at school and feel safe.  Students are well prepared for the next stage of their learning. All leave for further education,training or employment.  Students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well through opportunities to work with mainstream classmates.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 13 lessons or parts of lessons, over two thirds of which were observed jointly with school leaders, including the headteacher and deputy headteacher.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and other members of staff, a representative from the local authority, the vice chair of the governing body and chair of the curriculum and resources committee, and a group of students. The inspectors also talked informally to students and staff around the school. Discussions were also held with individual parents and carers and on the telephone.  Many documents were reviewed, including those relating to safeguarding, behaviour management and students’ progress, the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plans, and documents covering the performance management arrangements for staff.  The inspectors took account of the school’s surveys of parents’, carers’ and students’ views and

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Information about this inspection

the responses in staff questionnaires. There were insufficient responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View.

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Inspection team

Sonja Joseph, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Mary Geddes Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Cambridge School provides for students who have a range of special educational needs including moderate, severe and complex learning difficulties, autistic spectrum disorders and speech, language and communication needs. An increasing number of students have There are an increasing number of pupils with more complex behaviour and learning needs.There are more boys than girls. All students have a statement of special educational needs.  Nearly two thirds of the students are known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for children in the care of the local authority and for students known to be eligible for free school meals. This is well above the national average.  A higher-than-average number of students come from minority ethnic groups. About a third of the students speak English as an additional language.  Since the last inspection, a high number of staff have left or joined the school.

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Information about this school

 A new headteacher was appointed in September 2012.The previous headteacher left in December 2011. A new deputy headteacher was appointed in September 2011 and became acting headteacher from January to July 2012.  The school relocated to a new –site,co –located with a mainstream secondary school in November 2011.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching so that all students make consistently good progress in lessons by:  using information gained from checks on students’ progress to plan work that is well matched to their individual abilities  setting clear targets for exactly what each student is to learn in each lesson, based on careful monitoring of previous lessons and the students’ starting points  using skilful questioning to check students’ understanding and to plan their next steps in learning  making clear to students how well they are learning and what they need to do next to improve  making sure students develop the ability to solve mathematical problems through more practical and open-ended investigation.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen leadership and management by:  using available national information to set ambitious, realistic targets for all students based on their starting points and making sure all leaders and managers use performance information to make certain that all students, especially the more able, are achieving well  making sure that the monitoring of teaching is fully focused on how well different groups of students learn and rigorous enough to identify weaknesses and resolve them  providing more opportunities for subject leaders to check the quality of teaching and learning in their areas of responsibility  increasing the ability of the governing body to understand and challenge the school’s performance.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and governance may be improved.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Not enough students make good progress in English and mathematics from their low starting points on entry. Teaching is not consistently good enough to ensure students achieve well across all key stages.  Information on students’ learning and progress is not routinely used by all teachers to make sure work set is carefully matched to students’ individual needs and is therefore either too hard or too easy.  Marking does not always show students how to improve their work and the use of individual targets to identify clearly to students what they need to learn next are not used consistently across all classes.  Students do not have enough opportunities to apply number skills to problem solving and explain what they are doing so that they understand mathematical concepts better.  In English and in other subjects, the overuse of worksheets in some classes limits students’ opportunities to extend their writing skills.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Students learn well when teachers have high expectations about what they will learn and a clear structure is used to give plenty of opportunities to practise skills independently. In a Key Stage 4 food technology lesson, high levels of engagement and cooperation with professional chefs enabled students to make excellent progress. They were developing speaking and listening skills in talking with others to plan their cooking activities and mathematical skills in accurately weighing ingredients.  In the best lessons, a range of communication aids is used effectively to support those students with additional speech and language needs.This practice is not universal across the school.  A whole-school focus on reading has resulted in almost all students making more rapid progress. Daily reading lessons and a specific reading and spelling programme to help students match letters and combinations of letters with the sounds they make (phonics) are helping to

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

close the gap between their attainment in reading and that of all students nationally.  There is no significant difference in progress between different groups of students. This includes boys, girls, disabled students and those who have different special educational needs, students from different ethnic minorities and students in receipt of the pupil premium.  Pupil premium funds are used effectively to provide well-targeted additional support. As a result, students eligible for free school meals and those who are looked after by the local authority achieve grades at GCSE and Entry level, which are in line with those of their classmates.  In 2012, all students gained a wide range of national qualifications appropriate to their starting points, including at least one pass at A* to G GCSE and some at A* to C, particularly in art. This year, more are on track to gain A* to C grades. As a result of their successes, all go on to

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

education, training or employment.  Some parents and carers who spoke to inspectors expressed well-founded concern that their children were not making good progress.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of teaching requires improvement because it is too variable across subjects in all year groups to ensure that all students learn well.  Where teaching is weaker, teachers do not use information on students’ learning to plan work that is matched to their ability. Consequently, students are given the same task to complete with the most-able finding it too easy and the least-able finding the work too difficult.  Teachers often miss opportunities, both in lessons and when marking books, to emphasise students’ individual targets and set out the next steps they need to take. As a consequence, students do not always have a clear idea about how to improve quickly. Occasionally, there can be too much time between work being completed and teachers returning it marked.  The use of communication aids to support students with additional language needs is variable across all classes and in too many lessons, students with speech and language needs do not

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

make rapid progress.  In mathematics, teachers do not always give opportunities for students to work things out for themselves and solve problems.  Too often, questions are not used to involve all of the students and this leaves some students, particularly the least-able, having a limited understanding of their work and making slow progress.  Where teaching is better, teachers use skilful questioning to probe the understanding of all students. They provide thinking time for students and expect well-thought-out, extended responses to their questions. In a Key Stage 3 topic lesson, for example, students commented purposefully on each other’s work and thought about what they had learned.  In the best lessons, teachers make sure that students understand what they are expected to learn and quickly get them involved in learning. Work is set at the right level for students and there are opportunities for them to work individually and in groups. Students regularly check

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

their own and each other’s learning so that misunderstandings are identified and addressed. This was demonstrated clearly in an outstanding drama lesson where questioning and follow-up work was carefully adjusted to each students’ targets and promoted their understanding of others’ feelings and emotions.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school’s policy and systems to promote good behaviour have been recently reviewed and improved. As a result, expectations of behaviour are now understood clearly by all students. This is already having a noticeable impact, fostering good relationships between staff and students and leading to fewer incidents of poor behaviour.  Students have a good understanding of what bullying is and the different forms it may take, including cyber bullying and homophobia. They say that it does happen occasionally in the school but are confident that staff deal with it quickly.  Students are helped to be friendly towards each other and to share. Respect for each other is actively promoted throughout the day and celebrated in assemblies and personal, social and health education. This contributes significantly to students’ understanding of the importance of good behaviour and having a regard for others, whatever their differences.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Records and observations show that behaviour is well managed and is typically good. A small minority of parents and carers feel that behaviour is not well managed but inspectors found no evidence to support this view and students themselves said fighting was rare.  The use of a learning mentor has been particularly successful in helping those students who still struggle to be relaxed in a wide range of situations to make good progress in this aspect of their learning and improve their attendance in lessons. For example, one student commented that ‘It’s been really good at sorting out my anger.’  Behaviour is not yet outstanding because in those few lessons that are not so well planned to meet individual needs, students’ attention wanders, which slows the rate at which they learn.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Frequent changes to school leadership, high staff turnover, staff absence and the relocation to a new school building have hindered the drive for improvement and the school has not sustained previous outstanding outcomes.  Leaders have not checked the performance of teachers rigorously enough to ensure that areas of weakness identified sufficiently focus on how well different groups of students learn and are resolved quickly. As a result, the quality of teaching still varies across the school.  Information on how well students are achieving is not compared to national expectations rigorously enough by all leaders so that targets set for students’ learning are as challenging as they could be to make sure that more-able pupils reach the highest grades.  Leadership and management responsibilities are not well-enough spread throughout the school. Subject leaders are not always clear about their roles and responsibilities and have not had

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The leadership and management require improvement

enough opportunities to check the quality of teaching and learning in their subject areas and use this information to make sure that students make at least good progress.  Plans and systems to ensure that increases in teachers’ pay are linked with improving teaching and raising students’ achievement are not yet fully up and running in order to hold staff fully to account for students’ achievement.  The headteacher and deputy headteacher have a clear understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and suitable plans to improve the school further. They have harnessed the support of the local authority very effectively to help raise the quality of teaching. The weakest teaching has been tackled vigorously and considerably reduced. The proportion of good teaching is improving. Consequently, students’ progress is improving. These successes reveal the school’s capacity to improve.  The curriculum broadly meets the needs and abilities of students. A wide range of trips, visits,

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The leadership and management require improvement

sporting events, clubs and opportunities to learn alongside their mainstream classmates in the adjacent high school, promote well students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  The local authority is aware of the areas where the school requires improvement and provides effective support.  The governance of the school:  The governing body brings a wide range of skills and experience and provides effective challenge for the school’s improvement of students’ behaviour, but does not hold the school sufficiently to account for students’ progress and the standards they reach. Governors are aware that they have not challenged enough the progress information presented and how it relates to the quality of teaching. They do not know about how underperformance is tackled. They have supported the headteacher in using the pupil premium to provide additional support to help students improve their literacy skills and provide additional staff and resources

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The leadership and management require improvement

but they have not asked challenging questions about how much this is improving students’ progress. Governors have ensured that procedures for safeguarding are effective and meet fully all requirements. The governing body holds the school to account for managing its finances and pay is aligned to teachers’ performance. The governors recognise that teachers’ pay should be based on how well their students are doing and are working towards that. They are not clear about how well teachers are meeting their individual targets for improvement.

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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 100382 Local authority Hammersmith and Fulham Inspection number 403763

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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 Special School category Community special Age range of pupils 11–16 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 76 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Elizabeth Redpath Headteacher Arnet Donkin Date of previous school inspection 15–16 July 2010 Telephone number 020 87350980 Fax number 020 87350981 Email address head@cambridge.lbhf.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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