Laurel Park School

Broomfield School Wilmer Way, London, N14 7HY

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Inadequate 4 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Good 2

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

 A sustained programme of improvement has not yet led to all groups of students achieving at a sufficiently high level.  Students are not making good progress in every subject.  Teachers’ planning does not always take enough account of students’ current attainment. Work is sometimes pitched at the wrong level, being too hard or too easy.  Teaching is not consistently good. The quality of teaching, particularly in English and technology, is too variable.  The sixth form requires improvement. Not enough students starting the sixth form in 2011 will complete their courses this summer.  The rate of permanent exclusion for serious behaviour incidents is above average.  Where teaching is weaker, such as in lessons taught by some temporary staff, off-task behaviour occurs too often.  A few subject leaders are not as good as the best at driving up the quality of teaching and learning in their curriculum area.

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The school has the following strengths

 The headteacher and his senior team have been relentless in their drive to improve standards at the school. Leaders, including governors, have high expectations and are working hard to raise standards for all students.  Students make rapid and sustained progress in mathematics. This is due to the consistently good teaching they receive.  Current sixth form students are making good progress in their learning and achieving their targets.  Students feel safe at the school and say that there is very little bullying.  Checks on teaching to challenge inadequate practice or that which requires improvement are robust. Effective monitoring, support and training are leading to an ever-increasing proportion of good or better teaching.  School information on students’ progress is used increasingly well to target underachievement and this is closing gaps in students’ attainment.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 21 lessons taught by 21 teachers. Seventeen observations were held jointly with members of the school’s leadership team. Inspectors also carried out 10 shorter observations in English and technology.  Discussions were held with the headteacher, senior and middle leaders, the Chair of the Governing Body and three different groups of students. A telephone interview was conducted with the governor responsible for safeguarding.  Inspectors took account of the 17 responses to the online Parent View survey.  The inspection team observed the school’s work, scrutinised information about students’ achievement, checked work in students’ books, examined records relating to safeguarding, the governing body minutes, behaviour and attendance, and looked at documents used by leaders to monitor and evaluate the school’s work.  Broomfield School was placed in special measures in October 2011. This inspection was the fifth

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Inspection team

Peter Gale, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Lesley Cox Additional Inspector Andrew Lyons Additional Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with section 13 (4) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires special measures.

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Information about this school

 Broomfield is larger than most secondary schools.  The very large majority of students are from minority ethnic backgrounds and more than half speak English as an additional language. This is very high compared with other schools. The range of backgrounds is very diverse with no ethnic group dominant.  The school manages specially resourced provision for special educational needs, which currently provides for six students who have been diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder .  The proportion of disabled students and those with special educational needs supported through school action is higher than other schools. The proportion supported at school action plus or by a statement of special educational needs is also higher than average.  The proportion of students who are known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which is additional government funding provided for students eligible for free school meals, children

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Information about this school

looked after by the local authority and children of service families, is nearly double the national average. Approximately one quarter of the current Year 7 are eligible for catch-up funding for students attaining below Level 4 in English or mathematics at the end of Year 6.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for students’ attainment and progress by the end of Key Stage 4.  Students do not currently attend courses offered by other alternative education providers in the area.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching so that it is always at least good and leads to all groups of students making rapid, sustained progress across all subjects by ensuring:  all subject leaders are as good as the best at driving up the quality of teaching in their curriculum area  marking is always at the high standard seen in some curriculum areas; books are marked regularly with clear advice; and teachers ensure students use the advice to improve their work  teachers do not talk for too long and lose students’ interest and attention  all teachers carefully match the work they set to the students’ differing abilities.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that curriculum changes for sixth form students are maintained so that retention rates continue to rise/improve.  Improve the behaviour and safety of students to good by:  increasing attendance rates to above the national average and reducing lateness to school  eradicating low-level disruption from all lessons  reducing the number of permanent exclusions to below the national average.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Students join the school with standards that are below average. When they leave, their attainment is still below average. Examination results dipped in 2012 while the school was in special measures. Robust school information, backed up by external examinations already taken in English and mathematics, show that Year 11 attainment is likely to rise significantly in 2013.  Rates of progress remain variable across different subjects and groups of students. For example, while much work has been done to boost achievement for Year 11 in English, students’ rates of progress remain slower than seen in mathematics. Overall, students’ progress in English at Broomfield is slower than that found nationally while in mathematics it is faster. Students are now making good progress in science, as a result of much-improved teaching. Achievement in technology is below national averages on GCSE courses.  Standards across the school are rising and students are making better progress. Students in the

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

current Year 11 are on track to achieve more than those who took examinations in 2012. The number of high-grade passes in GCSE mathematics has already exceeded the total achieved by all students last year. Indicative GCSE results in English are improved on the 2012 performance but are not yet good.  Progress and achievement across Key Stage 3 are improving strongly. Progress is good in mathematics across Year 7, 8 and 9. Progress in English and science has been accelerated by carefully targeted extra teaching so most students are now on track to meet their targets.  Students are now making good progress in their studies in the sixth form. However, not enough of those students who started courses in 2011 will complete their studies this year. Catch-up tutorials in the sixth form are also helping boost students’ progress and achievement.  Disabled students and those with special educational needs, including those identified at school

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

action or school action plus, make steady progress from their starting points. An increasing number lower down the school are making good progress in line with their peers. Students attending the resource provision are making good progress due to the intensive support they receive.  The majority of students supported by the pupil premium funding made the expected levels of progress in English and mathematics in 2012. These students gained GCSE results in mathematics and in English that were about one grade below other students at the school. Due to effective analysis of the achievement of this group this year and carefully targeted resources, the gap in achievement is beginning to close.  The Year 7 catch-up funding is having a very positive impact on the achievement of Year 7 students whose attainment was below Level 4 when they entered the school. More than two thirds of students have caught up in English and more than four fifths in mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Students who speak English as an additional language make more progress than other students. All underachievement at the school is now carefully tracked and recognised. A range of new strategies and extra targeted teaching have been used to promote higher levels of progress. This has led to improved rates of progress for all groups of students across the school.  All students were entered early for the GCSE examination in mathematics and English in Year 11. Careful analysis of their outcomes are done by the school and, in negotiation with students, those deemed able to improve their grade are re-entered in June. This process has helped the school target resources and improved students’ motivation to achieve a better grade. For example, those wishing to study mathematics at A level are targeted for A and A* grades at GCSE where they have not yet achieved them.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Although improving, the quality of teaching is not yet consistently good. Initiatives put in place by the current leadership team to tackle weaker teaching are being successful. However, they have not been operating long enough to ensure that teaching is good in all subjects. For example, teaching in English and technology seen during the inspection required improvement too often to be good.  Not all teachers in all subjects use available information about students’ attainment well enough to inform their planning. Consequently, in some lessons, the activities set do not take enough account of students’ different starting points or additional needs. Occasionally, more-able students are not challenged to learn as much as they could because they are given work that is too easy.  Some teachers talk for too long and, as a result, students’ concentration wanes. Opportunities to stretch and challenge students are sometimes missed because teachers fail to check

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

understanding and students spend too long completing low-level tasks.  Standards of literacy remain variable but are improving. Most students speak confidently and clearly, but work seen in books shows that standards of writing and presentation are not always good. The school has worked hard on improving students’ literacy and accurate monitoring shows it is increasingly common in teachers’ planning.  The quality of marking and feedback has been an area of strong focus for the school but is still too variable. In the subjects where teaching is best, for example mathematics, teachers consistently provide explanations about what is done well and how to improve further. They also expect and get responses to advice from their students. However, work scrutiny by leaders shows that teachers’ practice is less consistent where teaching is weaker.  Homework tasks are set regularly, but they are not always of the highest quality in consolidating

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

or extending students’ understanding or developing skills in finding out things for themselves.  The amount of good or better teaching has risen consistently since September 2012. Staff and students recognise the improvements that have been made and are aware of the higher standards that are being demanded of them. Most teachers are responding very positively to the clear direction being given by senior leaders.  Restructuring of provision for students who speak English as an additional language and/or have disabilities or special educational needs has led to better progress for them in lessons. For example, teaching assistants have been attached to faculties and given training in their role. As a result, they are able to provide better in-class, subject-specific support for students.  Most teaching in the sixth form is good. Teachers regularly refer to the expectations of the examination specification and use these criteria to help students to review their own work, and

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

that of their peers/classmates, to improve their attainment. Teachers have a good understanding of their subject, organise learning well and have high expectations for all of their students to meet or exceed their targets. Most students are on track to achieve these expectations.  All faculty areas in the school now have examples of outstanding teaching. This is being used to model best practice for teachers working below this level. For example, in a Year 9 mathematics lesson, more-able students in the top set were expertly stretched and challenged by the teacher while they worked out solutions to simultaneous equations. Activities were pitched at students’ different levels of ability, and skilful monitoring and questioning by the teacher enabled him to move students on rapidly to more challenging problems. As a result, all students made good or better progress. When a student was asked by the inspector how good the mathematics

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

teaching was normally, he replied excitedly, ‘really good’.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils require improvement

 When teaching is less than good, there is some low-level disruption to learning because students become distracted. Not all students take enough responsibility for their own learning. Some students rely too heavily on teachers telling them what to do. As a result, they make less progress. However, students’ attitudes to learning have improved, most now enjoy lessons, are well motivated and eager to learn.  Attendance is slightly below average. Although the numbers of students who are persistently absent or late are reducing, too many students are still arriving late to school. The school works alongside other professionals and provides extensive support to enable students to improve their rates of attendance and punctuality. Systems for monitoring attendance are robust, and strategies for challenging poor attendance and lateness are increasingly effective. This is particularly the case for more-vulnerable students for whom transport is arranged by the school

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The behaviour and safety of pupils require improvement

to enable them to attend on a regular basis.  The number of students who are permanently excluded is too high and above average when compared to other schools nationally. This reflects the fact that there are a small number of students who are unable to behave safely and fail to respond to the high levels of support that the school offers.  The number of students who are temporarily excluded has reduced. The Learning Centre is well resourced to provide additional support for students with challenging behaviours. Students are encouraged to reflect on their behaviours, given additional support to complete their class work and have access to skilled staff so that they can return to lessons as soon as possible.  The school provides high levels of support for students who require additional help. There are effective systems in place for identifying and meeting the needs of students with special educational needs and those with social and emotional difficulties. The Achievement Centre

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The behaviour and safety of pupils require improvement

provides a safe and appropriate environment and is a valuable resource that allows the increasingly complex needs of vulnerable students to be supported. Staff are skilled at overcoming barriers to learning. They develop positive relationships, form effective partnerships with parents and carers, and provide individual learning programmes that allow students to succeed.  New behaviour-support systems have raised expectations about standards of behaviour across the school. Students now know exactly what is expected of them and the consequences of behaving poorly. Good behaviour is recognised but students would like a more positive system to reinforce good behaviour. Staff and students say that behaviour has improved; inspectors agree.  Students say incidents of bullying are rare and that when they do happen appropriate action is taken by staff. Students are knowledgeable about most forms of bullying, including cyber-

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The behaviour and safety of pupils require improvement

bullying, and know how to keep themselves safe. They say the school is ‘like a family’ and they look out for each other.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders, including governors, are committed to raising aspirations across the school. A focus on the entire range of learners through diagnostic use of assessment information followed by extra tuition is increasingly effective in promoting equality of opportunity for students. Leaders plan carefully for further improvements and regularly evaluate the impact of new initiatives on students’ achievement and the quality of teaching and learning.  Senior leaders have a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of teaching and, as a result, self-evaluation is accurate. Although still variable, standards of teaching are improving because of careful checks and a number of effective training programmes for teaching staff. Senior leaders, and an increasing number of subject and achievement leaders, work effectively to tackle any teaching that is inadequate or requires improvement. Senior leaders recognise that

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The leadership and management are good

there are a few remaining middle leaders who are not yet operating at the high standards required by the school. A programme of support and training is being put in place in the autumn.  There are robust and rigorous systems in place to manage the performance of staff, which link to their progression through pay scales. Support programmes and wider professional training are closely matched to the needs of the school and individual staff.  A focus on improving literacy skills has been implemented and disseminated across teachers’ practice through a programme of training. Accurate monitoring and evaluation by the school shows that this is now present in the majority of teachers’ work and has led to improved standards.  Staff, students, and parents and carers recognise the improvements that have been made. All are aware of the higher standards that are being demanded by the school. Most staff and students are responding positively to the clear direction being given by the senior team. The

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The leadership and management are good

amount of good or better teaching has risen since the last inspection.  Leaders have reviewed the quality and variety of subjects that are taught to make sure that they better meet the needs of all students. The new curriculum model ensures that students have better progression routes whatever their ability. Leaders also made short-term changes to the current curriculum for Year 10 to ensure it better met their needs than the curriculum model in place when the school entered special measures. Sixth form students are much more successful than they were on the courses they now study. As a result of good advice and guidance, there are hardly any students who are not in education, employment or training when they leave the school. Leadership of the sixth form is good.  Opportunities for promoting spiritual, moral, social and cultural values are good across the school. Lessons and other activities are planned to take account of these values. For example,

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The leadership and management are good

students are given good opportunities to draw on the multicultural nature of the school and develop a broader understanding of the world in which they live.  The large majority of parents and carers would recommend the school to others. This is a credit to the current leadership’s work to improve the school. Almost all parents and carers say their children feel safe in school. This is partially because school leaders ensure safeguarding systems are robust.  The local authority has continued to offer good support to be school. External reviews of provision, validation of assessment information and financial support have been very valuable to the school’s improvement.  The governance of the school:  The governing body has been restructured over time and is increasingly effective in providing support and challenge to senior leaders. They give generously of their time and, under the strong leadership of the Chair of the Governing Body, they are helping senior leaders to drive up

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The leadership and management are good

standards. Better school information systems and sharper reporting mean governors are now able to closely monitor how much progress different groups of students are making and how their performance compares with similar schools. Governors are very aware of the emerging strengths and areas for development in teaching. Governors ensure that statutory and safeguarding requirements are met. They have carefully considered, with senior leaders, how to spend additional funding, such as the Year 7 catch-up and pupil premium funding, to overcome barriers to learning for the most disadvantaged students. Governors access training and support from the local authority to improve their effectiveness. The governing body has been closely involved in monitoring the performance management of staff and receives regular reports from senior leaders on this and other matters.

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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 102056 Local authority Enfield Inspection number 411446

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Type of school Secondary School category Foundation 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 1,145 Of which, number on roll in sixth form 115 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Roni Malek Headteacher Peter Travis Date of previous school inspection 5–6 October 2011 Telephone number 020 8368 4710 Fax number 020 8368 1287 Email address office@broomfield.enfield.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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