West Hatch High School

West Hatch High School High Road, Chigwell, Essex, IG7 5BT

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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 Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  GCSE results have gone up every year since the previous inspection to be well-above average. This is due to senior leaders’ and governors’ attention to detail and their persistent, successful focus on improving teaching.  Students’ progress has improved in English and mathematics and is now good overall throughout the school.  Most teaching is good and some is outstanding. Strengths include teachers’ subject knowledge and questioning.  As a result of carefully planned lessons, disabled students and those who have special educational needs make good progress.  Those students eligible for support through pupil premium funding also achieve well, as do those who speak English as an additional language.  The sixth form is good. Students make good progress from modest starting points.  Behaviour is good in and around the school. Students feel safe and parents and carers agree. Attendance is above average.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Students’ attitudes to learning are positive and these contribute to the good progress they make in lessons.  Teachers use every opportunity to help students develop their reading and writing skills.  Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a strength of the school. Students are keenly aware of and sensitive to the needs of others.  Governors have a good understanding of the school’s performance and what needs to be done to improve the school further.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Most teaching is not outstanding. A very small amount requires improvement because it does not provide sufficient pace and challenge.  Teaching assistants are not sufficiently involved in planning.  Progress is inconsistent between subjects in the sixth form.  Teachers do not consistently monitor the targets that students set themselves and each other. As a result, they are often not specific to the topic being taught.  There are not enough opportunities for students to take the lead and make choices in their learning.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 42 lessons, of which five were observed jointly with senior leaders. In addition, the inspection team made a number of other short visits to lessons and observed an assembly.  They held discussions with students, senior leaders, teaching staff and representatives of the governing body. A representative from the local authority attended a meeting at the school.  They checked students’ work as well as a range of documents, including the school’s self- evaluation and information about students’ progress. Inspectors also looked at documents relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.  The results of the 84 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire (Parent View), the school’s own surveys with parents and carers and 89 staff questionnaires were also considered.

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Inspection team

Christine Mayle, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Sa'ad Khaldi Additional Inspector Joanna Jones Additional Inspector David Webster Additional Inspector Andrew Lyons Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 West Hatch High School is larger than the average-sized secondary school. It converted to an academy in June 2011.  The majority of students are from White British backgrounds, with other students coming from a wide range of minority ethnic groups. A below-average number of students speak English as an additional language but this is rising.  About 20% of students are known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which is below average. This is additional government funding for students known to be eligible for free school meals, those in local authority care and those from some other groups.  A small proportion of Year 7 students are eligible for catch-up funding which is for students who did not achieve the expected Level 4 in reading or mathematics at the end of Key Stage 2.  The proportion of disabled students and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is slightly below the national average, and the proportion supported at

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Information about this school

school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above average.  Alternative part-time education is provided for a small number of students in Year 10 and Year 11 who follow courses at Epping Forest College, Redbridge College, Grace College and New Craft in Hainault.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which sets the minimum expectations for students’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the quality of teaching from good to outstanding by ensuring that all teachers:  provide opportunities for students to take the lead in lessons and make choices in their own learning  make sure all lessons have sufficient pace and challenge  plan with teaching assistants the work to be provided for students receiving their support  check the quality of the written targets that students set for themselves, and each other, so that they are challenging and specific to the subject being taught.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Enable students to make consistently good progress across all subjects in the sixth form by:  monitoring and tracking more closely students’ progress so that interventions can be put in place more quickly to support students who are at risk of underperforming.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Students join the school with attainment that is broadly average. The proportion of students who make expected, and better than expected, progress in English and mathematics is improving and is now above national figures. The more able students also make good progress and achieve well.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The proportion of students achieving five GCSE A* to C grades including English and mathematics is well above the national average and increasing. Robust school data show further improvement for 2014.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 From below-average starting points, students in the sixth form, many of whom come from other schools, make progress that is above average and achieve standards that are at least in line with national averages and sometimes above. The proportion of students who remain to the end of the year having started a course is also above the national average. However, the tracking of students’ progress in the sixth form is not as rigorous as in the main school and, as a result, interventions are not put in place as soon as they could be. As a consequence, progress is inconsistent between subjects.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The school uses the government’s additional funding well to target those students in Year 7 who have fallen behind in literacy in their primary schools. As a result, the school is narrowing the gap between these students’ achievement and that of their classmates.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The small numbers of students who attend courses at other providers make good progress. The school makes regular checks on their attendance and safety, and collects data as part of their progress review. A member of staff has responsibility for visiting these students and also undertakes home visits. All students from last year’s group were successful in gaining places on their chosen post-16 courses or apprenticeships.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 As a result of teachers setting work in lessons that is at the right level to support and challenge them, disabled students and those who have special educational needs make good progress. The small number of students for whom English is an additional language also achieve well.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Students’ literacy skills are good. Students are articulate and confident when answering questions and expressing their thoughts. They take pride in their written work. In all subjects, there is a focussed approach to developing literacy skills through the use of key words, and an emphasis on punctuation and grammar when marking work.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The school has a clear and effective policy for early entry to GCSE examinations, particularly in mathematics. Students are entered when they are ready and Year 11 students spoken to by inspectors said this approach motivated and encouraged them to achieve their best.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2012, students eligible for the pupil premium did not make as much progress as their classmates and attained, on average, three quarters of a GCSE grade lower in both English and mathematics. The gap overall in attainment between pupil premium students and their peers is less than the national in all years groups and is narrowing overtime.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers have high expectations of students and ensure that they can achieve them by carefully planning lessons to meet individual needs. Teachers set targets that challenge all students, regardless of the speed at which they work. The school has improved this area of its work since the last inspection so that all students make at least good progress in most lessons. A very small amount of teaching requires improvement so that the pace and challenge allows students make good progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers regularly check students’ understanding as lessons proceed and adapt their approach accordingly. This is building students’ confidence whilst consolidating their knowledge and skills, so they are able to tackle more challenging work.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In most lessons, positive relationships built on mutual trust and respect allow students to discuss their work in depth and extend their ideas. Teachers have strong subject knowledge, use questioning effectively and, through well-chosen, active and engaging activities, move learning forward briskly. As a result, students enjoy their learning, are motivated and make at least good progress. However, there are not always opportunities for students to take the lead and make choices in their learning.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers use every opportunity to help students develop their reading and writing skills. Marking focuses well on literacy and the use of accurate and appropriate language. Students are often given time to assess their own and their classmates’ work and set next steps to improve it. However, teachers do not always monitor these so that they are challenging and specific to the knowledge and skills needed within the topic being studied.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching caters well for the needs of disabled students, those with special educational needs and the more able so that they make good progress. However, teachers and teaching assistants do not always plan effectively together to support students’ learning. Consequently their support is not always focussed on what the students need to do to improve outcomes.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Sixth form teaching is good and sometimes outstanding. Teachers use imaginative strategies to enhance the students’ interest, deepen their subject knowledge and extend their research skills. For example in geography, the teacher used of a variety of images of physical features to develop definitions, in English, students were encouraged to support their views in a non- formulaic way and, in chemistry, students used information and communication technology (ICT) to broaden their research skills and widen their reading so that they made outstanding progress.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Behaviour in lessons and around the school is good. Staff have high expectations of behaviour, which is carefully supervised during the school day.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school’s attendance policies are effective and attendance is above average. Students say they enjoy attending school and are punctual to school and lessons. Fixed term exclusions are low and there have been no permanent exclusions in the last two years.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Students’ attitudes to learning are positive and this contributes to the good progress that they make in lessons. They are keen to learn, work well together in groups, support each other in their learning and show respect to staff. However, they sometimes lack the confidence to take the initiative in their own learning.  Students feel that behaviour is good and, when low-level disruption arises, staff deal with them promptly and appropriately. They contribute well to the school community by being role models, running clubs and being ‘buddies’ to younger students. The school is successful at combating discrimination and ensures equality of opportunity for all its students through the emphasis on co-operation and community.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Bullying is rare. Students are confident that when an incident is reported to staff it will be dealt with promptly and effectively. Students have a good awareness of the various forms of bullying, including as name-calling, cyber and homophobic bullying.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Students say they feel safe and are helped to keep themselves safe, especially with regard to the internet. They regard a strong feature of the school as the way in which everyone, of different ages and from a range of backgrounds and cultures, gets on well together. Parents and carers also feel that the school keeps their children safe.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher, together with senior leaders and governors, have accurately identified areas for development and have successfully improved achievement and teaching since the last inspection to move the school rapidly forward.

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The leadership and management are good

 Students’ progress is monitored closely and interventions put in place quickly when students are identified as underperforming. This process is not as rigorous for sixth form students and the school is already taking action to improve this.

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The leadership and management are good

 Advice and guidance for students making choices at Key Stage 4, sixth-form students going on to university, further education or training, and those about to enter into the sixth form are good.

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The leadership and management are good

 Arrangements for monitoring and improving the quality of teaching are thorough. These are clearly linked to the targets set for teachers, their pay and career progression. Training is matched closely to teachers’ needs. Joint observations with inspectors show that senior leaders are effective at identifying strengths and weaknesses in teaching, and they have made subsequent improvements where needed.

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The leadership and management are good

 Students across the school benefit from a wide variety of activities that engage their interest. The school offers a good range of subject choices and courses at both Key Stage 4 and sixth form that meet the needs of all students well. This prepares students well for the next stage of their lives.

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The leadership and management are good

 Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a strength. All aspects are well developed in this multi-cultural community. Students are helped to be keenly aware of and sensitive to the needs of others. For example Year 7, students were blindfolded to experience being led by trained guide dogs as part of their charity fundraising activity. Assemblies are used effectively to develop students’ sense of community and highlight their positive contribution to learning.

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The leadership and management are good

 Students are especially proud of the wide range of clubs and sporting activities that are available. Students enjoy participating in after-school activities that help them develop interests and experience beyond the school gates. For example students spoke extremely highly of the school’s musical production of ‘Oliver’ in which they had been involved.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school works very well with parents and carers and gathers their views regularly through surveys and focus groups. The positive responses from the school’s parental survey reflected this strong partnership. One parent wrote: ‘Very good school, strong leadership. Caring supportive staff that have brought out the best in my child’.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school has a positive partnership with the local authority, which offers suitable support whenever needed.

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The leadership and management are good

 Safeguarding procedures meet all requirements and are well-managed. All relevant staff undergo regular training in safeguarding, safer recruitment and child protection.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school: Governors have an in-depth understanding of the school’s performance, the quality of teaching, performance management systems and the link to teachers’ pay. They use their knowledge of data and their skills well to hold the senior leadership to account and ask challenge questions on all aspects of the school’s work, such as closing the attainment gap between those students eligible for the pupil premium funding and those who are not, the progress of more-able students and the effectiveness of early entry to GCSE examinations. They have strong financial and budgetary understanding. Funding for those students eligible for pupil premium, and those Year 7 students who did not achieve the expected Level 4 in reading and mathematics at the end of Key Stage 2, is carefully monitored and governors regularly track its impact on attainment and progress. They are aware that this is an on-going

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The leadership and management are good

task and have appointed a member of staff to lead in this area of the school’s work. Governors are fully involved in discussions and decisions about strategic direction and school development.

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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 136758 Local authority Essex Inspection number 427169

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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 Academy converter Age range of pupils 11–18 Gender of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 1272 Of which, number on roll in sixth form 341 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair John Haley Headteacher Frances Howarth Date of previous school inspection 25 April 2012 Telephone number 020 8504 8216 Fax number 020 8559 2695 Email address admin@westhatch.essex.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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