Fulham Cross Academy

School report Fulham College Boys' School

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Kingwood Road, Fulham Palace Road, London, SW6 6SN

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Sixth form provision Good 2

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This is a good school

 The Executive Principal and other senior leaders convey, with conviction, their belief in each student’s right to be valued and to succeed in their learning.  Leaders provide an appropriate curriculum for students with different needs. They check the effectiveness of the school carefully. They know the strengths and weaknesses of the school well.  Middle leaders are effective in checking how well students are achieving and putting in place measures to improve progress where it is needed.  Teaching is typically good. There are some examples of very effective teaching.  The work done to promote students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is effective.  Directors are careful to ensure that students are kept safe. They hold leaders to account for students’ achievement.  There are strong systems for checking the quality of teaching and coaching to improve it.  Students achieve well over time. Students with

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This is a good school

different needs are well supported. Attainment in vocational subjects is high.  The sixth form is effective. Students achieve well and are well cared for. They receive good advice and guidance.  The school keeps students safe. Students behave well in lessons and around the school. This helps them learn well.  The Studio school successfully provides vocational education in Key Stages 4 and 5. Collaboration with the separate specialist setting for autism supports high quality provision for students with special educational needs and disabilities.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The achievement of students varies across some subjects.  Not enough teaching is outstanding to secure outstanding progress for students.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching during 25 lessons, including several with senior leaders.  Inspectors met with groups of students from Year 7 to Year 13, and talked informally with others.  Inspectors evaluated the quality of students’ work in their books and files with a senior leader.  Discussions were held with the Executive Principal, senior and middle leaders, two directors and the school improvement partner.  A wide range of documents was examined, including the school’s improvement plan, evidence about the work of the directors, data relating to students’ attainment and progress, and records of students’ behaviour and attendance. The school’s procedures for safeguarding were also examined.  Responses from 16 parents and carers to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) were taken into account, alongside the results of the parent survey conducted by the school. Inspectors considered the questionnaires completed by staff.

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Inspection team

Chris Campbell, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Information about this school

 Fulham College Boys’ School converted to become an academy school as part of the Fulham College Academy Trust on 1 March 2013. When its predecessor school, Henry Compton Secondary School, was last inspected it was judged to be good.  Fulham College Boys’ School is a smaller-than-average 11−16 school. A small Studio school offers a vocational curriculum, as a school within a school, for students aged 14 to 19. A very small number of students at the Studio school are girls. The schools serve a local, culturally diverse community. There are high levels of mobility.  The proportion of students who are eligible for additional funding support through the pupil premium (additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and children who are looked after by the local authority) is well above the national average.  A very high proportion of students come from ethnic minority groups compared with the national average.

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Information about this school

Similarly, a very high proportion of students speak English as an additional language.  There is a high proportion of students with special educational needs and disabilities. The proportion of students supported with a statement is above the national average.  Typically, the attainment of students on entry to the school is significantly below the national average.  The government’s current floor standard, which sets the minimum expectations for students’ attainment and progress, was met in 2014.  The school collaborates with a local specialist setting for autism, Queensmill Special School. A small number of students have dual registration. Their primary registration is with the specialist provision.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of good and outstanding teaching by:  improving the precision of planning, so that all students are challenged consistently, especially in mathematics  developing effective ways to help students respond to their teachers’ marking and feedback  developing and sharing the effective practices seen, to reshape and redirect students’ learning during lessons to accelerate progress further.

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The leadership and management are good

 The Executive Principal communicates her vision and values for the school with clarity and conviction. Her vision is shared by leaders at all levels. As a result, students feel valued, and enjoy the harmonious climate of the school which is enriched through its diversity. Senior leaders have an unshakeable determination to ensure that all students are well cared for and learn successfully. This prepares them well for their next steps in education, training and work.  Students’ achievement is supported by effective systems to check students’ progress and high expectations of students’ behaviour. These support increasingly good attendance. Good behaviour in lessons contributes to their learning. Instances of bullying are rare and dealt with effectively.  As a result of carefully thought about approaches to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of students, leaders enable them to recognise right from wrong. Students know about and recognise the

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The leadership and management are good

intrinsic value of showing tolerance and respect for others’ beliefs and cultural heritage.  Teaching is well led. Leaders make effective use of very strong systems for monitoring the quality of teaching. They act on the outcomes to improve teaching practice. As a consequence, teaching is improving further and leads to good progress over time for different groups of students, across the key stages and most subjects. Senior leaders recognise that consistency in the quality and impact of teaching has not been achieved fully.  Middle leaders are effective in contributing to the school’s systems to check the quality of teaching. They take responsibility for some elements and are fully involved in developing teachers’ skills and practices. For example, the special educational needs coordinator challenges fellow middle leaders to ensure that appropriate support is provided for students with special educational needs in mainstream lessons. Other

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The leadership and management are good

middle leaders contribute to the development of newly qualified teachers and the school’s coaching programme. Together, these are leading to an increasing proportion of good teaching. However, the proportion of outstanding teaching is lower.  Senior leaders and directors have carefully aligned the performance management of teachers with student outcomes. Where teaching is effective, they make a direct link between this and pay progression awards. Directors are fully involved in performance management processes, including that of the Executive Principal.  The school’s work to ensure equality of opportunity for all students is effective. Leaders carefully plan the curriculum for both the Fulham College Boys’ School and the Studio school, to offer the most appropriate courses to students. While students follow some non-qualifying examination courses in vocational studies, these are successful in preparing students for further study, training and work. The curriculum in the

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The leadership and management are good

Studio school reflects the learning needs of students and the local employment market. The school has an effective partnership with a separate specialist autistic provision on site. This enables these students to integrate into some classes in the school as part of their learning.  The curriculum, alongside a rich programme of assemblies, clubs and visits, is effective in preparing students well for the opportunities and responsibilities of adult life in modern Britain. Leaders actively promote fundamental British values of tolerance and respect for others, and for civil and criminal law. A local police officer is based on site for two days per week. As a consequence, students of all ages and backgrounds present as well rounded, well informed young people with self-confidence and resilience.  School leaders have put in place a programme to improve the literacy skills of all students. This is improving the accuracy of their writing. Frequent opportunities to discuss learning help students develop

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The leadership and management are good

their speaking skills and build their confidence as learners. Targeted interventions to improve reading are effective. These help students to access the wider curriculum. Numeracy is less well developed across subjects, but is effective in science and mathematics.  Leaders ensure that appropriate information, advice and guidance are provided to all students at intervals across Key Stages 3 to 5. They pay particular attention to transition points. For example, there is a full information programme for students entering the Studio school at Key Stage 4. Students are well informed about their options for further study and training at the end of Year 11 and Year 13. Currently, there are no students without a suitable place for further study or training. School leaders are aware of the need to adapt the curriculum, particularly in the sixth form, to ensure that the right students are following the right courses as the profile on entry changes.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school’s arrangements to keep students safe are effective. They meet statutory requirements in full. Staff show a keen awareness of issues which might affect students’ safety. They know what to do if they have a concern. Leaders ensure that training is up to date and keep meticulous records.  Additional funding for disadvantaged students is used well. Particular focus and specialist intervention are provided for literacy, especially reading, so these students can quickly access the school’s curriculum. Sharp monitoring of achievement is used to identify other emerging concerns and act on them rapidly. However, the performance of students eligible for this funding is not as consistent as it should be across subjects. Progress in mathematics is not as strong as in English, for example.  The governance of the school:  Directors share a common vision for the school. This supports the senior leaders in creating a

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The leadership and management are good

purposeful and positive ethos for learning in the school, underpinned by actively promoting fundamental British values throughout the curriculum. They support senior leaders in offering an appropriate range of subjects for those students who can benefit from a vocationally focused curriculum. Their unequivocal support for inclusion means that students requiring support through the specialist autistic provision are integrated into the school for part of the week. These contribute to the ways in which directors promote equality and tackle discrimination. Directors welcome the rich diversity of cultural and religious heritage amongst its student population.  The directors ensure that all statutory requirements to keep students safe are met in full. All checks for appointing staff members are carried out assiduously. Directors use skills audits to ensure that they have requisite expertise to fulfil their range of duties.

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The leadership and management are good

 Directors have a sound knowledge of the school’s performance and understand the context of the student population. They know how well disadvantaged and other groups of students perform. They use data to challenge school leaders about weaker areas of performance and consider how well additional funding allocations are used to accelerate their learning.  Directors play an active and direct role in challenging performance at subject level through performance meetings with senior staff and subject leaders.  They know where teaching is strongest and use performance management arrangements to reward effective teaching. They do not make pay progression awards where teaching is not good enough.  The school’s external school improvement partner provides effective support and challenge to senior leaders. This contributes to the reliability of the school’s data and corroborates the priorities the school

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of students is good. Students are almost always attentive and respond well to their teachers. They participate willingly. In a few instances when this is not the case, it is because activities planned by teachers are not sufficiently challenging or engaging. In general, students are less willing to take charge of their own learning and depend too much on teacher direction.  The behaviour of pupils around the school and in social time is good. They show consideration for others, including the adults working with them. Their open tolerance and respect for others from different backgrounds are reflected in very few incidences of bullying. Students enjoy coming to school and are proud of their uniform.  They respect their school environment. It is litter free and students enjoy using equipment sensibly. They greet visitors politely and with open interest.  Students have a good understanding of different types of bullying, including cyber and homophobic

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Behaviour

bullying. Students actively help and support each other in their learning. This includes helping new students as they begin at the school and students from the specialist autistic provision when they attend classes in the school.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe is good. Staff receive training regularly to ensure that they are up to date. They understand their responsibilities as part of the school’s arrangement to keep students safe. Safeguarding leaders and first aiders have attended appropriate training.  The school keeps detailed logs for behaviour and attendance. There are very few instances of serious misbehaviour or reports of racist incidents. The school analyses these and acts on the information gathered. As a consequence, attendance has improved and exclusions have decreased. The site is clean and tidy and is secure.  Appropriate guidance is given to students in subject areas to keep them safe from accidents, for example in science and construction courses. Risk assessments are carried out thoroughly, including for visits out of school and for work experience placements.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Most students make good progress over time, because teachers use good subject knowledge to plan interesting learning activities. They have high expectations of students’ behaviour and achievement. In a small minority of cases, planning is not precise enough to challenge all students to make the same good progress. This is especially the case in some mathematics and some science classes. In most cases, teachers make good use of assessment data to help them plan lessons. This supports the good progress made over time.  Teachers mark regularly, and consistently give advice or prompt questions to move students forward in their learning. However, not all students respond to this advice. Where it is done well, their work shows more rapid progress.  Most teachers are adept at asking probing questions to check students’ understanding. This helps to consolidate students’ learning. However, teachers do not always use this form of assessment to move

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The quality of teaching is good

students on to more demanding work rapidly enough, especially for more-able students in the class. This sometimes restrains the progress that some make during lessons.  Teachers use a wide range of resources to create stimulating learning experiences. However, there were too few opportunities for students to explore their own learning, take responsibility for it and develop a real thirst for learning. Where these opportunities are provided in a small number of lessons, students made outstanding progress.  Teachers are effective in developing students’ literacy skills. There is a common approach to improving spelling, punctuation and grammar. This is contributing well to students’ learning. It is well supported by frequent opportunities to speak up, give opinions, and develop speaking skills and confidence as learners. Numeracy skills are well supported in science, as well as in mathematics, but are not as strong in other

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The quality of teaching is good

subject areas.  Teachers take opportunities to explore aspects of spiritual, moral, social and cultural development in their classes. For example, a group of performing arts students from diverse backgrounds revealed thoughtful personal responses to the loss of life in the First World War, in a respectful performance held in the local cemetery.  Teaching assistants are well deployed. They are clear about what support they should offer students. There are clear systems for them to contribute to the checks on the progress of the students they work with. They collaborate well with class teachers and the school’s special educational needs coordinator.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2014, standards of attainment at Key Stage 4 were below average, when the College and the Studio schools were combined. The proportion of students gaining 5 or more GCSE grades at A*- C, including English and mathematics, in the College alone was much higher.  The attainment on vocational courses at Key Stage 4 and in the sixth form was very high in 2014. Students made at least good progress from their starting points across the range of subjects offered by the Studio school. In a number of cases, at both Key Stage 4 and in the sixth form, progress was outstanding. The attainment of students at the College was above the floor target set by the government. However, there was some variation in students’ attainment across subjects. Too many students attained a grade ‘C’ in either English or mathematics but not in both.  Many students enter the school with very low starting points. About a quarter of students start the school

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The achievement of pupils is good

with no prior achievement information. In 2014, only about one quarter of the students leaving Year 11 had entered the school at the beginning of Key Stage 3. Many of these joined the school with a limited command of English. School data show that in 2014, at Key Stage 4, similar proportions to those found nationally made expected progress in English and mathematics. Progress in science and attainment in modern foreign languages was strong. In history and geography, progress was weaker.  At Key Stage 4 in 2014, students eligible for additional funding achieved approximately one grade below the national average for other students nationally in mathematics. In English, they achieved about a quarter of a grade below the national average. The average grades attained by disadvantaged students in English closely matched the attainment of others in the school. However, disadvantaged students attained approximately one grade below others in the school in mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 School leaders are acting promptly to improve students’ learning and progress. Inspectors examined students’ work in books and files across both Key Stages 3 and 4 and the sixth form. They found that almost all students are making good progress across a range of subjects, including vocational courses. Some students are making outstanding progress. Progress in mathematics is improving quickly in most classes.  The school’s work to accelerate progress across Key Stage 3 is effective. Interventions during year 7, using additional funding to boost students’ learning, are successful. Less-able students entering the school rapidly improve their progress as they move through Key Stage 3. The rich curriculum, including educational visits and trips, stimulates their interest to learn more.  Disadvantaged students, eligible for support through additional funding, make fast progress. Targeted support during Key Stage 3 helps them improve their reading quickly. As a result, they can access learning

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The achievement of pupils is good

in other subjects more readily. Their work shows that they make the same good progress as others for their starting points.  Students with special education needs and disabilities make good progress over time and in some cases make exceptional progress. Their work shows that they are well supported to make sustained good progress over time against their own personalised targets. Students with special needs, whose learning is supported by attending the specialist provision, make very good progress in the classes they attend at the College.  More-able students achieve well. Work seen by inspectors confirms that they are making good progress over time across key stages. Analysis of current achievement data confirms that these students are currently on track to achieve well and attain at least in line with national averages in English and mathematics.

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The sixth form provision is good

 School leaders have ensured that a range of vocational courses are available to students in the sixth form and the Studio school. These meet the interests and dispositions of students. The prior achievement of students entering into the sixth form is widening, as it grows in popularity. Leaders recognise that the curriculum offered will need to develop to accommodate their needs more fully. Most students in this small sixth form continue from Year 11. However, increasingly, a smaller number of students transfer into the sixth form from other local schools because of the specialist combination of subjects offered.  Students attain well on level 3 BTEC vocational courses. They make at least good progress from their starting points. The school is increasingly effective in securing success in level 2 qualifications in English and mathematics, where students do not enter the sixth form with these.  Teaching is good because staff members use their subject expertise to tailor their planning to the wide

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The sixth form provision is good

range of students’ learning needs. This contributes strongly to their success, as they leave the school. The quality of marking and feedback is good. It is detailed and provides clear guidance both for improving literacy skills and the next steps in subject learning. When students respond to this in full, there is rapid improvement in their rates of progress.  Students enhance their achievement by engaging in extended work placements. This helps them develop strong work-related skills and prepares them well for the future. However, the opportunities for students to contribute to the wider school community are more limited. Students show good resilience and application to their learning. Attendance is good.  Students have a good sense of risk to their safety and know how to keep themselves safe. They are keenly aware of different types of bullying and discrimination.  Students told inspectors that they are well cared for and receive effective advice and guidance about their

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The sixth form provision is good

next steps. Some go on to study at institutions of higher education and others into further training or work. There are no students without an appropriate next step amongst those who left in summer 2014.

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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 139364 Local authority Hammersmith and Fulham Inspection number 449787

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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 11−19 Gender of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 380 Of which, number on roll in sixth form 24 Appropriate authority The board of directors Chair Professor Denis Wright Executive Principal Bernie Peploe Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Telephone number 02073813606 Fax number 02073869645 Email address admin@fcbs.net 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 and 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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