International Academy of Greenwich

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Ms Smita Bora International Academy of Greenwich 21 Meadowcourt Road 1st Floor King’s Church London SE3 9DU

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Greenwich

Following my visit to your school on 14 December 2016, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings.

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Greenwich

This monitoring inspection was conducted under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 and in accordance with Ofsted’s published procedures for inspecting schools with no formal designation. The inspection was carried out because Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector was concerned about the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements at the school.

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Evidence

During the inspection, I held meetings with you, the chair of the governing body and members of staff. Together with you, I visited the inside and outside areas of the school site and made brief visits to classes. I spoke to pupils informally in lessons and also held discussion with two groups of pupils. The single central record and other documents relating to safeguarding and child protection arrangements were scrutinised. Records about attendance were evaluated. I scrutinised governing body meeting minutes. I considered 36 responses to Parent View, the online Ofsted survey tool.

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Evidence

Having considered the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time:

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Context

The school is smaller than the average-sized secondary school. It opened in September 2016 in temporary accommodation. Currently, there are 97 pupils in Year 7. There are no pupils at present in Years 8 to 11. The school roll will increase at the start of each academic year as a new cohort of pupils joins the school in Year 7. The school plans to move to specially built accommodation on another site once construction is completed.

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Context

The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is above average. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is average. Very few of these pupils are at the very early stages of learning English. The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, including those who have a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan, is below average. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is above the national average.

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Context

The school has not experienced difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff. There have been almost no pupils joining or leaving the school part-way through the school year. The school does not use any alternative providers.

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Inspection findings

Since the school opened, leaders and members of the governing body have quickly established a strong culture of safeguarding vigilance. Safeguarding and child protection arrangements are fit for purpose and are an important part of everyday life at the school. Leaders have made sure that staff are well trained and know that they need to be constantly vigilant to keep pupils safe. Safeguarding procedures are strongly embedded and rigorously followed. Positive behaviour is promoted consistently. The management of behaviour is carefully measured.

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Inspection findings

Members of the governing body have a very secure and up-to-date knowledge of safeguarding practices in schools. They use their expertise effectively to hold the school’s leaders to account for safeguarding pupils at the school’s temporary site. They check the school’s safeguarding policies, procedures and records carefully. Leaders and governors have made detailed arrangements to restrict and monitor access to the school site in order to keep it secure.

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Inspection findings

Staff are alert to their shared responsibility to keep pupils safe from harm. Leaders keep careful records showing that all staff have attended training and read essential guidance documents. Staff understand the latest safeguarding directions, including advice from the Secretary of State and the ‘Prevent’ duty. They are confident to recognise the possible warning signs that a pupil may be at risk, including from sexual exploitation, female genital mutilation or the dangers of radicalisation and extremism.

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Inspection findings

The school’s safeguarding policy is a useful tool for the workforce and is shared with parents and carers. School leaders invite parents to comment on the school’s policies so that they can be confident that parents understand and support, for example, the safeguarding and child protection arrangements. Staff know what the school expects them to do should any safeguarding issues occur. In addition, posters on display around the school help to make sure that the whole school community, including parents, knows which members of staff have specific responsibility for safeguarding, or, for example, first aid. Leaders and staff make clear risk assessments and respond consistently to protect pupils. The school’s documentation and detailed record-keeping show that staff act quickly should any concerns arise.

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Inspection findings

Pupils know how to keep themselves safe in a variety of contexts. Discussions during assemblies and tutor time help to make sure that pupils are aware of risks to their safety and how to avoid them. Pupils were confident to recite to me the telephone number of a children’s safeguarding hotline. They know which senior staff have specific safeguarding responsibilities at the school and that these specialist staff will help them or their peers should they need support with any concerns. Pupils report that adults listen to them and take their concerns seriously. Safety-specific sessions for pupils have included sessions on drug misuse, safe use of social media and road safety awareness. Members of the pupils’ council recently led an assembly for pupils on safe practices when using email.

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Inspection findings

Pupils know what constitutes bullying and what does not. Recent discussions in assembly have included how to deal with different types of bullying, including homophobic and transphobic bullying, and how to be alert to online bullying. Staff make clear what pupils should do if any problems occur and strongly promote respect for differences and tolerance of others. Leaders take effective action to prevent and tackle discriminatory and derogatory language. Pupils feel secure. In the survey, the overwhelming majority of parents who responded were confident that their child feels safe at school.

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Inspection findings

The school site is well maintained and free from litter and graffiti. A secure video- entry system at three separate points enables the school to manage safe and secure access to the school’s site. There is an established system to accompany pupils through the ground floor parts of the building when they enter and leave the school at the start and end of the school day. Access to other parts of the building is restricted and monitored. There is no direct physical access between the school building and parts of the site used for residential purposes. Leaders and governors have put filters and monitoring systems in place to protect pupils from potentially harmful online material.

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Inspection findings

Leaders and governors have ensured that safe recruitment and vetting processes are robust. Staff and volunteers working with pupils are carefully selected and scrutinised according to statutory requirements. Pre-employment assessments of the suitability of staff are recorded in a single, centrally held register in line with requirements. Leaders and governors make employment decisions firmly based on checks and evidence, including criminal records checks, references and interview information completed before employment. This evidence is retained. However, leaders are not as systematic in storing copies of staff pre-employment evidence, certificates and references in a methodical way.

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External support

Leaders work in close partnership with the local authority to safeguard pupils’ welfare. They draw upon the expertise within the local authority to provide high- quality training for staff as well as regular safeguarding updates. Leaders readily consult the safeguarding knowledge of outside agencies, and are quick to liaise with parents in order to safeguard pupils’ well-being.

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Priorities for further improvement

 Ensure that systems are in place to store records of staff pre-employment checks, certificates and other documentation methodically.

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Priorities for further improvement

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Greenwich. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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