Setting

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

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Mr Rob Hullett Raine’s Foundation School Approach Road Bethnal Green London E2 9LY

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School

Following my visit to your school on 20 June 2017, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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School

The visit was the second monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in November 2015. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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School

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the last section 5 inspection. They know that they need to demonstrate the impact of this action on pupils’ outcomes, in order to become a good school.

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School

The school should take further action to:

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School

 ensure that consistently high-quality teaching enables all pupils to make substantial progress from their starting points, particularly those in key stage 4  actively promote the positive work the school has done to tackle instances of bullying and inappropriate behaviour with parents and pupils.

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Evidence

During the inspection, I held meetings with you, other senior leaders, two local authority governors, staff and pupils to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection. I evaluated the school improvement plan and self-evaluation. I looked at the school’s process for checking the suitability of staff to work at the school and records of these checks kept on the single central record. I spoke to staff and pupils informally during break and lunchtime. I visited a number of lessons in mathematics, science and English with a senior leader. I looked at the school’s process for monitoring the quality of teaching and learning and discussed the impact of this on pupils’ learning. I examined the school’s new tracking system and discussed how teachers use this to inform their planning of tasks.

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Context

Since the last monitoring inspection, you and senior leaders have continued to lead the school. The experienced governing body, established in January 2016, continues to hold leaders to account effectively, with the support of the local authority. A new head and deputy head of mathematics have been in place since September 2016.

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Main findings

Since the first monitoring inspection, you, the senior leadership team and governors have continued to tackle the numerous areas for development identified at the previous inspection. Together you have prioritised key areas to address, including improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, increasing pupils’ attendance and diminishing incidences of poor behaviour and bullying. You have been faced with a deficit budget as a result of a falling roll over time. Therefore, you have had to make significant changes in staffing and implement a five-year recovery plan with the local authority. You have successfully moved all pupils on to one site to ease financial pressure, which has brought a sense of cohesion to the school population. You have an action plan, which you are successfully implementing, albeit incrementally. All staff are now clear about their role in ensuring the success of this plan and accelerating the progress of pupils across the

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Main findings

Alongside your leadership team, you have implemented consistently high expectations around the quality of teaching and learning. You have instigated a whole-school approach to using information on pupils’ ability and skills, to plan appropriate activities. Leaders regularly check that pupils’ work is of an appropriate quality and that teachers are giving pupils helpful advice and guidance on how they can improve. The new assessment system is now fully in place and teachers are confident in using it. Leaders carefully check the progress of all pupils and groups of pupils to ensure that they quickly address any underperformance. However, you know that a legacy of underachievement over time, particularly for those in Years 10 and 11, means that many have to make substantial progress from their starting points. You are confident that these higher expectations have had a positive impact on the progress of current pupils. However, you are unable to say with confidence

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Main findings

that it will be enough for pupils to catch up with other pupils nationally in 2016. You know that disadvantaged pupils in particular still make less progress than other pupils do nationally, though the gaps are narrowing.

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Main findings

Pastoral care at the school is strong. Many pupils have complex social and emotional needs that impinge on their ability to be wholly successful learners. You have cultivated strong links with external agencies to ensure that early help is appropriate and beneficial. Attendance has improved significantly this year and is now in line with the national average. This is due to a number of strategies, including an effective mentoring system, which encourage pupils to attend regularly.

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Main findings

You have prioritised improving pupils’ behaviour around the school site and in lessons. An effective monitoring system ensures that leaders can carefully track all incidences of poor behaviour and support individuals to make positive changes. As a result, there has been a drop in the number of incidences this year. Pupils also report improvement in this area and say that off-task behaviour disrupts fewer lessons. A raft of initiatives to raise pupils’ awareness and ensure that referrals or concerns are dealt with ‘within an hour’ supports the new anti-bullying policy launched in February. However, further work could be done to promote the school’s very positive work around bullying and poor behaviour with both parents and pupils, in order to counter some negative perceptions.

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External support

The local authority has provided consistently good challenge and support. Two local authority representatives are governors and ensure that the new governing body challenge leaders sufficiently well, in order to make the necessary improvements. The local authority is confident that you and other school leaders have the capacity and capability to make the necessary school improvements.

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External support

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

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