Leigh Stationers' Academy

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

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Mr David Millar Executive Principal Stationers’ Crown Woods Academy 145 Bexley Road Eltham London SE9 2PT

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Short inspection of Stationers’ Crown Woods Academy

Following my visit to the school on 20 June 2017 with Kanwaljit Singh, Ofsted Inspector, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since your predecessor school was judged to be good in December 2009. This is the first inspection of the school as an academy.

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Short inspection of Stationers’ Crown Woods Academy

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You and your leadership team are ambitious for the school and determined to achieve the best for the pupils. In 2016, the proportion of pupils attaining at least a GCSE grade C in English and mathematics was above the national average, with pupils making particularly strong progress in English. In the sixth form in 2016, students made strong progress across the range of academic courses. The capacity of leadership to further improve the school is strong.

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Short inspection of Stationers’ Crown Woods Academy

Yours is a very large school of over 1,600 pupils and sixth-form students. You have continued to develop and strengthen the existing small-school model, whereby pupils belong to a smaller unit of around 450 pupils, each with its own building, playground and head of school. Pupils who spoke to inspectors were clear that they would like more opportunities to collaborate with pupils in other schools within the academy. You and your senior team had already identified this and have responded decisively. You are committed to developing a balance between the strengths of the small-school model and recognising pupils’ sense of belonging to the whole academy.

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Short inspection of Stationers’ Crown Woods Academy

Collaboration is a strong theme of your leadership. Staff and pupils have worked together this year to develop and refine the academy’s values and vision. Cross- school groups of staff also work together in ‘drive teams’. These take forward key priorities for the school, such as building social and cultural capacity. All staff who wish to contribute to these teams can do so.

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Short inspection of Stationers’ Crown Woods Academy

The school joined the Leigh Academies Trust in September 2014 with the Stationers’ Company, a city of London livery company, as co-sponsors. The trust provides effective support and challenge to school leaders through its central staff and links with other academies within the trust. The chief executive officer works with leaders to regularly review pupils’ progress and the trust’s resources have been effectively deployed to support the school’s work on improving attendance. Members of the Stationers’ Company are governors and linked to schools within the academy. They continue to offer effective support to the academy through, for example, business mentoring and the development of the digital media curriculum.

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Short inspection of Stationers’ Crown Woods Academy

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality. The single central record of staff employment checks is thorough and well kept. Progress on meeting the checks is monitored to ensure that no one can start work at the academy without these in place.

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Short inspection of Stationers’ Crown Woods Academy

Staff training is up to date. Staff, including external contractors, who join the academy workforce after the start of the academic year are trained by the safeguarding lead before commencing work. All staff have completed training to prevent radicalisation and extremism among young people. Staff are clear how to report concerns, and the action and the effectiveness of the actions taken are recorded by key staff, so that a clear chronology of concern and response is established. Safe working practices are evident in classes, for example in food technology. Pupils value the support they get to keep themselves safe, for example in well-being sessions and from the safer schools police team. There is an effective culture of safeguarding across the academy.

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Inspection findings

 In 2016, pupils’ overall attendance was just above the national average. However, the absence of disadvantaged pupils was much higher than that of non-disadvantaged pupils nationally. Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and an education, health and care plan (EHC plan) also had high levels of absence and persistent absence.  In the current academic year, overall pupils’ attendance is on track to be above the national average. Also, the attendance of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities has improved. This is as a result of continuing effective work on attendance by leaders and staff.  The persistent absence of pupils overall has reduced markedly this year. The persistent absence of disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities has also fallen.  In 2016, pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils and those who have special

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Inspection findings

educational needs and/or disabilities, did not make enough progress in science, humanities and some other option subjects. For pupils currently in the school, this picture is improving.  Teachers in these subjects have strong subject knowledge. They plan activities and design resources with clear success and assessment criteria. Consequently, pupils know what is expected of them, how their work will be assessed and how this will help them reach their targets. Teachers provide a range of opportunities for pupils to develop their literacy and numeracy skills across subjects, which further enhances their progress.  Pupils are now making better progress in these subjects and this is supported by strengths in teaching and work in pupils’ books. In science, the removal of early entry has ensured that pupils are not disadvantaged by taking an examination too soon. In humanities, pupils are making better progress, particularly in history

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Inspection findings

and religious studies. Differences in progress between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally are closing. However, some work still lacks sufficient challenge for pupils in some classes and they do not move on fast enough to harder work. Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities sometimes make less progress than they should because they are not fully engaged in learning.  Exclusions overall are lower than the national average and continuing to fall. Exclusions of disadvantaged pupils and those pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are also below national figures and on a continuing downward trend. Pupils who are excluded more than once are referred to the academy’s pastoral support unit to support them to reflect on and manage their own behaviour more successfully. Records of the impact of the work of staff show that the exclusion rate of this group of pupils has reduced.

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Inspection findings

 Pupils arrive for school in a calm, orderly manner and their conduct around the buildings is almost always polite and mature. Adults model behaviour well for pupils. Pupils understand the academy’s expectations of behaviour in classes and make every effort to concentrate and stay focused on their learning. Where there is some off-task behaviour, it is often related to a lack of challenge in learning activities. Leaders are determined to maintain high standards of behaviour. The behaviour policy has recently been reviewed and is shortly to be relaunched with a focus on consistency across the schools and rewards for pupils who attend and behave well.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 pupils are set more challenging work that enables them to deepen their understanding  all teachers are supported to develop their expertise to consistently meet the needs of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities in their classes. 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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Information about the inspection

The lead inspector met with you and senior leaders at the start of the school day to review the school’s self-evaluation, agree key lines of enquiry and plan inspection activities. Inspectors visited classes in a range of subjects to observe pupils’ learning and to look at their books. The lead inspector met with a group of governors, including the chair of governors, and met with the chief executive officer of Leigh Academies Trust. Inspectors spoke with pupils in classes and at lunchtime about their learning and their views of the school. Inspectors evaluated a range of documentation, including safeguarding and behaviour records. Inspectors considered the 86 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View, the 223 responses to the pupil questionnaire and the 112 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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