Elthorne Park High School

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

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Mr Eliot Wong Headteacher Elthorne Park High School Westlea Road Hanwell London W7 2AH

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Short inspection of Elthorne Park High School

Following my visit to the school on 27 March 2018 with Kanwaljit Singh and Heidi Swidenbank, Ofsted Inspectors, 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 the school was judged to be good in March 2015.

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Short inspection of Elthorne Park High School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Based on the evidence gathered during this short inspection, I am of the opinion that the school has demonstrated strong practice and marked improvement in certain areas. This may indicate that the school is improving towards being outstanding. Therefore, I am recommending that the school’s next inspection be a section 5 inspection.

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Short inspection of Elthorne Park High School

You and your leaders have maintained and developed the clear vision around the school’s motto ‘Achieving Excellence in a Learning Community’. Teachers are expected to deliver consistency and innovation. A carefully tailored training programme enables them to work together to research effective teaching approaches. At the same time, leaders rigorously check teachers’ work and intervene to improve performance when needed. The curriculum, which you have put in place for pupils, is broad, balanced and challenging. Pupils and teachers were very positive about the courses available when speaking to inspectors. The way you and your leaders have designed it to meet the needs of different learners at Elthorne Park High School is impressive.

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Short inspection of Elthorne Park High School

As a result of the above, pupils’ outcomes are excellent. For the past two years, GCSE examination results show your pupils making very strong progress, as measured by Progress 8, in line with the top 20% of pupils nationally. Attainment at GCSE is also very strong with 62% of pupils achieving GCSE English and mathematics at grade 5 plus, 22% above the national figure. Students in your sixth form also achieve extremely well. The progress measure at post-16 is significantly higher than the national average.

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Short inspection of Elthorne Park High School

Continuing to focus on the importance of community, in your vision for the school, has been a significant factor in improving behaviour since the last inspection. Pupils are now extremely well behaved both in lessons and around the school. Inspectors found pupils treating visitors courteously and each other with respect. Not a single instance of negative behaviour was observed. Parents and staff, when surveyed, agreed that pupils were safe, happy and well behaved.

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Short inspection of Elthorne Park High School

You and your team are strongly supported by a team of governors who are very committed to the improvement of the school. They demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the impact of your improvement plans and regularly visit the school to check they are being implemented well.

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Short inspection of Elthorne Park High School

The single central record of recruitment checks is methodically kept and meets requirements. All staff receive annual training in safeguarding followed by termly updates. A comprehensive programme of assemblies and classroom activities ensure that pupils know what to do to keep themselves safe, including while using social media and the internet. They showed strong awareness of the dangers of radicalisation when speaking to inspectors, for example. As a result, safeguarding procedures are fit for purpose and keeping pupils safe is a strong feature of the culture of the school.

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Short inspection of Elthorne Park High School

Records of pupils’ casework are up to date and very detailed. The school works very effectively with the local authority and other external agencies, for example the youth and gang prevention team. The school is persistent in following through cases with agencies where actions have been too slow. They are also proactive in identifying and providing support to vulnerable pupils.

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Inspection findings

 First, we agreed to find out how far you have improved the quality of teaching, learning and assessment since the last inspection. This was the main area for improvement identified in the last inspection report. It asked you to share excellent practice more widely, ensure that tasks matched the needs of learners and improve the effectiveness of teachers’ questioning and feedback.  In visits to classrooms, inspectors concluded that resources and learning tasks were almost always strongly matched to pupils’ needs. For example, in English pupils were able to evaluate and improve their extended writing well by referring to helpful resources which the teacher had provided. In graphics, in discussion with their teacher, pupils confidently used key subject vocabulary to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the subject.  Inspection evidence found that teachers’ skilful questioning enabled any

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Inspection findings

misconceptions to be addressed swiftly in order to deepen pupils’ knowledge and understanding. Very positive relationships between teachers and pupils result in strong engagement in tasks by pupils.  Your whole-school approach in encouraging pupils to push themselves is proving successful. Teachers’ subject knowledge is secure and is used well to inspire pupils to become successful learners. Sixth-form students reported that they enjoy their lessons so much because teachers love their subject. Overall, there is strong evidence that the quality of teaching has improved considerably since the last inspection.  Next, we agreed to investigate how leaders are improving provision for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. Though numbers were small in 2016, national data showed that this group of pupils were making significantly less progress than others.  In September 2017, in partnership with the local authority, you opened an

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Inspection findings

alternative resourced provision unit for pupils with communication difficulties. You have also devised a programme, called the ‘UP’ curriculum, to enable pupils who enter the school with weak attainment in English and mathematics to catch up.  Visits to classrooms and the unit confirm that pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make strong progress as a result of highly effective practice. Astute management of the curriculum for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities has had a strong impact on their progress, with most pupils graduating from the ‘UP’ programme by the time they reach Year 9. The 2017 national data shows that pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities who receive support from the school attain English and mathematics GCSE results in line with national averages.  Inspectors found that highly effective staff training ensures that the needs of pupils in the specialist unit are very well met. For example, teachers

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Inspection findings

demonstrated sound knowledge of phonics and vocabulary development. As a result, pupils made strong progress in their reading. Inspectors witnessed warm and positive relationships between teachers and pupils. Parents are updated every fortnight on their children’s progress. Both these factors contribute strongly to high-quality provision in the unit.  Additionally, we agreed to look at what leaders were doing to reduce exclusions. Although fixed-term exclusions were showing a slight rise each year, that peaked in 2017, the rate was still below the national average. Permanent exclusions were slightly above the national average. Inspectors found that the school tracks behaviour meticulously and intervenes effectively as soon as pupils cause concern. Leaders also refer a very small number of pupils to alternative provision, where their progress is closely monitored. As a result, most recent school figures

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Inspection findings

show that fixed-term exclusions are declining and the rate is well below national figures. Permanent exclusions are still marginally higher, though, and this is partly due to the lack of a managed move agreement in the borough. The school’s work to minimise exclusion has had a strong impact overall.  Finally, we agreed to consider how effective leaders’ actions have been in raising the achievement of disadvantaged pupils. Progress measured by the Progress 8 measure was lower than national averages for these pupils. Also, their GCSE results in English and mathematics were much lower than for other pupils nationally and in your school. You have prioritised the progress of this group this year in the staff training programme and your leaders’ monitoring of the impact of this training in the classroom. As a result, inspectors found that disadvantaged pupils were deeply engaged in a range of subjects; their books often showed

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Inspection findings

strong progress and pride in their work. Occasionally, however, inspectors found work in disadvantaged pupils’ books to be untidy and incomplete because they do not always commit to improving their work fully. As half of all disadvantaged pupils also have special educational needs, they are also benefiting strongly from the ‘UP’ curriculum. For example, nearly all the pupils in the Year UP 7 group are disadvantaged. School assessment information is now showing improved progress for these pupils in the lower school. Internal examinations in Year 11 show that they are attaining better grades in English and mathematics when compared to the previous year.  Effective support of disadvantaged pupils has had a significant impact. Exclusion rates for this group are coming down and their attendance rate is now above the national average figures for all pupils. When speaking to inspectors, disadvantaged pupils strongly appreciated the support from teachers they

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Inspection findings

receive. However, they were unsure how to access funds to ensure that they received the same opportunities to participate in trips and visits as other pupils. Overall, inspectors found provision for disadvantaged pupils was improving strongly. However, the pupil premium funding is not always effectively targeted to ensure that all pupils benefit.

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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

 the school continues to improve the progress of disadvantaged pupils by targeting funding more precisely on interventions and widening their cultural experience.

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Next steps for the school

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

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Information about the inspection

Inspectors, along with senior leaders, visited classrooms across a range of subjects to observe learning and to speak to pupils about their work. They interviewed senior and middle leaders, governors, a group of older disadvantaged pupils, younger pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities and a group of sixth formers. Inspectors observed behaviour in classrooms and around the school. They scrutinised documentation, pupils’ work and the responses to Ofsted’s Parent View questionnaire as well as a staff survey.

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