Woodlane High School

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

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Miss Claire Maynard Headteacher Woodlane High School Du Cane Road Hammersmith London W12 0TN

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Short inspection of Woodlane High School

Following my visit to the school on 1 May 2018 with Mary Geddes, 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 school was judged to be good in June 2014.

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Short inspection of Woodlane High School

This school continues to be good. 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 specific areas. This may indicate that the school has improved significantly overall. Therefore, I am recommending that the school’s next inspection will be a full section 5 inspection.

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Short inspection of Woodlane High School

You lead with relentless ambition to secure the best possible outcomes for your pupils. You clearly inspire your staff and they, in turn, ensure that they give the achievement of every pupil the highest priority. Leaders at all levels are highly effective in their roles. This includes the school’s governors, who have a very secure understanding of the school’s strengths and areas in need of further work. This is because they visit the school regularly and have the knowledge and skills necessary to challenge you and your other staff effectively about the quality of education provided. Governance has strengthened considerably since the last inspection. All staff and governors share your clear sense of purpose and will to provide the best possible education in your school. You are highly analytical and reflective. This means that areas for improvement are addressed promptly and systematically.

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Short inspection of Woodlane High School

You and your team are clearly focused on securing excellence. You ensure that pupils achieve their full potential and are successful in the next stage of their learning. High- quality learning experiences go hand in hand with the promotion of pupils’ welfare. The care and attention given to pupils’ personal needs underpin their very effective learning. Consequently, most pupils are happy and keen to come to school and attend very regularly. They clearly enjoy their day, engaging with enthusiasm in the challenging learning and inspiring curriculum staff provide. However, you judge that in order to continue to meet the needs of your changing cohort, further refinements to the curriculum are necessary. You have begun to review the curriculum to ensure that the needs of all pupils are fully catered for. You are approaching this task in the same methodical way you have used to secure other important improvements.

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Short inspection of Woodlane High School

The areas for improvement identified at the time of the last inspection have been met in full. Teachers assess pupils’ progress meticulously to ensure that they learn effectively, using the relevant resources to support their progress. Senior leaders have a clear and accurate understanding of national comparisons and how well the school is doing in relation to other similar schools. This information is used effectively to ensure high expectations among staff for all pupils.

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Short inspection of Woodlane High School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Keeping pupils safe is an integral part of the school’s work. You and your staff give safeguarding a high priority and are very mindful of the potential vulnerability of pupils. You ensure that all staff and governors receive training to develop their understanding and skills in safeguarding. As a result, staff are alert to any potential difficulties that pupils and their families may be facing.

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Short inspection of Woodlane High School

Safeguarding records are kept meticulously. These provide evidence of swift follow-up and appropriate action taken by leaders. Leaders’ strong relationships with outside agencies and the early action they take are effective in supporting vulnerable pupils and their families. Leaders keep all safeguarding matters under regular review.

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Short inspection of Woodlane High School

The single central record for pre-recruitment checks meets requirements and is checked at regular intervals by the governors. Safeguarding policies and procedures are also reviewed regularly. Case studies show that pupils who have been identified as at risk are supported sensitively and promptly by staff, who know pupils and their families well. Pupils reported that they feel safe in school and know who to speak to if they have any concerns.

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Inspection findings

 At the beginning of the inspection we agreed to focus on three areas. These were the accuracy of assessments, the quality of the curriculum and the monitoring of behaviour.  The first key line of enquiry focused on the work the school has been doing to ensure that all assessment systems are accurate and robust. This is an area that has been refined since the last inspection. Your new systems are well understood by staff and pupils alike. Staff track pupils’ progress in all subjects. You and senior leaders now use this assessment information in a highly analytical way, which secures an in-depth understanding of how well pupils are achieving. As a result of this, pupils’ progress is strong in most subjects.  During our visits to lessons, we saw teachers using assessment information accurately to support pupils’ learning. We saw high levels of pupil engagement because work was very well matched to pupils’ individual needs. We observed staff providing

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Inspection findings

effective challenge in pupils’ learning and promoting their independence very effectively.  You explained that leaders are currently focusing on developing the wider curriculum in response to the changes to the assessment procedures. You and leaders are ensuring that a highly personalised approach is used to meet each pupil’s needs. In many subjects, this is already very successful, as shown in the school’s assessment information and the work in pupils’ books.  The second key line of enquiry focused on the quality of the curriculum and how well it supports pupils in gaining the right qualifications. This is something that the school had already identified as an area for development before the inspection.  You, together with other leaders, have ensured that the curriculum is well planned across a range of subjects. Middle leaders have responded well to the changes you have introduced and have devised detailed action plans to ensure that the curriculum

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Inspection findings

continues to be effective. You know that there is more work to do to in a very small minority of subjects to ensure that the curriculum fully meets pupils’ needs. This is particularly the case given the changing nature of the cohort you have identified. You have clear plans in place to bring about improvements where necessary, for example in design and technology and in French.  Leaders and governors recognise that they must also use the curriculum to prepare pupils successfully for the next stage of their education. You have formed close links with local work experience providers, colleges, other schools and businesses to support pupils’ transition beyond Year 11. This has had a positive effect. Last year, all pupils from Woodlane progressed to the next phase of education or employment with the right skills to be successful beyond Year 11.  The third key line of enquiry looked at the school’s systems for monitoring and

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Inspection findings

evaluating pupils’ behaviour. The school is a calm and orderly environment where behaviour in lessons and around the building is exceptionally good. This is because clear guidelines and expectations are in place and pupils rise to these expectations.  Senior leaders gather and monitor data on behaviour systematically. They report the number and type of incidents regularly to governors, who hold leaders firmly to account. We looked at records related to behaviour incidents, and these confirm that behaviour continues to improve over time.  Pupils are supported in taking responsibility for their behaviour. They report that this new approach is helping them to improve their behaviour and make the right choices. Pupils also explained how the school’s transition arrangements from mainstream schools have allowed them to quickly settle in and understand the behaviour expectations of this school. This means that they are ready to learn, where previously,

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Inspection findings

in other settings, they had not been. The pupils say that the school’s approach to managing behaviour has a highly positive effect on their learning.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:  the planned improvements to the curriculum in subjects such as French and design and technology are subject to regular review so that they have the impact intended.

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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 Hammersmith and Fulham. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

Inspectors held meetings with you, senior leaders and other members of staff. I met with two governors, including the chair and the governor responsible for safeguarding. I also spoke with two representatives of the local authority. My colleague met with pupils from the school council. We visited classrooms across the school with senior leaders to gather evidence about our key lines of enquiry and to look at pupils’ work. We considered documents, including the school’s self-evaluation and development plan, information about the use of pupil premium funding, information about pupils’ progress and documents related to safeguarding. I also looked at information on the school’s website. We analysed the confidential responses to the online inspection surveys from 17 pupils and 30 members of staff. I also took account of the views of the four parents who responded to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View.

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