Broomfield School

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

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Mr Peter Travis Headteacher Broomfield School Wilmer Way London N14 7HY

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Short inspection of Broomfield School

Following my visit to the school on 15 November 2018 with Ofsted Inspector Lynne Isham, 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 May 2015.

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Short inspection of Broomfield School

Based on the evidence gathered during this short inspection, I have identified some priorities for improvement which I advise the school to address. In light of these priorities, the school’s next inspection will be a full section 5 inspection. There is

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Your evaluation of the school’s strengths and weaknesses is accurate. You are consistently challenged by the governing body. Furthermore, you are well supported by the local authority’s school improvement adviser to develop teaching across the school. Your senior leadership team has changed significantly since the last inspection due a restructuring to reduce its size. You have invited effective subject leaders to join the senior team as acting assistant headteachers to develop whole- school priorities linked to teaching and learning.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

This blended support and challenge help you and your senior leadership team to take effective action in addressing potential challenges which may arise during the school year. You ensure that senior leaders have the capacity to implement change and sustain pupils’ performance. As a result, senior leaders are able to manage both the effect of inconsistency around the number of pupils at the school and the induction of a number of new teachers who join the school each year. Additionally, senior leaders spend significant time actively coaching new teachers so they quickly develop their classroom practice.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Year 11 pupils who sat their GCSE examinations in both 2017 and 2018 achieved an overall progress score which was broadly in line with the national average. This was also the case for pupils’ progress scores in English and mathematics in 2018. However, pupils’ outcomes by the end of Year 11 in non-English Baccalaureate (non-EBacc) subjects – the English Baccalaureate subjects are English, mathematics, sciences, either history or geography, and a language – were significantly low compared with their peers nationally. This is also the case in the academic years 2016, 2017 and 2018. You have rightly highlighted this as an area to improve in the school’s self-evaluation form and we agreed this as a focus for this inspection.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

We also agreed to investigate the impact of leaders’ actions to reduce pupils’ overall absence and the absence of boys and disadvantaged pupils. This is because improving pupils’ overall attendance to above the national average is another area to improve following the school’s last inspection. You agree further improvement is required to increase pupils’ attendance.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

The final area investigated is the number of pupils excluded from school, either externally or internally in the school’s learning centre. Inspectors observed pupils behaving well in the small number of classroom visits and during break and lunchtimes. However, you explained the number of fixed-term and repeated exclusions is high because leaders and governors now adopt a ‘zero tolerance approach’ to manage pupils’ behaviour. Strategies include a meeting between teacher and pupil to set expectations before an excluded pupil returns to lessons or school. Furthermore, a key worker is attached to pupils who are repeatedly excluded to provide them with additional support. Repeat exclusions are falling more quickly than single exclusions, largely because of these measures.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

However, the school’s figures for pupils who are given external fixed-term exclusions remain extremely high year on year compared to the latest national figures. This was also the case in the last inspection. The records kept in the school’s internal exclusion room show that many pupils are repeatedly sent there. As a result, pupils do not complete the work they are missing because they are not in lessons.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Leaders’ policy to use exclusion to improve pupils’ behaviour and create a strong climate for learning needs to be evaluated. The number of exclusions should be reduced rapidly so that it is at least in line with national figures. Currently, the escalation of sanctions to manage pupils’ behaviour results in pupils being removed too frequently from lessons or from school for a fixed term.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Furthermore, leaders do not ensure that administrative systems recording behavioural incidents are consistently applied for all types of incidents. For example, the process for recording homophobic incidents is not clear. However, this is not the case with racist, sexist or other bullying issues.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Leaders and governors ensure that safeguarding procedures meet the latest requirements and are fit for purpose. Effective partnerships with parents, carers and external agencies ensure that pupils receive early help should the need arise. Records are well kept and pre-employment checks are rigorous and ensure that staff are suitable to work with children. Staff and governors receive up-to-date guidance on safeguarding pupils.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Leaders ensure that training enables staff to identify signs which may indicate that pupils are at risk. Leaders can identify potential signs of abuse and are aware of specific risks which pupils may face. Most parents who responded to Ofsted’s questionnaire, Parent View, strongly agree that their child is safe and enjoys school. Pupils receive various opportunities to learn how to keep themselves safe though assemblies and the school’s curriculum. These activities include knowledge of the risks associated with using the internet, and the risks of radicalisation and extremism.

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Inspection findings

 First, we investigated pupils’ progress between Years 7 and 11 in non-EBacc subjects. Your recent analysis of current pupils’ performance shows that their overall progress in non-EBacc subjects is improving in Years 10 and 11. Senior leaders say the reasons for this include the range of non-EBacc GCSE courses which pupils study being revised to offer subjects in which pupils have historically achieved well. The school now also offers a new level 2 computing vocational non-EBacc course as a Year 9 option which broadens the curriculum offer. Leaders have scheduled appropriate training sessions to improve teachers’ skills in developing pupils’ literacy. In addition, teachers have recently received training on how to use activities to challenge pupils with different abilities to deepen pupils’ learning.  The newly appointed assistant headteachers are introducing strategies to improve how teachers identify and support pupils at risk of underperforming to

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Inspection findings

enable quick intervention. Nevertheless, the learning and progress of pupils in non-EBacc subjects remain inconsistent in key stages 3 and 4. This is despite the introduction of these initiatives. Pupils’ learning is strong in some lessons but fragile in others. This was reinforced when we spoke with pupils in lessons about their learning and considered their learning over time in their workbooks.  Second, we agreed to investigate the impact of leaders’ actions to reduce pupils’ overall absence and the absence of boys and disadvantaged pupils. Pupils’ overall absence has been broadly in line with national averages since July 2016. This was also the case for disadvantaged pupils at the time of this inspection. Furthermore, the percentage of pupils who are persistently absent from school (attendance is 90% or below) has fallen and is lower than the latest national figure at the time of this inspection.

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Inspection findings

 However, because the school does not analysis pupils’ attendance by different pupil groups, leaders and inspectors do not routinely evaluate the specific attendance of boys and the persistent absence trends for boys and disadvantaged pupils.  Third, we agreed to investigate the impact of leaders’ work to reduce the number of pupils who are permanently excluded or externally excluded for a fixed term. We also considered trends for pupils who are internally excluded in the school’s learning centre. We agreed to consider the link between exclusions and pupils’ behaviour and the exclusion patterns for the different pupil groups outside of year groups.  Pupils in Years 10 and 11 say behaviour in the school has improved since they joined. Most teachers and parents who responded to the Ofsted surveys confirm that pupils are usually well behaved. This demonstrates a positive impact of the school’s ‘zero tolerance approach’ to managing pupils’ behaviour.

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Inspection findings

 Furthermore, the number of permanent exclusions has reduced since the last inspection and is equal to the latest national figure. However, even though the percentage of external fixed-term exclusions is falling, the figure in July 2018 is almost three times above the national figure for pupils excluded once. The figure for pupils externally excluded more than once is double the national figure.  The school records attendance and exclusion information about individual pupils. However, the school was unable to share information showing the percentage of pupils who are internally excluded year on year or the exclusions from different groups. As a result, inspectors could not obtain sufficient evidence to judge the trends for pupils excluded in the school’s learning centre or for external exclusions for different pupil groups.  Leaders do not analyse information comprehensively to enable them to identify

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Inspection findings

the patterns over time for different pupil groups outside of year groups. This is an urgent area for leaders to improve when considering the impact of their actions on delivering improvements in pupils’ attendance and reducing internal and external fixed-term exclusions.

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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 with different starting points make strong progress between Years 7 and 11 in non-EBacc subjects so their progress at least matches their peers nationally  the overall attendance figure for different pupil groups matches or exceeds the national average for all pupils  the persistent absence figure for different pupil groups matches or is lower than the national average for all pupils  the number of internal and fixed-term external exclusions is reduced rapidly for all pupils and for different pupil groups so external exclusion figures match or are lower than the national average for all pupils  the information used to evaluate the impact of their actions to drive the school’s priorities for improvement is comprehensively analysed.

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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 Enfield. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

We met you and members of your senior leadership team and held meetings with various senior and middle leaders, including the leader responsible for safeguarding and the local authority officer linked to your school. I interviewed members of the governing body and an inspector met with a group of pupils from Years 7 to 11 selected by the school. There were also informal conversations with pupils. Short visits were made to a range of classes in a variety of non-EBacc subjects to observe learning and scrutinise pupils’ work, jointly with you or with a member of your senior leadership team. Inspectors visited the learning support centre and considered a range of documentary evidence. This included the school’s self- evaluation form, the school development plan, records relating to safeguarding and an analysis of pupils’ progress. We scrutinised responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, and the responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for staff and pupils.

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