Ealing Fields Church of England High School

Ealing Fields High School Wyke Gardens, Hanwell, London W7 2BB

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Since Twyford Church of England Academies Trust (the trust) assumed leadership of the school in 2017, it has ensured rapid improvements to the quality of education.  Leaders have created a sense of community, despite the challenges presented by temporary accommodation.  Trust directors, governors and school leaders are proud of the inclusive school ethos and the consistently high expectations they have for pupils.  Leaders have instigated the 10:10 ethic, which promotes pupil leadership in order to serve others. This and the trust’s Christian values permeate the curriculum.  Teachers regularly assess what pupils can do and what they know. Pupils are given opportunities to reflect on, and improve, their work. This approach is used consistently across all subjects.  Pupils work extremely hard and want to do well. The majority of pupils make good progress.  Pupils take pride in their appearance. They show respect for and tolerance towards each

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

other and staff in this diverse and welcoming school.  The trust’s curriculum focuses on high academic rigour in key stage 3 in the ‘facilitating’ English Baccalaureate subjects. These are enhanced by other subjects such as physical education, art and music.  Procedures around keeping pupils safe are effective. The pastoral system ensures that pupils feel safe and know whom to turn to.  Extra funding is deployed to support pupils during study time and to ensure equality of opportunity on school activities.  Improving literacy is a key whole-school priority this year. However, some actions are not targeted sharply enough for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or for the lowest attainers. Some pupils do not catch up with their peers quickly enough and do not have access to the full curriculum.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Leaders must ensure that: – the literacy strategy addresses the needs of all pupils effectively, particularly the least able and those with SEND, so that they can acquire appropriate reading, oracy and writing skills – pupils who need to catch up receive targeted and timely support, so that they can quickly access the full curriculum offer.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

 The school joined the trust during the school’s first operational year. It is in temporary accommodation, which brings some challenges. The trust has quickly imposed policies, principles and practice used across the other trust schools to bring stability to the school community. The trust has increased leadership capacity using personnel from the other academies. In this way, leaders have brought about noteworthy improvements to the quality of education provided.  The new headteacher is dedicated and committed to building on the trust’s initial improvements to raise standards still further. Leaders have improvement plans in place that are already having a significant impact. Issues with staff and pupil mobility have been stabilised. The middle leadership team is strong and provides appropriate support and challenge to teachers. The focus on everyone, staff and pupils, demonstrating leadership qualities, has created a caring community with high standards.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

 School leaders and governors have high aspirations for the pupils academically, socially, emotionally and spiritually. They are proud of the inclusive nature of this diverse school aligned to the trust’s Christian ethos. The 10:10 ethic which encourages ‘positive knowledge, self-improvement and social responsibility’ permeates the spiritual, moral, social and cultural curriculum. Through extended assemblies and tutor periods, pupils learn how to conduct themselves in modern British society through Christian bible study and stories from other faiths.  The trust’s curriculum model is to prioritise English Baccalaureate subjects in Years 7 and 8, to ensure pupils have appropriate skills for accessing the rigour of GCSE examinations. Afternoon ‘electives’ such as religious education, ethics, physical education, drama, art and music complement the morning lessons. Leaders emphasise that pupils need to take responsibility for their learning. Pupils are encouraged to

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

become reflective learners able to use taught skills to refine and shape their work. Extra-curricular activities such as choir, the recent school play, ‘Oliver’, and sports teams complement this.  The trust provides ample opportunities for teachers to share good practice, check the accuracy of their pupil assessments and enable high-quality professional development. Staff say that they value these sessions highly.  Pupil premium funding is used to provide tailored study support, secure smaller class sizes and enable disadvantaged pupils to access the full range of trips and activities on offer at the school. Leaders track participation rates to ensure that these pupils are supported to do as well as their peers.  The majority of parents and carers who responded to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, are complimentary about the work of school leaders and school staff. They are pleased with leaders’ high aspirations and the progress their children are making.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

 Leaders have ensured that there is a careers strategy in place, in line with the nationally recognised benchmarks. However, it is still in the early stages and leaders say it will evolve more fully as the school grows in size.  Leaders have identified improving literacy as a key priority this academic year. They know that almost a third of pupils start with reading skills below age-related expectations. They have instigated a cross-curricular literacy strategy to bring some consistency and raise the profile across the school. For instance, they have introduced a common literacy marking code, are running trials of enabling structured talk in English and ethics, and focusing on writing in different subjects.  However, targeted actions to support the weakest readers are not having enough impact for some pupils. Some pupils with SEND and those at the early stages of learning to read are not enabled to catch up quickly enough with their peers. For some

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

of these pupils, the literacy booster sessions mean that they miss out on broader curriculum subjects such as music.

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Governance of the school

 Governors are dedicated and committed to ensuring that the school is high quality, fully inclusive and serves the community. They have supported school leaders through the school’s inception and changes in leadership. Governors have an astute understanding of what the school does well and the vision for the school’s future. They know that the move to the permanent site will present further challenges and are already planning how these might be minimised.  Governors are suitably challenging to both the trust and school leaders. They see themselves as ‘go-betweens’ liaising between all members of the school community. In this way, they believe they can champion the needs of the pupils and their families.  Governors understand their statutory responsibilities to keep pupils safe and work closely with school leaders to ensure this.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders have instigated the trust’s policies and procedures to ensure a consistent approach to safeguarding. The designated safeguarding lead, and their team, ensure that record keeping is appropriate and timely. They liaise closely with external agencies to ensure that families get early help as required. Checks on the suitability of staff to work at the school are in line with current guidelines.  Staff are well trained and know what to do should they be concerned about a pupil. The school is still relatively small, and staff know all pupils well. The extended tutor period each day ensures that pupils have regular contact with an adult in a safe and caring environment. Staff are aware of the potential risks to pupils in the wider community, including knife crime and radicalisation. They strive to raise issues and discuss potential risks in an open and honest way.

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Safeguarding

 Leaders know that the temporary site has proved increasingly difficult as the school has grown. They ensure appropriate supervision on the entrance road to mitigate road traffic risks. The site is compact, secure and well maintained.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Teachers are knowledgeable and secure in their subject knowledge. They understand leaders’ high expectations and ensure that the school’s teaching expectations are routinely applied. For instance, they systematically set tasks at differing levels, bronze, silver and gold, so that pupils can access tasks at the right level. Homework or ‘prep’ is set regularly. Teachers use a range of strategies to support pupils to access more complex activities.  Teachers undertake regular assessments of what pupils can do and what they know. They use this information to inform their planning so that activities can be adapted to enable pupils to make good progress. They check the accuracy of these assessments with other teachers across the trust to ensure that they are reliable.  Pupils know that leaders and teachers have high expectations of what they can achieve. Consequently, they work very hard and strive to do their best in class. The

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

vast majority of pupils are highly diligent, listen carefully to instructions, engage in the set tasks and show genuine interest in their work.  Pupils are encouraged to reflect on their learning, share their work with their peers and make adjustments to improve their work. They are encouraged to identify their strengths and weaknesses through the extensive assessment system, so that they can understand what they know and what they need to do. The ‘Ealing Fields Learning Culture’ lists the approaches to learning that all pupils should adopt. Pupils can explain what these mean and how they have an impact on their own learning style.  Pupils who start school with reading ages below age-related expectations complete a literacy booster programme. This involves reading with a Year 8 or Year 9 mentor or reading with a tutor. However, there is not a systematic reading programme to address the specific educational needs of individuals, particularly the least able or those with

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

SEND. While some do make progress, some do not catch up as quickly as they should.  Pupils with SEND and those with below-age-related expectations study literacy at least once a week, some twice, during afternoon electives. This means that they are not able to access the full curriculum offer, missing for instance key stage 3 music. Some are at the very early stages of learning how to read and write. However, leaders do not ensure that these sessions are targeted sharply enough on the specific needs of these pupils. Consequently, some pupils find it difficult to show what they know and understand in other subjects.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding. School leaders have created a caring and inclusive environment in which respect is the norm.  The trust’s Christian ethos permeates pupils’ spiritual development and their social and emotional well-being. Pupils of all faiths, beliefs, backgrounds and ethnicities socialise and work together. They enjoy mixing across the year groups. The 10:10 ethic encourages pupils to ‘know yourself, be an agent for good, understand weakness, accept support, engage fully and stretch. Pupils are able to explain how they live by this ethos every day.  Pupils receive a range of information appropriate to their age through the school’s personal, social and health education programme. They learn how to keep themselves safe and healthy, including when online. Pupils can explain what they would do in different scenarios in order to keep safe. Assemblies offer pupils time for reflection,

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Personal development and welfare

which they take up.  Pupils are not allowed to have smart phones on site and carry instead a simple phone for making calls. Many explained the benefit of not having social media on the premises. Pupils said this kept them safe from potential crime attacks on the way to and from school and the pressure of social media when in school.  Pupils are encouraged to eat in ‘family’ groups at lunchtime with their tutor and peers. This prevents pupils from queuing for food during their recreational time and encourages them to share food and discuss their day together. However, some parents via Parent View voiced their concerns over the quality of the lunches provided. This opinion is shared by some pupils, who were critical of the vegetarian options and portion sizes.  Participation in sports, both in school teams and at breaktimes, is highly popular. Throughout the inspection, pupils played table tennis, football and tennis. The school

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Personal development and welfare

teams play against other trust schools.  The house system encourages pupils to involve themselves in charity, local community work and cohesion between year groups. Pupils typically were highly complimentary about the array of badges they have collected for involving themselves in school events, and their academic accolades.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.  The majority of pupils work extremely hard throughout the long school day. They believe that teachers have high expectations for them in their future GCSE examinations and say they want to achieve this. Consequently, pupils are diligent and hardworking, keen to do well and enthusiastic about their learning.  Across the school, pupils show tolerance and respect for each other and the staff. They were extremely polite to inspectors, wishing them a good day and opening doors for them.  Pupils know that school leaders will not tolerate poor behaviour or attitudes. They believe the system is ‘firm but fair’ and say that it helps pupils to learn in a safe way.  Pupils listen quietly to each other, especially during formal sessions such as assemblies. During the inspection, some pupils read aloud the openings of their creative short stories in front of an audience. While they spoke quietly, the audience listened politely

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Behaviour

and intently.  Pupils say that bullying is extremely rare. They say that if it does occur, teachers are quick to sort the issue out so that pupils can continue with their learning. Pupils said that they feel safe and looked after on site.  Pupils’ attendance was below the national average last year. Leaders carefully analysed the reasons for this and have raised the profile of the importance of good attendance. This year’s attendance to date is in line with the national average.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Pupils’ work demonstrates that the majority of pupils make good progress across a range of subjects. Consistently high staff expectations ensure that most pupils produce work commensurate with their ability. Leaders have invested in analysing the skills pupils need to access the curriculum and have devised a tiering system of activities that helps pupils to set themselves appropriate challenges.  Pupils demonstrate their ability to reflect on their work and make improvements, sometimes with the support of teachers or peers. This is done routinely, so that pupils are clear about expectations. Teachers ensure that a range of tools are available to help pupils, including word banks, topic sentences, planning sheets or oracy cards. These encourage pupils to stretch and challenge themselves.  Pupils spoken to said that they bring in their own books from home. ‘Love Literacy’ events encourage pupils to participate in a shared literacy activity across a week,

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Outcomes for pupils Good

including visiting speakers. For instance, recently pupils wrote political speeches, and some attended an after-school workshop delivered by a government speech writer. However, there is limited advice and guidance for those still at the early stages of learning to read.  The progress of pupils with SEND or those with below-age-related expectations on entry are more variable. Some need a more targeted programme that will enable them to learn how to read and/or write. Some need specific support with their handwriting or presentation. Others need work pitched at an appropriate cognitive level so that they do not require high levels of staff intervention to complete the task.

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Gender of pupils in 16 to 19 study programmes N/A

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School details

Of which, number on roll in 16 to 19 study programmes N/A

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School details

Appropriate authority The board of trustees

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School details

Email address administration@ealingfields.org.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Ealing Fields High School is a free school which opened in September 2016. Initially it was set up by a parent-led group. In the spring of 2017, school governors sought the support of the Twyford Church of England Trust. The school became part of the trust, comprising four secondary schools, in September 2017. It is sponsored by the Diocese of London.  The school currently has pupils in Years 7 to 9 and is situated in temporary accommodation, while its permanent site is adapted.  Boys represent over half of the school population.  Over a third of the pupils are known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which is above average.  Almost a third of pupils speak English as an additional language, which is above average.  A minority of pupils receive special educational needs support.  The proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan is below the national average.  No pupils attend alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching, learning and assessment across all year groups and in a wide range of subjects. They made most of these visits jointly with senior leaders. Inspectors heard pupils read and talked to pupils about their reading. Inspectors visited tutor periods, and watched an assembly and an after-school literacy activity.  Inspectors met with a trust director, the chair of governors and a parent governor. They met with the executive headteacher and the associate headteacher to discuss their plans for school improvement.  Three groups of pupils met formally with inspectors to present their views of the school. Inspectors talked to pupils during recreational times and during lessons.  Inspectors met with leaders and staff, both formally and informally.  Inspectors took account of the 121 responses to Parent View, 27 responses to the staff survey and 26 responses to the pupil survey.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection team scrutinised a wide range of documentation including: records related to pupils’ behaviour and attendance; minutes of meetings; assessment information on the progress made by pupils; the school’s self-evaluation; and school development plan.  Inspectors reviewed safeguarding records, policies and procedures, including referrals to external agencies.

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Inspection team

Helen Matthews, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Yvonne Chisholm Ofsted Inspector guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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Inspection team

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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Inspection team

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted .

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Inspection team

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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