Endeavour Academy Bexley

Inspection of a good school: Endeavour Academy Bexley Woodside Road, Bexleyheath, Kent DA7 6LB

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Outcome

Endeavour Academy Bexley continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy their lessons and like coming to school. When they first come to the school, pupils have often had a difficult start to their education. They may find it hard to concentrate on academic work or to make and keep friends. School leaders and staff have high expectations for every pupil. They have planned a curriculum which helps pupils to learn and remember their lessons. This means that when pupils leave the school at the end of Year 11, they have made progress in their learning. They can also manage their emotions and feelings better, so that they are ready to move on to college.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils like the adults who work at the school. They feel safe at school and are glad that adults deal with any unkind behaviour straight away. Pupils learn to talk about their thoughts and feelings and get better and better at this as they get older.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Trips and visits are starting to happen again, which pupils are very happy about. Years 10 and 11 recently went on a residential trip and were able to have a say about what activities they took part in.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

School staff are clear about what they want pupils to know and remember. The curriculum has a focus on academic skills because most pupils want to go on to local colleges. Subjects are well sequenced and have opportunities for pupils to revisit knowledge. The curriculum goes beyond the academic and prepares pupils well for the future. Pupils learn many important life skills, such as how to develop their resilience, keep themselves safe and be independent.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Sometimes, the links between subjects and support for pupils’ social and emotional skills could be stronger. This worked well when staff used Mary Shelley’s book ‘Frankenstein’ to help pupils explore how it feels to be labelled or to be misunderstood. This linkage is not as strong across all subject areas. 8 and 9 February 2022

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Teachers make lessons interesting and relevant to pupils. Sometimes lessons are disrupted because pupils find it hard to manage their own behaviour. When this happens, adults deal with the behaviour in a consistent and calm way, so that the lesson can carry on. Over time, pupils learn how to get on better with each other and how to talk through problems.

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All pupils at the school need extra support, understanding and expert help to fulfil their potential. The staff are a strength of the school. They understand the subjects they teach very well. They also understand pupils’ special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) very well. Some pupils start at the school with weak reading skills for their age. Staff identify these gaps and put extra support in place straight away. They also check carefully that pupils remember what they have learned. Staff encourage all pupils to read often and there is a wide range of appropriate, high-quality books.

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Most parents and carers who responded to the Ofsted survey are very happy with the school. Leaders listen and respond to any concerns that they may have. Parents miss coming into school. They are looking forward to the return of face-to-face meetings.

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Leaders at all levels, including governors, know the school very well. Staff appreciate the improving consistency of policies and processes. They like working at the school and feel that leaders listen and support them.

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The wider development of pupils is a strength. The curriculum includes many opportunities for pupils to have fulfilling and enriching experiences. These opportunities happen in the classroom and out in the community. Examples include residential trips, field trips, visits to theatres and sports facilities. Pupils enjoy the wide range of extra- curricular activities that the school runs. Pupils receive therapies which help them to understand their emotions better. These include speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and the very popular dog mentoring. ‘I absolutely love it,’ was one pupil’s response.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have a rigorous approach to safeguarding. All staff know their pupils very well and they notice straight away if anything is wrong.

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Safeguarding

If a pupil needs extra help, leaders arrange this. Sometimes pupils need help from external agencies as well. Leaders and staff work very well with these other agencies and make sure the right support is in place. There are thorough checks on staff who work at the school. Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe through the well-planned curriculum. 8 and 9 February 2022

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Sometimes, links between subjects and pupils’ personal development are not explicit. This means that pupils do not have as many opportunities to develop socially and emotionally as they could, and some barriers to learning remain. Leaders should make meaningful links between subjects, including those that support and develop pupils’ social and emotional skills.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Oakwood School, to be good in June 2016.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

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. 8 and 9 February 2022

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School details

School category Academy special converter

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School details

Chair of governing body Denise James-Mason

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School details

Headteacher Margaret Rozario (Head of School)

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School details

Website http://endeavourbexley.org.uk/endeavour

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school does not use any alternative provision.  The school meets the needs of pupils with social, emotional and mental health difficulties.  Endeavour Academy converted to become an academy school in November 2017. When its predecessor school, Oakwood School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good overall.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the chief executive and deputy chief executive of the trust, the chair of the board of trustees, the trust’s safeguarding lead, the chair of governors, the head of school, the deputy head of school, both assistant heads of school and the school business manager. The inspectors also met the local authority deputy director 8 and 9 February 2022

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for achievement and inclusion and the head of 0 to 25 SEND and targeted youth service.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, humanities and art. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  When evaluating the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors looked at the school’s systems, safeguarding records, relevant policies and procedures and spoke to a sample of pupils, staff and parents. Inspectors spoke to the chair of governors, who is also the safeguarding trustee on the board of governors, the trust-wide safeguarding lead and designated leads for safeguarding.  Inspectors looked at responses to Ofsted Parent View and to the surveys of staff and pupils.

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Inspection team

Gary Pocock, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Tom Canning Ofsted Inspector 8 and 9 February 2022

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regulates and inspects to 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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