Ark Burlington Danes Academy

Inspection of Ark Burlington Danes Academy Wood Lane, London W12 0HR

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Sixth-form provision Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 13 and 14 July 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

From early years to the sixth form, pupils at Ark Burlington Danes treat each other with care and respect. Pupils are polite, friendly, and engage with adults well. This is a school where leaders develop pupils’ character and prepare them well for the next stage of their education. Teachers seek to know and understand every pupil, and pupils have adults who are always there to help them. Pupils are safe here.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Pupils meet these expectations most of the time. They behave well. Bullying is quite rare and, when it does happen, leaders deal with it effectively. Pupils mix with each other happily and enjoy socialising at lunch and break times. This is a calm and purposeful school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children in early years are enthusiastic about their learning and older pupils work hard in lessons. Teachers help pupils to develop their knowledge and understanding. They give pupils the individual support they need. Pupils welcome this.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders want to provide pupils with new and enriching experiences. There are trips to museums and many opportunities to develop leadership qualities. These include roles as anti-bullying ambassadors, student council representatives and sixth-form reading buddies.

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better?

School leaders and governors share a vision of an inclusive, high-quality education for all pupils. They have high aspirations for pupils and want to give them every opportunity to succeed. School leaders have been supported by the trust to sustain improvement over recent years. Leaders have prioritised professional development, and this is developing teachers’ practice. Leaders engage well with parents, carers and pupils, seeking their views when planning improvements. Most staff feel valued and well supported.

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better?

Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum. Pupils develop subject-specific knowledge and skills in increasing depth and complexity. They work towards the same learning goals. This includes pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Teachers adapt the curriculum to support pupils with SEND to achieve these goals. Leaders have developed a curriculum that builds logically on what pupils have learned before. In early years, the curriculum goes beyond national expectations, preparing children well for Year 1. In the sixth form, leaders have established different course pathways. This allows students with a wide range of needs and interests to continue with their studies at the school.

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better?

Teachers use their subject knowledge well to help pupils’ learning. They explain new ideas and information clearly. This means that pupils are confident in completing independent work. In early years, teachers have high expectations of the vocabulary they want children to use. They model language for children and use resources that 13 and 14 July 2022

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support children’s development. For example, children use the climbing frames in the Year 1 and 2 area to help their physical development.

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Leaders have trained teachers in checking pupils’ understanding and securing pupils’ knowledge. They have also introduced regular feedback on pupils’ work. Teachers use some of these strategies well, for example starter activities and targeted questioning of pupils. However, some teachers are less confident in some of the other agreed strategies. In the sixth form, teachers use these strategies effectively. For example, A level geography students receive regular individual feedback. This helps them to develop their work to a high level, for example on tectonic hazards to communities.

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In early years and Years 1 and 2, trained staff teach phonics. Pupils read books that match the sounds they have learned. This means that pupils learn to read with fluency at an early age. Pupils also take books home so that a family member can read to them. This helps pupils to develop a love of reading and a curiosity for learning. Phonics is also taught to older pupils if they need to develop their fluency in reading. Leaders prioritise reading. They know its importance as a foundation for future learning.

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Pupils’ attitudes to learning are positive in all phases of the school. They are attentive to their teachers and focus on their work. Leaders do not tolerate any disruption to learning. When low-level disruption does occur, teachers use the school’s behaviour policy to deal with it. In early years, pupils learn how to describe their feelings. Adults support them to find resolutions to any disagreements.

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Leaders identify the needs of pupils with SEND well. They train staff in how to adapt their teaching for individual pupils. This ensures that teachers can meet the needs of these pupils. Teaching assistants support individual pupils with high needs in lessons. Pupils with SEND complete the same work as other pupils and achieve well.

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Leaders have developed a well-designed programme for pupils’ personal development. Pupils regularly revisit issues such as relationships and equality and diversity. They learn about key issues and topics in a variety of ways. For example, in the primary phase, teachers choose stories that help pupils to understand difference. In the secondary phase, national organisations lead mental health workshops for pupils. Secondary pupils receive careers information, education and guidance from Year 7 to the sixth form. This helps them to make well-informed choices about their future.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have established a strong culture of safeguarding. They train staff in all aspects of safeguarding and give weekly updates to maintain staff knowledge. Staff know how to report concerns and who they must report them to. Leaders identify risks to pupils well. They are quick to secure the help pupils need and work well with 13 and 14 July 2022

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other organisations to achieve this. Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe through a well-designed curriculum. They revisit key topics frequently at an age- appropriate level. Leaders also work with parents to raise their awareness of local safeguarding risks.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some teachers do not use a wide enough range of strategies to check pupils’ understanding and provide feedback. This results in some pupils not securing essential knowledge in their long-term memory. Leaders should ensure that they build on the training already provided for teachers, to embed the school’s approach to assessment.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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. 13 and 14 July 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10227413 Type of school All-through

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provision

Number of pupils on the school roll 1185

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sixth form

Date of previous inspection 26 February 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is a Church of England academy in the London diocese. The school’s last section 48 inspection took place in January 2020.  The school uses three registered alternative providers, Ormiston Bridge Academy, West Thames College and Westside School.  The school meets the requirements of section 42B of the Education Act 1997 (the ‘Baker clause’) which came into force in January 2018. The school provides opportunities, as required by law, for a range of education and training providers to speak to pupils in Years 8 to 11 to inform them about technical educational qualifications and apprenticeships. 13 and 14 July 2022

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Information about this inspection

The inspector(s) carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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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 school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation.  Inspectors met with the principal, the headteacher of the primary phase, members of the leadership team, other school leaders, trust leaders, members of the local governing body, and a representative from the diocese.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, English, mathematics, history and physical education. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also spoke with subject leaders for science and modern foreign languages. They visited lessons in these subjects, sixth-form lessons across a range of subjects, and early years classes.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors met with the school’s designated safeguarding leads. They looked at safeguarding documentation and record-keeping, including the single central record. Inspectors also spoke with staff and pupils about safeguarding.  Inspectors spoke to additional groups of pupils in relation to behaviour and attitudes, and personal development.  Inspectors considered the 31 responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey, 70 responses to the staff survey and 45 responses to the online survey for parents, Parent View.

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Inspection team

Ian Rawstorne, lead inspector Her Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Ray Lau Ofsted Inspector 13 and 14 July 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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