Hawksmoor School

Inspection of Hawksmoor School Bentham Road, Thamesmead, London SE28 8AS

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Inspection dates: 18 and 19 October 2023

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

The headteacher of this school is James Thompson. This school is part of Endeavour Partnership Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Jo Marchant, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Steve Wheatley. 18 and 19 October 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, staff and parents and/or carers acknowledge the significant improvements that leaders have recently introduced. One parent, reflecting the views of many, said: ‘We love this school, including the teachers, the engagement from the leadership team with everyone, and the positive effect this school has on our children.’ Leaders include them all in making this a community where pupils thrive. Strong professional relationships with staff encourage pupils to report any concerns and feel safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious for all pupils to achieve highly. Pupils do particularly well in reading and mathematics. Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary. The school encourages them to be kind, resilient and to work with others. Pupils are considerate of the feelings and needs of others. They readily offer help, and they take care of one another by including others at playtime. Pupils take up positions of responsibility, including through the school council.

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What is it like to attend this school?

A programme of visits and visitors enhances the planned curriculum, including outings to a local nature reserve and visits from artists. Leaders provide a range of opportunities to broaden pupils’ experiences and interests, including clubs for French, dance, football, basketball and multi-sports. Pupils take part in concerts, poetry competitions and sporting events. Pupils are encouraged to make a positive contribution to the local community by, for example, designing Christmas cards for a local community care service.

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better?

The school has devised a broad curriculum that is ambitious for all, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders have swiftly identified and addressed gaps in the curriculum. Staff are emphatically positive about the changes leaders have made. They appreciate the support for their workload and well-being. For example, there are deliberate, carefully planned opportunities for reasoning and problem-solving in mathematics.

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better?

Generally, the subject content that pupils need to know has been carefully selected and ordered into a sequence that enables them to reach ambitious end points. Typically, teaching and support are precisely focused on the main aims of the curriculum.

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better?

Checks on all pupils’ learning are used to measure pupils’ understanding and to inform future learning. All this helps pupils to learn the important ‘big ideas’ of the curriculum and build cumulative knowledge across different subjects. For example, pupils in Year 6 drew reliably on prior knowledge of place value, multiplication and addition when solving long multiplication. This learning starts in the early years, where children practise and embed key knowledge, such as counting forward and backwards and singing number songs. 18 and 19 October 2023

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Curriculum thinking in other subjects is not as well developed, and teaching is less securely focused on helping pupils to learn key concepts and remember and refine their knowledge over time, including in early years. As a result, sometimes, pupils struggle to recall their prior learning.

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Concepts are explained clearly in class. Information is presented in ways that pupils find easy to understand, and learning helps pupils to understand key ideas. Teaching helps pupils to recall important prior learning and to build new content on what they already know and understand. For example, in history, pupils in Year 6 compared the leadership of civilizations, empires and kingdoms by drawing on what they had learned about the Roman Empire in Year 4 and about ancient Islamic civilizations in Year 5.

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Leaders have made reading a top curriculum priority. All staff have received comprehensive training to teach reading. The school regularly checks how well pupils are learning to read. Pupils read books that are carefully matched to their phonics knowledge. This supports their reading fluency. The school identifies any pupils who fall behind in phonics and provides support so that they catch up quickly. Pupils enjoy reading. Carefully selected texts help to broaden pupils’ vocabulary and knowledge.

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The needs of pupils with SEND are carefully identified. Teachers make thoughtful adaptations to resources and teaching that help pupils with SEND to follow the curriculum.

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Pupils are attentive, engaged and motivated in the classroom. They do not give up easily when they find tasks demanding. In early years, children are taught to share and take turns, which encourages children’s social and emotional development.

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Pupils are encouraged to make safe, informed, responsible choices. They are taught to recognise healthy relationships and about the beliefs, cultures and traditions of people from diverse backgrounds. Pupils are made aware of the importance of treating everyone equally and with respect.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Where the curriculum is less well developed, pupils are not helped to learn the main aims of the curriculum as securely as in other subjects, and their knowledge and recall are less strong than in other subjects. The school should ensure that curriculum thinking in all foundation subjects is equally strong as in other subjects. 18 and 19 October 2023

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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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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 18 and 19 October 2023

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CEO of the trust

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school opened in April 2021 and is part of the Endeavour Partnership Trust.  Since the last inspection of the predecessor school, also called Hawksmoor School, where it was graded to be inadequate overall, there have been changes to leadership, including a new headteacher.  The school does not make use of alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

In accordance with section 13(5) of the Education Act 2005, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires significant improvement. 18 and 19 October 2023

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 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, physical education and history.  For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum 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 looked at curriculum information in some other subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive

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culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher and other leaders, including leaders who work within the trust. Inspectors also met with leaders with responsibility for SEND, behaviour and attendance, early years and pupils’ personal development.  Inspectors met with representatives from the local governing body and the trust board.  Inspectors considered responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for parents, staff and pupils.

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Inspection team

Rebecca Iles-Smith, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Sabrina Edwards His Majesty’s Inspector 18 and 19 October 2023

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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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