Enfield County School for Girls

Dates of inspection: 11 – 14 December 2000

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Short inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 This report may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that all extracts quoted are reproduced verbatim without adaptation and on condition that the source and date thereof are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the School Inspections Act 1996, the school must provide a copy of this report and/or its summary free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. Enfield County School - 3 INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

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School address: Holly Walk Enfield Middlesex

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Name of chair of governors: Miss Phyllis Oborn

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Date of previous inspection: 6 March 1995 Enfield County School - 4 INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

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Team members 2686 Brian Oppenheim Registered inspector 9502 Rosalind Hall Lay inspector 2731 Penny Holden Team inspector 12003 Andrew Marfleet Team inspector 22026 Mary Clark Team inspector 10153 Graham Soar Team inspector

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360 Lee Valley Technopark Ashley Road London N17 9LN

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Any concerns or complaints about the inspection or the report should be raised with the inspection contractor. Complaints that are not satisfactorily resolved by the contractor should be raised with OFSTED by writing to:

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The Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division

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Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Enfield County School - 5 REPORT CONTENTS

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 6

Information about the school How good the school is What the school does well What could be improved How the school has improved since its last inspection Standards Pupils’ attitudes and values Teaching and learning Other aspects of the school How well the school is led and managed Parents’ and carers’ views of the school

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS 17

Enfield County School - 6 PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Enfield County School is a large secondary school for 1,121 girls aged between 11 and 18, including 188 in the sixth form. The school is on two sites about one mile apart: one is for pupils aged 11 – 14 and the other for pupils and students aged 14 - 18. Pupils come from many different primary schools, some as far away as Hackney and Hertfordshire, and from many different ethnic groups. About two thirds of the pupils are classified as white, including many of Greek and Turkish origin: a third of pupils come from a wide range of other ethnic backgrounds, including pupils from Black, Black-Caribbean and Bangladeshi heritages, making the school genuinely multi-cultural.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Some 14 per cent of pupils are eligible to claim free school meals: this is very similar to most schools. The proportion of pupils with special learning needs is less than in other schools but the number who need extra help with their learning is typical. Three hundred and twenty six pupils (30 per cent) have English as an additional language, of whom 241 (24 per cent) receive support with their language learning. These proportions are relatively large but most pupils are fluent English speakers. When pupils start at the school their attainment is slightly above average.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

Enfield County is a good school. Strong leadership, the very successful way the school develops pupils’ excellent attitudes to learning and the expectation of hard work all mean that the school turns out confident and well educated young women. All these factors combine to ensure that the school gives good value for money.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

What the school does well • GCSE and National Curriculum tests results are very high. • Teachers expect and achieve very high standards of behaviour and have excellent relationships with pupils. • Strong leadership and good management create a positive culture of success: girls are valued as individuals, take great pride in their school and leave as confident young women. • Pupils’ attitudes to school are always very good: they work hard, concentrate in lessons and take learning seriously. • Pupils’ personal development is very good: assemblies are used very effectively to promote the school’s strong culture.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

What could be improved • Make all the teaching and learning as good as the best in the school. • Make the pursuit of improvement more methodical: the school is committed to excellence but the way it evaluates what it is doing well, and what it could do better, needs to be sharper . • Improve standards in the sixth form The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

The school has successfully raised standards and improved the quality of education since the last inspection in March 1995. GCSE results have improved at a faster rate than other schools and performance has been well above average for the last four or five years. The school has tackled most of the areas identified for action in the last inspection thoroughly. Enfield County School - 7 Teaching has improved: work is more suited to pupils’ abilities and teachers use a wider range of teaching methods but there are still too many lessons where the variety of activities and pace of learning could be improved. By using its money wisely to buy new computers and refurbish classrooms, the school is making good progress in improving the teaching and use of information and communication technology (ICT). The governing body has strengthened its procedures and has effective committees responsible for the curriculum,

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

finance and staffing and premises. The school meets statutory requirements.

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by 16 and 18 year olds based on average point scores in GCSE and A-level/AS-level examinations.

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schools

1998 1999 2000 2000 above average average B C GCSE examinations A A A A below average well below average D E

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schools

Standards at Enfield County are very high. In 2000 girls’ results in the National Curriculum tests at the end of Year 9 were well above average and very high for similar schools. English results were best because more pupils reached the higher levels than in other schools. The results in English are in the top five per cent of similar schools. In mathematics results were average and fell slightly from 1999: this was mainly because fewer pupils reached the top levels than in other schools but results were still high for similar schools. In science results were above average: they fell slightly from previous years but remain very high for similar schools.

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schools

Pupils achieve very well in GCSE examinations at the age of 16 and in 2000 results were well above average and very high for similar schools. One of the reasons why results are so good is that all pupils get at least one GCSE pass and nearly all gain five or more passes. The proportion of pupils gaining at least five GCSE passes puts the school in the highest five per cent of all schools in the country: this illustrates the impact of the school’s strong culture of success. Taking the last three years’ results together pupils have achieved well above the average: results are clearly getting better and the rate of this improvement is faster than the national picture. The school easily met its targets for 2000 suggesting that future targets need to be more demanding and based on a thorough analysis of examination results and pupils’ progress. Standards are particularly strong in English, science and design and

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schools

technology but they are strong in nearly every subject. Even in subjects where results were below average for top A* - C grades, more pupils sat the examinations than in other schools: in Spanish, for example, nearly seven times as many pupils sat the GCSE examination than in the country as a whole.

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schools

Students’ attainment in the 2000 GCE Advanced level and AS level courses was below average. Attainment has been below average for the last four or five years but the gap between the school’s results and the national results is closing year on year. Fewer students gain the top grades A and B than is the case nationally: this is partly because the school Enfield County School - 8 allows girls to start the sixth form with lower GCSE grades than other schools as part of its commitment to all pupils. It is also because teaching is not as effective as it is in the rest of the school. All pupils who took a vocational course (GNVQ) achieved a qualification.

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schools

The work seen in lessons confirms the positive picture given by the examination results. Girls of all abilities and ethnic backgrounds attain high standards. Their high achievements stem from the way the school creates a very positive climate for learning and because teachers have very good relationships with their pupils: the girls are very eager to learn and to do well.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Consistently very good: pupils take great pride in the school and its achievements.

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Aspect Comment

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Excellent because teachers set very high standards.

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Aspect Comment

Personal development and relationships Excellent: pupils are extremely polite and courteous and have very positive relationships with each other and their teachers.

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Aspect Comment

Attendance Good: above average over the last three years.

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Aspect Comment

Pupils’ attitudes, behaviour and relationships are all strengths of the school. This is because teachers treat pupils with respect and because there is a strong culture of success: pupils are expected to behave well and are valued as individuals. As a result pupils take their learning seriously and value their teachers and what they teach.

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Teaching of pupils: aged 11-14 years aged 14-16 years aged over 16 years

Lessons seen overall Good Good Satisfactory

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Teaching of pupils: aged 11-14 years aged 14-16 years aged over 16 years

Inspectors make judgements about teaching in the range: excellent; very good; good; satisfactory; unsatisfactory; poor; very poor. ‘Satisfactory’ means that the teaching is adequate and strengths outweigh weaknesses.

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Teaching of pupils: aged 11-14 years aged 14-16 years aged over 16 years

Ninety five per cent of lessons were at least satisfactory, 56 per cent were at least good and 18 per cent were very good or excellent. Just five per cent, or three lessons, were unsatisfactory. The good teaching in Years 7 to 11 is one of the reasons why girls achieve so well in their GCSE examinations. Teachers establish excellent relationships with girls and value and respect their needs. In turn, pupils respect their teachers and are confident about asking for help if they do not understand something: pupils take the business of learning very seriously. This also means that the needs of those with particular learning or language needs are met effectively. Teachers set very high standards of behaviour and expect the girls to work hard: as a result pupils are very highly motivated, and are eager to learn and to do well. These factors, and the extremely successful way the school develops pupils’

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Teaching of pupils: aged 11-14 years aged 14-16 years aged over 16 years

attitudes, have a very strong impact on pupils’ learning: girls apply themselves very well to their work and, as a result, achieve high standards. Lessons are well organised: work done in previous lessons, and as homework, is used well to develop the girls’ knowledge and skills. Enfield County School - 9 Again, this helps pupils to make good progress with their learning and achieve high standards.

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Teaching of pupils: aged 11-14 years aged 14-16 years aged over 16 years

Despite these strong features there are some weaknesses even in those lessons that are otherwise satisfactory. As a result the link between teaching and pupils’ learning is not always strong enough and this means that sometimes girls’ achievements are sound and should be better. Quite often teachers do not set out clearly enough what pupils are to learn by the end of the lesson: the upshot is that the lesson runs out of steam and the last 10 minutes or so are not used effectively. Similarly, teachers do not always evaluate pupils’ progress thoroughly enough and, as a result, do not plan the work to match carefully the girls’ needs. These factors are about consistency: the way lessons are planned and the checks made on pupils’ progress vary too much from lesson to lesson. This means that teaching does not always make as much impact on learning as it should. This is so in the sixth form, where standards are below average, and in mathematics where pupils’ performance at the

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Teaching of pupils: aged 11-14 years aged 14-16 years aged over 16 years

end of Year 9 is lower than in English and science. In a few Year 7 lessons, not enough emphasis is given to the girls’ achievements in their primary schools.

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum Satisfactory: the curriculum is appropriately broad and balanced.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils with special educational needs Good: provision is managed well; staff give good support to pupils who achieve well as a result.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils with English as an additional language Good: pupils with English as an additional language are supported well so that they are able to understand what is happening in lessons and gain access to learning.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Very good: the excellent way the school promotes moral and social awareness makes a very strong contribution to girls’ personal development and their very good behaviour. Provision for developing pupils’ spiritual awareness and cultural understanding is very good.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its pupils Good: pupils’ behaviour, attendance and personal development are good but their progress is not always checked carefully enough.

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Aspect Comment

Assemblies are extremely well organised and promote the school’s values and beliefs very effectively: as a result they make a powerful contribution to pupils’ personal development. The arrangements for teaching religious education in Years 10 and 11 just meet legal requirements but the extension course as a whole lacks rigour. The way pupils’ progress is monitored and tracked is patchy: it does not give the school enough information about how pupils progress and learn. Enfield County School - 10

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff The charismatic leadership of the headteacher and the very effective support of senior managers mean that there is a strong culture of success in all that the school does.

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Aspect Comment

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities The governing body fulfils its responsibilities effectively: governors support the school well and have a sound grasp of its strengths and weaknesses.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s evaluation of its performance Satisfactory: teaching is monitored carefully as part of its appraisal and development programme but the way it evaluates the impact of teaching on learning and the analysis of pupils’ achievements need to be sharper.

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Aspect Comment

The strategic use of resources The school makes effective use of its resources and spending is linked to its plans for development: a rolling programme of refurbishment has been successful in improving the quality of the accommodation.

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Aspect Comment

The strong leadership and management make a very forceful contribution to the school’s examination results, the excellent relationships and the girls’ extremely positive attitudes to learning. The principles of best value are being developed appropriately.

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

• What pleases parents most • What parents would like to see

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improved

• Their children are expected to work hard and achieve their best. • Their children like school. • The girls make good progress. • The school is well led and managed. • They feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. • The school helps their children become mature and responsible. • The support for pupils with special needs. • Girls’ preparation for the sixth form and the teaching they receive there. • The work in Year 7 does not build on what pupils know. • Care for sick girls.

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improved

Parents’ responses overall were very positive. At the meeting parents said that any concerns they had were merely niggles rather than major problems. The inspection team agrees with parents’ positive views of the school. Sixth formers are also positive and speak about how the differences between school and the sixth form have helped them to develop their independence and confidence. The inspection team agrees with parents that teaching in the sixth form could be more effective and that some girls find the change very difficult and both of these has an adverse effect on standards. Girls on the lower school site sometimes have to wait in the dining hall when they feel sick which is not the most appropriate place. Lessons in Year 7 occasionally lack pace because girls are not expected to do as much work as they could. Enfield County School - 11 PART B: COMMENTARY

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

GCSE and National Curriculum test results are very high.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

1. Pupils’ achievements are a little higher than average when they start at Enfield County School in Year 7. Girls learn very effectively as they move through the school: as a result the standards they achieve in the national tests at the end of Year 9 and in their GCSE examinations are very high. This is because of the very successful way the school develops girls’ attitudes to learning and the excellent relationships teachers have with their pupils. Together, these characteristics have a strong impact on standards: girls approach their learning very seriously and develop a good range of social, academic, physical and creative skills. This is confirmed very clearly in the work seen during the inspection.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

2. In 2000 girls’ results in the National Curriculum tests at the end of Year 9 were well above average and very high for similar schools. Results have been very high for the past four years: they are best in English where performance has been consistently very high but have fluctuated between average and well above average in mathematics. In 2000, English results were best because more pupils reached the higher levels than in other schools. The results in English are in the top five per cent of those schools that are like Enfield County where the proportion of pupils entitled for free school meals is broadly similar. In mathematics results were average and fell slightly from 1999: this was mainly because fewer pupils reached the top levels than in other schools but results were still high for similar schools. In science results were above average: they fell slightly from previous years but remain very high for similar schools.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

3. Pupils achieve very well in GCSE examinations at the age of 16 and in 2000 results were well above average and very high for similar schools. One of the reasons why results are so good is that all pupils get at least one GCSE pass and nearly all gain five or more passes. All pupils, for example, gained at least a pass in both English and mathematics. Indeed, the proportion of pupils gaining at least five GCSE passes puts the school in the highest five per cent of all schools in the country: this illustrates the impact of the school’s strong culture of success. In 2000 nearly 64 per cent of pupils gained at least five GCSEs at the top grades compared with 47.4 per cent nationally. These results are slightly lower than those for 1998 and quite a lot lower than those for 1999 when 81 per cent of pupils gained these higher grades. However, the trend over the past six years is still upwards and the rate

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

of improvement is faster than the national picture: this is a very considerable achievement given that results are so high to start with. Standards are particularly strong in English, science and design and technology but they are strong in nearly every subject. Even in subjects where results were below for top A* - C grades, more pupils sat the examinations than in other schools: in Spanish, for example, nearly seven time as many pupils sat the GCSE examination than in the country as a whole. The school easily met its targets for 2000 but were below the average for the last five years.

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Teachers expect and achieve very high standards of behaviour and have excellent

4. Pupils’ behaviour and the relationships they have with their teachers are strengths of the school. This is because teachers treat pupils with respect and because they manage pupils very well in lessons: pupils are expected to behave well and are valued as individuals. As a result pupils take their learning seriously and hold their teachers, and what they teach, in high regard. Enfield County School - 12 5. Teachers expect pupils always to behave well and rarely have any difficulty establishing good behaviour in their classrooms. This means that learning nearly always takes place in a calm and sensible atmosphere and lessons begin promptly with little fuss. In a Year 9 religious education lesson, for example, work started very promptly with homework and moved swiftly to discussion and then a video, followed by written work. This well planned lesson enabled the teacher to mange pupils effectively, and to use a range of different

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Teachers expect and achieve very high standards of behaviour and have excellent

approaches to stimulate and motivate them. This was particularly effective in keeping pupils’ attention and helping them to discuss some quite difficult ideas.

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Teachers expect and achieve very high standards of behaviour and have excellent

6. Standards of behaviour are consistently very high in lessons and around the school. These stem directly from the way teachers expect pupils always to be on their best behaviour and the very good relationships they have with the girls. Coupled with the very good attitudes pupils have for the school, these characteristics make the school a place where learning is encouraged and where there is a commitment to developing confident and well-educated young women. In a Year 7 art lesson, the professional and knowledgeable manner in which the work was presented, the teacher’s obvious enthusiasm for the girls’ learning, and the positive working atmosphere in the room all helped to motivate pupils: as a result the girls worked hard and made excellent progress.

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Teachers expect and achieve very high standards of behaviour and have excellent

7. The very good relationships that teachers have with pupils and students are a particularly strong feature of all the teaching. Pupils respond very well to teachers who treat them with respect and value them as real people. In a Year 13 science lesson, for example, the excellent relationships contributed very strongly to students’ learning: they knew exactly what to do, what was expected of them and how much time they had to complete their discussions about health and diet. Similarly, in a Year 9 science lesson, the excellent relationships that the teacher had established with pupils, the expectations and the teacher’s enthusiasm were all used very effectively to challenge pupils and ensure that their achievement was high.

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Teachers expect and achieve very high standards of behaviour and have excellent

8. In a mathematics lesson in Year 9 the very good relationships between the teacher and pupils meant that the teacher was able to question pupils and discuss problems in way that helped them to understand concepts about geometry. In another mathematics lesson, in Year 7, both the teacher and pupils showed great respect to a pupil who answered a question wrongly: another pupil gently provided the correct solution which the teacher recorded on the board. What was significant was that the whole lesson was conducted in an atmosphere of mutual respect. This is the heart of the matter: the very good relationships, the care and respect shown to pupils and the way teachers expect pupils to always behave well all come together in lessons and create a very positive climate for learning. Most significantly this ensures that not only do pupils hold their teachers in high esteem, they want to work hard, behave well and live up to their teachers’ expectations of them. In a Year 11 modern

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Teachers expect and achieve very high standards of behaviour and have excellent

languages lesson, for example, the teacher used her French very effectively to encourage learning at a high level: the very good rapport the teacher had with the girls meant that she was able to joke in French which the pupils responded to very enthusiastically. This motivated pupils well and ensured they listened carefully: as a result learning was very good.

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are valued as individuals, take great pride in their school and leave as confident

9. The effective way the school is led and managed is central to the success of Enfield County School. The determined leadership of the headteacher and the way she is very successfully supported by senior managers means that there is a strong culture of success in all that the school does. This determination means that everyone in the school, from governors through teachers and pupils to parents, share its values and beliefs. A good Enfield County School - 13 example of this is the way the girls talk about the school and how they have benefited from what it has to offer. One girl, for example, said how the school had helped her get over her shyness whilst others felt that it offered lots of opportunities for learning. Even when encouraged to identify areas that they would like to see improved, the girls’ suggestions were always positive and well considered: one felt, for example, that it would be helpful to learn a

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are valued as individuals, take great pride in their school and leave as confident

wider range of foreign languages rather than just Romance languages.

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are valued as individuals, take great pride in their school and leave as confident

10. The strong leadership is also very effective in promoting and valuing individuals. The way that teachers know their pupils well and have time for them as individuals illustrates this clearly. Members of the senior management team, for example, mentor girls who are finding school difficult. This attention to the detail of each pupil and their achievements is one of the reasons why girls respond so positively and why the school is successful in creating such a affirmative culture for learning. A very strong example of the school’s commitment to learning is the performance at GCSE: not only did nearly all pupils achieve at least five GCSE passes in 2000 but they all gained passes in English and mathematics. Similarly, the way pupils regularly collect money for different charities illustrates the very positive way the school promotes strong values about caring for others. Pupils take great pride in their achievements

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are valued as individuals, take great pride in their school and leave as confident

and raise considerable amounts of money. Both examples demonstrate the school’s commitment to helping everyone achieve their best: this commitment is one of the main reasons why girls leave as confident young women.

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are valued as individuals, take great pride in their school and leave as confident

11. Another feature that has contributed much to the culture of learning is the way the school, together with the governing body and the community, has made significant improvements to the buildings and to classrooms. The new building, for example, provides good quality surroundings in which learning can take place successfully. That there is a continuing programme of refurbishment also attests to the school’s commitment to continually looking to improve what it offers girls.

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Pupils’ attitudes to school are always very good: they work hard, concentrate in

12. Pupils’ attitudes to learning are one of the school’s main strengths. They are the result of the very good relationships that teachers have with the girls, the ethos of success and the strong management. The upshot of all this is that pupils come to school ready to learn and wanting to develop their knowledge and skills. They are very keen to get on with their work: a particular feature of lessons is that they nearly always start on time because the girls are rarely late. Indeed, in many cases the girls arrive early to lessons, after morning break or lunch time. A common feature of most lessons is the interest pupils take in what the teachers say and in the subject they are learning. They show a curiosity and a desire to know more and they believe their efforts will result in progress. In a Year 11 physical education lesson on helping pupils become junior sports leaders, the excellent relationships

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Pupils’ attitudes to school are always very good: they work hard, concentrate in

meant that girls were very keen to do well, worked very productively together and were well motivated. This helped them to make very good progress in their learning so that by the end of the lesson all were able to show improvement in their work.

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Pupils’ attitudes to school are always very good: they work hard, concentrate in

13. Pupils are always ready to work hard and want to improve their skills and increase their knowledge. In a Year 7 English lesson with a focus on reading, the good rapport the teacher had with the class enabled pupils to read confidently and with a sense of enjoyment. A Year 12 health and social care lesson was very successful in getting pupils to discuss social class: the thorough planning, which set out clearly what pupils were to achieve, the range of activities and the brisk pace all combined to interest pupils and promote learning effectively. The good use of assessment gave girls a clear indication of how well they had achieved and how to improve: this was also very effective in promoting pupils’ motivation and learning. Enfield County School - 14 14. In nearly all lessons pupils concentrate very well. They show a determination to succeed and to always persevere when faced with a difficult task or something new. A

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Pupils’ attitudes to school are always very good: they work hard, concentrate in

common characteristic of many lessons is the way pupils work together and are always ready to help each other. The sensitive way pupils fed back to each other in physical education, for example, or the way girls supported others in Spanish show not just an ability to concentrate and work hard but also a concern for others.

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Pupils’ personal development is very good: assemblies are used very effectively to

15. The very good way the school promotes and develops pupils’ spiritual, moral and social awareness, and their cultural understanding, makes an especially strong contribution to girls’ personal development and their very good behaviour. Everything the school does and the way it works day to day contributes to pupils’ personal development. A good example is the way classrooms are always left unlocked, and unsupervised, for pupils to use before school and at break and lunch times. That pupils always behave very well shows how successful the school is in not only promoting excellent attitudes but also in encouraging girls’ self-discipline and commitment to Enfield County and its culture. Another example is the way Muslim pupils, observing Ramadan during the inspection, were able to pray and relax without supervision during break and lunch times. Again, this showed how well pupils are able to manage themselves but it also shows that the school values the different cultural and

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Pupils’ personal development is very good: assemblies are used very effectively to

16. Assemblies are particularly effective in promoting the school’s values and its distinct culture. They are extremely well managed with pupils moving from classrooms to the hall in an efficient and dignified way: one minute the hall is empty, the next, girls are sitting in rows quietly ready to begin. One of the characteristics of this is that girls sit in their form groups one behind the other. The effect of this is to discourage talking and encourage listening: it illustrates, very effectively, the school’s careful and thoughtful approach to managing behaviour, and is very successful. Another very significant aspect of assemblies is the way they deal with important issues sensitively and in a way that values all the girls. In a lower school assembly, for example, several girls read a story about Christmas and emphasised its moral about giving. Merit badges were also given out, several pupils were given birthday

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Pupils’ personal development is very good: assemblies are used very effectively to

greetings and two girls spoke of a charity for which they were collecting. Together, these made a strong contribution to pupils’ moral development, to the school’s caring ethos and to the celebration of success.

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WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED

Make all the teaching and learning as good as the best in the school.

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WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED

17. Despite the good teaching in Years 7 to 11, and the strong features in many lessons, there are some weaknesses: as a result the link between teaching and pupils’ learning is not as close as it could be and girls’ achievements are sometimes less good. In a number of cases, teachers do not set out clearly enough what pupils are to learn by the end of the lesson: the upshot is that the lesson runs out of steam and the last 10 minutes or so are not used effectively. In a Year 9 lesson, for example, the pace of lesson slackened towards the end and the last 15 minutes or so was not very productive. In a Year 7 lesson not enough clarity about what pupils were to learn meant that the work was not really challenging enough. What is interesting about these lessons is that the teaching is satisfactory: what the lessons lack is a sharper focus on what the girls are to learn by the end of the lesson. Enfield County School - 15

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WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED

18. Similarly, teachers do not always evaluate pupils’ progress thoroughly enough and, as a result, do not plan the work to match carefully the girls’ needs. These factors are about consistency: too much variation in planning and evaluating pupils’ progress means that teaching does not always have a strong enough impact on learning. This is so in the sixth form, where standards are below average, and in mathematics where pupils’ performance at the end of Year 9 is not as good as English or science. In a few Year 7 lessons, not enough emphasis is given to the girls’ achievements in their primary schools. Again, this means that the work does not always take account of pupils’ prior learning. In one lesson the work was too simple: pupils worked at a fairly leisurely pace and were not really challenged.

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excellence but the way it evaluates what it is doing well, and what it could do better,

19. The school easily met its targets for 2000: given that the percentage of pupils gaining the top grades in GCSE has averaged 64.7 per cent over the past five years a target of 58 per cent is really not demanding enough. Part of the reason for this is that the school does not carry out a thorough analysis of examination results or pull together all the information and data it has about pupils’ progress at an early stage in the year.

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excellence but the way it evaluates what it is doing well, and what it could do better,

20. Teachers have a good knowledge of the achievements of pupils in their class but this information is not always used effectively to identify whether the girls are reaching their potential. That is not to say that the school is unclear about how well pupils are doing: it does know and standards are high. What it is lacking, however, is data about the patterns of achievements amongst different pupils, and groups of pupils, and the impact of teaching on both learning and standards. Linked to this is the way the school monitors and evaluates teaching: it has a programme of lesson observation, linked to appraisal and staff development, but the information is not used sharply enough to identify which methods are particularly successful, and which are less successful, in promoting learning.

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excellence but the way it evaluates what it is doing well, and what it could do better,

21. Combined, these weaknesses mean that the school’s methods for monitoring, evaluating and reviewing what it does well, and what needs to be improved, are not sharp enough. The school has the data, and much of the information, but has yet to put this together in a way that will give a clear picture for improvement: it is about making sense of all the data and information and drawing conclusions for improvement.

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Improve standards in the sixth form

22. Students’ attainment in the 2000 GCE Advanced level and AS level courses was below average. Attainment has been below average for the last four or five years but has been improving with the gap between the school’s results and the national results closing year on year. Fewer students gain the top grades A and B than is the case nationally: this is partly because the school deliberately allows girls to start the sixth form with lower GCSE grades than other schools as part of its commitment to promote the learning of all pupils. It is also partly because teaching does not have as much impact on students’ learning as it does in the rest of the school: the change in teaching style between Year 11 and Year12 makes it difficult for some pupils to adjust to different expectations and methods. Enfield County School - 16

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

23. The school and governors should now:

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(1) Make all the teaching and learning as good as the best in the school by:

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• identifying those methods that are particularly successful in promoting learning; • using assessment data and information to set clear objectives for learning; • in Year 7, building on pupils’ achievements in primary school.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(2) Make the pursuit of improvement more methodical by:

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• making the way it evaluates what it is doing well, and what it could do better, sharper; • using the available data and information to draw conclusions about priorities for improvement.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(3) Improve standards in the sixth form by:

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• raising the quality of teaching; • providing better induction at the start of Year 12; • using the information about progress to track students’ achievements and set clear targets. Enfield County School - 17 PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 6

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

The table gives the percentage of teaching observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about lessons.

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils on the school’s roll Y7 – Y11 Sixth form

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s roll 933 188

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of full-time pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 158

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Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs Y7 – Y11 Sixth form

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 13 2

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 167 7

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Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 326

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 29

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 36

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Attendance

National comparative data 7.7 National comparative data 1.1

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Attendance

Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. Enfield County School - 18

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 3

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 3 for the latest reporting year 2000 0 184 184

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 3

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 3

Boys n/a n/a n/a Numbers of pupils at NC level 5 and above Girls 167 136 125

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 3

Percentage of pupils School 91(78) 75 (71) 68 (76) at NC level 5 or above National 63 (63) 65 (62) 59 (55)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 3

Percentage of pupils School 56 (41) 44 (45) 33 (45) at NC level 6 or above National 28 (28) 42 (38) 30 (23)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 3

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 3

Boys n/a n/a n/a Numbers of pupils at NC level 5 and above Girls 140 122 131

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 3

Percentage of pupils School 77 (78) 67 (79) 73 (81) at NC level 5 or above National 64 (64) 66 (64) 62 (60)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 3

Percentage of pupils School 33 (55) 37 (52) 34 (52) at NC level 6 or above National 31 (31) 39 (37) 29 (28)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 3

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. Enfield County School - 19

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 4

Number of 15 year olds on roll in January of the latest reporting year 2000 0 183 183

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 4

GCSE results 5 or more grades A* to C 5 or more grades A*-G 1 or more grades A*-G

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 4

Boys 0 0 0 Numbers of pupils achieving the standard specified Girls 117 182 183

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 4

Percentage of pupils achieving School 64 (81) 99 (100) 100 (100) the standard specified National 47.4 (46.6) 90.6 (90.9) 95.6 (95.8)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 4

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year.

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 4

Average point score School 44 per pupil National 38.4

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 4

Figures in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year.

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 4

Vocational qualifications Number % success rate

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 4

Number studying for approved vocational qualifications or units and School 0 n/a the percentage of those pupils who achieved all those they studied National n/a n/a

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Attainment at the end of the sixth form

Number of students aged 16, 17 and 18 on roll in January of the latest reporting year Year Boys Girls Total who were entered for GCE A-level or AS-level examinations 2000 0 65 65

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Attainment at the end of the sixth form

For candidates entered for 2 or more A-levels or equivalent For candidates entered for fewer than 2 A-levels or equivalent Average A/AS points score per candidate Male Female All Male Female All

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Attainment at the end of the sixth form

Figures in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year.

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Attainment at the end of the sixth form

Vocational qualifications Number % success rate

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Attainment at the end of the sixth form

Number in their final year of studying for approved vocational qualifications or School 8 100

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Attainment at the end of the sixth form

units and the percentage of those pupils who achieved all those they studied National 73.2 Enfield County School - 20

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – Caribbean heritage 49 Black – Caribbean heritage 2

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – African heritage 25 Black – African heritage

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Any other minority ethnic group 68 Other minority ethnic groups

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

This table gives the number of exclusions, which may be different from the number of pupils excluded.

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Qualified teachers and classes: Y7 – Y13

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 68.1 Financial year 1999/2000

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 16.5

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Education support staff: Y7 – Y13 Total income 2,982,438

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 26 Total expenditure 2,974,076

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 405 Expenditure per pupil 2,687

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Balance brought forward from previous year 163,638

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Deployment of teachers: Y7 – Y13 Balance carried forward to next year 172,000 Percentage of time teachers spend in contact with classes 74.7

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Key Stage 4 20.9 Enfield County School - 21

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Percentage of responses in each category

Strongly agree Tend to agree Tend to disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know

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Percentage of responses in each category

My child is making good progress in school. 49 44 5 1 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

Behaviour in the school is good. 32 56 3 3 6

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Percentage of responses in each category

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 29 52 15 4 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 25 49 14 6 6

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Percentage of responses in each category

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 43 49 4 2 2

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 68 31 1 1 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school works closely with parents. 23 53 14 4 5

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is well led and managed. 48 49 2 0 2

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 41 51 6 1 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 27 39 18 3 13

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