St Ignatius College

102058 Unique Reference Number Enfield Local Authority 307888 Inspection number 21 May 2008 Inspection date Asyia Kazmi HMI Reporting inspector

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

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Comprehensive Type of school Voluntary aided School category 11 °18 Age range of pupils Boys Gender of pupils Number on roll 1139 School 221 6th form The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Patrick Bolger Chair Mr John-Paul Morrison Headteacher 7 March 2005 Date of previous school inspection Turkey Street School address Enfield EN1 4NP 01992 717 835 Telephone number 01992 652 070 Fax number

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11-18 Age group 21 May 2008 Inspection date 307888 Inspection number .

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report 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.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by one of Her Majesty's Inspectors and one Additional Inspector. Inspectors evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and investigated the following issues: achievement and standards; teaching and learning; aspects of the curriculum; how well the school cares for, guides and supports students and the impact of this on their personal development and wellbeing; and aspects of leadership and management. Evidence was collected from: visits to lessons; national assessment data and the school's own records and analyses; observation of lessons and the school at work; discussions with staff and students; parents' questionnaires. Other aspects of the school's work were not investigated in detail, but inspectors found no evidence to suggest that the school's own assessments, as given in its self-evaluation, were not justified, and these have been included where appropriate in

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Description of the school

St Ignatius College is a popular, larger than average, Catholic school. About two-thirds of the students are from minority ethnic heritage; predominant groups are of African, Caribbean, Irish or White European heritage. Nearly all students are baptised Catholics. The proportion of students who speak English as an additional language, at 15%, is higher than average. The percentage of students eligible for free school meals is slightly lower than average. The proportion of students with learning difficulties or disabilities, predominantly in the areas of communication or socialisation, is broadly average. The school gained specialist status in humanities in 2006. At the time of the inspection Years 11, 12 and 13 were on study leave, however, inspectors were able to meet some 11 students for discussions. The headteacher has been in post since January 2008.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 10 Inspection Report: St Ignatius College, 21 May 2008

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Grade: 3

St Ignatius College provides a satisfactory standard of education. It has strengths in the areas of students' personal development and well-being and the care and support provided for the students. The outstanding religious ethos, an integral part of the identity of the school, underpins the good quality of pastoral care and commitment of all staff to students' well-being. Parents and students noted 'the real sense of belonging to a community'. Students are polite, well behaved and very considerate of each other. They are articulate, display confident and positive attitudes, and respect for each other and adults. One student said, 'the respect you get from fellow pupils is great'. Relationships between staff and students are good. Students' contribute very well to the life of the school and the wider community, including raising significant sums of money for a range of charitable causes. Their work in supporting their sister school in Tanzania is

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Grade: 3

commendable; this includes teaching by sixth form students in Tanzania. Opportunities for prayer and reflection bring a sense of calm to the school day and contribute to students' outstanding spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The school has a relatively high number of students excluded and is now beginning to proactively find ways to reduce this. Attainment on entry to the school is above average. By the end of Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 standards remain above average, in mathematics they are well above average. The proportion of students achieving five good passes in GCSE examinations, including English and mathematics, at 63%, is well above average. Between Years 7 and 9 students' progress declined significantly in 2007; although they made satisfactory progress in English and mathematics, achievement in science was below national expectations. As they move through the school, students' progress

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Grade: 3

is variable but satisfactory overall. Students make good progress in mathematics, history and religious education. However, they do not make as much progress in science or art. Although, all groups of students, including those with learning difficulties, make satisfactory progress, a significant number do not make the progress they are capable of. Systems to track students' progress exist, but senior leaders do not have a detailed oversight of it therefore they are not able to monitor achievement effectively. The impact of the specialist status in humanities is seen in the high standards students reach in the specialist subjects. Recent initiatives have successfully begun to develop a greater cross-curricular focus; however, these need more time to impact across the school. Teaching and learning are satisfactory. There is some very good practice in teaching in the school. In these lessons students are challenged because teachers plan lessons making effective

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Grade: 3

use of resources, including information and communication technology (ICT), and tasks are designed to actively engage students in academic discussion. However, in too many lessons teachers' expectation of students are not high enough and work does not always match the needs of students, particularly the more able students. Teaching is too often overly teacher-led with students learning passively, and their understanding not checked. In the humanities department there are good systems for students to reflect on their own learning and improve it. A working party to develop teaching and learning has been set up recently in order to share good practice. However, not all departments are represented in this group and the impact of initiatives is not evaluated. A lack of a systematic programme to monitor teaching and learning means senior leaders, and subject leaders, do not have a precise understanding of areas to

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Grade: 3

develop. Insufficient training has been provided for subject leaders in the use of assessment 4 of 10 Inspection Report: St Ignatius College, 21 May 2008 data and they have only recently been introduced to data which will enable them to compare students' progress against national benchmarks. This has contributed to the lower rates of achievement in some subject areas. The curriculum is satisfactory. It is broad and new vocational courses have been added. Links with a local college have given students further opportunity to engage in more unusual courses such as horticulture. There is an extensive range of extra curricular activities which students enthusiastically take part in. Participation in sports activities, including at weekends, has a particularly high take up. Although provision for ICT has improved in Key Stage 3, senior leaders have not ensured all students in Years 10 and 11 receive their entitlement in this area. This was

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Grade: 3

also the case at the time of the last inspection. Leadership and management are satisfactory. The new headteacher has put in place systems which are developing the role of senior and middle leaders. He has the support of school staff. Systems for checking the work of the school have been set up; however, these are new and need time to embed. Self-evaluation is not always accurate and senior leaders do not always support or challenge middle leaders sufficiently. Progress since the last inspection in the areas of developing the role of middle leaders and in the use of data has been slow. As a result of this the capacity to improve is only satisfactory. Governors are well-informed about key aspects of education and take their role very seriously. However, they have not always challenged the school sufficiently, particularly in the area of students' achievement. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the work of the school. However, some raised

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Grade: 3

concerns about consistency in the quality of teaching and inspectors agree with these parents views.

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Grade: 3

At the time of the inspection sixth form students were on study-leave so insufficient evidence was available to make judgements in the area of their personal development and well-being, the care guidance and support they receive and the quality of teaching and learning. The sixth form is satisfactory overall as is the quality of its leadership and management. The standards students reach are average and progress overall is satisfactory. Students make good progress in Advanced supplementary (AS) level courses and satisfactory progress in Advanced (A2) level courses. Achievement is good particularly in mathematics, history, law, religious studies and politics. However, 2007 data shows progress is variable across different courses and in A level English literature it was significantly below expectation. Sixth formers contribute much to the lower school and are actively involved in charitable activities. Although, there is a system for monitoring students' progress, there is insufficient

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Grade: 3

liaison between subject leaders and the head of sixth form which results in a lack of rigour in addressing underachievement. The curriculum is largely academic. Some vocational courses are offered but not at higher levels.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure assessment data is used effectively at all levels to raise students' achievement and eradicate underachievement. ■ Raise the quality of teaching so that more of it is good, all students are challenged and achievement is accelerated. 5 of 10 Inspection Report: St Ignatius College, 21 May 2008 ■ Develop leadership at all levels so that monitoring and evaluation systems are rigorous, accurate and promote improvement. ■ Ensure all students receive their entitlement in ICT.

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What the school should do to improve further

A small proportion of the schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory but which have areas of underperformance will receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection. 6 of 10 Inspection Report: St Ignatius College, 21 May 2008 .

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What the school should do to improve further

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 7 of 10 Inspection Report: St Ignatius College, 21 May 2008

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Inspection judgements

16-19 School Overall Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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Overall effectiveness

3 3 How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? Yes No Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection 2 2 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 3 3 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

3 3 How well do learners achieve? 3 2 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

3 3 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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well-being of the learners?

The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 How well learners enjoy their education 1 The attendance of learners 2 The behaviour of learners The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. IE - denotes that insufficient evidence was available to inspectors for a judgement to be made. 8 of 10 Inspection Report: St Ignatius College, 21 May 2008

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achievement and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 3 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 9 of 10 Inspection Report: St Ignatius College, 21 May 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

04 June 2008 Dear Students Inspection of St Ignatius College,Enfield,EN1 4NP On behalf of Mr Radomsky and myself who visited your school recently, I would like to thank you very much for the warm welcome you gave us. We valued the discussions we had with you and I would like to take this opportunity to share our findings. Your school provides you with a satisfactory standard of education. Its strengths are in the areas of care and support provided to you and your own personal development and well-being. We were very impressed with the care you show each other, your positive attitudes and your respect for all. These are important attributes. You were very positive about many clubs and sporting opportunities available to you. We found the progress you make over your time in school is satisfactory overall; it is good in some subject areas but not consistently good in all subjects. Your headteacher has begun to

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

put in place actions that will bring about improvements needed, some of these you shared with us. The following are the key areas that we found need improving.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ All staff need to make better use of information they have about your learning so that you all achieve as well as you can. ■ The quality of teaching needs to be raised so that all of it is as good as the best in your school and that it challenges you in your lessons. ■ Leaders at all levels need to precisely and rigorously check the work of the school and thereby improve it. ■ All of you need to be able to study ICT.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

I wish you and your school every success in the future. Yours sincerely Asyia Kazmi Her Majesty's Inspector 10 of 10 Inspection Report: St Ignatius College, 21 May 2008

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