Anglo European School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Continue to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that:
  • teaching in key stage 3 is as effective and challenging as it is in key stages 4 and 5
  • the newly developed assessment system for key stage 3 is fully evaluated and that, as a result, it supports the pupils’ progress through the curriculum effectively.
• All pupils, as currently the vast majority do, should understand and recognise the hard work their teachers do for them and so behave well in all lessons, regardless of whether the teacher is a permanent or temporary member of staff.
• Focus on improving students’ progress in the subjects of the 16 to 19 study programmes that currently lag behind others, for example A-level English language and literature, art and design.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• The Anglo European School is led, by the co-headteachers, with bravery and a clear vision for providing a great education for its pupils throughout their time at the school. The school’s leaders have been successful at broadening pupils’ horizons and setting their sights high.
• The leadership's courage is evident because this distinctive school has stuck to its mission since it was founded in 1973 ensuring that its pupils are offered a deep, rich curriculum. That curriculum is firmly based on traditional academic subjects; for example, entry to the English Baccalaureate is more than twice the national figure. A particular emphasis on modern foreign languages for all pupils and wide provision of extra-curricular activities ensures that pupils develop their spiritual, moral, social and cultural knowledge and understanding very well. This includes a good understanding of how important democracy, tolerance and the rule of law are to the stable functioning of our country.
• The provision of modern foreign languages for the vast majority of pupils to GCSE is exceptional and means that pupils have the opportunity to learn French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin and Russian. Not only do the pupils study these languages but they also succeed with high levels of achievement. The provision in key stage 4 also helps to ensure that high proportions of pupils, including girls, take mathematics and science in the sixth form.
• Furthermore, the school provides extensive opportunities for pupils to use their foreign languages on exchanges, study visits and during work experience abroad. These start in Year 7 with the school’s regular study visit to the Ebblinghem Chateau in France and continue in subsequent year groups with working visits to other places in Europe, including Avignon, Dinan, Wiesbaden, Heidelberg and further afield to China in Years 10 and 12. Over time, this has given the pupils, especially sixth formers, the confidence to work and study in higher education overseas both during and following their time at Anglo European.
• The careers education provided by the school as an integral part of the curriculum ensures that all pupils participate in a significant work experience in key stage 4. The pupils are also made fully aware of the range of options open to them at ages 16 and 18, including apprenticeships, the sixth form and study at, for example, the nearby land-based University College at Writtle.
• The co-headteachers and their able senior leadership team have worked very effectively to identify key areas for improvement over the last four years. By focusing on drama, art and information technology, they have improved the teaching, learning and achievement in these areas appreciably. More generally, the large majority of staff feel that the school’s leaders support them to improve through challenging, effective professional development opportunities. However, fewer feel that they are trusted to take appropriate risks with their teaching.
• Safeguarding is taken very seriously by the school. The leaders for this area are knowledgeable, rigorous in discharging their duties and have ensured that staff are clear on their joint responsibilities for the safety of all the pupils.

Governance of the school

• Governors and trustees are highly effective. The school has a clear strategic direction which sets out the importance of educating the pupils to ‘think globally whilst learning locally’. Governors and trustees are fully supportive of this, and their stewardship of the school’s finances, which has included useful benchmarking against local schools, has helped to ensure that this has been done within a balanced budget.
• A main focus for the governors and trustees since the previous inspection has been to hold the school to account for improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in identified departments. Additionally, they have successfully monitored and reviewed the improvement and restructuring of learning support for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. In doing so, they have ensured that funding is used effectively, progress has been made and quality has improved.
• Governors and trustees have ensured that the school uses effectively the extra funding it receives to promote the progress of disadvantaged pupils and those who join the school with lower levels of literacy and numeracy. A mix of extra provision, including one-to-one and small-group tuition, use of specific reading books, study support and summer schools in Mandarin, contributes to the year-on-year success the school has had in raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• There is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school. This has ensured that key policies are effective, up to date and fully implemented, that pupils feel safe at school and when travelling abroad, and that they look out for each other when they have concerns or difficulties, for example with relationships. This has included when pupils have had worries about others and potential radicalisation. Subsequent ‘Prevent’ training for all staff and use of discussion as part of the citizenship curriculum have ensured that procedures are formalised and effective.
• The pastoral care provided by the school is appreciated by parents, especially those of vulnerable pupils. It provides a firm foundation for safeguarding as it enables teachers and pupils to identify issues early that may need subsequent intervention.
• Governors are fully aware of their responsibilities regarding safeguarding and have been trained as a group in this vital area of the school’s work, as well as key individuals being trained alongside teaching staff. This has enabled the governors to be well informed and to have a view on the quality of safeguarding training across the school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching and learning are effective across the school, although they are generally better in key stage 4 and the sixth form than in key stage 3.
• Lessons use resources efficiently, starting on time and with the vast majority of pupils being ready to learn. Lessons are clearly part of a coherent sequence of work, underpinned by the wide opportunities for learning made available through the school’s excellent curriculum. Teachers are rightly not afraid to use lesson time to apply knowledge and practise skills in order to consolidate learning.
• Teachers generally use questioning well to assess understanding and to identify how to modify the approach in lessons when needed. Good use is made of a variety of approaches across lessons, including pupils writing, speaking and listening; this is especially skilful in the teaching of modern foreign languages. The sharing and demonstration of high-quality work are used to good effect in art and drama. This has helped to raise the pupils’ expectations and aspirations in these subjects.
• The vast majority of lessons are purposeful, and teachers create an atmosphere that supports good learning. However, in some lessons, pupils’ behaviour is not good enough and the distractions caused slow down the learning of others. It is the responsibility of the pupils to behave well so that they and others can learn effectively, but some responses to the staff questionnaire suggest that further and continuing training for teachers on behaviour management would be beneficial.
• Presentation and completion of work by pupils are generally good. However, in some subjects, insistence that work is completed to a high standard is inconsistent. Similarly, challenge for the highest-attaining pupils is restricted in some areas.
• The school is developing its assessment policy across all subjects, following full implementation in English and mathematics in the last two years. Teachers are using their departments’ modified approaches consistently, but overall the assessment system is currently a work in progress. The approach adopted by the school, which works from Year 7 to Year 11 using GCSE-based ‘level descriptors’, is still to be evaluated in terms of identifying gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding, and so its effectiveness for supporting pupils’ achievement is yet to be proven.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• The school’s citizenship programme is very effective in providing opportunities for pupils to explore often difficult, sensitive topics, such as radicalisation, vivisection and Fairtrade. The pupils are encouraged to listen to others and debate issues with their peers, as well as engaging with external bodies to find out more about the topics. This approach, along with the school’s international work, develops very effectively the pupils’ moral, social and cultural knowledge and understanding. As a result, the pupils not only have a strong sense of their individual place in society but also of Britain’s place in Europe and the wider world. The pupils’ confidence and ability to appropriately challenge thinking and viewpoints were commented upon positively by the United States Ambassador when he visited the school recently.
• The pupils’ personal development is further enhanced through the opportunities given to organise and participate in, for example, charities week, working with the Co-Operative Society, the annual Model United Nations event and the Anglo European version of Eisteddfod.
• Bullying, when it occurs, is identified early either by teachers or by pupils. The pupils know that the pastoral office is a good place to log their concerns. The vast majority of pupils and their parents recognise that bullying is dealt with effectively by the school. However, a small proportion of pupils say that they do not know what actions are taken to resolve bullying and that further communication from the pastoral team would help.
• Equal opportunities are promoted strongly in the school. The school’s policies and development plans are robust. More importantly, the pupils’ and staff’s actions when potentially sensitive issues arise are thoughtful, caring and effective. This has especially been the case where pupils have disabilities, or when pupils identify with parts of the LGBT community. In such cases, staff and pupils have sought outside help and training so that the school community knows how to work together to support the pupils through difficult times; they have done this very successfully.
• Assemblies are seen as helpful and interesting by pupils and along with the Sanctuary, a space for prayer and reflection, provide good opportunities to contemplate spiritual matters.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• The vast majority of pupils conduct themselves well in lessons and around the school. They listen to each other and their teachers, respond positively to instructions and engage in discussions in a thoughtful way. They attend on time and have the correct equipment ready for use in lessons.
• Pupils in Years 7 and 10 spoken to by inspectors said that behaviour in lessons is generally good and a majority of the 342 pupils who responded to the inspection questionnaire said that pupils behaved well in most or all of their lessons. However, some pupils responding to the questionnaire said that pupils only behave well in lessons some of the time.
• Inspectors noted that on the few occasions pupils let themselves down with their behaviour, this tended to be with temporary members of the teaching staff. The pupils’ behaviour in these lessons had a negative impact on their learning and frustrated those who wanted to get on with their work.
• Attendance is good overall; regardless of background, ethnicity or disability, the pupils attend school regularly. Persistent absences are very low compared with the national picture.

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• Pupils join Anglo European with consistently higher than average attainment at the end of key stage 2. Over time, the school builds upon these starting points so that attainment by the end of key stage 4 is well above average. This high attainment is gained across a broad range of subjects, but is centred on the traditional subjects at the core of the school’s curriculum. For example, in the last three years, typically three quarters of pupils have been entered for the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) and well above the national average proportion have attained A* to C in the EBacc subjects. This is generally the case for disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils alike.
• Attainment and progress in modern foreign languages are particularly impressive. In 2016, for example, all pupils studied at least one foreign language with 96% sitting at least one GCSE and 80% of them achieving an A*-C grade. This represented progress of between half a grade and a full grade more than average for disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils. The remainder of the pupils studied for a National Vocational Qualification in a modern foreign language.
• The pupils’ progress across a broad range of subjects by the end of key stage 4 has improved each year since the previous inspection in 2013; by 2016 it was above average. This is the case for disadvantaged pupils and their more affluent peers. Progress in the EBacc subjects is particularly impressive, as pupils gain at least half a grade more than average regardless of their socio-economic backgrounds.
• The progress of pupils currently in the school shows no signs of abating. They continue to meet the challenge of the school’s demanding curriculum. They articulate their ideas with confidence in lessons and to visitors. The pupils’ responses to sharp questioning from teachers are clear and thoughtful. This was observed by inspectors particularly in English, in science during biology when theory was being linked to practical work, and in the speaking of French and German.
• Those pupils who attained most highly at key stage 2 continue to do well at Anglo European. Overall, their progress is a little above average by the end of key stage 4, but in the EBacc subjects their progress is significantly better than that of their peers across the country. The setting arrangements in most subjects from early in key stage 3 ensure that these pupils are challenged and that they achieve very well.
• The demanding curriculum which sets high expectations for all pupils, the opportunities within that curriculum to discuss and debate difficult, sometimes uncomfortable, issues and the extensive range of extra-curricular activities combine to develop pupils who are very well set up for the next stage of their lives. As a result, typically all the pupils go on to appropriately stretching and sustained education, employment or training when they leave the school.

16 to 19 study programmes Outstanding

• Leadership of the sixth form is highly effective. Leaders ensure that the progress of the students continues from their key stage 4 studies while also building further upon the excellent opportunities to widen their social and organisational knowledge and understanding.
• The school’s sixth form also continues the high standard of curriculum offer established in key stages 3 and 4. The range of pathways includes A levels, the combined A-level International Baccalaureate route, the International Baccalaureate Career Programme and the International Baccalaureate Diploma route. In common with the high expectations set for younger pupils, the sixth-form students all study a modern foreign language. The sixth-form routes also ensure that nearly six in ten students study mathematics to a high level.
• The students are able to participate in a very wide range of activities additional to their courses, including the debating society, organising the Model United Nations sessions for Year 10 pupils, the international affairs network and being members of the creativity, action, service (CAS) groups and committees which focus on fundraising for the school’s partner charities. Participation in these groups is high and this supports the further development of the students into being confident, outward-looking young people able to organise themselves and others in a variety of contexts.
• The students’ progress on A-level and International Baccalaureate routes has improved consistently in the last few years. The progress in most subjects at A2 and equivalent is above average or improving, with the exception of English, art and design, and information and communication technology. Sixth-form leaders are aware which subjects require focus from the regular student interviews carried out to gain feedback on teaching and to assess the students’ application to their learning.
• The teaching in the sixth form is of high quality, challenging students to enhance their knowledge, develop their study skills and deepen their thinking. This prepares them very well for their destinations when leaving the school which, for a much higher proportion than is seen nationally, involves sustained study in higher education. In 2016, for example, nearly eight in ten students secured a place at their first-choice university and over four in ten students secured a place at a Russell Group university, which compares very favourably with the one in four national picture.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 137727 Essex 10023534 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Secondary comprehensive School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Gender of pupils in 16 to 19 study programmes Academy converter 11 to 18 Mixed Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 1,321 Of which, number on roll in 16 to 19 study programmes 270 Appropriate authority The Academy Trust Chair Headteachers Helle Gulowsen Jody Gee and David Barrs Telephone number 01277 354018 Website Email address http://aesessex.co.uk/ enquiries@aesessex.co.uk Date of previous inspection 2–3 May 2013

Information about this school

• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• Anglo European School is a larger than average-sized secondary converter academy.
• The school works with a number of local primary/junior schools through the Anglo European Co-Operative Trust and a wide range of schools in Europe and China. It is also a Co-Operative academy.
• Approximately half of the pupils are White British; the school also has pupils from a wide range of other ethnic backgrounds. Just under half the pupils speak English as an additional language.
• The proportion of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds is low compared with the national figure.
• The school meets the current government floor standards and is not deemed to be ‘coasting’.
• The school is currently not using any alternative providers.

Information about this inspection

• This inspection began under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 as a short inspection to be carried out in a day. It converted to a full section 5 inspection under the same Act. As a result, the lead inspector and team inspector for the short inspection were joined on the second day by a team of five further inspectors.
• The inspectors gathered a range of evidence from: lesson observations, some carried out with the co-headteachers and the deputy headteacher; short visits to lessons, again, some carried out with senior leaders; discussions with pupils and staff; meetings with senior leaders, governors and trustees, newly qualified and trainee teachers; reviews of pupils’ work in books and folders; reviews of the school’s website, documents and assessment information; and general observations of the daily operations of the school, including in the canteen.
• Inspectors analysed the 227 standard responses to the online Parent View questionnaire, alongside the 182 free text responses to the same questionnaire. They also took into account the 57 responses to the staff questionnaire and 342 responses to the pupil questionnaire.

Inspection team

Sean Harford, lead inspector Vivien Corrie-Wing Andy Hemmings John Constable Sally Nutman Sue Pryor Georgina Atkinson

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector