Eastbury Community School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching so that more of it is routinely outstanding by:
  • creating opportunities for teachers to learn from the excellent practice already in the school
  • providing training so that leadership of subjects and year groups is consistently strong.
• Improve the effectiveness of the new inclusion leaders so that systems and processes routinely support pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities to make the progress of which they are capable.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Leaders and governors successfully communicate a vision for pupils to learn in a happy and safe environment. They want pupils to have many rich experiences that promote their personal development and well-being. They strive to make sure that pupils leave the school equipped with high academic standards, as well as the values and attitudes that will make them good citizens. The staff work well together to achieve these goals.
• Leaders have robust systems for self-evaluation. They know the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They devise credible plans for improvement, with priorities that demonstrate their drive for excellence in all aspects of the school’s work. As a result, since the previous inspection, they have successfully opened a primary phase, and improved teaching and pupils’ outcomes in the secondary phase. Further, they have secured outstanding practice in pupils’ personal development and welfare, and in the sixth form provision.
• Leaders have established a comprehensive framework for monitoring and evaluating teaching. Senior leaders strongly involve middle leaders in the processes of observing lessons, checking work and pupils’ progress. Leaders make sure that staff benefit from quality training to help them to contribute towards the school’s priorities. From their monitoring, leaders identify the personal training and development needs of members of staff, which they then fulfil. As a result, middle leadership and the quality of teaching are improving.
• Leadership of the specially resourced provision is effective. Leaders use rigorous assessments to sharply identify the specific needs of the pupils. Well-trained members of staff provide pupils with bespoke and timely support and integrate them into mainstream school when possible. As a result, pupils make consistently good progress from their low starting points.
• Provision for other pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is less effective. There has been a high turnover of support staff, including leaders. Consequently, processes and procedures for meeting these pupils’ needs have lacked coherence. New leaders have not yet had time to make an impact on the quality of provision.
• The primary curriculum meets the requirements of the national curriculum. Primary pupils already benefit from some specialist teaching and the use of facilities in the secondary phase. Primary leaders and teachers are increasingly collaborating with secondary colleagues. They are committed to designing an agreed curriculum for key stage 2 that will ensure a seamless progression from the primary to the secondary phase.
• The secondary curriculum offers pupils a good range of subjects, mainly academic but with some choice of vocational courses. Leaders regularly review the curriculum and the impact that it has on pupils’ learning. This was illustrated when leaders noted that pupils were not reaching high enough standards in the more demanding GCSE examinations in humanities. Consequently, they increased the teaching time in history and geography at key stage 3 to provide a firmer foundation for GCSE study. This year, for the first time, pupils could opt for a GCSE in sociology. The proportion of pupils who study the required subjects to qualify for the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) accreditation is below that found nationally. This is because the uptake in French, the only qualifying modern foreign language on offer, is low.
• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development is excellent. The formal curriculum provides lessons and workshops on health and relationships as well as aspects of citizenship, including human rights. Additionally, there is an extensive range of enrichment activities that has included participation in a local First World War centenary dance project and links to a school in Zambia.
• Secondary pupils go on team-building residential trips and, on the day of the inspection, a large group of Year 9 pupils visited the National Holocaust Museum and Centre in Nottinghamshire. Girls had an opportunity to participate in a `women in construction’ workshop, and other pupils worked with the Poet Laureate for London.
• Pupils learn about the diverse faiths, cultures and lifestyles found in modern society. The school’s highly effective work in promoting personal development has been recognised in various awards. The most recent is the Healthy Schools London Gold Award and the Artsmark Platinum Award from Arts Council England.

Governance of the school

• The governing body has a good mix of highly experienced and new governors. Together they bring a strong set of skills and experiences, including from education, finance and business, to inform their work.
• Governors make sure that they fulfil all their statutory obligations efficiently. Through detailed leaders’ reports, frequent visits to the school and scrutiny of data, they are very well informed about all aspects of the school’s work. In addition, governors meet with members of the school council every term to gather pupils’ views.
• Minutes of governing body meetings confirm that governors both support and challenge leaders to improve the school. This was evident, for example, when governors urged leaders to consider the introduction of Spanish into the curriculum, in addition to French, so that more pupils could gain the English Baccalaureate qualification. The newly appointed subject leader for languages is considering how this may be implemented.
• Governors show strong strategic vision and planning. When it became clear that there was a shortage of primary school places in the local area, they took the initiative to set up an all-through school. The primary phase is about to enter its fifth year of operation.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. All senior safeguarding and pastoral leaders have completed the designated safeguarding lead training. Members of staff are alert to any changes in behaviour that might indicate that a pupil is vulnerable. They are vigilant and report concerns when they arise.
• Leaders have installed a system in the school’s computer network which flags up keywords that indicate that a pupil might be at risk of harm. This enables staff to immediately check on pupils’ welfare.
• Leaders work closely with a range of external agencies and with parents to ensure that pupils are safe.
• Leaders organise workshops for parents, such as one on the risks to children that accompany the use of technology, including sexting. This helps parents to understand safeguarding issues that might affect their children.
• The curriculum helps pupils understand how to stay safe in different situations. For example, there are regular sessions on staying safe that include the dangers of knife crime, gangs, and grooming for radicalisation.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching is mainly good and some is outstanding. As a result, pupils make strong progress overall. In some subjects they make substantial and sustained progress.
• Teachers and support staff use assessment information effectively to prepare activities that meet the needs of pupils of all abilities. This means that all groups of pupils, including those in the specially resourced provision and the most able, become successful learners.
• Teachers have high expectations for behaviour and establish clear routines for learning. As a result, pupils work hard and rarely waste time in lessons.
• Typically, teachers make sure that new learning builds on pupils’ prior knowledge and understanding. They set pupils tasks to apply the skills they have already acquired to different situations and to solve problems. They give pupils helpful frameworks to assist them in tackling difficult work in a systematic way.
• Teachers have sound subject knowledge. They question pupils well, probing their responses to help them to deepen their thinking. In the secondary examination subjects, teachers make sure that pupils fully understand what examiners expect of them.
• Teachers encourage pupils to evaluate their own work and that of their peers. In line with the school’s policy, teachers give pupils feedback to help them improve their work and to address any misconceptions. They encourage pupils to think about what they can do to reach higher standards.
• Occasionally, however, teaching is not of this quality so that, in some subjects and year groups, pupils do not routinely reach the high standards of which they are capable.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Pupils have many opportunities to take on roles and responsibilities and to take initiatives to benefit the school and wider society. For example, members of the school council meet with senior leaders each week to share their views on the effectiveness of teaching. Leaders share pupils’ insights with members of staff.
• A notable contribution to school life was made by the school council equalities committee. Pupils made a successful bid at city hall for £2,000, and this sum was fund-matched by the school. They used the money to pay for workshops in the primary school and for Year 7 pupils to meet and learn about role models from the diverse communities found in modern Britain.
• Pupils develop a strong sense of social responsibility. Pupils recently persuaded school leaders to join them in reducing the use of plastic in the school. They also raise funds for a range of local, national and international charities. Secondary pupils read with primary pupils, and those who participate in the sports excellence programme support sporting events in the school’s primary phase and other local primary schools.
• The school promotes pupils’ physical fitness and good health. Pupils have many opportunities to play a range of sports, including taking part in competitive games. They learn about healthy eating and the dangers of substance abuse.
• Leaders give pupils excellent support to make sure that they stay safe and emotionally well. This is shown, for example, by the ‘confide’ button on the school’s computers; this allows pupils to let a teacher know if they are worried. Some Year 9 pupils train as ‘young leaders’ so that they can help vulnerable Year 7 pupils settle into secondary school life. Others train as peer mentors to support their fellow pupils.
• Pastoral leaders know the pupils well and support their well-being effectively. For example, when it became apparent that some Year 11 pupils were anxious about their examinations, the year leader organised a yoga class. This helped pupils learn to control their emotions, reduce their anxiety, and approach the examinations in a calmer fashion.
• Pupils benefit from an extensive and exceptionally effective careers guidance programme. This enables pupils to make well-informed choices in terms of their GCSE options. At the end of Year 11 they are well prepared to move on to the next stages of their lives.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils work diligently in lessons. They are keen to succeed, work well collaboratively and meet their teachers’ expectations for good behaviour and hard work. These attitudes make a strong contribution to their successful learning. On the rare occasions when there is low-level disruption, teachers deal effectively with the situation and learning proceeds.
• Pupils behave maturely as they move around the school and at social times.
• The school’s work to improve behaviour has met with much success. Fixed-term and internal exclusions, as well as recorded incidents of poor behaviour, have reduced, with about half as many as in the previous year.
• Rates of pupil absence and persistent absence in the secondary school had increased year-on-year from 2015 to 2017. Leaders’ actions this year have reversed the trend. Current rates of attendance are closer to the 2017 national average and persistent absence is now lower.
• However, leaders have been less successful in reducing absence in the primary phase. Overall absence this year is above the national average for primary schools and persistent absence is well above average. Leaders have made it a priority to increase attendance in the primary school in the coming year.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• The proportion of pupils passing the Year 1 national phonics screening check increased this year to above the 2017 national average.
• Current pupils have made good progress across subjects in Year 1.
• In the recent Year 2 tests, a broadly average proportion of pupils reached the expected standard in writing compared to the 2017 national averages. A lower proportion reached the expected standard in reading and mathematics, representing average progress from Reception or from when pupils joined the school.
• Pupils in key stages 3 and 4 make strong progress across most subjects. In some subjects, where teaching is routinely outstanding, pupils make substantial and sustained progress.
• In 2017, pupils working towards GCSE examinations made very strong progress, particularly in English, mathematics, science and languages. Progress in humanities subjects was broadly average. In other subjects, outcomes were variable, with engineering being especially weak. The proportions of pupils who entered and attained the EBacc qualification were well below average.
• In 2017, the most able Year 11 pupils made stronger progress from their high starting points than similar pupils nationally. Disadvantaged pupils made stronger progress than other pupils nationally. Inspection evidence supports the school’s view that progress across subjects in the current Year 11 is broadly similar to the 2017 cohort, with a similar variation across subjects.
• Pupils in the specially resourced provision make good progress. This is because leaders ensure that members of staff provide pupils with bespoke support which enables them to be successful learners.
• Other pupils with SEN and/or disabilities make good progress overall. This is because teachers use assessment information to plan activities that meet their needs. In addition, year leaders use the information to arrange extra support. They do not, however, make the substantial and sustained progress of which they are capable. This is because new inclusion leaders are at the early stages of implementing more rigorous processes and procedures to fully meet the range of these pupils’ needs.
• Last year, almost all Year 11 pupils moved on to post-16 education or apprenticeships.

Early years provision Good

• Children enter the early years with skills that are typical for their age. They make good progress in all areas of learning. The proportion of children leaving Reception with a good level of development has been on an upward trend since the first cohort in 2016. In 2017, it was above the national average and has increased further this year. Children are therefore well prepared for entry into Year 1.
• Leadership of the early years is effective. Leaders make sure that transition arrangements from feeder nurseries into Reception and then into Year 1 are smooth. Therefore, children settle down quickly and make a good start when they enter a new year group.
• Leaders have strong systems for checking on children’s progress. They use the information well to identify any gaps in learning. Teachers adapt activities to help any children or groups falling behind. This was demonstrated when assessment information showed that boys’ progress in literacy was dipping. As a result, leaders and teachers changed the class reading book to a different topic that better engaged the boys’ interests. This had a positive effect in reversing the downward trend.
• Teaching is good as teachers plan activities to meet children’s varying needs and interests. The curriculum is planned well and provides experiences covering all areas of learning. There is effective liaison between Nursery, Reception and Year 1 staff so that, year-on-year, teaching builds on and extends children’s prior learning.
• Teachers question children to deepen their thinking and give them a good range of resources to stimulate their interests. This was evident when an inspector saw a group of children working together, at their own initiative, in the outdoor area. Chefs prepared meals in the kitchen while waiters took orders for food and drink from the children seated in the adjoining ‘restaurant’.
• Children feel safe and secure because they know that adults care for them.
• Children learn to behave in a mature way, share well and are considerate. For example, one child using the interactive whiteboard to sequence events welcomed the help offered by another.
• The early years team works closely with parents to ensure that they are part of their child’s learning. For example, leaders invite parents every term to observe their children learning and staff give parents resources to help them develop their child’s learning at home.
• Leaders have identified the need to develop the outdoor area so that it makes a stronger contribution to developing children’s literacy skills. They also recognise that with more challenge they can help more of the most able children to exceed the expected standards at the end of Reception.

16 to 19 study programmes Outstanding

• Leadership of the sixth form is highly effective. Leaders have robust systems for evaluating all aspects of the post-16 provision. They act decisively to tackle any weaknesses so that all students can thrive academically and socially. As a result, since the previous inspection, there have been many improvements that have led to outstanding practice. Increasingly, more of the school’s Year 11 pupils are continuing into the sixth form, and retention rates from Year 12 into Year 13 are high.
• As a result of collaboration with four other schools, students have access to an extensive curriculum of both academic and vocational courses. In addition, students who have not attained a good GCSE pass in English or mathematics can study for a retake of the GCSE examination in those subjects.
• Students benefit from plentiful enrichment opportunities and leaders encourage them to contribute to the school and wider community. Examples include participating in the Duke of Edinburgh Award, young enterprise, debating teams, charitable fundraising and an Amnesty International group. Students can also choose to take part in national initiatives, such as one which uses peer influence to target reluctant readers and increase their enjoyment of reading.
• Leaders have worked diligently to improve provision and tackle any underachievement. They set high expectations and have provided rigorous training, including through working collaboratively with colleagues across the consortium. The result is that teaching, learning and assessment are now outstanding.
• Close attention is given to meeting students’ needs, including through personalised support programmes. Additionally, leaders set up a working group for the most able, focused on attaining top grades. As a result, in 2016 and 2017, students made substantial progress at AS and A level and in vocational courses. In the English GCSE retakes in 2017, all students passed. None retook mathematics in 2017. Current students are making very strong progress and standards are continuing to rise, including for the most able.
• Students work conscientiously because they are determined to succeed and have high aspirations for the future. Attendance rates have risen substantially over the last three years and are now high.
• The school supports students extremely well in making decisions about the next stage of their careers, and in pursuing their goals for the future. This includes arranging personalised interviews with careers guidance counsellors and providing work experiences in the fields of students’ interest. Students attend careers fairs, and have mock interviews and help with writing application forms. The school has established links to universities in many subjects, enabling students to visit and gain first-hand information. Together, their substantial progress, the experience of a wide range of enrichment activities, and the contribution they make to the school and wider community, mean that students leave the school extremely well prepared for the next stages of their lives.
• In 2017, almost all students went on to study at university, with others proceeding to apprenticeships or employment. Last year there were no students who were not in education, employment or training after leaving the school.

School details

Unique reference number 101244 Local authority Barking and Dagenham Inspection number 10047357 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school All-through School category Community Age range of pupils 3 to 19 Gender of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils in 16 to 19 study programmes Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 1827 Of which, number on roll in 16 to 19 study programmes 173 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Roy Patient Headteacher David Dickson Telephone number 020 8507 4500 Website www.eastbury.bardaglea.org.uk Email address office@eastbury.bardaglea.org.uk Date of previous inspection 16–17 January 2013

Information about this school

• Eastbury Community School, an all-through school, is much larger than the average- sized secondary school.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is well above average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is similar to the national average. The proportion of those with an education, health and care plan is below the national average.
• There is specialist resource provision for up to 12 deaf children, run jointly by the school and local authority on the school site. There are currently 11 pupils in the provision.
• An extremely small number of pupils attend courses off site at Barking and Dagenham College, Romford, or are homeschooled.
• The sixth form is part of the Southern Consortium Sixth Form, which is a partnership with four other secondary schools.
• The school meets the government’s floor standards for key stage 4, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress. In 2016 and 2017, the outcomes for the 16–19 study programmes were above the minimum standard.
• In September 2015 the school opened a primary school. It moved into a new building in September 2016. The rest of the school is in the final stages of a new build. Currently, there is a morning and an afternoon Nursery and two classes each in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.
• Since the previous inspection, there has been a large turnover of staff, including senior leaders.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed a range of learning activities in 46 classes. Most of these were joint observations with senior leaders. The inspectors also scrutinised pupils’ work.
• Meetings were held with the executive headteacher, the primary headteacher, other senior and middle leaders, the chair and vice-chair of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.
• The inspectors met with five groups of pupils and spoke to pupils across the year groups and phases during the inspection.
• The inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a range of documentation. This included: the school’s self-evaluation and action plan; records of senior and middle leaders’ evaluation of examination results; assessment information on pupils’ progress; logs and records of behaviour and attendance; and records of meetings held by the governing body.
• Information on the very few pupils who attend alternative provision was evaluated.
• Inspectors took account of the 45 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s questionnaire for parents, and parents’ additional written comments. Inspectors considered the 118 responses to the staff questionnaire and the 21 responses to the pupil questionnaire.
• There are too few pupils attending alternative provision to be able to comment on their progress and behaviour.

Inspection team

David Radomsky, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Sue Cox Ofsted Inspector Jason Hughes Ofsted Inspector Gerard Strong Ofsted Inspector James Whiting Ofsted Inspector