Haverstock School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the consistency of good or better teaching and learning across subjects by teachers:
  • more precisely meeting pupils’ needs in their planning, particularly those of White British disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities
  • using assessment and feedback consistently in line with leaders’ expectations to improve pupils’ understanding of their progress
  • raising their expectations of what pupils can achieve, particularly of most-able pupils.
• Improve outcomes in academic 16 to 19 study programmes by:
  • improving the match between students’ prior attainment and their study programme choices
  • ensuring that teachers challenge students consistently well to achieve their best.
• Raise standards of behaviour and improve attendance by:
  • improving the way teachers apply the school’s behaviour policy and procedures so that pupils better understand what is expected of them inside and outside of lessons
  • ensuring that strategies to improve attendance are more effective, particularly for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• The headteacher’s evaluation of the school’s work is accurate in identifying why standards have slipped and is pragmatic about the work that needs to be done. New appointments to the school’s leadership are now beginning to improve the school’s performance, but it is too soon to see the impact of some of their work. Consequently, the standard of teaching and learning, and pupils’ outcomes, require improvement.
• Variations in the quality of teaching and learning and in pupils’ outcomes demonstrate that the actions taken by the school to improve teaching, including training, have not yet had the desired impact on pupils’ outcomes. Teachers are keen to receive training that helps them develop and they have targets that are clearly linked to the school’s plans for development. This commitment is improving the focus of leaders’ strategies to raise standards.
• Leaders have not been effective in evaluating the impact of some school improvement strategies. In particular, strategies funded by the pupil premium have not been precisely evaluated to identify their impact on disadvantaged pupils’ performance. Leaders have piloted new strategies to improve pupils’ outcomes and reduce the reliance on interventions in Year 11 to make up any lost ground. For example, the high ability pupil initiative (HAPI) is aimed at identifying the most able pupils in Years 7 and 8, providing pupils with additional support to excel. This strategy has raised pupils’ aspirations and skills. However, not all strategies are planned and evaluated in the same way.
• The curriculum for key stage 4 has been designed to allow pupils greater freedom to choose their GCSE courses. This has meant that fewer than average pursue and then achieve qualifications leading to the English Baccalaureate award. The school’s information indicates that this does not prevent pupils from going to destinations that they aspire to.
• The support provided to pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is not evaluated precisely to ensure that those pupils’ performance improves quickly from their starting points. The care and support provided to individuals is carefully thought through and tailored to their needs but there is a lack of precision in the way leaders measure whether strategies are working overall.
• Middle leaders are increasingly able to demonstrate how their work is improving the consistency of progress in their areas of responsibility. In science, humanities, and design and technology, for example, leaders’ strategies to improve pupils’ outcomes are beginning to have demonstrable impact: pupils’ progress is becoming more rapid, especially that of particular groups identified as underachieving, such as White British disadvantaged pupils.
• The curriculum is enriched by a wide range of diverse opportunities that promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and prepare them for life in modern Britain. Community work is a cornerstone of this activity.
• Leaders have received effective support from the local authority. This support has helped to identify precisely the areas of the school that require improvement and to measure the outcomes of that work. Consequently, leaders’ evaluation of strategies aimed at improving pupils’ outcomes is more accurate than in the past.

Governance of the school

• Governors hold the headteacher and senior leaders to account for their work through routine reports. They challenge the information presented by leaders and are ambitious for pupils’ futures. However, governors have not precisely monitored how new and developing strategies are improving pupils’ performance so that quick gains are made in key areas including attendance, behaviour and outcomes.
• Governors have welcomed training to improve their skills and have recruited new governors in order to perform more specialist roles, such as oversight of safeguarding. Governors have plans in place to further improve their scrutiny of leaders’ work, including visiting the school more regularly to focus on specific areas of development. The chair of governors is demanding, expecting more of the school and for its pupils.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Staff are appropriately trained so that they are able to identify potential risks and spot signs of harm. Staff have received training on the ‘Prevent’ duty, and are familiar with the latest statutory guidance. Pupils are well versed in how to keep themselves safe, including through sessions that have developed their skills at keeping safe online. Leaders are sensitive to the local area’s situation and carry out regular reviews, including intelligence from the police and local authority, so that pupils are kept safe. When necessary, appropriate referrals are made to external agencies. The school works well with external care providers and social workers to support pupils who require that additional support. Staff and the majority of pupils and parents agree that this is a safe school where pupils are happy. Inspectors agree with this view.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching and learning require improvement because there is inconsistency across subjects in what pupils are expected to achieve. Teachers’ planning does not consistently pay enough attention to pupils’ needs and this results in progress being too slow, particularly that made by White British disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• The variability in expectations is reflected in some teachers’ use of feedback on pupils’ work. Leaders’ expectations are clear but too often the presentation of work in books and the feedback on that work falls short of these expectations. In the best examples, feedback is used to correct misconceptions and challenge pupils to make new links in their learning, but this is not consistently the case. Similarly, homework is used well when it consolidates or prepares for learning but this, too, is inconsistent across subjects.
• The assessment system has recently been redesigned to take account of national changes at key stage 3. This is helping staff to monitor pupils’ progress in their subjects increasingly effectively. It is too soon to tell if these developments are helping to secure better outcomes across year groups and for all groups of pupils.
• Assessment at key stage 4 and in the sixth form is more consistent. However, differences in teachers’ expectations about how pupils use the feedback that they receive mean that sometimes misconceptions go unnoticed, limiting the learning.
• The most able pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, do not make sufficiently rapid progress. This is because teachers do not consistently anticipate or plan more challenging tasks that will push these pupils on at a faster pace. Where teachers’ questioning is too accepting of low-level responses, then this further slows pupils’ progress.
• In science and work-related subjects, pupils make stronger progress because of the better match between teachers’ expectations and pupils’ prior learning. As a result, pupils’ learning is spurred on and supported by the good rapport they have with the teacher and their innate desire to learn. In such cases, the most able pupils make good progress because they recognise that teachers will expect them to ‘hit the high notes’ and work hard to achieve them.
• Learning support assistants are increasingly well deployed because teachers are clearer about their role in the classroom. They are most effective when the teacher and support assistant have an accurate view of pupils’ needs and anticipate the potential barriers to their learning so as to overcome them quickly.
• Teachers’ subject knowledge is secure and underpins the underlying strengths that exist in teaching and learning across the school. Teachers use this subject knowledge to maintain pupils’ interest.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement. Instances of weaker behaviour undermine some pupils’ feeling of safety and the good work that leaders do to support pupils’ welfare.
• The range and variety of opportunities that the school provides for pupils is vast but leaders do not routinely evaluate whether or not these are effective in improving pupils’ preparation for life beyond school.
• Pupils interact well with one another and regularly demonstrate the values of respect and tolerance. Those who arrive during the year are made to feel welcome quickly. Pastoral leaders have a good understanding of pupils’ additional needs in order to support their learning.
• Leaders know their pupils well and work with outside agencies to help reduce barriers to learning and improve their well-being. For example, there is a particularly strong focus on improving the mental health and well-being of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Few pupils attend alternative provision but those who do are well monitored by staff to ensure that they attend and make progress in their courses.
• Pupils receive careers advice and guidance that they find helpful in supporting their decision-making. A well-planned programme underpins this work and means that pupils’ decisions are based on good information.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. Pupils’ behaviour too often slips below leaders’ expectations and results in a high number of exclusions. Recently introduced systems, including the headteachers’ Saturday detention, with greater clarity of leaders’ expectations, are slowly improving behaviour. The behaviour support assistants work with teachers so that teachers can concentrate on the learning.
• Low-level disruption is not widespread but leaders are aware of the link between a lack of precise challenge in lessons and the likelihood of pupils being off-task. Teachers receive training to help manage behaviour but this is yet to result in consistently disruption-free lessons.
• Pupils reported to inspectors that the school is generally calm and welcoming but there are occasions where pupils fall out. Inspectors’ observations during the inspection support pupils’ view, while the school’s records of behaviour incidents note that, despite high expectations, some pupils still exhibit poor behaviour towards one another and staff.
• Pupils’ attendance has slowly declined over the past three years. There remain differences between groups of pupils and year groups which are not being rapidly reduced by the systems that leaders have in place.
• Pupils are generally punctual to lessons but too many are late to school in the morning. The systems in place work effectively to follow this up but some pupils have not developed a high enough regard for their learning to want to be at school on time.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils’ outcomes require improvement because there is variability in how much progress pupils make across subjects and year groups. The 2016 GCSE results showed that pupils had made slightly less progress than expected of them overall. This was primarily the result of underperformance in English and subjects that fall into the ‘open’ element of the government’s Progress 8 performance measure.
• The proportion of pupils achieving good GCSE grades was much lower than found nationally in English and lower than that found nationally in mathematics. Results in some other subjects including history were also weak. In contrast, GCSE outcomes in science and languages were significantly better than national averages.
• This variability is reflected in the achievement of current pupils, as shown by the school’s assessment information. The continuing differences between year groups, subjects and pupil groups are due to the variations that exist in teaching and learning.
• The majority of pupils come from disadvantaged backgrounds. In 2016, the progress of pupils in this group was average overall and their attainment showed year-on-year improvement. However, the progress of the most able disadvantaged pupils was lower, particularly when compared to other most-able pupils in the school. The progress of White British disadvantaged pupils was particularly slow and is now an area of focused work by school leaders.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities made very slow progress last year. Leaders have identified this as a key area for improvement and inspectors agree with their evaluation that identifies the need for more robust strategies to raise the attendance and outcomes of pupils in this group.
• Pupils who need to catch up with their literacy are well supported by a strategy that typically helps them to make the expected gains by the end of Year 8. However, support for literacy development across subjects is variable. Middle leaders’ work to improve the use of subject terminology is now beginning to have the desired effect. Pupils’ reading is sound and the library is a busy place at break and lunchtimes.
• Pupils who attend alternative provision typically make secure progress during their time there. Pastoral leaders monitor their progress and support those pupils’ re-integration into school when appropriate.

16 to 19 study programmes Requires improvement

• Students who study academic courses have typically made less than expected progress in the last three years. Recent work to improve the sixth form’s performance has resulted in some improvement in students’ progress overall, but the pace of improvement is not yet as rapid as leaders would like it to be.
• Leaders’ work to revise the entry criteria to the sixth form and improve the advice given to students has not yet led to all students selecting study programmes that are the right match for their prior attainment. However, more students do now stay on to complete their study programmes.
• Most students study academic study programmes but an increasing number opt for work-related courses as well. Students studying level 2 courses, including GCSE mathematics and English re-sits, are increasingly successful at gaining those qualifications before pursuing further study or work-related opportunities.
• Students reported to inspectors that they like the sixth form and chose to come here because they value the support that teachers give them. They also reported to inspectors that sometimes teachers do not provide enough challenge or close support to help them excel from their starting points. Evidence from the inspection supports these views.
• Teachers in the sixth form are able to draw on their secure subject knowledge to plan activities that support students’ progress against exam board criteria. Questioning and the use of assessment vary between subjects, however, with the pace of learning in some subjects too slow as a consequence.
• Behaviour in the sixth form is typically strong, with students demonstrating the attitudes to learning that leaders aspire to for the whole school.
• The strategy for providing activities that underpin students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strong. Students take leading roles in community projects. Leaders plan and deliver a regular programme aimed at providing students with the skills and resilience to cope beyond school, which students told inspectors that they value.
• Students who pursue work-related courses have performed better than those on academic courses recently. More students are also now opting to go on to work-related training and apprenticeships after leaving school. Leaders recognise this shift in demand and are actively reviewing the post-16 curriculum programme accordingly.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 100049 Camden 10000887 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 Community 11 to 18 Mixed Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 1,159 Of which, number on roll in 16 to 19 study programmes 175 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Raj Chada John Dowd Telephone number 020 7267 0975 Website Email address www.haverstock.camden.sch.uk office@haverstock.camden.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 1–2 December 2011

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• Haverstock School is a larger than average secondary school with a sixth form. Around 40% of pupils are girls. Typically, pupils join the school from lower than average starting points.
• A far higher than average proportion of pupils are eligible to receive pupil premium funding, aimed at supporting the performance of disadvantaged pupils. More pupils than is typical also have special educational needs and/or disabilities and require an education, health and care plan.
• The majority of pupils come from minority ethnic backgrounds including Asian or Asian British, Bangladeshi, and Black or Black British, or Black African. A number of pupils join the school during the school year, including those qualifying as refugees.
• A few pupils attend alternative providers: The Boxing Academy, Westminster Kingsway College and Aspire at Quintin Kynaston Community Academy.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

Information about this inspection

• This inspection was carried out as part of a pilot within the London region. The section 8 inspection was led by an Ofsted inspector before being handed over to one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors to complete the section 5 inspection.
• Inspectors visited 46 lessons, many of those jointly with school leaders. Inspectors scrutinised pupils’ work during those observations as well as outside of lessons. Pupils were heard reading.
• Inspectors met with leaders, staff, governors and the school’s local authority support advisers. Formal and informal discussions were held with pupils throughout the inspection. The views of staff and parents were considered as part of inspectors’ analysis of survey feedback.
• Inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation including: policy and procedure documents; assessment and behaviour information; minutes of governors’ meetings; the single central register and arrangements to safeguard pupils’ welfare; evaluations of the school’s performance, including the use of pupil premium funding, and plans for development.

Inspection team

Matt Tiplin, lead inspector Rosemarie McCarthy Nardeep Sharma Lascelles Haughton Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Dame Joan McVittie, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Hayley Follett

Ofsted Inspector