Chace Community School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve leadership and management by:
  • reducing the variation in the effectiveness of teaching between subjects
  • ensuring that all teachers follow the behaviour policy so that expectations of pupils are consistent in lessons and around the school.
• Improve the outcomes of key groups of pupils by ensuring that:
  • the most able pupils have the opportunity to produce work which builds on their prior knowledge and enables them to fulfil their potential
  • disadvantaged pupils benefit from sharply focused support which addresses barriers to their achievement.
• Improve the quality of teaching and learning across the school by ensuring that:
  • teachers organise tasks so that time in lessons is used productively
  • teachers question a wide range of pupils and encourage them to think in greater depth.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Leaders’ efforts to address weak outcomes have only recently started to show impact. Pupils continue to make less progress than their peers nationally.
• Key groups of pupils, such as the disadvantaged, the most able and boys, make less progress than their peers.
• Pupil premium funding has only recently started to be evaluated effectively. Leaders are now more targeted in their use of this additional resource.
• Leaders and managers have set out clear expectations to improve teaching, outcomes and behaviour. Better training is improving teaching but there is too much variability in the quality of teaching. This is the case both within and between departments.
• The spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development of pupils provides them with strong values and a clear sense of right and wrong. The SMSC programme has been designed creatively and is carefully adapted for different year groups. This helps pupils understand the world around them and prepares them for life in modern Britain.
• Assemblies draw on pupils’ and teachers’ unique strengths, and reinforce the school’s core values. These values are captured in ‘Chace signposts’, such as ‘everyone valued equally’ and ‘confidence and courage’. The school environment, including displays of pupils’ work, positively reinforces these core values.
• A new leader oversees support for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. The leader has established systems which have improved attendance and has provided training for teachers to ensure that lessons meet pupils’ individual needs. Learning support assistants provide effective support in class because they have a good understanding of what pupils need.
• The curriculum prepares pupils for the next stage of their education. Leaders have adapted the curriculum to provide better challenge for the most able. This includes ensuring that challenging courses are matched to their needs and interests.
• The school provides a variety of extra-curricular clubs and trips which support pupils’ development and progress. This programme includes mathematics masterclasses, sports coaching before school, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and a research project with graduate students for the most able pupils.
• Leaders communicate effectively with parents and carers, who appreciate the responsiveness of school staff.

Governance of the school

• Governors and school leaders have brokered productive relationships with the local authority and with a national leader of education. The ‘Rapid Recovery Group’, borne out of these relationships, provides frequent scrutiny and challenge. As a result, governors have a clear view of the school’s effectiveness and know what the school needs to do to improve.
• Governors come from a wide range of professions and perspectives. This supports school leaders in meeting the broader needs of Chace pupils. Strong links exist between the school and healthcare services.
• Governors recognise that much work remains in order to improve outcomes, particularly those of disadvantaged pupils and the most able.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Pupils receive useful guidance on how to stay safe outside school, particularly when using social media. This guidance is reinforced by frequent and practical communication on the school website.
• Assemblies, the tutor programme and life skills lessons ensure that pupils, teachers and leaders collectively address current affairs and issues relating to well-being. Pupils told inspectors that they value these opportunities.
• School leaders work well with external partners, including the safer schools officer and local health professionals, to support the pupils’ safety.
• All staff have received appropriate training on keeping pupils safe. Staff know how to identify potential signs that a pupil may be at risk. They understand how to report their concerns about a pupil’s welfare.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Pupils experience good-quality teaching in some lessons but not in others. This results in variable outcomes.
• Time is not used productively in some lessons. For example, inspectors saw too much time in some lessons being devoted to pupils improving previous work. Pupils showed a lack of commitment to this process or did not understand how to improve their work.
• Not enough is expected of pupils, especially in key stage 3. Teachers take insufficient account of the knowledge and skills that pupils bring from primary school. This leads to repetition and lack of challenge, particularly for the most able pupils.
• The most able pupils have limited opportunities to grapple with difficult and challenging tasks.
• Teaching and learning in mathematics remain inconsistent. Outcomes in this subject continue to lag behind other key subjects.
• Teachers’ use of questioning is inconsistent. Sometimes, questioning is not used well enough to probe pupils’ understanding and extend their learning. Teachers’ expectations of pupils’ presentation in books are variable and not always high enough. This leads to some pupils, particularly boys, submitting work that is untidy and incomplete.
• In some lessons, pupils, particularly boys, are reluctant to take part in classroom discussion and dialogue. Their reluctance is not challenged consistently well by teachers. This means that any misconceptions cannot be addressed.
• Most teachers have constructive working relationships with most pupils. However, expectations of pupils’ behaviour are inconsistent. This allows a small minority of pupils to interrupt learning.
• Teachers receive precise guidance on how to support pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. They use this guidance to provide effective support for these pupils.
• Leaders’ monitoring of teaching and learning has improved, enabling leaders to ensure that teachers receive better training and support. Trainee teachers receive good support which enables them to develop their craft.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education is delivered effectively in timetabled life skills lessons. Pupils discuss their welfare maturely and sensitively.
• Pupils’ physical and emotional well-being is well supported through clear guidance in assemblies. Pupils value being able to speak to teachers and other members of staff, including trained counsellors.
• Effective careers guidance throughout the school enables pupils to understand their future options. Pupils are positive about the support they receive when choosing their GCSE, post-16 and post-18 options, enabling the vast majority of pupils and students to progress to further education, employment or training.
• The majority of pupils believe that teachers deal with incidents of bullying effectively when they occur. Most parents who responded to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, also agree that bullying is dealt with effectively.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. New systems to support good behaviour have been introduced. These are valued by teachers. Pupils say that the new systems are making a difference.
• Nevertheless, not all pupils have confidence in the ability of all teachers to challenge poor behaviour. Teachers’ inconsistent application of the behaviour policy allows disruption from a small minority.
• Pupils’ conduct and self-discipline on corridors is variable, hampered by boisterous behaviour between lessons and inappropriate language by a small minority. This behaviour is not challenged by all teachers.
• Attendance is below the national average but improving. Leaders’ tracking of attendance enables them to address absences promptly and get pupils back into school quickly. However, the policy for pupils arriving late to school in the morning is not implemented consistently.
• The school maintains effective contact with a small number of Year 11 pupils who attend alternative provision. Leaders ensure that these pupils attend regularly and are well supported. These pupils are completing qualifications that are appropriately matched to their needs and have received appropriate guidance for 16 to 19 study programmes.

Outcomes for pupils

Requires improvement

• Pupils’ progress has been significantly below the national average for the past two years. It is now improving, but is still not in line with that of similar pupils elsewhere.
• Attainment and progress in mathematics and GCSE results in this subject have been very weak for the past two years. Key groups of pupils have underperformed, both in relation to their peers at Chace and their peers nationally. Progress of boys, disadvantaged pupils and the most able has been below that of other pupils from the same starting points.
• Work in pupils’ books shows that they are now reaching higher standards across a range of subjects compared to previous cohorts. This lends confidence to leaders’ expectations of improved results this year.
• Previously, leaders did not act swiftly enough to ensure that disadvantaged pupils made good progress across a range of subjects in all year groups. In 2017, additional funding was not sharply focused on the academic needs of these pupils. Disadvantaged pupils are now beginning to make better progress because leaders have evaluated the impact of funding and tailored it to pupils’ needs.
• Underachievement at the end of key stage 4 has prevented some pupils with potential from pursuing academic pathways in the sixth form.
• The small number of pupils supported by the resource base, who have SEN and/or disabilities, make progress in line with their peers with similar starting points. The curriculum has been carefully adapted for each pupil and the special educational needs coordinator has secured specialist external support to meet their individual needs.

16 to 19 study programmes Good

• Teaching, learning and assessment in the sixth form are good. Consequently, students make good progress from low starting points and achieve well compared to students in other schools.
• Students in the sixth form understand how to keep themselves safe and healthy. Support for pupils’ health, including their emotional and mental health, is embedded into the sixth-form curriculum and is valued by students. Students value the innovative approaches to help them identify and manage mental health issues.
• Students’ attitudes to learning are positive. They work hard in their lessons and make good use of study periods to work independently.
• The progress of students retaking English and mathematics GCSEs is significantly better than the national average. These students benefit from high expectations and lessons taught by specialist teachers.
• Teachers in the sixth form are confident in their subject knowledge and of the courses they teach. Their enthusiasm for their subjects has rubbed off on their students, enabling students to successfully plan, monitor and evaluate their work in lessons.
• Teachers provide challenge through the use of questioning. This requires students to draw on a wide range of knowledge and understanding and, in turn, produce high-quality extended written responses.
• Students value the support of their teachers. They appreciate the regular, well-monitored and challenging homework they receive and recognise the contribution this makes to their learning.
• Sixth-form leaders have taken action to improve retention between Year 12 and Year 13. For example, by improving the quality of information and guidance given before students begin their courses. Admission requirements have also been amended to support retention, and the curriculum now caters for students across the full range of attainment. As a result, retention is improving.
• Leaders ensure that students receive effective careers advice. Students show a good understanding of higher education and can articulate their reasons for applying to their preferred universities and courses. The vast majority of pupils who complete their study programmes progress to higher education. Sixth-form leaders maintain contact with alumni, who return to the school to provide support for current students.
• Students are expected to arrange their own volunteering and community work. However, this work is not monitored or evaluated as well as it should be.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 102049 Enfield 10047225 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Secondary 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 1,253 Of which, number on roll in 16 to 19 study programmes 199 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Tracey Jenkins Daniel Bruton 020 8363 7321 www.chace.enfield.sch.uk/ chace@chace.enfield.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 10–11 May 2016

Information about this school

• Chace Community School is larger than the average-sized mixed comprehensive school.
• A higher than average proportion of pupils are eligible for the pupil premium.
• Around half of the pupils come from minority ethnic backgrounds. This is higher than the national average.
• A larger proportion than average speak English as an additional language. The school has an additional resourced provision for pupils who have complex needs. Currently, three pupils from Years 7 to 11 attend the resourced provision.
• The school uses alternative provision for a small proportion of pupils. These pupils attend either the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London or are studying for a vocational qualification with a local employer.
• The school does not meet the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in 45 part-lessons. Inspectors were joined by senior and middle leaders in most of these lessons. Inspectors observed an assembly. During visits to lessons, inspectors looked at pupils’ work in books.
• Meetings were held with staff, including newly qualified teachers, middle and senior leaders, pupils from all key stages, the chair of governors and other members of the local governing body, and a representative from the local authority.
• Inspectors considered the 64 responses and written comments from parents to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View.
• Inspectors considered 91 responses to the staff questionnaire and the responses from 255 pupils who had completed the online survey.
• Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of documentation. This included the school’s evaluation of its performance, the school’s plan for improvement, information about standards and progress, the school’s website, logs of behaviour and attendance, and a range of policies.

Inspection team

Stephen Adcock, lead inspector Jo Jones Louise Voden Gerard Strong Charlotte Robinson

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector