William Morris Sixth Form Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Continue the rapid improvement in students’ outcomes by:
  • ensuring that teachers use students’ information consistently, set aspirational targets and plan activities that accelerate students’ progress, particularly the most able
  • teachers consistently applying the school’s assessment policy so that students consistently have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes
  • leaders ensuring that professional development and training continue to reduce the variability in teaching, learning and assessment between subjects.
• Ensure that recently introduced strategies are embedded successfully so that school improvements continue to be rapid and sustained.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Since his appointment in November 2016, the interim principal has been effective in quickly turning around a declining trend in the school’s performance. Along with the senior leadership team, who have been in position since September, the principal has ensured that school developments are precisely focused on quickly improving students’ outcomes.
• Leaders have a highly accurate view of the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and have introduced a robust and effective strategy of training and professional development. Professional development is tailored to teachers’ needs and the school-wide targets for students’ progress. External input is supporting the programme and teachers report that they value the training now available, including those new to the profession. Links with the West London Teaching Schools Alliance and the St Marylebone Teaching Schools Alliance are contributing well.
• Staff, parents and students reported to inspectors that they felt a culture shift had occurred. Morale is high and staff feel as if they can make a difference to students’ achievement. In science and mathematics, students are now doing much better because new middle leaders have a clear idea of what is expected and lead their staff to meet those expectations.
• Leaders have received effective support from the local authority to refine their plans for development and measure the impact of their work. Support has also been arranged to assist the transition of new leaders into their roles. New middle leaders, including the curriculum area leaders for mathematics and science, have received good support to help bring about quick improvements in those areas.
• Leaders have removed barriers to students’ learning, alongside raising the bar on teaching and assessment. Students who were more than five minutes late to lessons were not admitted to lessons prior to a recent review. Students and teachers told inspectors that the removal of that rule has greatly improved levels of engagement in learning. Inspectors’ evidence also shows that overall attendance and punctuality have improved considerably.
• The school’s curriculum continues to be a strength of the school. The range of subjects on offer enables students of all abilities to access appropriate courses that meet their prior abilities. William Morris Sixth Form draws students from 129 different schools and leaders are highly sensitive to the needs and aspirations of students who attend this sixth-form school. For example, students who require stepping stone courses before starting A level or equivalent vocational courses do very well here.
• Students who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported through the curriculum offered. Students make strong progress through foundation courses, GCSEs and A levels, depending upon their needs. Education, health and care plans are used well to support those students’ skills developments and prepare them well for life after they leave the school.
• The students’ academic and work-related curriculum is balanced by a wide variety of enrichment activities, work-related skills development and community work. Leaders have ensured that the school meets the 16 to 19 study programme’s requirements and that students develop the skills and understanding to be successful in modern Britain.
• The recent introduction of new systems, including the assessment monitoring and tracking system, means that some aspects of leaders’ work have not yet had time to become fully embedded.

Governance of the school

• Governors were quick to identify the decline in standards since the last inspection and, in particular, during the last two years. Governors used effective local authority support to help manage the situation and have appointed effective leaders who are making the difference needed. Governors are aware of the weaknesses that led to the decline and have clarity about how to hold the leadership team to account while they improve students’ outcomes.
• Governors challenge the leadership team well to ensure that recent developments have the intended impact. The chair of governors is uncompromising in his ambition and clear about the work now needed to sustain the improvements that are underway.
• Governors have received appropriate and relevant training so that they can fulfil their responsibilities effectively. This includes training on safeguarding and in supporting governors to hold leaders effectively to account. They ensure that performance management is used to improve students’ outcomes.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The school has a comprehensive strategy in place to ensure that students feel well supported and safe while at the school. Students are confident about keeping themselves safe and are well informed about potential risks, including those relating to e-safety. The school’s ‘my concern’ system provides students with a way of raising concerns that can then be promptly addressed.
• All staff have received appropriate training, including how to identify risks associated with radicalisation and female genital mutilation. Staff recognise that asking the ‘what if’ questions is a significant part of performing their role effectively. The school works well with external agencies when the need arises. The school’s policies and practice reflect the latest statutory guidance and underpin the effective safeguarding arrangements. Parents, students and staff agree in responses to Ofsted’s surveys that this is a safe school and inspectors’ evidence agrees with this view.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching, learning and assessment were not consistently strong enough to stem the significant decline in students’ progress in 2015 and 2016. Steps taken to address inconsistencies between and within subjects are now quickly improving the situation but there remains variability.
• Teachers do not all hold the same high expectations for what students, particularly the most able, can achieve. As a result, some students are not pushed to excel in their courses and so make the progress that is well within their potential. Where students are challenged, for example in mathematics, then the rate of progress is strong.
• Students are expected to receive informative feedback about their progress that will help them understand their mistakes and move on quickly. This does not happen consistently across the school. Where leaders’ expectations are being met, students are making good progress because teachers are precisely identifying potential issues and helping students overcome these. In vocational art and information technology courses, for example, students, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, are making strong progress, partly as a result of the bespoke feedback that teachers provide.
• The most able students were not a focus of teachers’ planning and so made weak progress in the past because they were not challenged sufficiently. Teachers are increasingly targeting more challenging activities to the most able but there remains some variability in how effectively this is achieved and, in some cases, the work remains too easy for them.
• Teachers have secure subject knowledge which forms the foundation of their planning. Information from the new assessment system allows teachers to plan for students’ needs and abilities. Inspectors found that some students’ targets were not well matched to their ability and leaders recognise that further work remains to refine the target-setting approach to be consistently highly aspirational.
• Most teachers use their planning to target questions and activities so that students’ needs are being met well. However, sometimes teachers miss opportunities to take full advantage of the information they now have available by targeting their questions and helping students to excel.
• Students who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported in subjects across the curriculum. Learning support assistants in level 2 (GCSE equivalent) and level 3 courses work closely with students so that their progress is strong and sustained. Students studying foundation level courses make very good progress.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Students are provided with a wealth of opportunities to develop the skills they need to put their qualifications to best use. Independence and resilience skills are a key focus, particularly for students who have education, health and care plans and pursue foundation level courses.
• Students receive regular work-related and employability skills development through the tutorial programme. This is delivered by staff and reviewed regularly so the students benefit from the activities completed. Students have access to work experience, which contributes to their study programmes effectively. For those on vocational courses, work experience and work-related skills development are particularly effective at linking their school learning to the world of work.
• The school’s procedures for supporting students’ well-being were reviewed last year as part of a broader restructuring. The pastoral support team works well to ensure that students’ needs are taken care of. The school works well with external agencies to bolster the support provided for students requiring more specialist care.
• Students are articulate and self-confident learners in most cases. Some find it more challenging to link their prior learning to their current studies though. The leaders’ literacy strategy is partly aimed at supporting students to improve this skill.
• Although the range of enrichment and work-related activities offered is broad and well managed, there remains a sizeable minority who reported to inspectors that they do not participate in them regularly. This reflects leaders’ own review of the enrichment on offer and is being addressed, in part through the schools ‘boost your chances’ programme.
• Leaders also recognise the need to further improve the advice and guidance that students receive so that even more gain entry to their first- and second-choice university offers or apprenticeships.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• The last inspection identified students’ attendance as an area for improvement and since then attendance has improved. Recently, this improvement has been very rapid as a new system of rewards and sanctions for attendance and punctuality was introduced that students understand, value and respect. Staff are also more consistent in their adherence to the systems, so students know what to expect.
• The school follows up on absence promptly and effectively. Students understand that poor attendance affects their chances of being successful and middle leaders analyse students’ performance to identify early on if attendance is affecting students’ progress. As a result, the attendance of those who had weak attendance in the past is quickly improving.
• Staff and students share leaders’ high expectations for behaviour around the school. Students get along well with one another, socialising and working well together. Students report that bullying is very rare and poor behaviour is quickly dealt with by staff. Students told inspectors that the diversity within the school is a strength and that this helps define the school.
• The school environment is calm and orderly. Students use the resources available to them well. During breaktimes, students use the learning resource centre and other non-teaching spaces to do homework or prepare for subsequent lessons.
• Students like coming to this school because they feel valued and recognise the work that teachers put into helping students achieve their lofty ambitions. As a result, students’ respect for staff and one another strongly underpins their learning.
• Behaviour is not outstanding because some students’ attitudes to learning do not reflect leaders’ very high expectations and so their attendance and punctuality are yet to improve. Some students forget to bring the correct equipment to lessons or do not catch up promptly with the work they miss.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Progress made on A level and level 3 vocational courses in 2015 and 2016 was below average overall. While many subjects performed better, English, science, mathematics, history and vocational business studies performed particularly poorly.
• The most able students did not make the progress they were capable of last year. Many of the most able students are girls, which meant that there was also a difference between boys’ and girls’ performance.
• The destinations of students show that the vast majority move onto subsequent and sustained education, training and employment. Although the majority of students apply to university and receive offers, only just over half succeeded in getting into their first- or second-choice courses. Leaders recognise that more needs to be done to improve this and provide further opportunities for students to explore apprenticeships.
• Most students complete their study programmes successfully. Students on stepping stone qualifications typically move onto higher-level courses. Students choose this school because they value the opportunities available to them.
• Disadvantaged students and those who speak English as an additional language tend to do relatively well in their courses. Additional support is provided to students who need it, which helps them consolidate key skills.
• Current assessment information indicates a marked improvement in students’ progress across A level subjects, particularly in Year 12. Leaders’ actions to improve students’ outcomes in physics, chemistry and English are effective.
• The progress being made in vocational subjects overall is slower but, in subjects such as health and social care and dance, progress is strong. Students studying level 2 vocational courses as stepping stones to the A level and technical equivalents are making particularly good progress.
• Students studying GCSE and equivalent vocational courses performed well last year. Students who needed to improve their English and mathematics GCSE performance made substantial gains when compared to their peers nationally. The performance of current students reflects that positive picture.
• Students who have special educational needs and/or disabilities do well here. Those on foundation-level courses all made the expected progress and gained access to subsequent education, training and employment. Students who study GCSE and A level subjects, or equivalent vocational courses, also make good progress because of the close support they receive.

School details

Unique reference number 133545 Local authority Hammersmith and Fulham Inspection number 10023697 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 Other secondary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Community 16 to 19 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 855 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Principal Telephone number Website Email address Jean-Michel Boehm Matthew Coulbeck 020 8748 6969 www.wmsf.ac.uk info@wmsf.ac.uk Date of previous inspection 1–2 May 2013

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The interim principal has been in post since November 2016.
• This is an average-sized school for 16- to 19-year-old students. The curriculum offer includes foundation level, level 2, including GCSE, and BTEC national diploma level 2 courses. Most students study A level and/or BTEC national diploma level 3 courses.
• Students join William Morris Sixth Form from approximately 129 secondary schools.
• Approximately 6% of students have education, health and care plans. More than half of the students speak English as an additional language.
• William Morris Sixth Form is part of the West London Teaching Schools Alliance and St Marylebone Teaching Schools Alliance.

Information about this inspection

• This inspection was carried out over two days, following a conversion from a section 8 to a section 5 inspection.
• During the inspection, inspectors visited 37 lessons jointly with members of the senior leadership team. Inspectors also visited tutorial sessions and observed during private study and social times.
• Inspectors met with staff, governors and students. Inspectors considered the views of 24 parents, 49 staff and 95 students who responded to Ofsted’s surveys. Inspectors held informal conversations with students throughout the inspection.
• Inspectors scrutinised documentation including: the school’s procedures and policies, including those regarding safeguarding and the safer recruitment of staff; students’ work; attendance and behaviour information; assessment information; leaders’ evaluation of the school’s performance and their plans for development; minutes from governors’ meetings; external reviews of the school’s work and leaders’ reports of the impact of recently introduced strategies.

Inspection team

Matt Tiplin, lead inspector Bruce Goddard Amy Jackson Janet Shadick

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector