Deptford Green School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the impact of leadership and management on school improvement by:
  • evaluating fully the impact of the additional funding for disadvantaged pupils, and refining the spending of this resource accordingly
  • developing the skills of all teachers to plan lessons that provide challenge for all pupils
  • monitoring the impact of the school’s professional development programme so that it results in teaching which consistently stretches pupils
  • ensuring that teachers and leaders have appropriately high expectations of classroom practice and the standard of work that pupils produce in their lessons
  • providing a curriculum that allows all pupils to explore a broad range of academic subjects in sufficient depth before they choose the courses they want to take through to GCSE level.
• Improve further the quality of teaching across all subjects and year groups, by ensuring that teachers:
  • have a clear awareness of what excellence looks like in the context of their subject
  • have appropriately high expectations of all pupils, so that pupils are routinely expected to produce substantial work in their lessons
  • use questioning more widely to develop pupils’ understanding and their confidence in talking about their work.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Leaders have not ensured that disadvantaged pupils make enough progress. In each of the last two years, this group of pupils, who make up more than half of the school population, have made less progress than other pupils nationally. The strategy for spending the pupil premium funding lacks rigorous evaluation.
• Teaching is not improving quickly enough. Leaders have established a comprehensive programme of training for teachers. However, this is not having a consistently positive impact on pupils’ learning, because leaders’ expectations for classroom practice are not always high enough.
• The most able pupils continue to make less progress than their peers in other schools. Leaders do not possess a clear understanding of what the most able pupils require in order to be challenged in their lessons. As a result, teaching fails to stretch pupils.
• The curriculum has been bolstered by the introduction of triple science and discrete lessons for personal, social, health and economic education. However, the decision to extend the length of key stage 4 means that some pupils complete key stage 3 without a secure understanding of the subjects they have studied.
• Leaders, particularly the headteacher, have an accurate understanding of the priorities required to ensure sustained improvement. The foundations for this improvement are in place, and there have been important improvements in some key areas. For example, leaders have established an inclusive culture where issues such as equality, diversity and tolerance are woven carefully into the life of the school. As a result, pupils’ attitudes are consistently positive.
• The headteacher has established productive partnerships with external groups. These partnerships provide valuable opportunities for pupils, such as studying Latin at a local independent school. External partners, including outstanding local schools, also make a valuable contribution to the school’s self-evaluation. This is most notable in the external reviews of subjects, such as English and mathematics. These subjects have improved their practice, for example by ensuring that the mathematics curriculum is closely aligned to the work pupils have done at their primary school.
• The school’s positive culture is promoted effectively through the assembly programme, which provides practical and sensitive guidance on topics such as mental health. The programme of events for Black History month reveals a school that takes pride in preparing pupils for life in modern Britain. The extra-curricular programme, which includes a feminist society and a debating club, is valued by pupils.
• Leadership of the specialist resource unit for pupils with dyslexia is effective. The pupils in the resource base are supported well on arrival at Deptford Green, due to close links with their primary schools. Leaders have taken effective action to improve the attendance of pupils in the resource base.
• Support for pupils who speak English as an additional language (EAL) is a strength and these pupils make good progress. The EAL coordinator communicates skilfully with parents, carers and teachers to ensure that newly arrived pupils are supported well.

Governance of the school

• Governors have not held school leaders to account for the support they provide for disadvantaged pupils, particularly on the way that this support is evaluated and refined.
• Governors’ assessment of the quality of teaching and learning does not pay sufficient attention to pupils’ typical experience in the classroom and the work they typically produce.
• Governors do provide committed and ambitious support for the school. They have been chosen carefully for their educational expertise, business acumen and local knowledge. Governors recognise the school’s improvement and are proud of the rich extra-curricular programme.
• Governors have played a key role supporting the school in reducing the number of exclusions. They actively contribute to the culture of safety and well-being in the school, for example through the part they play in the appointment of staff.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Checks to ensure that staff are suitable to work with pupils are comprehensive, detailed and up to date. Risk assessments are used well by leaders to inform staff about how to manage events, activities and the school site.
• Leaders possess a clear understanding of the local context and the potential challenges that pupils face outside of the school. Leaders have established productive partnerships with external organisations which ensure that pupils receive well-informed guidance on a wide range of topics.
• Pupils say that they feel safe and are increasingly aware of how to stay safe, both at the school and outside of the school. They enjoy good relationships with members of staff. Teachers take pastoral care seriously and have a good understanding of how to report concerns.
• Regular training ensures that staff have a clear awareness of the issues around safeguarding, including child sexual exploitation and the ‘Prevent’ duty.
• Parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire Parent View confirmed that their children feel safe in the school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching, learning and assessment require improvement, because lessons do not consistently challenge pupils. Too often teachers set work which lacks depth and does not require pupils to think deeply. Where this happens, pupils are not challenged. This limits the progress of all pupils, particularly the most able.
• Teaching is not always based on high expectations of pupils, particularly the most able. Teachers do not consistently expect pupils to produce substantial work in their lessons. Pupils’ books show that they can produce carefully crafted pieces of writing, for example, but they are not expected to do so routinely.
• Questioning is not used consistently well to probe pupils’ thinking. Limited responses are accepted, rather than challenged and developed. As a result, pupils lack confidence in talking about their learning. They are not able to explain the meaning of key words and concepts consistently.
• The school’s feedback policy is not applied consistently across the school. This means that poor presentation and incomplete work are not always challenged.
• Examples of effective teaching are evident across the school, particularly in drama, music and mathematics. In mathematics, the revised key stage 3 curriculum builds directly on pupils’ experience of mathematics in primary school. This is having a positive impact on pupils’ numerical fluency.
• Teachers and leaders recognise the importance of reading, and many pupils read enthusiastically as a result. The library is well used at lunchtime and provides a purposeful, productive space. Reading is also included in the form-time programme, but the effectiveness of this is hampered by some pupils selecting texts that lack challenge.
• Pupils who speak English as an additional language do well because they receive dedicated support which is carefully aligned to the work they are doing in lessons.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Vulnerable pupils are particularly well cared for. For example, a national mental health charity has a base in the school which pupils use to access effective support.
• Bullying is rare, and pupils trust teachers and leaders to deal effectively with any incidents should they happen. Diversity is celebrated, and the school makes good use of external partners to explore what it means to be a citizen in modern Britain.
• Pupils particularly appreciate the opportunity to serve their school community as leaders and the inspiring training that these leadership roles provide for a significant number of pupils each year. These ‘student leaders’ describe their training as ‘transformational’, and several pupils have been inspired to stand for Young Mayor of Lewisham. These pupils have ambitious career aspirations as a result of the training they have received.
• Careers information and guidance are effective and pupils are well supported in applying for further education. All pupils visit a local university in their first year at the school.
• Form time follows a structured daily programme, although some of the activities that take place do not support pupils in their academic development as well as they could.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. They move around the school with purpose and conduct themselves well in corridors and in the playground. Behaviour in the classroom is good in the vast majority of lessons. Pupils, parents and staff agree that behaviour has improved significantly in recent years.
• Levels of attendance are slightly higher than the national average. The attendance of disadvantaged pupils is slightly below the national average, but is improving. School leaders are committed to improving this figure further, for example by identifying pupils with poor attendance at primary school and working with the families of these pupils from the start of their time at Deptford Green.
• Fixed-term exclusions and permanent exclusions have fallen significantly in the past year. A small number of pupils are educated at registered local providers. Where such alternative provision is used, school leaders maintain effective contact with pupils so that they can monitor their progress, attendance and behaviour.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Despite recent improvements, too many pupils leave Deptford Green without good GCSE grades in both English and mathematics. Pupils also make less progress than those with the same starting points in other schools.
• In 2017 and 2018, disadvantaged pupils made less progress than their peers. However, they are now starting to make better progress. This is the result of effective systems such as regular meetings between subject leaders and heads of year to identify and support pupils at risk of underachievement.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not make as much progress as their peers. School leaders have acted quickly to address this, and a newly appointed special educational needs coordinator has taken effective action to improve outcomes for these pupils.
• The good links with local providers of further education ensure that pupils are well informed about opportunities after Year 11. School leaders track pupils’ destinations carefully and have successfully reduced the number of pupils who do not progress to education, employment or training.
• Pupils in the specialist resource base make progress in line with other pupils in the school.
• Reading tests in Year 7 enable teachers to identify pupils promptly who are unable to read fluently. An adapted English curriculum enables these pupils to catch up with their peers.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 100740 Lewisham 10047224 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Secondary Comprehensive School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Maintained 11 to 16 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 910 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Sid Hughes Mark Phillips Telephone number 020 8691 3236 Website Email address http://www.deptfordgreen.lewisham.sch.uk info@deptfordgreen.lewisham.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 4–5 May 2016

Information about this school

• Deptford Green School is slightly smaller than the average-sized secondary school. It caters for pupils aged 11 to 16.
• The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is above average.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEND is in line with the national average.
• The proportion of those with an education, health and care plan is above the national average.
• A small number of pupils attend alternative provision at Abbey Manor College, Millwall Community Trust, Street Vibes and Lewisham Young Women’s Resource Project.
• The school has a dyslexia resource base on site, catering for the needs of 10 pupils.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning across all year groups. Many visits to classrooms were made jointly with school leaders.
• Inspectors talked with groups of pupils from key stages 3 and 4. Inspectors also spoke with pupils informally throughout the inspection.
• Pupils’ work was scrutinised in lessons and as part of the meetings with pupils.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, senior and middle leaders, members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority.
• Documentary and other types of information was evaluated, including evidence related to safeguarding, assessment and school evaluation.
• Inspectors scrutinised records relating to the quality of teaching and the school’s website, including information about extra-curricular activities.
• Inspectors took account of the 70 responses to the online Parent View survey, the eight responses to the online pupil survey and the 24 responses to the staff online survey.

Inspection team

Stephen Adcock, lead inspector Anthony Wilson Carolyn Dickinson Bruce Goddard Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector