Prendergast Ladywell School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Raise outcomes, so they are at least good, in a wide range of subjects for all pupil groups in the secondary phase, including:
  • disadvantaged pupils
  • most-able pupils
  • pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Improve teaching across both phases by:
  • making sure that work is always matched to pupils’ skills and abilities, particularly for disadvantaged pupils
  • ensuring that teachers plan high-quality learning that helps pupils to make gains in their knowledge, understanding and subject-specific skills, including literacy and numeracy
  • promoting positive attitudes to learning.
• Reduce persistent absence and increase the attendance of pupil groups, particularly those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, disadvantaged pupils and those that are White British.
• Increase the impact that leaders, including governors and managers, have on improving teaching, pupil outcomes and behaviour by:
  • evaluating the progress made by different groups of pupils.
  • making sure that all middle leaders in both phases are skilled in improving teaching and pupil outcomes
  • ensuring that governors fulfil their statutory duties and hold leaders fully to account for all aspects of school improvements, particularly the achievement of disadvantaged pupils
  • ensuring that the school’s work to promote spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils, including the promotion of British values, is strong An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. An external review of pupil premium spending should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Leaders, including governors, have not established a culture of consistently good teaching in the secondary phase. Pupils’ outcomes vary across subjects and for pupil groups. The attendance of particular pupil groups remains low.
• Senior leaders have a wide range of information on pupils’ achievements and they know the key areas to improve. Performances of groups of pupils in terms of attendance and behaviour are rarely analysed.
• Teachers’ performance is managed carefully and includes the involvement of governors. At the time of the inspection, performance management targets viewed had not been validated.
• Newly appointed subject leaders in the secondary phase for mathematics and science have an accurate understanding of what needs to improve. They are starting to monitor teaching and pupils’ outcomes. This has not yet been effective in tackling pupils’ underperformance.
• Leaders have not made sure that the provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities has been effective. They judged the provision to be inadequate in January 2016. A recently appointed member of staff has started to tackle the weaknesses.
• Previous predictions of pupils’ attainment and progress were inaccurate. Leaders and governors believed the GCSE results in 2015 would be much more positive than they were. The school’s prediction for the attainment of pupils in 2016 was closer to the actual outcomes realised by pupils. However, the prediction set was still slightly high.
• The impact of additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils across both phases is not effective. It is more so in the primary phase, particularly at key stage 1. In the secondary phase, although improving, disadvantaged pupils do not make sufficient progress.
• The PE and sports premium is used to provide specialist coaching throughout the year. The school uses a proportion of the funds to enable the delivery of extra-curricular activities, including gymnastics and ballet classes. The school reports a clear purpose for using the funding. However, there is little analysis of how the funding has engaged more pupils in sport, or the impact on their attainment in physical education.
• The Year 7 catch-up premium is spent on additional teaching and software programmes. It is effective in developing basic numeracy and literacy skills, including reading. All eligible pupils are reported to be on course to make expected progress in English and mathematics.
• In the primary phase the school’s curriculum is effective. It enables pupils to build key skills while engaging pupils in creative experiences. Pupils’ outcomes are good.
• In the secondary phase the curriculum is broad, bespoke to cohorts and reviewed annually. Even though the proportion of pupils accessing the English Baccalaureate is rising and literacy across the curriculum is developing, this does not ensure that pupils are fully equipped to succeed in final examinations. The alternative provision for those pupils who are educated away from the school is tailored and well thought out for individual pupils.
• The curriculum in the primary phase allows pupils to develop their spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness. This is less so in the secondary phase, as pupils’ understanding of British values is underdeveloped.
• Leaders work closely with parents to help them support their children’s’ learning and well-being. This is particularly strong in the primary phase. Parents are invited regularly to join in with their children’s learning for short intervals and ‘Dads in Demand’ workshops help to engage fathers. This fosters strong communication links with parents. During the inspection, one parent said, ‘parents are always welcome’.
• In the secondary phase, most parents attend review meetings. Leaders and managers agree that more can be done to foster better links with parents.
• Careers education ensures that pupils are informed about their next steps as they approach the end of Year 11. For example, in a meeting conducted with Year 9 pupils, all expressed that they wanted to go to university.
• School leaders receive effective support from external consultants, the local authority and The Leathersellers’ Federation of schools. This has been particularly valuable in ensuring good provision for children in the early years foundation stage.

Governance of the school

• The governing body have a clear vision for the school to be at the heart of the community of which it serves. However, the impact of governance has not been effective in bringing about the necessary changes since the previous inspection.
• Governors have access to a large amount of performance data and use this to provide appropriate challenge over some aspects of its work. Despite this, they do not have detailed analysis of outcomes by pupil group to enable effective challenge to senior leaders.
• Governors know the school well. They have been slow to respond to the urgency of the improvements needed, although they know the issues to address and the challenges that are ahead.
• The governing body have not provided robust scrutiny and challenge to help school leaders to improve the school’s work swiftly and raise pupil outcomes, particularly those of disadvantaged pupils.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Suitably trained staff have strong links with external agencies to make sure that the very many vulnerable pupils who attend the school are cared for well. Parents report that their child is safe at school. There are clear systems and processes in place to keep pupils safe. All the required staff employment checks are conducted and staff know what to do if they have any concerns. Staff and governors have received effective training on the dangers associated with radicalisation and extremism.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching in the secondary provision is not consistently good. This leads to uneven progress for all pupils in a variety of subject areas.
• At times, weak teaching in the secondary phase is unable to capture the interests of pupils, particularly those with challenging behaviour. In these lessons unacceptable behaviour interferes with learning.
• Teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve are not consistently ambitious. The work set for some pupils is sometimes pitched too low, particularly for the most-able and disadvantaged most-able pupils. Some pupils are unable to make gains in their knowledge. During the inspection this was identified across both phases. For example, challenge for most-able pupils is less evident in Year 2 mathematics and some pupils report that, ‘often their work is too easy’.
• In both phases teachers are not always using questioning effectively or making it clear to pupils what is expected of them. At times pupils’ work is untidy.
• Some teachers’ feedback fails to address pupils’ needs and develop skills, particularly in key stage 4. Pupils are unable to progress onto the next step of their learning.
• Literacy across the curriculum in the secondary provision is starting to be developed. Teachers benefit from a range of opportunities to develop literacy within their subject areas. Inspectors viewed the impact of this during lessons observations. For example, inspectors saw good support from teachers in geography to develop pupils’ spelling, punctuation and grammar. There are some gains in pupils’ progress, but these initiatives are at an early stage.
• The school promotes reading in a variety of ways. Year 1 pupils report that they enjoy reading. Additionally in key stage 3, pupils receive rewards for their reading. Year 7 pupils borrow a fair number of books from the library. This diminishes in higher years.
• Inspectors listened to Year 1, 2 and 7 pupils read. All pupils used their phonics skills well. The least-able reader was confident to tackle unknown vocabulary. The most able pupil read with expression and fluency. He told the inspector, ’Reading is a fun hobby to do.’
• Secondary pupils who speak English as an additional language receive tailored support in small groups to help them with their literacy skills including reading. They are encouraged to maintain their proficiency in their home language as well as learning English.
• In most lessons and across both phases, teachers check pupils’ understanding frequently and correct misconceptions.
• In the primary phase, a resourceful, rich environment inside and outside the classroom inspires pupils to be creative in their play and learning. Inspectors witnessed pupils developing their creative writing skills in the colourful, eye-catching outdoor area.
• The quality of teaching is good throughout the primary phase, enabling pupils to secure gains in their reading, writing and mathematics.
• Additional adults are well informed and deployed effectively, to support pupils in key stage 1. They successfully work alongside pupils during lessons, including those who need encouragement to stay focused on their learning. This helps pupils to keep up with the work and make sufficient gains in their knowledge, understanding and skills.
• Pupils and their parents indicate that they are pleased with the quality of teaching in the primary provision. One parent described it as ‘a hidden gem’.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.
• Most secondary teachers use the school’s behaviour policy consistently, but not all. Therefore some pupils are unable to learn how to be successful learners.
• Secondary pupils do not have sufficient opportunities to develop their spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness, including promoting fundamental British values.
• Pupils understand what constitutes bullying and know how to keep themselves safe. They told inspectors that bullying does exist and there are appropriate systems in place to help with this. Younger pupils report that adults help children that are being bullied. In the secondary school, pupils said that homophobic bullying takes place. Some pupils fail to have a positive regard towards the protected characteristics of others.
• Most pupils said that they feel safe in the school. They are taught how to keep safe outside of school and online.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• In some lessons poor behaviour disturbs learning. This happens in the primary phase and more so in the secondary phase.
• During some lessons in the secondary phase, pupils talk to their friends and drift off task rather than giving learning their fullest attention. Pupils do not always display positive attitudes to learning, including through poor presentation of their work or by not completing tasks set by their teachers.
• Pupils move around the secondary school, at times, in a noisy, high-spirited way that lacks urgency to arrive to their lessons promptly. Therefore they enter their lessons in a lively manner.
• Pupils in the secondary phase report that at times pupils’ misbehaviour affects their learning. Most teachers use the behaviour policy effectively to help combat this.
• In contrast, pupils behave well and enjoy their playtimes in the primary phase. Most pupils in this phase report that behaviour is good.
• Many of the pupils who spoke to inspectors were courteous and welcoming. They told inspectors that the school is now a different place where learning occurs. Most pupils look smart and take pride in their uniform. The school’s environment is free from litter in both the primary and secondary phases.
• Overall attendance is average across both phases and demonstrates that most pupils want to be at school. Attendance in the primary phase is much higher.
• In the secondary phase, attendance of groups remains low, particularly for White British and disadvantaged pupils. Persistent absence has fallen in 2016 but still remains high. Newly appointed leaders and the introductions of systems are beginning to address this absence rate.
• There are a small number of pupils who study away from school. The school keeps in touch with the alternative providers to ensure that the pupils attend regularly and the provision is fit for purpose.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils start secondary school with below-average attainment in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The outcomes for pupils require improvement because in the secondary phase current pupils are not making consistently good progress in all year groups and across a wide range of subjects.
• Current Year 11 pupils are making slow progress in English. The progress of pupils in other year groups is variable across the curriculum, including in drama, French and information and communication technology.
• Similarly, the progress of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is variable. Of this group, key stage 3 pupils are making better progress, in a range of subjects, than pupils in key stage 4.
• In 2015 the expected progress of disadvantaged pupils at the end of Year 11 was below other pupils nationally in English and mathematics. Those pupils with low prior attainment made slightly better progress in both subjects. The school’s use of pupil premium funding is starting to have an impact on outcomes, but differences with other pupils nationally remain too wide.
• The current progress of some disadvantaged pupils in the secondary phase is moving towards age expectations in a wide range of subjects. The school’s information supports this. The most able pupils and the most able disadvantaged pupils are making steady progress but the proportion attaining the upper levels is not high enough. This was evidenced by the school’s information, by looking at pupils’ books and by observing learning.
• Pupils in key stage 4 did not make enough progress in English and mathematics in 2015 and 2016. In both these years, the percentage of pupils attaining five GCSEs at grades A* to C, including English and mathematics was below national averages, significantly so in 2015. These pupils are not suitably prepared for the next step of their education.
• Progress in science at the end of Year 11 was in line with national figures in 2015. No Year 11 pupil was entered for single science courses in 2016.
• The schools’ information highlighted that the progress of secondary, most-able pupils is uneven across subjects and year groups. This variability was confirmed by inspectors’ observations of lessons and view of pupils’ work.
• Previous predictions of pupils’ attainment were inaccurate. Leaders and governors believed that the GCSE results in 2015 would be much more positive than they were. Since then leaders have developed the school’s assessment procedures.
• There are some improvements in some pupils’ achievements in mathematics and science in key stage 3 and 4. This was clearly identified when inspectors observed lessons, scrutinised pupils’ books and the tracking information provided by leaders.
• There are a small number of pupils that attend alternative provisions. Those pupils studying for qualifications achieve well.
• Building upon the secure early years foundation stage, pupils make good progress in key stage 1 in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The school’s key stage 1 predictions suggest that pupils’ progress will be in line with expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. This will be the school’s first set of key stage 1 results.
• Similarly, the school’s first result of the Year 1 national phonics screening check was above average in 2016.

Early years provision Good

• Children in the early years provision benefit from having a positive learning environment that enthuses them and challenges their curiosity. Additionally, the engaging and varied curriculum allows them to develop good attitudes to learning. Children are happy and eager to learn.
• Leaders have established strong links with parents. This ensures that children benefit from a smooth and supportive induction into the early years provision.
• Teachers use resources effectively. They provide a range of opportunities for children to develop creative writing skills, to problem solve and to apply their learning to practical activities. Strong teaching of phonics fosters basic reading skills. Literacy and numeracy skills are promoted in a fun and meaningful way. Learning journals show children developing these skills routinely. As a result of good teaching over time, children make good progress in all areas of learning.
• Children are well supported by effective systems that include rewards for positive behaviour. They develop good social skills and behave well. This helps them to be successful in Year 1. During the inspection children in Reception are explicitly told how to work well with others and in pairs.
• Leaders of the early years provision have high expectations of children’s outcomes across all areas of learning and have clear plans to achieve this. They track individual children’s progress and target interventions when necessary. This facilitated the strong phonics outcomes in 2016.
• The proportion of all children achieving a good level of development was above the national average in 2015 and 2016, therefore preparing them well for Year 1.
• The proportion of disadvantaged children achieving a good level of development was below that of other children nationally in 2015 and 2016. The effect of the early years pupil premium is not enabling positive outcomes for all disadvantaged children in the early years provision.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 100747 Lewisham 10019652 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school All-through School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Foundation 4 to 16 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 861 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Christopher Barrow Niall Hand 020 8690 1114 www.prendergast-ladywell.com admin@prendergast-ladywell.com Date of previous inspection 18–19 September 2014

Information about this school

• Prendergast Ladywell School is an all-through school, with a primary section that includes early years provision and a secondary section. A privately run breakfast and after-school club are also located on school site, and these are inspected separately.
• The school is part of the Leathersellers’ Federation of Schools, which is led by an executive headteacher who delegates day-to-day management of the schools to the headteachers. The headteacher of the primary school has been in post since 2014.
• The school uses a number of alternative providers, including Lewisham Southwark College, Abbey Manor College, The Complete Works, City Gateway, Lewisham Young Women’s Resource Project and Huntercombe Hospital.
• The school did not meet the government floor standards in 2015. (Incidentally, floor thresholds for 2016 are not published to date.)
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors observed teaching and learning in 45 part lessons, of which 15 were jointly observed with leaders.
• Inspectors observed other aspects of the school day, including an assembly, registrations, small-group sessions, lesson changeovers, breaktimes, lunchtimes, and at the start and end of the school day.
• A range of meetings was held with senior leaders, heads of departments, a group of newly qualified teachers, staff, pupils, members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.
• Inspectors looked at a range of documents, including attendance records, exclusion logs and assessment information.
• The views of pupils were gathered by inspectors speaking to pupils in lessons, at breaktimes and in small-group meetings during lunchtime.
• The views of parents were gathered from 69 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, and 19 responses to Ofsted’s free-text service. Inspectors also spoke to parents at the beginning of the school day.
• Inspectors analysed responses to questionnaires from 57 members of staff.

Inspection team

Rosemarie McCarthy, lead inspector Jacques Szemalikowski Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Janet Hallett Her Majesty’s Inspector Karla Martin-Theodore Janice Howkins

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector