Waldegrave School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Further improve assessment across the curriculum at key stage 3 so that pupils acquire even deeper knowledge and understanding in this phase.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• Leaders, governors and teachers are united in having the highest aspirations for pupils. They are highly reflective, accurate and honest about the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Inspectors scrutinised all of the school’s action plans and monitoring information. This showed that leaders pinpoint the exact actions that they need to take to improve the school, and that they think deeply about the effectiveness of their actions.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a significant strength of the school. This is because leaders create rich and varied opportunities for pupils to become reflective, resilient and caring citizens. The school’s values of ‘Enjoy, Achieve and Empower’ are a lived experience for pupils and define their life at Waldegrave.
• The leadership of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding. Leaders have developed a diverse programme of support for staff which meets the needs of individuals and drives forward school priorities. Subject leaders play a key role in supporting their colleagues and ensuring that the high level of consistency in teaching quality is maintained. The support programme for teachers is based on research and evidence. Leaders take time to identify activities with proven success, and they adapt them for use in school. As a result, teaching is highly effective, and has a marked impact on the exceptional progress that pupils make.
• Teachers fully understand their responsibilities to raise standards. Staff, including newly qualified teachers, reported that they are supported and challenged in equal measure and are held rigorously to account for pupils’ achievement.
• Leaders are assiduous in their monitoring of how additional funding supports pupils’ performance. The impact of this funding is shown in the outstanding outcomes achieved by disadvantaged pupils.
• Leaders have put in place a very well-designed curriculum with a strong focus on core subjects. Pupils follow subjects which provide opportunities to deepen their knowledge, skills and understanding. There is a range of additional teaching in place to support pupils who fall behind. In order to meet pupils’ needs, leaders continually review the curriculum. For instance, they have introduced additional subjects for a small number of targeted pupils. A much higher proportion of pupils take the English Baccalaureate subjects than do so nationally.
• The taught curriculum is enhanced by a wide range of extra-curricular activities which support pupils’ sporting, artistic, musical, creative and academic development. For example, many pupils take part in international trips to a range of destinations.
• Leaders have ensured that the key stage 3 curriculum is fully mapped out in all subjects. Pupils’ knowledge, understanding and skills are assessed by teachers and pupils using ‘learning journeys’. Leaders recognise that further development of this model is necessary to get better information about pupils’ progress.

Governance of the school

• Governance is very effective, and governors have played an instrumental role in sustaining an outstanding quality of education. They have an excellent understanding of their role in the context of a school that is highly successful and where pupils thrive. They do this by scrutinising all aspects of the schools’ work with a fine-tooth comb and asking challenging questions. For example, in 2017, some subjects had not performed as well as expected, resulting in governors holding leaders to account. Pupils’ achievement in targeted subjects improved in 2018.
• Governors play an active role in the school. They visit the school regularly, both formally and informally, for example to take part in focused audits and reviews. Governors systematically review the impact of the school improvement plan. Astute financial management ensures that plans are cost effective.
• Governors take responsibility for improving their own skills. They have audited their skills and are taking effective action to address any gaps in their knowledge.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders ensure that there is a strong culture of safeguarding. The values of support and care are evident across the school. Pupils are confident that there is always an adult to talk to if they have a worry or concern. All pupils who spoke to inspectors said that they feel safe and very well cared for in the school.
• Staff benefit from training and regular briefings on all aspects of safeguarding. They understand their safeguarding responsibilities. They are vigilant and know what to do if they are concerned about a pupil.
• School leaders ensure that vulnerable pupils are well supported. School staff work very well with parents and carers and the local authority to protect pupils in need of care and support.
• All parents who completed Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, said that their children feel safe in school.
• Statutory procedures for checking the suitability of staff to work with children are efficiently managed.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• Teachers are thoughtful practitioners, constantly looking at ways to become even better. They benefit strongly from the excellent professional development opportunities that the school provides, partly through its leadership of the Richmond Teaching School Alliance.
• Over time, very effective teaching has enabled pupils to achieve exceptional outcomes across the curriculum. Teachers are subject specialists and have in-depth understanding of the curriculum and how best to teach it. Pupils are very keen to make the best use of this excellent resource of professional knowledge and experience.
• Teachers have very strong subject knowledge and enthusiasm for their subjects. They use this very effectively to ask probing questions and provide high-quality explanations about key concepts and ideas. As a result, pupils’ understanding improves, in particular their ability to make stronger connections with their previous learning.
• Teachers have in-depth knowledge about individual pupil’s strengths and weaknesses in the subjects that they teach. Teachers use the detailed assessment information to plan activities that meet the needs of the range of pupils in their class. Pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities, for example, are fully involved in lessons, thinking, reflecting, investigating and problem-solving. Consequently, they make excellent progress over time.
• Teachers are generally very skilful at pushing the boundaries for the most able pupils through constant probing coupled with support when required. As a result, most-able pupils take their thinking to a deeper level and remember important ideas which they use later to consolidate their understanding. This was seen by inspectors in many lessons, for example in English, history, art and science.
• Pupils routinely are given time and opportunities to correct mistakes in order to improve their work, which leads to better understanding. Teachers frequently provide high-quality feedback which pupils are keen to use to redraft or edit their work and achieve an even higher standard.
• Teachers provide pupils with an array of opportunities to regularly explore and practise examination-style questions. This helps explain their high achievement by the end of key stage 4.
• Pupils see the value of homework and are expected to complete it. The work they do at home is helping them to develop independence and apply the knowledge they gain in the classroom. In turn, this is helping to promote pupils’ sustained strong progress.
• Further sharpening the assessment practice, which underpins the curriculum at key stage 3, is a current priority for all subjects.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Pupils feel safe and extremely well supported. They are friendly, highly polite and self-confident, but are also aware of the needs of others, including those who have additional needs. They have high standards of personal presentation and a deep sense of pride in their school. The school’s motto of ‘Enjoy, Achieve and Empower’ is a lived experience for the pupils at Waldegrave.
• Pupils have an excellent understanding of different types of bullying and how to stay vigilant and combat issues should they arise. Many spoke knowledgeably to inspectors about, for instance, cyber and homophobic bullying, and how to prevent this happening in the first place. Pupils say that bullying of any kind is rare and that staff deal promptly with any issues that may arise.
• Staff offer excellent support for pupils’ physical and emotional well-being. Parents are very positive about the pastoral care that their children receive and how, in turn, this helps them to make strong progress. For example, additional counselling services, coupled with the provision of a wide range of extra-curricular activities, makes a strong contribution to maintaining a healthy mind and body.
• Careers education and guidance are a strength of the school and are very well led and managed. Leaders have devised a detailed programme to broaden pupils’ horizons. For example, pupils visit universities and have talks from outside speakers, often ex-pupils, who share their experiences of life beyond school. Leaders take particular care to ensure that vulnerable pupils are guided onto the right post-16 courses. As a result, pupils are very well prepared for their future paths.
• Pupils who attend provision off-site for a part of the week are monitored closely to make sure that they are attending, achieving well and are safe. School staff liaise regularly with staff at the alternative provision.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Pupils have a thirst for learning and are therefore very keen to get to lessons on time. Their conduct in lessons and around the school is exemplary.
• Pupils demonstrate a high level of maturity by, for example, frequently regulating their own behaviour. They respond swiftly to staff instructions and show sustained concentration when they think deeply about concepts and issues raised in class.
• Leaders have put very effective systems in place to help teachers manage the behaviour of pupils skilfully and to make sure that the behaviour policy is implemented consistently. Pupils are very clear about the school’s expectations of their conduct. As a result, low-level disruption to learning is very rare and rates of exclusion are extremely low.
• Pupils thoroughly enjoy the rich learning experiences that the school offers in a typical week. Consequently, their attendance is consistently well above the national average, and persistence absence is very low.

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• Pupils’ attainment when they join the school in Year 7 is typically above average. By the end of key stage 4, pupils consistently achieve standards that are well above the national average in a wide range of subjects, including English and mathematics. Pupils make exceptional progress year-on-year, and 2017 and 2018 are no exception. Their outcomes put them in the top 5% of schools nationally.
• In 2017 and 2018, pupils attained, on average, one-and-a-half grade higher than the national averages across eight subjects at GCSE.
• Inspectors looked at current pupils’ work, including in English, mathematics, science, art, geography and religious education. In almost all cases, pupils were shown to be making very strong progress. Clear progress was seen in the honing of pupils’ subject-specific skills in the context of a rich knowledge base.
• Pupils have excellent opportunities to develop their literacy and mathematical skills across the curriculum. They produce extended pieces of writing in different subjects, for instance when writing up an investigation in science or analysing a range of original sources in history. Many pupils read both fiction and non-fiction books for pleasure, reaching high standards in literacy. Likewise, pupils show strong progression across the year groups in honing their ability to apply their mathematical knowledge to solving real life problems.
• Disadvantaged pupils make excellent progress when compared nationally with pupils with similar Year 6 test results. They achieve exceptionally well in the English baccalaureate subjects, often achieving higher standards than their non-disadvantaged peers nationally.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities, including those in the specialist resource base, make strong progress from their starting points. This is because of careful identification of their needs by the staff, coupled with well-tailored teaching. Specific interventions, such as help with pupils’ reading, are very effective in embedding pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding.
• Pupils who study at an alternative provider for part of the week are making equally strong progress. They follow a curriculum more suited to their needs.
• In key stage 3 overall, pupils make strong progress across all subjects. Assessment at key stage 3 is not yet sharp enough to provide even greater clarity about the standards that pupils are expected to reach for each unit of work.

16 to 19 study programmes Outstanding

• Students’ attainment is consistently above average in a wide range of academic subjects, including English, mathematics, the sciences, social sciences and humanities. The standards achieved were even higher in 2018, resulting in very strong progress overall and for the majority of individual subjects. Students’ exceptional progress in key stage 4 is carried forward seamlessly into the sixth form.
• Students thoroughly enjoy their lessons. Teachers use a wide variety of tasks which challenge them. Inspectors saw examples of independent work, development of research skills, sharing ideas and deep discussion. Teachers are very effective in ensuring that students do not merely recount formulaic answers but learn to reason and argue for themselves. For example, inspectors observed students debating actively about the benefits and challenges of mobile technology in modern society.
• Leadership of the sixth form is highly effective. Leaders have designed a high-quality curriculum that is very responsive to the needs of students. Most students choose to study an academic A-Level curriculum and are provided with a wide range of subjects. Effective partnerships with a few local schools and providers extends choice further, for example for those students who decide to study vocational courses. These students achieve equally well and make excellent progress.
• Leaders make sure that students are well supported to keep themselves safe. Students are confident about who to go to if they have any problems, and they said that talks on sexual and mental health and recent work on non-violent extremism were very useful.
• Students value greatly their sixth-form experience and are glad that they chose to stay in the school. They enjoy the challenges of their courses, have clear views about what they want to do in future, and are supported exceptionally well by staff. As a result, success rates are very high, and almost all students move on to higher education, and many go on to study courses at Russell group universities.

School details

Unique reference number 138461 Local authority Richmond Upon Thames Inspection number 10053301 Type of school School category Academy Academy converter Age range of pupils 11 to 18 Gender of pupils Gender of pupils in 16 to 19 study programmes Number of pupils on the school roll Of which, number on roll in 16 to 19 study programmes Girls Mixed 1391 328 Appropriate authority The governing body Co-Chairs Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Frances Perrow; Andrew Tanner Philippa Nunn 020 8894 3244 www.waldegrave.richmond.sch.uk p.nunn@waldegrave.org.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school converted into an academy in September 2012 and is larger than the average-sized secondary school.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is broadly in line with that found nationally.
• The school is resourced for six pupils with special educational needs related to autism and speech and language difficulties. These pupils are integrated into the main school for most of the time.
• The majority of pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is below the national average.
• A very small number of pupils spend one day a week at ‘Anstee Bridge’, a local alternative education provider.
• Waldegrave is the lead school of the Richmond Teaching School Alliance, which is comprised of 10 secondary schools.
• This inspection is a section 8 deemed section 5 inspection, due to the addition of a new key stage 5 phase in September 2014. The sixth form is mixed, although the majority of students are girls.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited classes across all year groups and in a wide range of subjects to observe pupils’ learning and look at their work. Some of these visits were made jointly with senior leaders. Inspectors also visited an assembly and tutor periods.
• Four groups of pupils talked to inspectors about their views of the school. Inspectors talked with pupils in classes and at breaktimes and lunchtimes about their learning and progress.
• Inspectors met with seven governors, including the co-chair of the governing body, and they also held a meeting with the school’s improvement partner.
• Inspectors met with school leaders to discuss the impact of their work. This meeting included the headteacher, senior leaders, subject leaders and inclusion leaders.
• Newly qualified teachers and those in their second year of teaching met with inspectors to discuss their views of the school and how school leaders support them.
• Inspectors scrutinised school documents, including the school’s own self-evaluation, records of pupils’ progress, behaviour, attendance and safeguarding records.
• Inspectors considered the 222 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View. They also took account of the 77 responses to the online survey for staff.

Inspection team

Nasim Butt, lead inspector Jason Hughes Ben Thompson Kanwaljit Singh Alison Moore Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector