Enfield Grammar School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Enfield Grammar School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud of their school.

They recognise the wider opportunities available and particularly benefit from the school's rich and broad sporting offer. For example, pupils participate in high standard football, basketball and trampolining competitions.

The school has established a caring and positive culture.

The school community of parents and carers, pupils and staff respect each other. Pupils feel safe and know that they can approach a trusted adult if they need help. If incidents of bullying occur, the school takes action to ensure that pupils get the help they ne...ed.

In the classroom, behaviour allows learning to take place without interruption. When needed, teachers use clear and effective routines to bring learning back to focus quickly. The same high expectations of behaviour are in place in the playground and as pupils move around the school.

Adults consistently maintain these high behaviour expectations in these areas through close supervision.

Leaders have built an ambitious and demanding curriculum, including for the sixth form. All pupils are expected to achieve well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Most pupils respond well to these standards and remain focused during learning. As a result, they are successful in their studies.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Pupils attend school regularly.

Leaders have been innovative, putting systems in place that identify the pupils at greatest risk of absence and encouraging their attendance. As a result, the school ensures that pupils are present and able to make the most of the opportunity to learn.

Pupils understand how they are expected to conduct themselves around the school because teachers make these expectations clear.

The behaviour policies are fair and effective. Pupils speak to staff with courtesy. They understand that staff are looking after each pupil's best interests.

Sometimes, pupils do not move sensibly through busy corridors, but staff are on hand to provide close supervision and maintain safety and behaviour standards.

Subjects are consistently structured with activities to help pupils remember knowledge that has been previously taught. Teachers are highly knowledgeable, and they skilfully help pupils recall what they have learned.

When mistakes are made, pupils develop a habit of correcting their learning. For example, in mathematics, pupils take on board clear teacher feedback when they make errors in their use of fractions. They use this guidance to build further knowledge successfully and eliminate the misconceptions they might have.

Pupils with SEND receive support from staff in the classroom to ensure that they can access the same knowledge and skills as others. In the sixth form, students in physical education (PE), for example, are confident in using teacher feedback to improve their work, which they take pride in showcasing.

The curriculum has been given careful thought.

Leaders want pupils to identify with the contexts chosen for teaching concepts. For example, in English, pupils are taught to empathise with both male and female characters in 'Oliver Twist' and relate this to the struggles some face in modern day London.

The school has a wide offer of subjects available to pupils.

However, the proportion of pupils studying languages at GCSE is comparatively low. This means that pupils' access to the English Baccalaureate suite of subjects remains below leaders' expectations. The school is working to increase pupils' interest in languages to broaden the take-up of the subject.

The school has prioritised reading and allocated time and resources to improve reading standards. Staff know how to make systematic identification of those pupils who need support. Some pupils arrive at the school already several years behind in their reading.

However, the current programme and staff training aimed at helping these pupils to catch up with their reading are not yet effective, and these pupils do not get enough practice to quickly improve.

The school provides all pupils in Years 7 to 11 with a citizenship programme that teaches them about wider issues. An effective mix of assemblies, lessons, speakers and visits, taught by a team of experts in this curriculum area, cover important issues.

As a result, pupils can confidently discuss ideas about, for example, democracy, healthy behaviours when online, and spirituality. This extends to the sixth form, where there is an emphasis on careers education and guidance, which ensures that pupils know the full range of options available to them when they leave school.

Leaders have established a culture of mutual respect with their staff.

Teachers are proud to work at this school and feel they are listened to, including those at the start of their careers.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Pupils are safe.

The school has a culture of being thorough about reporting, recording and escalating incidents when needed. The strong professional relationships between staff and pupils mean that the school quickly identifies any changes that may indicate a safety concern. They respond promptly.

Pupils trust staff and know they can turn to them for help.

However, statutory requirements are not consistently met for reporting pupils missing from education to the local authority. This means that, when a pupil moves away from the area, for example, notification to the local authority does not occur reliably.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The needs of weaker readers are not routinely met through the implementation of the reading programme. This means that some weaker readers do not make the rapid improvement they require. The school should strengthen the rigour of its reading programme and ensure that training is provided to teach pupils to read.

• The systems for ensuring that statutory requirements for the reporting of children missing from education are not widely understood or embedded. The school and trust should ensure that policies, training and oversight in this area are strengthened.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in September 2018.