Harris Academy Clapham

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders know their pupils well. They strive to ensure the best outcomes for each individual.

Pupils speak glowingly about the support offered by teachers and leaders.

The curriculum is carefully planned. It allows all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to develop their knowledge.

Teachers help pupils to build up and apply their understanding. However, in some subjects, teachers' expertise at supporting pupils' learning is not as strong.

Pupils take part in many different extra-curricular and leadership activities.

Leaders have recently launched a house system. Pupils voted for the houses to be ...named after individuals that best represented the values of their school. This process formed part of leaders' work to promote pupils' understanding of British values.

Leaders have introduced new rules and routines that are promoting positive behaviour around the school site and in lessons. These expectations are appreciated by both staff and pupils. Staff implement these rules and routines consistently.

This ensures that learning is not disrupted. Bullying is rare. If it does occur, it is swiftly dealt with.

Pupils are kept safe.

The high-quality provision for pupils' personal development attests to leaders' belief in character development. Leaders and staff take every opportunity to help pupils live out the belief that 'everything is possible'.

Pupils appreciate that their teachers are there to help them to succeed.

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

Leaders have ensured that there is a rigorous and ambitious curriculum in place for each subject. The planned curriculum is broad and rich.

For instance, every pupil in Years 7 and 8 learns Mandarin.

Subject leaders are experts who are well supported by the trust. They use their expertise to plan effective sequencing of lessons.

As part of this, leaders aim to ensure that pupils build well on their existing knowledge. In history, for example, the curriculum is ordered so that pupils develop their knowledge over time in carefully considered steps. Teaching revisits and reinforces ideas that have been studied previously.

This enables pupils to have a secure understanding of the subject content that they will need for their future studies.

Assessment is used well by leaders and staff to reinforce pupils' understanding of key concepts. Teachers also identify and fill any gaps in pupils' knowledge.

Subject leaders keep a close eye on how well pupils are learning and remembering the curriculum. They use what they find out to decide how the curriculum should be adapted for pupils in the future.

Typically, pupils remember what they have been taught.

This is because revisiting key ideas is prioritised in the delivery of the curriculum. Nevertheless, there are some inconsistencies in how well this approach is working in some subjects. Sometimes, teachers set work that is not sufficiently focused on supporting pupils to understand and remember subject content in the long term.

Leaders and teachers support pupils with SEND well, using approaches tailored to individual needs. Teachers have the necessary training to identify and understand pupils' barriers to learning.

Reading is a priority at the school.

Teachers ensure that pupils practise the correct pronunciation of subject-specific vocabulary. They model reading in lessons, and support those pupils who are at earlier stages of reading development. These pupils also receive well-targeted additional help to develop and strengthen their reading.

For example, leaders now provide specialist support for phonics when pupils need it.

Leaders have high expectations for pupils' conduct. New behaviour systems are ensuring that these high expectations are realised throughout the school.

In personal, social, health and education (PSHE), the curriculum is ambitious and methodically planned. It is designed to help pupils to understand more about the world that they live in. Pupils are taught important information, for instance, about healthy relationships.

They spoke with confidence about what they had been learning. Careers guidance is interwoven throughout the curriculum and supported by tutor time and drop-down days. Pupils are prepared thoroughly for their future lives in modern Britain.

A carefully chosen programme of enrichment activities supports the high-quality personal development provision. Leaders proactively monitor who is taking part. They ensure that all pupils, including those with SEND, take up the provision on offer.

In Year 9, for example, all pupils will take part in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme.

Leaders value professional development. They support staff workload and well-being.

The members of the governing body have received training to support their role at the school. They are involved in school life and, together with the trust, ask leaders challenging questions about their work to improve the school further.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders have ensured that there is a strong culture of safeguarding at the school. All staff know and follow the procedures in place to keep pupils safe. Leaders understand the issues facing young people in the local area and they ensure that pupils and staff are trained to understand them.

When leaders are concerned that pupils may be at risk of harm, they make appropriate referrals and ensure that these are followed up by the relevant authority.The PSHE curriculum is planned carefully to ensure that pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe.

What does the school need to do to improve?

• In some instances, teaching does not fully support pupils to work towards and achieve the ambitious goals of the curriculum.

This reduces how securely some pupils develop their understanding of key concepts. Leaders should ensure that teaching focuses consistently on supporting pupils to master subject content, as set out in curriculum thinking. This includes continuing to provide staff with suitable professional development to further improve their subject expertise.

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