Helena Romanes School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils appreciate that the school is improving. Most pupils enjoy attending Helena Romanes School. They benefit from a diverse range of visits and visitors, and trips such as to battlefields in Belgium, theatres and the Millennium Seedbank.

These trips develop pupils' knowledge and interest in the wider world. There are many clubs, including art, music and a range of sports. Pupils have opportunities to develop their leadership skills.

They can become prefects or join the school council.

The vast majority of pupils behave well in this school. They treat each other and staff with respect.

Pupils say that there is some bullying, but that teachers take ...action which makes it stop. Staff are skilled in providing support and guidance for pupils who need help with their well-being or behaviour. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe.

Pupils, including those in the sixth form, follow a curriculum which is adapted to meet the needs of all learners. The school expects pupils to do their best in all key stages. As a result, pupils achieve well over time.

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

The school has thought carefully about the curriculum. Leaders have identified the key knowledge that pupils need to learn. The school has planned so pupils build their knowledge over time.

In lessons, information from previous lessons, including key vocabulary, is regularly revisited so that pupils remember it.

Teachers know the needs of their pupils well. They adapt their teaching to ensure that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), can access the learning.

They often use effective questioning to check pupils' knowledge. Pupils receive useful feedback on their work and use it to make improvements. As a result, pupils build up knowledge well.

On occasion, opportunities for discussion, debate and sharing of knowledge are limited. Pupils are not always able to explain their ideas clearly and confidently when speaking in lessons, or to adults. Pupils do not get enough chances to build their confidence and skill through practice.

Weaker readers in both the primary and secondary phases of the school are supported well. This helps them improve their fluency and accuracy. Although pupils encounter a range of texts across the curriculum and read in form time, many do not read widely or often enough for pleasure.

The school is aware of this. Plans to promote a wider love of reading are in place. However, they are not fully developed.

Children in reception make a very secure start to their education. They learn how to work and play with each other. Children develop an interest in the world around them.

The curriculum is carefully planned and adapted to their needs. Consequently, they make substantial progress in the early steps of learning to read and in their understanding of number.

Students in the sixth form enjoy studying here.

Increasing numbers of Year 11 pupils opt to stay on into the sixth form. This is because the sixth form is friendly and supportive and offers a wide range of subjects. Students are taught how to study effectively and organise themselves.

If they find this difficult, they are helped to improve. They say that teachers have strong subject knowledge and that they push them in lessons to do their best. As a result, students in the sixth form learn and achieve well.

The school has high expectations of behaviour, and these are consistently enforced by staff. Teachers use approaches that focus on preventing inappropriate behaviour. Pastoral leaders work persistently with pupils who find it hard to meet expectations that teachers and staff have of them in order to help them improve.

Lunchtimes have been shortened. These steps have substantially reduced disruption to learning and improved behaviour out of lessons. Pupils increasingly attend well.

The school's personal, social and health education curriculum is well planned and taught. Pupils in all key stages learn how to keep themselves safe and healthy. They learn about the importance of kindness and the importance of respecting those who are different to themselves.

Pupils are well prepared for the next stage in their education or employment. The school has a comprehensive careers programme which develops their knowledge of the labour market. Year 10 pupils take part in work experience.

Students in the sixth form also visit universities.

The school increasingly uses its all-through provision to enhance pupils' learning. Teachers from the secondary school teach subjects such as physical education and Spanish to pupils in the primary school.

Primary school teachers train secondary school staff in teaching phonics. Sixth-form students help in the primary school as part of their enrichment programme.

The school is highly ambitious to be the best that it can be.

Governors and the trust share this desire to continue to improve. The trust provides the school with useful support, such as high-quality training for staff. Governors check on the progress of the school and check safeguarding.

Staff, including early career teachers, say that the school is considerate of their workload and well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Pupils do not typically read widely or often for pleasure, and as a result, they do not develop their literacy, curiosity or acquire the knowledge of vocabulary as well as they should.

Leaders should ensure that reading is promoted and celebrated through the school to ensure that pupils develop a love of reading. ? Some pupils do not communicate their ideas clearly or confidently when speaking. Leaders should review the curriculum so that regular opportunities to build pupils' oracy are built in to improve pupils' communication skills.