London Nautical School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

London Nautical is an inclusive and welcoming school. Pupils enjoy coming to school and are happy here. They have a positive relationship with their peers and staff.

Pupils feel safe and appreciate that staff are always available to support them if they have any concerns. Pupils are proud of the school's maritime tradition. For example, pupils in Years 7 to 9 hold weekly parades wearing their naval beret.

Leaders have high expectations of all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, the curriculum that pupils experience does not reflect this ambition. Some subjects are not taught in a way that ensures that pupils deve...lop knowledge consistently well.

As a result, pupils, including those with SEND, do not achieve highly.Pupils are respectful and polite. They behave well in lessons and around the school during breaktimes and lunchtimes.

Bullying is not tolerated. When incidents of bullying happen, staff swiftly deal with them. Staff manage pupils' behaviour well, which enables learning to take place in a calm and orderly environment.

Pupils have access to a wide range of extra-curricular activities to develop their interests and talents. These include sports, boxing, filmmaking, gardening, football, and choir.

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

Leaders and governors have set a clear mission to improve the curriculum from Year 7 through to Year 13.

They have identified appropriate and well-defined actions. These are centred on providing an ambitious curriculum for all pupils. Some of this work is already making a clear difference.

For example, leaders have set out and sequenced the subject content that should be taught. However, their work to improve the delivery of the curriculum is not as advanced. Leaders are at the early stages of making sure that the teaching of the curriculum consistently matches their aims and expectations across subjects.

Because of this, pupils experience a curriculum that does not enable their understanding to increase cumulatively over time. Pupils, including those with SEND, do not build on previous learning securely.

Leaders provide all teachers, including those at the early stage of their career, with training to deliver the curriculum.

This is underpinned by the school's 'learning philosophy' approach. Teachers have secure subject knowledge. Nonetheless, some teaching does not routinely check for pupils' understanding.

This means that the delivery of the curriculum is not adapted to help pupils develop a sufficiently secure understanding of key concepts. Misconceptions and gaps in pupils' knowledge are not addressed swifty. This hinders pupils' progression through the planned curriculum.

Leaders have adopted a clear system for the accurate identification of the needs of pupils with SEND. Teachers receive training and they are well informed about pupils' specific needs. Pupils with SEND follow the same curriculum as their peers.

However, because some teaching does not match leaders' intentions for the curriculum, sometimes pupils with SEND do not benefit from adaptations to help them to make sense of curriculum content.

Leaders are giving increased importance to reading at the school. They have introduced a programme to raise the profile of reading, and pupils now read during tutor periods twice a week.

Leaders also identify pupils who need extra support with their reading. However, approaches to supporting these pupils to get better at reading are not planned and taught coherently or systematically. For example, some books for practising reading are not well matched to pupils' reading skills.

Leaders recognise that further work is required to develop these pupils' reading confidence and fluency.

Leaders have high expectations of pupils' behaviour and conduct. They have recently focused on improving corridor behaviour during transition times.

New routines mean there is calm and orderly movement around the school. Overall, pupils spoke positively about the marked improvement in behaviour. In lessons, low-level disruption is not common.

However, a small number of pupils do not demonstrate positive attitudes to learning. At times, this is not addressed swiftly by teachers and staff.

Pupils, including those in the sixth form, have opportunities to participate in many trips and visits.

For example, pupils participate in Splash days, and go on visits to interesting places, such as the Globe Theatre, Royal Victoria Docks, and Natural History Museum. Leaders encourage pupils to develop their leadership skills through opportunities to become sea cadets, school council representatives and form captains.

Leaders promote pupils' personal development through a well-designed and thought-out curriculum.

The personal, social and health education (PSHE) curriculum enables pupils to learn about healthy relationships, mental health, fundamental British values, diversity, cultures, religions and the wider world. Pupils benefit from effective careers education, which inspires them to explore different careers. In the sixth form, students have opportunities to complete work experience, and they receive independent careers advice and guidance.

Staff are proud to be working at the school. They said that leaders give due care and attention to their workload and well-being.

Governors understand the school improvement priorities and are now challenging leaders to make sure that these priorities are acted on effectively.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders ensure that staff have regular and up-to-date training about safeguarding. As a result, staff know how to identify and report concerns about pupils' welfare.

Leaders carry out robust pre-employment checks when recruiting new staff. Leaders of safeguarding are knowledgeable about local risk. They work well with external agencies to provide swift support to vulnerable pupils and families.

Through the PSHE curriculum, pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, including when using the internet. Leaders make welfare checks on pupils who are absent from school and for those attending alternative provision.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders have not ensured that curriculum improvements, some of which are recent, are being implemented in line with their intentions across several subjects.

There are inconsistencies in curriculum delivery which, when combined, mean that pupils do not build up knowledge securely. As a result, often pupils, including those with SEND, do not know and remember as much as they should. Leaders should ensure that they support curriculum leaders and teachers to bring about more rapid and sustained improvements in curriculum implementation in these subjects.

• Approaches to checking of pupils' understanding are not routinely helpful in promoting pupils' progression through the curriculum for a subject. This means that teaching is not adapted to reflect pupils' current knowledge, and that misconceptions and gaps in pupils' knowledge are not addressed quickly. Leaders should ensure that teachers use assessment purposefully to improve pupils' learning across the curriculum.

• Leaders have not established a coherent and systematic approach to supporting pupils who struggle with reading. This is impeding these pupils from getting back on track with their reading. Leaders should make sure that weaker readers receive effective additional help to build their fluency and confidence.