Ruislip High School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thrive at this school.

Leaders have placed inclusivity at the heart of school life. Pupils receive a highly ambitious education. This includes excellent support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

The school values, such as respect, integrity and perseverance, run through all that happens here. Pupils and parents and carers appreciate the high expectations and standards that leaders have. They know that these keep pupils safe and support them to achieve very highly across the curriculum.

Behaviour at the school is impeccable. Pupils enjoy school and have extremely positive attitudes to learning during lessons. The scho...ol environment is calm and focused.

Pupils and staff work together very well. This strengthens the education that pupils receive.

The school provides a broad range of enrichment opportunities.

These enhance the academic curriculum and give pupils the chance to experience things that they otherwise might not. Pupils take part in a variety of activities, including sports and music clubs, robotics club and The Duke of Edinburgh's Award. The school places a high importance on pupils developing leadership skills.

Sixth-form students, for example, have many opportunities to take on leadership roles, including mentoring younger pupils.

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

Leaders have designed and implemented a rich and highly ambitious curriculum for all pupils, including in the sixth form. Leaders have ensured that pupils build on knowledge sequentially.

For example, in science, pupils in Year 7 learn in depth about states of matter and physical and chemical changes. This prepares them well for their learning in Year 8, when they learn about different chemical reactions.

Teachers check carefully what pupils have learned and remembered.

In lessons, teachers use their expertise and a range of strategies to identify and address misconceptions. Across all subjects, the school uses well-established assessment approaches to review pupils' learning. Leaders use this information effectively to continually develop the curriculum and make sure that pupils achieve consistently highly.

The school has prioritised a love of and culture of reading. In Year 7, for example, all pupils have a 'reading hour' which focuses on strengthening their reading further. The school encourages pupils to read widely, for example through special events and visits to book shops in Central London.

Those pupils who need extra help with reading receive well-targeted additional support from leaders and staff.

Support for pupils with SEND is strong. These pupils successfully progress through the same curriculum as their peers.

The school works closely with parents and regularly communicates with them about their children's needs. This helps everyone to know the part that they play in supporting pupils to achieve highly. Leaders carefully check that the additional support pupils receive is having a positive impact.

Staff are well trained in helping all pupils to flourish in their learning. Leaders also make sure that pupils with SEND are fully involved in wider school life. This includes school visits, such as a recent outing to an indoor ski slope.

Teachers have consistently high expectations of the work that pupils produce across subjects and year groups. Pupils enjoy describing what they have learned and their aspirations for the future. They are prepared exceptionally well for the next stage of their education.

Staff make sure that sixth-form students also achieve highly and move on to further education, training or employment that matches their goals.

Pupils appreciate the excellent quality of careers advice and guidance that they receive. The careers programme is woven into the academic curriculum carefully.

The school organises bespoke events such as careers fairs and opportunities for work experience in the sixth form. The school has also built links with a range of employers to provide further opportunities for pupils to learn about different careers.

Everybody understands the importance of excellent behaviour throughout the school.

Pupils show exemplary conduct both inside and outside lessons. Parents, pupils and staff appreciate that this makes the school a happy and calm place to be. Rates of attendance are high.

The school makes sure that pupils and parents understand why attending school every day is important for pupils' learning and success.

The school has thought carefully about how to nurture and encourage pupils' personal development. Staff ensure that all pupils have equal access to the broad and balanced programme of extra-curricular activities.

There are a wide range of educational visits on offer, for instance overseas residential trips, which aim to support pupils in their learning of modern foreign languages.

The school prioritises training and development opportunities for all staff. Leaders look after the well-being of staff.

They are conscious of the pressures of workload and explore strategies to minimise this where possible.

The trust works very effectively with the school to achieve its ambition for pupils.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.