Twickenham School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel happy at this school.

They make any pupil who joins the school feel welcome, such as through the buddy system. Pupils are respectful towards each other and staff. Everyone is accepting of others, no matter what their personal characteristics and traits.

Pupils display positive attitudes to learning. Teachers expect them to work hard and try their best. When pupils get stuck, teachers help them, including at breaktimes or after school.

However, in some subjects, leaders have not planned the curriculum with enough rigour. On occasions, this means that some pupils do not learn and remember as much as they could.Pupils feel safe at school.

Bu...llying is rare. When it does occur, staff deal with it effectively. Pupils said that staff are good at listening to them.

Pupils trust the members of the safeguarding team. They know staff will help them when they feel upset or worried.

Leaders and staff take good care of pupils' welfare needs and those of their families.

During the national lockdowns, for example, staff helped families to access services that they needed. Leaders also made sure that all pupils had the necessary equipment for online learning. A high proportion of pupils attended virtual lessons.

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

Since the last inspection, leaders have prioritised improving pupils' attendance, behaviours and aspirations. Attendance rates have gone up considerably. In lessons, pupils pay attention.

They follow their teachers' instructions and get on with their work in a diligent manner.Pupils learn well and study a range of subjects that matches the ambition of the national curriculum. To date, much of leaders' work to improve the quality of education has focused on developing staff's general teaching skills.

Leaders have now turned their attention to improving the design and organisation of the curriculum. In some subjects, such as mathematics, this has been very successful. In others, leaders' work is beginning but already making a difference.

In mathematics, leaders have planned in detail what knowledge to teach and when. They identify precisely the building blocks of knowledge pupils need to master. In doing so, pupils learn the tools to tackle complex mathematical problems.

Teachers check whether all pupils have grasped essential knowledge within each topic. They then adapt their teaching to address pupils' misconceptions.

Across other subjects, such as English and geography, leaders have started to organise the curriculum so that pupils learn new subject content in a logical order.

This includes identifying what pupils need to know securely before they study more complex concepts and ideas. Nevertheless, leaders know that more work is needed to develop the curriculum. In music, for example, subject plans do not support pupils' progression enough, or, in turn, enable them to gain a deep knowledge of music.

In some subjects, teaching does not fully check how well pupils are developing their knowledge of subject content. In a few instances, assessments focus on checking pupils' generic writing skills or readiness to answer a GCSE examination-type question. This limits teachers' ability to fully understand gaps in pupils' knowledge that need to be addressed.

The proportion of pupils who study the subjects required to qualify for the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) accreditation is low. Over time, though, there has been a steady upward trend as leaders raise pupils' ambitions.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) take part in all subjects across the curriculum.

Leaders train staff and give them guidance on how to meet pupils' needs. Pupils with SEND, therefore, learn the same knowledge as their peers.

Pupils benefit from a comprehensive, impartial careers guidance programme.

In the past two years, every Year 11 pupil has continued into post-16 education or training.

The school's personal development and citizenship curriculum covers a range of suitable topics, including consent and healthy relationships. The programme helps to prepare pupils well for life in modern Britain.

For example, pupils had an assembly on the scientist, Alan Turing. They learned about his achievements, as well as how he faced discrimination and prejudice.

Leaders treat staff fairly.

They are considerate and find ways to relieve staff of unnecessary workloads.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff know the pupils and their families well.

They are alert to any changes to pupils' behaviours, appearance or circumstances. They report these to the safeguarding team. Safeguarding leaders check staff alerts daily.

They take prompt action to investigate matters, even if they may not appear significant at first.

Leaders work well with internal specialists, a range of external agencies and voluntary organisations to support pupils' safety, welfare and mental health.

Through the curriculum, pupils learn about risk and how to stay safe.

This includes online safety and how to be alert to potential grooming, for example.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, leaders have not planned a sufficiently coherent and well-sequenced curriculum. As a result, some pupils are not gaining deep knowledge and remembering more.

Sometimes, they are unable to apply their knowledge to learn more complex subject content or make links across subjects. However, it is clear from the actions that leaders have already taken that the curriculum is improving quickly and that leaders are bringing about the necessary changes. There is expertise in the school that other subject leaders can draw upon to build on their planning for next year's curriculum and to train staff in how to deliver it.

For this reason, the transition arrangements have been applied in this case. Leaders should ensure that they plan every subject in a way that follows a logical order. They should identify exactly what they want pupils to know and remember and ensure that pupils develop their knowledge incrementally.

• Sometimes, assessment is not as helpful as it could be in checking how well pupils are learning and remembering all essential subject-specific knowledge. Assessments should check on how well pupils have grasped the subject content identified in curriculum planning. Teachers should use the information gleaned to adapt their teaching to address gaps in learning so that pupils gain deep subject knowledge.

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