Ernest Bevin College

April 2019

Post Ofsted Update

Progress on the Post-Ofsted Action PlanAfter the Ofsted inspection in November 2018, the College has quickly implemented many changes and a Post-Ofsted Plan is now in place. Staff are working hard to act on the Ofsted report recommendations and we are seeing rapid improvements. These include:

• Aspirational target setting to ensure every student exceeds ‘expected progress’

• Rigorous tracking of student progress so that those performing below target are identified

• Targeted interventions for those students who are not making expected progress

• Introduction of new Key Stage 4 curriculum so students have an equity of choice

• External review of Governance and implementation of an Action Plan by a newly constituted Governing Body.

• Review and monitoring schedule in place for all leaders• Pupil Premium Spending Review has taken place and a strategy is being

drafted• Lesson Essentials for all teachers to follow and ongoing staff training to

provide consistency of teaching• Development of Student Voice so that students have a say in lesson

improvement• Half-termly homework setting and monitoring• Strengthening Leadership in the Sixth Form with the Interim Vice Principal

and appointment of a new Assistant Principal Director of Sixth FormThe staff, governors and I are determined to drive through changes to ensure improvements are implemented quickly and effectively. Students have responded positively to these changes and we aim to be able to demonstrate positive results by the end of this Academic Year.

Rukhsana Sheikh, Principal Ernest Bevin College

Improvements to the Quality of Teaching, Learning and Assessment

The Ofsted report gave a clear mandate to accelerate changes which had already been initiated at the start of the academic year. The College is using Barak Rosenshine’s Principles of Effective Instruction as a framework for improvements to teaching and learning. All Staff were introduced to these principles at the INSET day in November and these have been further developed through departmental discussions, staff training and the introduction of a Technique of the Week to improve teaching skills. The following areas for improvement raised by Ofsted are being addressed:Improving the Consistency of Teaching and Learning - Regular no notice lesson observations are being carried out to monitor practice in the classroom. These lesson observations are a way of ensuring the College’s Lesson Essentials are covered in every lesson. Teachers are also monitoring the use of questioning and other teaching skills to check students understanding of lessons. Individual staff have also chosen a third skill to develop and improve their own practice.Teacher Support and Continuous Professional Development (CPD) A broad range of evidence based CPD is offered to staff including structured sessions during INSED days. Tuesday Twilight Sessions have been introduced with external speakers offering expertise in specific areas, e.g. in February the sessions have had a SEN focus. Newly Qualified Teachers continue to receive additional support and Recently Qualified Teachers are involved in an instructional coaching programme. A number of Middle and Senior leaders are taking part in external courses and visits to other schools. Book Sampling and Homework - Teachers are now required to set all homework at the beginning of the half term. Two rounds of book sampling have been carried out since the Ofsted inspection. This has shown some very good practice and departments are working hard to improve consistency across the College. This work is ongoing but overall the quality and quantity of work was judged positively.Assessment - The College calendar has been updated to include assessment windows for the rest of this Academic Year and we are in the process of developing a streamlined assessment calendar for the next Academic Year. This summer we will trial an exams week to further raise the profile of end of year exams and are developing resources for students (and their parents) to help with study skills and revision.

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Bevin believes in...respect, opportunity, happiness, resilience, tolerance

Improving Student ProgressAll students in Key Stages 3 & 4 have been given new targets based on their Key Stage 2 Primary SATS results. Sixth Form targets are based on their average GCSE scores. These targets are aspirational to encourage all students to exceed expected progress. We have introduced a simple colour coded system to make it easier for students, parents and staff to understand how students are performing across all subjects:

We have introduced the language of ‘Going for Green’ to encourage all students to make better than expected progress.Students in Years 7,8, 9 & 10 who have been identified as a concern (Red) or performing just below targets (Orange) have been put on a ‘Going for Green’ focus card which is monitored by the Head of Year, Form Tutor or member of the Senior Team. In Year 11 students who are either Red or Orange have been put on a mentoring programme with a member of the Senior Team, targeted for subject specific interventions and tracked on a weekly basis. A similar scheme has been set up in the Sixth Form.A new Raising Standards Strategy has been developed focusing on rigorous tracking of student data. At these Raising Standards meetings, Heads of Departments review the impact of actions taken previously and agree strategies to drive further improvement.

Blue - Outstanding Progress

Green - Exceeding Progress

Yellow - Expected Progress

Orange - Just below Progress

Red - Concern