Hasmonean High School

Unique Reference Number 101366

Local Authority Barnet

Inspection number 307668

Inspection date 9 January 2008

Reporting inspector Barry Jones

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

Type of school	Comprehensive
School category	Volu nta ry aided
Age range of pupils	11-18
Gender of pupils Number on roll	Mixed
School	1012
6th form	259
Appropriate authority	The governing body
Chair	Mr B Conway
Headteacher	Mr D Fuller
Date of previous school inspection	7 September 2004
School address	Holders Hill Road Hendon London NW4 1NA
Telephone number	020 8203 1411
Fax number	020 8202 4526
Age group	11-18
Inspection date	9 January 2008
Inspection number	307668

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors.

The inspector evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and investigated the following issues:

■ achievement in the sixth form
■ the quality of tracking of student's progress and how effectively it is used by teachers and by senior managers
■ how effectively the school uses its specialist status to drive whole-school improvement
■ leadership and management.

Description of the school

Boys and girls are taught separately on two sites which are one and a half miles apart. The school is over-subscribed. Pupils come from orthodox Jewish families in a large catchment area across North London. Approximately a quarter of the school day is allocated to Jewish studies. There is an extended day to make time for this extra provision. Pupils come from more advantaged backgrounds than in most schools but the proportion with learning difficulties and disabilities is average. Most pupils have White backgrounds although only half are White British. Very few pupils are at the early stages of learning English. The school is a specialist Business and Enterprise College.

Key for inspection grades

Grade 1 Otstanding

Grade 2 Good

Grade 3 Satisfactory

Grade 4 Inadequate

Overall effectiveness of the school

Grade: 2

Hasmonean is a good school with many outstanding features. A distinctive feature is the very good balance between religious and secular studies. A strong religious ethos and supportive community underpin its success. Many aspects of the work with 11 to 16 year olds are outstanding. Very strong leadership has ensured that academic standards are exceptionally high at GCSE level and consistently well above average at GCE advanced level. Most parents are very appreciative of its efforts. As one parent wrote, 'Our children are happy in a supportive, educationally challenging and safe environment.' A significant minority of parents feel that the school could do even better. This reflects the high expectations for the school. The school is not allowed to rest on its laurels by parents, students or the ever-watchful governing body.

Studentsjointheschoolwithattainmentthatisaboveaverage.BytheendofYear11standards haverisenconsiderablyandareconsistentlyandexceptionallyhighintheGCSEexaminations. The percentage of students gaining five or more good passes, including English and mathematics, has improved each year and in 2007 was almost double the national average. This represents excellentprogressfromtheirstartingpoints.Forthelastthreeyears,theschoolhasbeenin thetop5%nationallyfortheprogressmadebystudentsfromYear7to11.Thegood,and sometimesoutstandingteaching,makesasignificantcontributiontostudents'highachievement. Teachershaveverygoodsubjectknowledge,giveclearexplanationsandplantheirlessonswell. Studentsplaytheirfullparttoo.Theycometoschoolreadytolearnandareeagertocontribute tolessons.Theirexemplarybehaviourmeansthatlessonsarenotdisruptedandcanbeconducted at a good pace and in a positive climate.

There are other factors which, when added to the good teaching, means that students' achievementisexcellent.Theschool,studentsandexternalconsultantsallidentifythebenefits for other subjects that derive from the Jewish studies programme. As one student said, 'It helpsmetothinkthingsoutclearlyandtheimportanceofleadingagoodlifeandpursuinga career'. Parents attach a high priority to education and encourage and support their children. Thestandardsaremaintainedatahighlevelbythevigilanceoftheseniormanagersandvery effectiveuseofdatatoidentifyandcorrectdipsinperformancebyindividualstudents.There are very robust procedures for monitoring the quality of teaching. This has helped the school to navigate very successfully a period of difficulty in appointing some key staff. The school's own monitoring shows that standards of teaching have improved in recent years.

Care, guidance and support are outstanding. Consequently, students feel very safe and very muchenjoyschool.

Thisisshownbytheirexcellentattendanceandtheveryhighnumberswho continue into the sixth form. Students have a good understanding of healthy-living issues. Theirspiritual,moral,socialandculturaldevelopmentisexcellent.Rareoccurrencesofbullying aredealtwithveryeffectively.Theschoolhasa'zerotolerance'policy.Thisisreinforcedwell through assemblies and the personal and social education programme. Students have a very clearunderstandingofrightandwrongandrelationshipsintheschoolareharmonious.An outstanding feature is the way older students support younger ones. They organise activities for them within the school and the wider

community. Students raise considerable sums for charities, volunteer to help with several organisations in

the community, and older students alsotakeonyouthleadershiproles.Theyareexceptionallywellpreparedforthenextstagein their lives.

Theschool'sspecialismfitswellwiththeentrepreneurialspiritthatitaimstofosterandnurture.

Studentsspeakenthusiasticallyabout'capitalventure'andbusiness-relatedactivities.

The schoolisusingitsspecialiststatustobroadenitsgoodcurriculumfurther.Itisseekingtomeet

the needs of its lower attaining students as outstandingly well as it does for its more able students.

As a result, there are more vocational courses on offerbut the initiative is onlypartly successful.

There has been limited take up for some of the courses. For instance, the school hasnotovercomearesistanceto

informationtechnologyinthegirls'schoolanditmissedits targets for increasing participation. Some of the

targets for attainment in the specialist subjects have also been missed. The school consistentlymeetsotherverychallenging targets.

The school has strengthened the senior leadership and has successfully devoted considerable resources

to improving the leadership and management at all levels. There is a strong culture ofaccountabilityandtheschoolknowsitsstrengthsandweaknessesverywell.

Togetherwith its impressive track record this means that capacity to improve further is excellent.

Effectiveness of the sixth form

Grade: 2

The sixth form is a thriving community which is growing in popularity. This reflects the high regard that students have for their school.

It makes best use of its limited accommodation. However, the rapid growth over recent years means there is no private study area in the boys' school.Studentsmakegoodprogressasaresultofthegoodteachingandgoodsupportthey receive. Many students make excellent progress and so A level results are well above average overall. However, there is more variation in performance between subjects than at GCSE level. Theschoolistakingrigorousactiontoremedythisinconsistency.Ithasalsocorrectlyidentified thatstudents'progressinYear12forAScoursesdoesnotalwaysreachthehighratedemanded bytheschool.ProgressacceleratesinYear13becauseoftheintroductionofrigoroustracking proceduresalliedtoeffectivesupportandchallenge.Theacademiccurriculumisbroadand meets the needs of the students well. Progression rates to University are impressive. The specialist status has stimulated the introduction of more vocational courses. This is partly successful but some courses that are offered do not attract sufficient numbers in one ofthe schools.

Thereissharingofstaffbetweenthetwoschoolsbutnotcoursesbecauseofreligious considerations. This means that a few students cannot study subjects they choose initially. Nevertheless, the sixth form is managed well and capacity to improve further is good.

What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure that the school derives maximum benefit from its specialist college status and meets the targets it identifies for this initiative.

Annex A

Inspection judgements

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

School

Overall

16-19

Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners?	2	2
Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection	Yes	Yes
How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being?	2	2
The capacity to make any necessary improvements	1	2

Achievement and standards

How well do learners achieve?	1	2
The standards1 reached by learners	1	1
How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners	1	2
How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress	2

Personal development and well-being

How good is the overall personal development and well-being of the learners?	1	1
The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development	1
The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles	2
The extent to which learners adopt safe practices	1
How well learners enjoy their education	1
The attendance of learners	1
The behaviour of learners	1
The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community	1
How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being	1

The quality of provision

How effective are teaching and learning in meeting the full range of the learners' needs?	2	2
How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of learners?	2	2
How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?	1	1

Annex A

Leadership and management

How effective are leadership and management in raising achievement and supporting all learners?	1	2
Howeffectivelyleadersandmanagersatalllevelssetclear direction leading to improvement and promote high qualityof care and education	1
How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards	2
The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation	1	2
How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can	2
How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money	1
The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities	1
Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements?	Yes	Yes
Does this school require special measures?	No
Does this school require a notice to improve?	No

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