The Heathland School

Wellington Road South

Hounslow

TW4 5JD

Head: Mr H S Pattar

T 020 8572 4411

F 020 8569 5126

E admin@heathland.hounslow.sch.uk

W www.heathland.hounslow.sch.uk

A state school for boys and girls aged from 11 to 18.

Boarding: No

Local authority: Hounslow

Pupils: 1796

Religion: Does not apply

Wellington Road South, Hounslow, Middlesex, TW4 5JD

Inspection dates                    12-13 June 2013

Previous inspection:	Outstanding	1
Overall effectiveness
This inspection:	Outstanding	1
Achievement of pupils	Outstanding	1
Quality of teaching	Outstanding	1
Behaviour and safety of pupils	Outstanding	1
Leadership and management	Outstanding	1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school.

Information about this inspection

• ■ Inspectors observed 60 lessons, including 15 jointly observed with senior leaders.

• ■ They observed tutor time, break times and assemblies. They looked at a range of students' work.

• ■ Inspectors met with groups of students of different ages and abilities. They discussed achievement, teaching, behaviour and safety.

• ■ Inspectors met with the headteacher, senior and middle leaders, a representative from the local authority and three members of the governing body.

• ■ Inspectors took into account the 71 responses to the online Parent View survey and 90 responses to the staff questionnaire.

• ■ Inspectors checked the school's analysis of how well it is doing, records of students' attainment and progress, attendance and exclusions, safeguarding procedures, and the headteacher's reports to the governing body.

Inspection team

Russell Bennett, Lead inspector

Additional Inspector Heidi Boreham

Additional Inspector Gordon Jackson

Full report

Information about this school

• ■ The Heathland School is larger than the average-sized secondary school, with a large sixth form. Its specialisms are in mathematics and science.

• ■ The proportion of students from minority ethnic backgrounds is much higher than the national average. The largest groups are of Indian and Pakistani heritages. The proportion of students who speak English as an additional language is much higher than the national average.

• ■ The proportion of students eligible for pupil premium funding, which is additional money provided for looked after children, students known to be eligible for free school meals and children of service families, is above the national average. There are no children of service families in the school.

• ■ The proportion of disabled students and those who have special educational needs supported through school action, school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below that in other schools.

• ■ A very small number of students attend off-site courses at West Thames College.

• ■ The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for students' attainment and progress.

What does the school need to do to improve further?

■ Enable an even higher proportion of students to make outstanding progress across all subjects by ensuring that:

• - teachers' marking always gives students precise guidance about how to improve their work and allows them to reflect on how they can make better progress

• - students are given further opportunities in lessons to work things out for themselves and develop their independence as learners.

Inspection judgements

The achievement of pupils                is outstanding

• ■ Students start the school with levels of attainment which are broadly in line with the national average. Attainment at the end of Key Stage 4 has been consistently above the national average in many subjects since the last inspection, demonstrating the gains students make from the excellent teaching and support that they receive.

• ■ Achievement in mathematics is outstanding. In 2012, the proportion of students making and exceeding expected levels of progress was significantly above national averages in mathematics and above average in English. The proportion of students achieving A* and A grades at GCSE was significantly above average in both subjects.

• ■ Students are exceptionally well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment.

• ■ The school accurately identifies where there are gaps in the performance of different groups. In 2012, the gap widened between the attainment of boys and girls. Through careful tracking, targeted interventions and timely checks on students' progress, this gap is narrowing rapidly. In addition, the small numbers of students of Black African heritage who achieved slightly less well than others in 2012 are now making more rapid progress. Students of Indian and Pakistani heritages achieve well.

• ■ Students who speak English as an additional language make good progress because they benefit from highly effective teaching and carefully tailored support.

• ■ The high numbers of students entered for the three separate sciences achieve well. In 2012, the proportion of students gaining an A* to C grade in GCSE examinations was above national averages in biology and physics, and broadly in line for chemistry. Current data provided by the school indicate outcomes across all the sciences should improve further in 2013.

• ■ The school makes limited use of early entry to GCSE examinations. Its use is carefully planned and targeted so that students achieve the best grades of which they are capable.

• ■ Students who are eligible for pupil premium funding make very good progress from their starting points. In 2012, the average points score at GCSE for these students was significantly higher than for all students nationally. In English and mathematics they achieved approximately a grade higher than all students nationally. The gap between the points score for these students and others in the school is small and narrowing rapidly, due to effective additional support given by teachers and teaching assistants.

• ■ The Year 7 catch-up premium is used effectively to ensure that students acquire the skills they need to be successful. Students benefit from one-to-one support, small group teaching and the provision of additional resources to help them learn. As a result, they are making good progress.

• ■ Disabled students and those with special educational needs make similar progress to others, taking into account their individual starting points. Teachers identify and track the needs of each individual student and ensure that appropriate support is put into place to help them achieve well.

• ■ The support provided for reading and literacy is very good indeed. Students enjoy reading widely and quickly develop their skills, enabling them to make rapid progress across different subjects.

• ■ Students make great strides in their learning in the sixth form. High-quality teaching and a relevant curriculum ensure that students achieve well. Although there was a slight dip in attainment at A level in 2012, students had made excellent progress from their starting points.

• ■ The very small number of students in Key Stage 4 who take courses with an external provider achieve well.

  The quality of teaching

  is outstanding

• ■ Teaching is outstanding. Teachers have high expectations of what students can achieve and use information about different students' abilities to plan challenging lessons, which motivate students to make rapid gains in their knowledge and understanding. Teachers provide regular opportunities for students to develop their reading, writing and communications skills. As a result, students make rapid progress across subjects.

• ■ Teachers regularly check the progress that students are making in lessons, addressing misconceptions as they arise and reinforcing students' knowledge and understanding.

• ■ In the very best lessons, teachers plan activities which encourage students to work things out for themselves. In these lessons, teachers use effective questioning, which develops students' thinking skills. Students are encouraged to reflect on what they have learnt and to think more deeply about their responses. Students enjoy working independently and being pushed to excel. This motivates them to achieve at the highest levels. In a very small number of lessons, teachers do not plan activities which encourage students to work independently. As a result, students do not develop or deepen their thinking as effectively.

• ■ In an outstanding personal and social education lesson, the teacher used questioning to encourage lively debate about the impact of ‘cyber-bullying'. Students confidently discussed their views with each other and said that this had made them think much more deeply about the impact of different types of language on users of social networking sites. The teacher skilfully built in progressive levels of challenge, so that students were required to justify their responses and consider the moral aspects of different scenarios. This enabled students to make decisive gains in their learning.

• ■ Teachers have excellent subject knowledge and their enthusiasm and commitment enable students to make very good progress in lessons and over time. In an outstanding history lesson, the teacher used a range of high-quality, engaging resources to motivate and engage students. Students were challenged by the question, ‘Was Emily Davison a political martyr?' Through discussion of a range of source materials, they were able to make excellent gains in knowledge and to deepen their understanding of the suffragettes' movement.

• ■ Teachers provide regular feedback to students about their learning and progress. Most marking is helpful to students and provides advice on what they can do to improve. Occasionally, teachers' written feedback is not detailed enough and expectations of what students need to improve are not made specific. A recently introduced ‘green pen' policy is enabling students to respond more fully to teachers' comments, but this is not yet used consistently across all subjects.

The behaviour and safety of pupils

• ■ Students have exemplary attitudes to learning. They are fully committed to making the best progress they can and show high levels of motivation in lessons. They value the high-quality teaching they receive and appreciate the commitment shown by staff to help them make the best possible progress.

• ■ The school is a calm and purposeful environment in which to learn. Students say that they feel safe. They are very confident that help is always available if they need it.

• ■ Exclusions are low. The school has effective behaviour management systems. Students respond well to the clearly stated rewards and sanctions. Teachers' expectations of good behaviour are consistent and low-level disruption is uncommon.

• ■ Bullying is rare. Students say that if it does occur, staff act quickly to resolve the situation.

• ■ Students describe the school as a tolerant place. They value the opportunities to learn about different cultures, faiths and beliefs. The school places a strong emphasis on understanding what is right and wrong. Students are considerate, reflective and courteous as a result.

• ■ The school has a very effective pastoral system. There are well-established links with external specialist agencies to support vulnerable students.

• ■ Attendance levels are high. Students enjoy coming to the school. Systems for checking that students attend regularly are rigorous. Swift and effective action is taken if any student's absence gives cause for concern.

• ■ Students value the range of responsibilities the school offers them. They take a fully active role in contributing to school life. They willingly take on prefect responsibilities, positions on the student council and peer mentoring roles to support younger students. In a house assembly, sixth form students acted as excellent role models and delivered an inspiring presentation on the school's attempt at breaking a world speed record with a model ‘rocket car'.

• ■ Parents expressed very positive views about behaviour on the Parent View online survey.

The leadership and management

• ■ The headteacher sets the tone for all members of the school community through his clear expectations and unrelenting focus on improving achievement. His vision and passionate commitment to the needs of students, his staff and the local community drive consistently high standards. The school's ethos makes a strong contribution to students' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

• ■ The great majority of staff feel proud to be associated with the school and students value the education they receive.

• ■ Responses from parents to the online questionnaire indicated that the overwhelming majority are very pleased with their child's progress.

• ■ The excellent progress that students make has been sustained since the last inspection. The impact of the school's actions to improve the achievement of students eligible for additional funding has enabled them to make progress well above others nationally.

• ■ The school's middle and senior leaders have a clear understanding of what makes outstanding teaching and learning. They provide high-quality training for teachers and opportunities for teachers to learn from the best practitioners in the school.

• ■ There is an unwavering expectation that all teachers maintain, and are held to account for students' achievement. Pay progression is clearly linked to the impact that teachers have on the classes they teach. Teachers are set challenging targets, which relate to the achievement of students. Leaders undertake regular monitoring of teachers across the school, by dropping into lessons, checking students' books, and using information about students' progress to assess the quality of their teaching.

• ■ The school makes detailed and accurate analyses of its own performance at every level. Leaders actively promote equal opportunities for all students. They make very good use of information about the achievement of individual students to identify where extra help is needed to help improve students' progress, so that they meet challenging targets.

• ■ The school provides a broad and balanced curriculum through all of the key stages. Leaders have recently assessed the suitability of courses at Key Stage 4. As a result, they have adapted the curriculum so that it is more suitable for lower ability students. This has included additional support to develop the literacy skills of students withdrawn from a modern foreign language and additional courses in science. As a result, these students are making better progress.

• ■ Students receive excellent guidance throughout their time at the school. In 2012, all Year 11 students progressed successfully to their next stage of their education, training or employment.

• ■ Students who attend an alternative education provider are closely monitored to ensure that they attend well and make good progress.

• ■ The school is rightly proud of its comprehensive range of enrichment activities. These include sports, music, academic and cultural activities.

• ■ The local authority's involvement with the school is light touch. It has provided useful and accurate external validation which has helped the school to evaluate its performance and assess the headteacher's performance.

■ Students benefit from the coherent approach to promoting the effective teaching of reading, writing and communication skills across all subjects. Leaders have ensured that a clear wholeschool strategy is understood by staff and used to ensure that students' skills are developed securely.

■ The governance of the school:

- Governors are highly committed to the vision that the school provides the best educational experience for its community. They know the school's strengths and weaknesses very well. They have a clear and accurate knowledge about the quality of teaching across the school. They ask challenging questions of the school's leaders and are provided with detailed information about the school's performance by the headteacher. The governing body holds leaders in the school fully to account. They ensure that performance and pay progression are closely aligned. They carefully monitor that resources are used for the benefit of students, including those eligible for the pupil premium. They regularly review statutory policies and ensure that all requirements are met, including those relating to students' safety.

What inspection judgements mean

School
Grade	Judgement	Description
Grade 1	Outstanding	An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils' needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment.
Grade 2	Good	A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils' needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment.
Grade 3	Requires improvement	A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection.
Grade 4	Inadequate	A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school's leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

School details

Unique reference number	102539
Local authority	Hounslow
Inspection number	412392

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

Type of school	Secondary
School category	Community
Age range of pupils	11-18
Gender of pupils	Mixed
Gender of pupils in the sixth form	Mixed
Number of pupils on the school roll	1836
Of which, number on roll in sixth form	500
Appropriate authority	The governing body
Chair	Mike Nicholls MBE
Headteacher	Harinder Pattar
Date of previous school inspection	21 March 2007
Telephone number	020 85724411
Fax number	020 85695126
Email address	admin@heathland.hounslow.sch.uk