Canary Wharf College Crossharbour

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 9 May 2024

The school places a strong emphasis on its ethos, encouraging pupils to focus on six 'character strengths'. Pupils are typically polite to adults and each other. Behaviour around the school is generally orderly. The school has introduced a new approach to managing behaviour, which sets out high expectations. While this is having a positive impact, there are some inconsistencies in how the agreed systems are applied. The curriculum is typically ambitious and well designed. While many pupils achieve well, the support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those at the early stages of learning to read is not sufficiently robust. As a result, these pupils are not well supported to achieve highly. All pupils benefit from a wide range of timetabled enrichment activities through the school's 'floreat' programme. Pupils also benefit from visits to extend their learning, for example to the theatre, local businesses and places of worship. This is a school in which pupils are kept safe, and leaders are managing the complexity of working within a complex site. However, some pupils report not feeling safe in areas of the school. They are not fully confident in reporting their concerns and are unsure whether they would be listened to. Pupils' experiences have been affected by recent changes of leadership at both school and trust level. Staff turbulence has also had an impact on pupil and parent and carer confidence in the quality of education being provided.

What the school should improve

• The school and trust do not have a collective understanding of the current strengths and weaknesses. This means that plans for improvement are not fully established, and priorities are unclear to many staff. The school and trust should ensure that systems are established that enable them to fully understand the school's strengths and address weaknesses. They should also take further steps to communicate, implement and uphold their vision consistently throughout the school.
• Some arrangements for safeguarding are not sufficiently robust. Staff have not all had up-to-date training. This limits their understanding of the school's reporting procedures. Similarly, record-keeping is not comprehensive, including about bullying or discriminatory behaviour. This risks important information being overlooked. The school should ensure that staff are fully trained to implement the school's agreed systems. It should also ensure that concerns reported are sufficiently detailed, and outcomes appropriately documented. This will better support the school in analysing and acting on any patterns or trends in behaviour.
• The provision for pupils with SEND and those at the early stages of learning to read is not sufficiently coherent and systematic. This is preventing some pupils from accessing the full curriculum and achieving as well as they should. Leaders should make sure that pupils with SEND and weaker readers receive the additional help they need.
• Parents have mixed views of the school's effectiveness. While many are supportive of the school, some have concerns about the impact of recent turbulence on the quality of education, including for pupils with SEND. This means that some lack confidence about decisions being made by the school and trust. The school should heighten engagement opportunities so that the views of all stakeholders, including pupils and parents, are considered and any actions are communicated effectively.

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