Pupil Mobility

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Waverley School (Secondary), Southwark

Context

Waverley School is an 11-16 school for girls. In January 2001 it had 900 pupils on roll drawn from over 50 feeder primary schools and other local secondary schools across six London boroughs. The school is situated in an area of moderate affluence but many pupils live in electoral wards with the highest levels of social and economic deprivation. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is over 55%. The pupil population is composed of a rich mixture of ethnic groups and cultures, many having English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils identified as having special educational needs is over 30%. Standards achieved on entry are very low compared with the national average.

Type of mobility

The school's Ofsted report in 2000 commented on the high degree of pupil change-over which, using the JPL formula on the 2000-01 figures, is 35%.

The school identifies the following factors contributing to the high pupil mobility:

• new immigrants to the country;
  
• families in short-stay social security accommodation;
  
• upward mobility - aspirational families moving on; and
  
• pupils transferring from other schools and a growing Year 7.

This last factor is the most significant and is a result of the growing reputation. Currently the school is oversubscribed and a large building programme is under way.

Target setting

Target setting days are held twice a year, and are attended by parents and pupils. The meeting with the tutor is informed by progress reviews, annual reports, results of internal exams, KS3 results and Cognitive Abilities Tests for Year 7 and 10. Students are expected to take the lead in this process and are prepared by having a target prompt sheet to consider. Staff have also received in service training on the setting of targets.

Parents and students attend an academic conference once a year. The school's annual report is prepared for this occasion. Each report contains teacher assessments and information on setting subject specific targets. These reinforce the short-term targets set by staff when carrying out the process of formative marking. All KS4 students sit exams based on past papers in December of Year 11 and from the results individual targets are set for GCSE grades to be achieved.

Of the statutory targets the headteacher Helen Dorfman says: "These targets are important to us. However, if they are to encourage and not discourage they must be challenging yet realistic. The school exceeded its 2001 targets of 22% for 5+ GCSEs A* - C by 2%.

The school was pleased to be invited to be a pilot for the DfES Progress File demonstration project. This has enabled the school to refine some of its processes and more firmly embed others. The senior director, Nora Shariff says, "As a school we are enthusiastic about the students taking responsibility for their own learning and their own progress. We see this as a key priority. The Progress Files are a crucial element in this work."

Ethos and activities to achieve high standards for pupils in a school with high mobility

The school has a strong commitment to inclusion and the headteacher says, "All our pupils matter, however long they have been with us. Our communication systems are set up to prevent students falling through the net." These include:

• a daily briefing for all staff that includes comments on new students joining, or re-joining;
  
• a weekly bulletin containing a diary of the week's events and important messages for communication to all staff;
  
• a senior managers meeting with the headteacher once a fortnight to discuss issues arising in school. Feedback is given to all staff;
  
• regular meetings taking place between the head of pastoral care with her year team and also heads of years with their tutors; and
  
• the form teacher and head of year being clear about their responsibilities to new entrants and for communicating issues to all who need to know.

In addition, in order that those pupils joining the school other than in Year 7 settle in quickly and effectively:

• all staff are informed of the student's arrival with a brief description of their background;
  
• their reading is assessed and if necessary a fuller diagnostic assessment is made by learning support staff or EAL staff;
  
• the form tutor identifies two pupil 'buddies'.
  

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