Seven Kings High School: Background Information
Introduction
Seven Kings is an outstanding school with consistently high achievement at all levels. We strive for excellence in
every aspect of our work. The ideas contained in the school motto, “Friendship, Excellence and Opportunity”
guide our efforts. We work hard to provide a safe and happy environment within which every student can grow
and achieve personal, social and academic success. We believe that Seven Kings can make a radical difference to
the life chances of our students and that we can help nurture confident, active and socially responsible citizens.
We are proud of our inclusive approach, which is informed by the principle that a stimulating and personalised
education is an entitlement for every child. In 2007, Ofsted described student personal development as
“Outstanding” and stated that the school is underpinned by an ‘’all pervading atmosphere of respect between
students and between them and all adults”.
At Seven Kings High School this harmonious ethos and outstanding relationships underpin all that we do and
provide the foundation for the school’s work and success. There is a strong culture of leadership within the
school and this is something we have worked very hard to develop. Our philosophy is based on the idea that
every member of the school community is a leader and has responsibility to lead in their classroom or in relation
to the work that they do. The successful candidate will join a strong, cohesive and mutually supportive SLT and
will enjoy working with colleagues who provide intellectual challenge and a real sense of satisfaction and pride in
the work they do.
The School
Seven Kings is an 11-18 mixed community comprehensive in the London Borough of Redbridge. There are
currently 1429 pupils on roll, with 488 students in the sixth form. The school serves an urban area of Ilford.
Admissions are based on a strict catchment area policy and are entirely managed by the LA. There are two
grammar schools and four denominational schools in Redbridge and a strong independent sector. This situation
impacts on the ability level of our pupil intake. Since 1990 the school has been a centre for the admission and
integration of pupils with a physical disability. The school roll remains stable on the whole with little student
mobility.
The school serves a multi-racial community and our students come from a wide variety of social and ethnic
backgrounds, including 99 with refugee status. 1080 students have English as an additional language, which at
75.6% of the school roll is far in excess of LA and national averages. Urdu, Punjabi and Gujarati are the three
most common languages spoken in student homes but a range of other languages are also spoken. Furthermore,
a broad range of faiths are represented within the student population. Islam is the single largest faith group
accounting for 50.4% of students.
According to CACI Acorn classifications, approximately one third of our students come from home backgrounds
that can be described as “Moderate Means” or less affluent. 19.3% of pupils are eligible for free schools meals,
which is above LA and national averages.
We are acutely aware of the increasingly difficult context and social pressures that our students are exposed to
outside of school. The school has successfully managed to keep the school as a safe haven where problems do
not routinely manifest themselves during the school day. The low level of permanent exclusions illustrates how
effective the school ethos has been in creating a safe and happy school. Furthermore, attendance levels have
remained stable at around 94% over the last five years, a figure in excess of LA and national indicators. Levels of
authorised absence have dropped over the same period with unauthorised levels increasingly very slightly.
Attainment levels for pupils on entry is stable and broadly in line with the national average. The average Key
Stage 2 points score for Seven Kings over the last three years is 28.7 compared to a national average of 28.0.
16.79% of students are on the SEN register. 52 students at Seven Kings have a statement, representing 3.6% of
the school roll, which is above national and LA levels; this has been consistently the case over the last five years.
In addition a further 188 students have an identified Special Educational Need (SEN) without a statement. The
students on the SEN register have a range of needs with Moderate and Learning Difficulties (MLD) or Physical
Disability (PD) being most common with 47 students having a physical disability.
Seven Kings is an ambitious school; attainment outcomes are high at all levels (87% 5 A* - C at GCSE, 78%
including English and Maths; 812.8 point score at A Level) but there is no notion of complacency. We seek to
embrace new challenges and thus reflection and self-evaluation are essential to our continued development and
improvement. In recent years Seven Kings has engaged in a number of key regional and national initiatives to
promote effective learning and teaching - notably Assessment for Learning in conjunction with Kings College.
A. Specialist School
Seven Kings was designated as a Specialist School for Science and Technology in 2001. In 2005 we were invited
and successfully applied to take on two additional specialisms in Languages and Training School. Standards
have risen across all subject areas over the last four years since acquiring specialist status and the impact of
Specialist School status has played a major role in our development. Over 300 students now study Sciences and
Maths at A-level and results are quite outstanding.
The school has gained recognition for its work as a Specialist School and remains committed to collaborating and
raising standards into the wider educational community – both regionally and nationally.
The key to our emergence as a centre of excellence has been our focus upon learning and teaching – everything
st
we do is linked to our drive to improve outcomes and enhance the student experience nurturing 21 Century
learners. Our work as a Language College has already seen us work in collaboration the LA to develop language
teaching in primary schools whilst introducing the teaching of Mandarin to our own students. In Science, we
have presented our innovative key stage 3 curriculum at regional and national conferences. We encourage the
school to see itself as part of the global community and as such our staff and students frequently visit schools in
other countries. We believe such experiences will enable our students to be active aspirational learners.
B. Training School
Seven Kings was designated a Training School in 2006. This provides opportunities to recruit teachers, and
develop and improve the quality of our staff. This involves coaching and training programmes for all staff. We
are committed to growing future leaders and work closely with a number of national organisations to ensure we
are at the forefront of professional development initiatives. As a training school we are keen to share good
practice through collaboration and as such our CPD programme is extensive and open to all schools. Obviously
the designation for Training School has ceased but we have made a bid to become a Teaching School as a job
share with Valentines High School, another local outstanding school that has also been a Training School.
C. Leading Edge
Seven Kings became a Beacon School in 1999 and then acquired Leading Edge status in 2003. We have worked
closely with various partner schools to share expertise and to help raise standards. Seven Kings’ teachers have
worked with colleagues from other schools and have presented at various national conferences on different
aspects of our work. We remain part of the Leading Edge network.
D. Extended School
In July 2005 Seven Kings became a phase 2 Extended School. A central element of our current work is the
implementation of the government’s Every Child Matters agenda. Our Extended School Programme enables us
to extend provision both within school and into our local community. The key strands focus upon greater
provision of extra-curricular activities and study support options, increased mentoring and guidance, improving
links with parents and various issues surrounding community cohesion.
E. Inclusion
Since 1990 the school has been the LA centre for the admission of children who have a physical disability which
would create access issues at other schools. The inclusion work at Seven Kings has been identified as being a
model of good practice. Effective SEN support is highly valued and is a crucial element of our success.
F. Use of ICT and data
ICT is used widely across the school. All teachers have a laptop linked to a secure wireless network and most
classrooms are fitted with interactive whiteboards. Data is used effectively through a bespoke system giving all
staff timely access to concise key student data. This helps us to identify individual needs and enables teachers
and subject departments to identify underachievement and intervene
Conclusion
Our passionate belief is that every child deserves to be the best they can be. In ‘Twelve Outstanding Secondary
Schools’ Ofsted stated that excellence does not happen by chance; it is found in schools which have vision,
courage and conviction and at Seven Kings we work hard for our success.