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Elland House School Independent school progress monitoring inspection report

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DfE registration number 381/6013 Unique Reference Number (URN) 131571 Inspection number 364125 Inspection dates 9 November 2010 Reporting inspector Peter Toft achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you

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give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’. Royal Exchange Buildings St Ann’s Square Manchester M2 7LA

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T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk No. 090137 Independent school progress monitoring inspection report

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Purpose and scope of the inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Section 162A of the Education Act 2002, as amended by schedule 8 of the Education Act 2005. 1,2

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Purpose and scope of the inspection

The inspection was conducted at the request of the Registration Authority for independent schools in order to monitor the progress the school has made in implementing its action plan following the previous inspection.

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Information about the school

Elland House School is part of the`Timeout’ company which provides care in a number of children’s homes in England. Most of the school’s pupils live in the company’s children’s homes; some are placed at the school by local authorities. The school is located in a two-storey building on a small industrial estate in a residential area of Oldham; it was relocated in September 2009 from its previous site in Ripponden. All pupils have emotional, social and behavioural difficulties and five have statements of special educational needs. Most have experienced gaps in their education caused by absence and/or exclusion from their previous schools. The school is registered for up to 15 pupils aged 11 to 16 years. It has applied to the Department for Education to increase this number to 20 pupils. Currently, nine pupils are on the school’s roll full time; a further one, who is over 16 years old, is taught part time.

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Context of the inspection

The school’s last inspection was in January 2010 when four regulatory failures were identified. The action plan which the school was required to draw up to rectify these failures was accepted in July 2010.This is the first monitoring visit to evaluate progress in implementing the action plan; the visit also evaluates the school’s recent application to increase its registered capacity, to admit up to 20 pupils.

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action plan

The last inspection showed the school to be providing a satisfactory and improving quality of education. The vast majority of regulations for continued registration as an independent school were being met. However, four areas needed improvement to enable the school fully to meet the regulations, namely to: ensure that the prior attainments of pupils are taken into account when planning lessons; maintain an admission register in accordance with the Education (Pupil Registration) (England)

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action plan

1 www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2002/ukpga_20020032_en_14#pt10-ch1-pb4-l1g162 2 www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts2005/ukpga_20050018_en_15#sch8 Independent school progress monitoring inspection report Regulations 2006; provide sufficient washrooms for staff and pupils, including facilities for pupils with special needs, which take account of the Education School Premises Regulations 1999; and ensure that local authorities who fund pupils at the school receive an annual account of income and expenditure.

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action plan

The school drew up an action plan to remedy these shortfalls. It set out to strengthen procedures to assess the prior attainment of pupils on their entry to the school and to use the resulting information in developing the curriculum and planning lessons to meet the specific yet diverse needs of the pupils. It also undertook to develop staff expertise by providing better training and opportunities to work together in school, and with staff from other parts of the company and the local authority in which the school is located, to improve planning for learning. The school also set out to ensure that the admissions register was maintained in accordance with regulations and that it provided annual accounts to local authorities who place pupils in the school. The plan also included a programme to upgrade washroom facilities, in cooperation with the owner of the building, to ensure that both pupils, including those with special needs, and staff had access to sufficient and

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action plan

As a result of work to implement the agreed action plan, the school has now rectified three of the four regulatory failures and is on course to rectify the fourth within the agreed three-year timescale.

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action plan

Procedures for assessing pupils’ prior attainment are now very effective. Staff balance testing, discussion with pupils and reference to past records, including those relating to special educational needs, to give a clear picture of pupils’ learning needs. Assessment is well used throughout the school, enabling staff to record and evaluate the progress being made by each individual pupil; it also helps them evaluate the effectiveness of particular units of learning, which they do rigorously. The staff share information on the progress of pupils very well. This supports their very effective curricular planning and helps them to tailor lessons to the needs of individual pupils. Lesson plans show that each pupil is expected to work towards individual targets set by staff.

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action plan

The admission register has been amended to include the required information on pupils’ gender. The school now sends accounts annually to the local authorities which place pupils in the school; the record of these accounts shown during the visit indicates that they meet requirements.

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action plan

The school has completed a risk assessment of procedures to manage the use of existing washroom facilities, which are currently shared by pupils and staff so that requirements are not met. A location for an extension to the building for new washroom facilities has been identified. The school intends to complete the work during the summer of 2011. However, to date architectural plans have not been drawn up nor planning permission secured. Independent school progress monitoring inspection report The school has made application to increase its pupil capacity to 20 places. There is sufficient teaching and play space to accommodate this number, but the additional pupils cannot be admitted until the washroom facilities are enlarged as planned.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

As a result of this inspection, the school must take action to meet The Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2010 3 (‘the Regulations’), as follows:

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 provide additional washroom facilities to meet requirements (paragraph 23(j)).

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

3 www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/1997/contents/made Independent school progress monitoring inspection report

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School details

Type of school Special day school for pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties Date school opened June 2006

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School details

Number on roll (full-time pupils) Boys: 2 Girls: 7 Total: 9

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School details

Number on roll (part-time pupils) Boys: 0 Girls: 1 Total: 1

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School details

Number of pupils with a statement of special educational needs Boys: 1 Girls: 4 Total: 5

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School details

Number of pupils who are looked after Boys: 1 Girls:3 Total: 4

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School details

Address of school Unit 7 Roman Road Royton Oldham OL2 5PJ

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