Jigsaw CABAS School

The Jigsaw CABAS® School Independent special school standard inspection report

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DfE registration number 936/6579 Unique Reference Number (URN) 131976 Inspection number 361386 Inspection dates 29−30 September 2010 Reporting inspector Angela Corbett HMI 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. 090070 Independent school standard 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, the purpose of which is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school. 1, 2

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Information about the school

The Jigsaw CABAS® School is an independent special school for day pupils with an autism spectrum disorder. It opened in 1999 and is overseen by the Jigsaw Trust, which is a registered charity. The school is located on two sites. The main site is in Dunsfold, with a Life Skills Centre for older pupils in Guildford which opened in September 2009.

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Information about the school

The school follows the methodology of the Comprehensive Application of Behaviour Analysis to Schooling (CABAS®). It became a certified CABAS® school in 2003. The school has expanded since its last inspection by Ofsted in November 2007 and now admits up to 44 pupils aged from five to 19. Currently 42 pupils aged between five and 17 attend the school, of whom four are in the sixth form. All pupils attending the school have a statement of special educational needs, and they come from a large number of local authorities.

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Information about the school

The Jigsaw CABAS® School is committed to: ‘providing a safe and caring environment where all our learners will be given an education of the highest standard and every opportunity to achieve their full potential’.

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Evaluation of the school

The Jigsaw CABAS® School provides an outstanding quality of education and very successfully meets its aims. Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding and they show exceptional enjoyment in coming to school and say that ‘school is fun’. Pupils are exceptionally well cared for and safeguarding arrangements are robust and rigorous. The outstanding curriculum and good teaching ensure that pupils make outstanding progress both personally and academically, and that their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. Under the excellent leadership of the executive headteacher, the Director of Education and the school’s senior leaders, the highly committed and enthusiastic staff have made significant improvements since the last inspection and it now meets all of the regulations. Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school, with one writing: ‘My son loves coming to school everyday

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Evaluation of the school

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 standard inspection report and without Jigsaw, our life with our autistic child would be much harder. .. Jigsaw is an outstanding school which provides more than education.’

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Quality of education

The curriculum is outstanding as it is exceptionally well planned, fully meets the requirements of pupils’ statements of special educational needs and includes regular access to speech and language and occupational therapies. It is based on the National Curriculum and planned through topics and themes using a three-year cycle to ensure coverage. Personal, social, health and citizenship education (PSHCE) is based on the relevant guidance. Both the Key Stage 4 and new sixth form curriculum have been developed well. The curriculum is appropriately extended to meet pupils’ learning needs and development of their life and work skills by using the ASDAN (Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network) Transition Challenge, Personal and Social Development and Towards Independence vocational courses at the local college . All teaching is underpinned by subject policies, detailed schemes of work and the CABAS® methodology. Senior staff ensure that all pupils have an

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Quality of education

individual curriculum plan that outlines challenging and progressive long-term learning objectives. These are used to form the daily plans with highly focused learning objectives for pupils that are taught through clearly defined ‘learn units’. All pupils across the school now have access to a modern foreign language. Planning and resources for information and communication technology (ICT) have also significantly improved. Improvements in careers and work-related learning include increased links to Connexions and regular visits to a good range of employers such as a garden centre or restaurant. The school is in the process of securing supported work placements. An exceptional number of trips and visits, from museums to leisure facilities, further enhance pupils’ experiences. Extra-curricular activities are organised daily and most pupils attend these.

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Quality of education

Teaching and assessment are good and sometimes outstanding. Pupils are taught on a one-to-one basis or in small groups with individual support and they thrive in the calm and purposeful learning environments that pervade the school. A particular feature of the teaching is the consistency of its quality throughout the school. This is achieved through excellent induction and well-informed professional development programmes. Staff know pupils’ learning and emotional needs extremely well and work very closely as whole-school and class teams. They set high expectations for pupils’ achievement and independence and make excellent use of ICT, such as interactive whiteboards and touch-screen devices. Staff continually praise pupils’ success, using comments such as ‘good job’ and ‘good listening’, although opportunities are sometimes missed to encourage talk with pupils during lessons. This process of encouragement, consistency, repetition and reinforcement helps

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Quality of education

pupils to establish their excellent behaviour and work habits, so that lessons make the best use of time, enabling outstanding progress. Emphasis is placed on the development of pupils’ literacy and communication skills; however, when planning, teachers do not always make links to other aspects of the curriculum in the ‘learn units’ to broaden pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the world around them. Independent school standard inspection report Pupils’ learning is rigorously tracked and analysed through methodical assessments throughout lessons, which are monitored to ensure accuracy. The data are continually analysed at both class teacher and senior staff level so that teaching is adjusted to ensure that pupils are both sufficiently supported and challenged in their learning. Pupils’ National Curriculum levels of attainment are also assessed annually. The school’s data show that all pupils make good or outstanding progress over time;

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Quality of education

in particular, their progress in literacy, ICT, communication and social skills is exceptional.

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils

The provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. Pupils’ personal development is promoted extremely well by the very wide range of activities and opportunities available. Positive behaviour teaching and development of social skills are at the heart of the school’s ethos and, as a result, pupils’ behaviour is outstanding. Pupils also show increased ability to manage their daily lives due to improvements in their communication skills and the focus on life skills. This is further enhanced through parent workshops and activity days for siblings that help to build family bonds and understanding of pupils’ special needs.

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils

Attendance is outstanding because pupils thoroughly enjoy school and feel rewarded by their successes. They make an excellent contribution to their school, local and wider communities, for example helping out in class, fundraising for the school in the local community and in raising awareness of autism, in particular through the art project. They have excellent opportunities to develop spiritually and culturally throughout the school day when they reflect on their behaviour and their work as well as learning about other religions and cultures through lessons, assemblies and special activity days. As a result, pupils from different ethnic backgrounds all get on well together. They also contribute to their annual reviews, reflecting on what they have enjoyed or found difficult. There is an exceptional range of opportunities presented to pupils to explore different social settings and to become familiar with

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils

community institutions, such as churches and the work of the police and fire brigade. This aids their future social and economic well-being and also helps them to develop their understanding of moral issues, by learning to show consideration for others and through expectations for behaviour when they are out and about.

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Welfare, health and safety of pupils

Provision for safeguarding, welfare, health and safety is outstanding. There are clear policies and procedures for safeguarding, health and safety, which are routinely reviewed and updated. The school is exceptionally rigorous in its recruitment of staff and in ensuring that staff training requirements in first aid, child protection and as minibus drivers are all up-to-date. Staff record keeping is exemplary. Exceptional care is taken with all aspects of pupils’ health and safety with daily checks of the play areas, classrooms and minibuses. High staff-to-pupil ratios ensure that supervision is Independent school standard inspection report excellent at all times. Staff understand pupils’ needs well and give them exceptional care and support. All activities both in and out of school are very well planned with full and detailed risk assessments undertaken. All accident and behaviour incidents are carefully logged and reviewed so that improvements can be put in place.

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Welfare, health and safety of pupils

Discussions with parents and their questionnaires show that they have very high trust in Jigsaw’s ability to keep their children safe. The school promotes excellent attitudes in pupils towards being safe and healthy through science and food technology lessons as well as the extensive range of physical education activities such as rock climbing and horse riding. The gym, soft play and sensory rooms also provide opportunities for pupils to relax and take exercise. There is now an appropriate three-year accessibility plan in place, in keeping with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, as amended.

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Suitability of staff, supply staff and proprietors

The school’s procedures for checking the suitability of staff to work with children prior to employment are extremely rigorous. All staff and governors have been subject to clearance at an enhanced level with the Criminal Records Bureau. The single central record of staff checks is exemplary.

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Premises of and accommodation at the school

The school’s premises and accommodation on both sites have developed significantly since the last inspection. The Guildford site is now a Life Skills Centre for older pupils, and has been refurbished to a very high standard with an award-winning sensory garden that pupils helped to construct. All the classroom-based teaching now takes place at the expanded Dunsfold site. This provides spacious administration, classroom and specialist accommodation which is used extremely well. The medical room at the Dunsfold site now fully meets requirements and there is appropriate space for pupils who are unwell at the Life Skills Centre. Since the last inspection, a second outdoor play area has been provided with space for bicycle riding and ball games. In the original space, large play equipment has been installed, together with an outdoor classroom. A further building is about to be converted to provide new accommodation for the sixth form and a specialist art room. The

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Premises of and accommodation at the school

premises are well maintained and in good decorative order, and ensure safe and effective learning.

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Provision of information

An excellent range of information about the school is provided for both prospective and current parents through the prospectus and information pack and the regularly updated website. Many documents are available to download, including school policies, the prospectus, termly newsletters and the very informative governors’ annual report to parents. Parents are well informed about their children’s progress Independent school standard inspection report through daily communication booklets, detailed half-termly reports and the annual review reports that include photographs of each child’s successes.

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Manner in which complaints are to be handled

The school’s complaints policy and procedures for handling complaints are very clearly written and fully meet requirements. No formal complaints have been received in the last year.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

The proprietor has ensured that the school meets The Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2010, schedule 1 (‘the Regulations’).

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What the school could do to improve further

While not required by regulations, the school might wish to consider the following point for development:

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What the school could do to improve further

 Further improve teaching and learning by making more explicit the links between ‘learn units’ in lessons to broaden pupils knowledge and understanding of the world around them’. Independent school standard inspection report Inspection judgements outstanding

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The quality of education

How well the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of pupils 

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The quality of education

How effective teaching and assessment are in meeting the full range of pupils’ needs 

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The quality of education

How well pupils make progress in their learning 

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The quality of education

Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Quality of provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 

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Welfare, health and safety of pupils

The overall welfare, health and safety of pupils  Independent school standard inspection report

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School details

Type of school Special day school for pupils with autism spectrum disorder

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School details

Number on roll (full-time pupils) Boys: 38 Girls: 4 Total: 42

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School details

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

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School details

Number of pupils with a statement of special educational needs Boys: 38 Girls: 4 Total: 42

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School details

Number of pupils who are looked after Boys: 0 Girls: 0 Total: 0

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) £48,461 - £51,232

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School details

Address of school Building 21 Dunsfold Park Stovolds Hill Cranleigh Surrey GU6 8TB

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School details

Email address kategrant@jigsawschool.co.uk

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