Coventry Extended Learning Centre

Age group 11–14 Inspection date(s) 7–8 March 2012 Inspection number 381656 Wyken Extended Learning Centre Inspection report

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Unique reference number 134269 Local authority Coventry Inspection number 381656 Inspection dates 7–8 March 2012 Lead inspector Frank Price

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Type of school Pupil referral unit School category Pupil referral unit Age range of pupils 11–14 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 23 Appropriate authority The local authority Headteacher Noreen Jordan (Head of Centre) Date of previous school inspection 27 February 2009 School address Caludon Castle School Site Axholme Road Wyken Coventry CV2 3BD Telephone number 024 7678 7810 Fax number 024 7661 5920 Email address Noreen.jordan@coventry.gov.uk 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

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after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you 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’.

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when.

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You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. Approximately five hours were spent observing 11 lessons taught by eight teachers. Discussions took place with a range of students, the chair of the management committee and a representative from the local authority. The inspector took account of the responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection, observed the school’s work, and looked at its self-evaluation documentation and improvement plans. The inspector took account of 12 parental questionnaires returned during the inspection, as well as questionnaires completed by staff and pupils.

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Information about the school

The Wyken Extended Learning Centre is a small pupil referral unit and is part of the provision of services provided by Coventry's Learning and Behaviour Support Service. The majority of students at the centre have been referred either because they are at risk of permanent exclusion or they have been permanently excluded from other schools. Many have a history of non-attendance and school disaffection. No students have a statement of special educational needs, but they are all designated as being on ‘school action plus’ on the special educational needs register. Fifteen students are dually registered with their mainstream schools. The proportion of students known to be eligible for free school meals is higher than average. The vast majority of students are White British. The centre has recently re-located to purpose-built accommodation and is co-located on the site of a large secondary school.

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Key findings

 Wyken Extended Learning Centre is a good pupil referral unit. The headteacher, together with support of the local authority has been successful in securing purpose built accommodation, which provides an excellent learning environment for students. The centre is not outstanding because not enough teaching is outstanding and the criteria to help the management committee and local authority to measure the effectiveness of the centre are not yet sufficiently developed.

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Key findings

 Students make good progress, often from low starting points. Their good academic progress enables many of the students to return to mainstream schools after a period of intervention and support. Students are well prepared for their successful return to school.

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Key findings

 Students’ behaviour and safety are good. They make vast improvements in their attitudes to learning and to each other, and their attendance at the centre improves hugely. Many turn up early in the morning because they enjoy the centre so much. The centre is a calm and orderly environment where students feel safe and can concentrate on learning.

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Key findings

 Teaching across the centre is mainly good. Teaching is occasionally outstanding, but this is limited to a few teachers across the school. A strength of teaching is the way staff successfully tailor support to students’ individual requirements so that all needs are effectively met. For example, careful attention is given to students’ preferred learning styles to ensure that they are able to engage in learning as effectively as possible.

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Key findings

 The leadership of teaching and the management of the performance of teachers are good. The professional development opportunities for teachers to observe outstanding teaching in other schools has been beneficial in raising their expectations. The headteacher has developed excellent partnership working with a number of schools. This has increased students’ enjoyment and motivation and assists with their return to school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the amount of good and outstanding teaching through:  ensuring that the pace of lessons is quicker  using more incisive questioning to test and probe students’ knowledge and understanding, especially at the end of lessons  ensuring that the best practice in marking of students’ work is applied consistently across the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Develop clear performance indicators so that the management committee and local authority can measure the effectiveness of the work of the centre more easily.

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Achievement of pupils

The attainment of most students is below average on entry to the centre, due to their previous fragmented educational history. They make good progress while at the centre and, by the time they leave, gaps in performance are narrowing considerably and many are able to return to mainstream schools successfully. The centre sets challenging targets for students to achieve on a termly basis and most reach these. Improvements in English have been steady and sustained over the last three years. The centre has worked hard to improve students’ spelling and writing and this is bearing fruit. For example, their workbooks show an increasing range of writing for different purposes in various subjects, such as humanities. Improvements in mathematics and science are more recent, but are good, although from lower starting points. The outcomes for different groups of students are good and none are disadvantaged, including disabled students and those who have special educational

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Achievement of pupils

needs. This is because individual needs are carefully assessed and personalised programmes put in place to address specific learning issues.

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Achievement of pupils

Students make good progress in lessons. They enjoy learning, which is a significant achievement given their previous often negative experiences. In mathematics for example, students enjoy active participation in using mirrors to work out symmetrical patterns and use the interactive whiteboard to drag and rotate shapes. Students are attentive, sustain their concentration and take pride in their work. Expectations are suitably high and they know the targets they are expected to achieve through weekly meetings with their mentors. In the best examples of marking, students are given clear specific pointers of how to improve their work, although this is not always consistently applied across all subjects. Parents and carers rightly have positive views of the good progress their children make.

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Achievement of pupils

The centre has started to address literacy across the curriculum more systematically. Students are assessed on entry to the centre. This has led to some students receiving specific interventions, which is having a positive impact on improving their literacy skills.

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Quality of teaching

Teaching is good over time and helps students make good progress. The staff’s positive and supportive relationships with students permeate lessons. Subject expertise in mathematics and science has improved with the appointment of subject specialists in conjunction with advice from the local authority. In lessons, students are confident to articulate their views in discussions. For example, students expressed their views confidently on surrealist art. In the best lessons, there is a rapid pace and sense of urgency to activities; questioning is used perceptively to extend and test students’ understanding and recall, especially at the end of lessons. However, this good practice is not universal. Students think teaching is good and find the relationships they have with staff helpful, which builds up their self-esteem. One student commented, ‘Staff are brilliant.’ They enjoy lessons and feel that the safe

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Quality of teaching

keeping of mobile phones in the school office at the start of the day has improved their concentration because there are fewer distractions to learning.

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Quality of teaching

There are many strengths in teaching. Technology is used effectively to enliven lessons and laptops are used to motivate students to record their views. The centre is acutely aware that students quickly become disinterested when required to complete worksheets and staff work hard to make learning as interesting as possible. Staff are skilled at using a variety of learning styles, such as video and practical activities in mathematics, to keep concentration levels high. Staff know students well and deliver a highly personalised approach to enable students to achieve as well as possible. The progress of students is carefully tracked across all subjects. The marking of students work is thorough and in the best examples they are given clear advice on what they need to do to improve their work. However, on occasions marking only gives general praise and lacks precise feedback.

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Quality of teaching

The planned curriculum is effective in promoting aspects of students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. For example, there are ample opportunities for students to work together co-operatively and creative subjects help to promote students’ cultural and spiritual development. Parents and carers rightly feel their children are well taught and prepared effectively for their next phase of education.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Students’ behaviour and safety are good. Nearly all students make impressive improvements in their attendance; some students reach average or above-average levels of attendance. Many are keen and turn up early before the start of lessons and enjoy the morning breakfast club. Students’ behaviour in classes and around the centre is good. They demonstrate a pride in their centre. Damage to property is rare and students take on increasing responsibilities during break times. The student council has also fostered a sense of ownership and responsibility. Involvement in community activities, such as adventure activities and sport, promote students’ social and moral development well. Students make good progress in their personal development. They improve their attitudes to each other and develop a more positive approach to learning while at the centre and disruptions to lessons are very rare. These positive attributes assist students in the next phase of their education.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Lunchtimes and break times are sociable occasions when staff and students come together and this reflects the positive rapport between staff and students.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

In the students’ responses to the questionnaire and discussions, they said they felt safe in school. Students are aware of different types of bullying. In discussion, none reported any issues with prejudicial bullying. They felt cyber bullying was not an issue largely because mobile phones were handed in at the start of the day. Students acknowledge that bullying sometimes can occasionally take place, but they were adamant that staff tackled this issue swiftly and they knew that the centre’s zero tolerance results in loss of esteemed privileges. The personal, social, health and education curriculum deals with important risks, so that students learn how to look after themselves appropriately. Parents and carers believe their children are safe, and that the school deals effectively with bullying.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher provides good operational and strategic leadership and management. Teamwork is a strong feature of the centre and staff have established positive relationships with students. This does much to promote high expectations of both behaviour and academic work.

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Leadership and management

Partnership working with a range of stakeholders is excellent. The centre is particularly effective in working with other schools generally and the co-located school in particular. This relationship provides excellent professional development opportunities for teachers of both schools, as well as helping to provide a broader and richer curriculum for students. The performance of staff is regularly monitored through self and peer-evaluation, as well as senior leadership evaluations. Professional development is carefully matched to the identified needs contained in the school development plan. Staff receive a good mix of professional development incorporating safeguarding and keep up-to-date with their subject knowledge. Cumulatively, this has had an impact on improving the quality of teaching, learning outcomes for students and in promoting their personal development.

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Leadership and management

The management committee and local authority have a clear understanding of its strengths and future areas for development. Consequently, the centre has a good capacity for improvement and it has a good track record of sustained improvements. The headteacher recognises the importance of developing clear reporting criteria to make the monitoring of the provision of the centre and its outcomes, by the local authority and the management committee, more transparent and easily measurable.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is highly appropriate to the needs of students to help them to re- integrate successfully. For example, the centre has recently introduced GCSE courses at Year 9 to assist in accelerating students’ learning. The curriculum also promotes students’ wider personal development effectively through activities such as rock climbing and kickboxing.

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Leadership and management

The strong ethos of the centre is marked by respect for individuals and property, and high expectations of both behaviour and academic work. The centre is vigilant in ensuring that any forms of inequality or discrimination do not arise and the outcomes for all groups of pupils are carefully analysed. The school’s arrangements for safeguarding meet current government requirements.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 46 46 8 0 Primary schools 8 47 40 5 Secondary schools 14 38 40 8 Special schools 28 48 20 4 Pupil referral units 15 50 29 5 All schools 11 46 38 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk ). The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools. Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils’ work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attendance the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school’s efforts to encourage good attendance.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils’ punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school’s overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils’ attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils’ freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of Wyken Extended Learning Centre, Wyken, CV2 3DN

I enjoyed my visit to your centre and talking with many of you. Thank you for contributing to the inspection through the returned questionnaires and discussions with me.

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Inspection of Wyken Extended Learning Centre, Wyken, CV2 3DN

You make good progress during your time at the centre and it helps many of you to return to other schools successfully. You make good improvements in your behaviour and work. The teaching you receive is good and staff know how to get the best out of you and they work hard to make lessons interesting. You told me how much you enjoy attending the centre and like the new accommodation, which helps you to learn well. The headteacher and staff have worked hard to improve your centre. Staff have set up good working relationships with a number of schools and this means you have better opportunities to study subjects like art and drama.

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Inspection of Wyken Extended Learning Centre, Wyken, CV2 3DN

I have asked those people leading your centre to make two improvements. The first is to increase the amount of good and outstanding teaching by making sure that the pace of some activities in lessons is quicker; that questioning is used better by teachers to extend your understanding, especially at the end of lessons; and to improve the marking of your work so that you always have a clear idea of how to improve. The second improvement is to develop clear measures so that the people who are responsible for the centre can accurately check how well the centre is doing its job.

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Inspection of Wyken Extended Learning Centre, Wyken, CV2 3DN

You can help to improve your centre by continuing to attend regularly and working hard.

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Inspection of Wyken Extended Learning Centre, Wyken, CV2 3DN

Frank Price Lead inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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