Setting

Aviation House 125 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0300 123 1231 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.1

Mr B Parker Executive Headteacher Thomas Tallis School Kidbrooke Park Road London SE3 9PX

p.1

alternative provision

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of your staff and students, during my visit on 5 and 6 November 2012 to look at the school’s use of alternative provision.

p.1

alternative provision

The visit provided valuable information which will contribute to our national evaluation and reporting. Published reports are likely to list the names of the contributing institutions but individual institutions will not be identified in the main text without their consent.

p.1

alternative provision

This letter briefly summarises our discussion at the end of the visit.

p.1

Strengths of this aspect of the school’s work

 A well-planned curriculum enables students who attend alternative provision to access appropriate courses in English and mathematics from which they can gain relevant qualifications. Extra-curricular provision is also well provided for.

p.1

Strengths of this aspect of the school’s work

 The local authority has robust quality assurance procedures that monitor the services of most providers well, although the registration status of providers is not always given sufficient attention. The ‘G-Choice’ portfolio provides the school with established providers who have undergone effective safeguarding checks.

p.1

Strengths of this aspect of the school’s work

 Providers’ accommodation seen during the survey visit is highly suitable for students especially the outdoor facilities for those students with complex needs.  The majority of students, especially those attending construction placements, are very happy with their placements and feel they have gained valuable skills which they would not have achieved at school, for example working to project deadlines and partnership skills. Many students in Year 10 are keen to pursue a career in their chosen placements.

p.1

Strengths of this aspect of the school’s work

 Effective communication between providers and the school is working well to monitor students who are the most vulnerable to being permanently excluded.

p.2

Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 ensuring that guidance is given to providers to enable them to be fully informed of students’ personal and academic history, so that appropriate support is identified. Clear guidance should also be given to providers to assist them in completing progress reports so that they contain useful information on the progress students have made in their personal, social and employment skills development

p.2

Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 developing a more robust review of students’ achievement, including the clear identification of appropriate qualifications and progression pathways for all students. Some qualifications achieved by students on full-time placements are of a very low level. Also, there are insufficient opportunities for some students to progress further than level 1 in their chosen placement

p.2

Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 ensuring that senior leaders scrutinise carefully the monitoring of providers’ quality and the evaluation of the progress that providers make in improving their provision. In addition, sufficient checks need to be implemented to confirm that alternative provision placements are registered with the Department for Education if required.

p.2

Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

My concerns about the registration status of one of the providers you are using have been reported to the Department for Education.

p.2