Aim Habonim

School report Aim Habonim Rear of Former Broughton Library, 400–404 Bury New Road, Salford, M7 4EY

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Overall effectiveness Good 2

Pupils’ achievement Good 2 Pupils’ behaviour and personal development Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Quality of curriculum Good 2 Pupils’ welfare, health and safety Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Good 2

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This school is good because

 Teaching is good; as a result, pupils achieve well and make good progress considering their starting points.  The curriculum is adapted well to suit the individual needs of the pupils; it supports the religious and cultural requirements of the pupils well.  Leadership and management are good; leaders convey high expectations to staff. As a result, teaching is good and pupils succeed well in their learning.  Challenging behaviour is managed well; this contributes to a calm, pleasant learning environment.  The school’s provision for the welfare, health and safety of the pupils has improved greatly since the last inspection and is now outstanding.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Governors do not systematically challenge senior leaders enough to improve the quality of teaching and to further improve the achievements of pupils.  There is a high staff turnover. This results in a lack of cohesiveness amongst staff and some inconsistencies in the provision for pupils.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 The school meets schedule 1 of The Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2010, as amended by The Education (Independent School Standards) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 (‘the independent school standards’) and associated requirements.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection was carried out with half a day’s notice.  The inspector observed eight lessons taught by six different teachers. The inspector looked at pupils’ work and held meetings with governors, the headteacher, staff and representatives from the local authority. He spoke to parents and carers in school.  The inspector looked at the school’s documentation including schemes of work, teachers’ planning, records of pupils’ progress, assessment records and records pertaining to the professional development of staff. He checked the school’s compliance with the regulations for independent schools. The inspector took account of the views expressed in 13 questionnaires returned by staff and 18 from parents and carers.  A material change visit was integrated into this standard 162a inspection. The school is registered for 60 pupils aged 0 to 11 years. It has requested to increase the age range to 19

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Inspection team

Chanan Tomlin, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Aim Habonim is a special, independent day school that provides childcare and education for boys and girls aged from 0 to 11 years who are severely disabled or have profound and multiple learning difficulties from the Jewish community in Salford and Bury.  The school opened in September 2007.  There are currently 23 pupils on roll, four of whom attend part time. Seven pupils have a statement of special educational needs.  The school offers an education which it describes as ‘sensitive to pupils’ and children’s religious and cultural requirements.’  A childcare provision and an Early Years Foundation Stage with the same name as the school are located in the premises; these are both registered separately from the school and are inspected separately. The Early Years Foundation Stage provides for a small number of children who do not have special educational needs.  The school provides therapies and interventions specifically tailored to the needs of individual

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Information about this school

pupils.  The childcare provision was last inspected in November 2009. The school was last inspected in December 2009.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further improve the overall effectiveness of the school by securing a more permanent staff body to maintain greater consistency in the provision for pupils.  Further improve the leadership and management of the school by ensuring that governors systematically challenge senior leaders to improve the quality of teaching and raise levels of achievement.  The school’s request for a material change to increase the age range from 0 to11 years to 0 to19 years of age is not recommended because the curriculum, schemes of work and other planning have not been developed sufficiently to cater for the proposed increase in the age range.

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Pupils’ achievement Good

Pupils’ achievement is good. Pupils at the school are severely disabled or have complex special educational needs and enter school with very low starting points in terms of ability. Rates of progress and achievement are slow. It is not possible to assess progress against national norms. However, considering their starting points, they achieve well and make good progress in their learning as a result of good teaching. They acquire knowledge at a good pace according to their abilities and aptitudes. They gain an understanding of sound and touch and of their own feelings and preferences. They learn how to communicate in different ways, access basic literacy work and gain a rudimentary understanding of numbers. Many pupils make exceptional progress in their cognitive development.

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Pupils’ achievement Good

Pupils achieve well in terms of gaining an appreciation of friendship and some levels of sociability. They gain insights into Jewish culture and practice; this being an important achievement as all pupils come from strictly observant homes and this helps them appreciate and be part of their home surroundings.

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Pupils’ behaviour and personal development Good

Pupils’ behaviour and personal development are good. Behaviour is often challenging because of the profound and multiple needs of pupils, but is managed well by staff. This contributes to a calm, purposeful learning environment where pupils engage in activities with interest and maintain concentration according to their abilities. Good behaviour in lessons has a good impact on pupils’ accomplishments and achievement. Teachers utilise effective methods to minimise disruptions to lessons. Pupils get along well together and enjoy each others' company. Levels of supervision are high and pupils feel safe. Attendance is good and teachers ensure that lessons start punctually.

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Pupils’ behaviour and personal development Good

Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. They grow in self-confidence when they accomplish tasks and are complimented and rewarded by their teachers. They grow in sociability by being part of a group and working and learning together with their peers. An example of this is when a group of pupils learned about materials and processes together through cleaning dishes in preparation for the upcoming festival of Passover. The school’s Inclusion Programme provides pupils with an opportunity to visit a mainstream school every month. This provides them with valuable interactions with other pupils and helps them grow in sociability, self-esteem and an awareness of people around them.

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Pupils’ behaviour and personal development Good

Pupils gain an understanding and appreciation of spirituality through daily prayer. They experience Jewish culture through a focus on rituals such as washing hands before meals and learning about festivals and special religious events. They learn about other cultures through multicultural props and dolls and through tasting foods from different parts of the world. They learn about public services through visits from the fire department, postal workers, a dentist and the police in conjunction with their project on ‘People Who Help Us’.

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Quality of teaching Good

Teaching is good. As a result, pupils achieve well over time considering their starting points. Teachers expect pupils to make progress in all areas of learning and are successful in achieving this aim. They have a sense of drive that they convey to the pupils well. Pupils know why they are in school because teachers create a purposeful atmosphere where pupils can thrive. Teachers take every opportunity to 'seize the moment' and provide pupils with valuable learning experiences. Often, lessons integrate a good number of different topics. An example of this is an outstanding prayer session where pupils experienced the sounds of instruments, the clanging of money in a charity box and the feel of toy Torah scrolls. During this session they experienced ‘night’ when the lights were turned off and ‘wetness’ when they performed ritual hand washing.

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Quality of teaching Good

Lesson planning is detailed and teachers are well-prepared to deliver lessons that enable pupils to develop their knowledge and skills. Teachers use every opportunity to include elements of language, communication and numeracy in lessons. An example of this is a religious studies lesson about the weekly Torah portion when pupils counted the half-shekel coins that they deposited in a box. Teachers ask questions and initiate discussions to facilitate learning. They are skilful in the ways that they engage pupils. An example is the way that during a visit from a local postal worker, one teacher asked questions that pupils could understand and relate to. Because pupils are kept on task, disruptions are rare; when disruptive situations do occur, they are managed effectively. Teachers assess and track pupils’ progress regularly. They create profiles that are an accurate account of pupils’ achievements. However, the school has a high staff turnover. As a result, it is

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Quality of teaching Good

difficult for staff to form a cohesive unit and there is some lack of consistency in the provision for pupils. Leaders try their best to minimise any difficulties that may arise from changes in staffing to ensure pupils have consistently good teaching.

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Quality of curriculum Good

The quality of the curriculum is good. It meets the wide range of pupils’ needs well and provides a variety of opportunities to ensure that pupils achieve well and make good progress in all of the required areas of learning that they can access, including work on literacy and numeracy. The curriculum incorporates many elements of Jewish studies (Kodesh) and is organised effectively. Well-considered, long- and short- term planning ensures that pupils of differing abilities and aptitudes are challenged and supported well. The curriculum is supported by detailed schemes of work and a good range of resources.

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Quality of curriculum Good

Personal, social and health education is well developed. As a result, pupils gain an understanding of how to interact with each other and different aspects of healthy living. They learn about dental health and eat healthy food during snack time. The curriculum is enriched through a good variety of visits, trips out of school and annual events such as Chanukah and Purim parties. Pupils enjoy these activities, the preparations before them and follow-up sessions afterwards. Topic work enables pupils to explore and investigate. They take part in a ‘kapparos’ ceremony with live chickens before the Jewish New Year, are shown live locusts in connection with the biblical 10 plagues and bake unleavened bread (matza) before Passover. These activities provide pupils with an understanding of animal welfare and experiences in design and technology.

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Pupils’ welfare, health and safety Outstanding

Provision for the welfare, health and safety of the pupils is outstanding and all regulations are met. Staff:pupil ratios are high and pupils are exceptionally well cared for. The school is vigilant in its approach to safeguarding; its child protection policy is robust and all staff have been trained to the required levels. Arrangements for the safe recruitment of staff are of a very high standard. The school has robust policies that promote the welfare, health and safety of pupils effectively. All policies are reviewed regularly to ensure that they fully comply with current legislation. Bullying does not occur; if it did, the school has a robust policy to tackle it effectively.

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Pupils’ welfare, health and safety Outstanding

Staff are clear about their responsibilities and feel that the welfare, health and safety of the pupils are of paramount importance. The school arranges a broad range of training sessions to equip staff with the knowledge and skills required to provide excellent care for pupils with specific needs. The school promotes healthy lifestyles and ensures that pupils are kept safe at all times both in and out of school through detailed risk assessments and high levels of supervision. It provides a very good range of therapies that contribute to pupils' emotional health including animal, hydro, donkey, and music and play therapies. Staff encourage pupils to form good relationships with each other and pupils are happy and well-adjusted during lessons and play. Parents and carers have confidence in the school’s systems to keep their children safe and appreciate the devotion of staff. In a questionnaire, one parent commented that ‘the care that staff give to my severely disabled

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Pupils’ welfare, health and safety Outstanding

child is so brilliant that we, as parents are able to continue with life knowing that she is looked after so well!’

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Leadership and management Good

Leadership and management of the school are good. Senior mangers and governors are consistent in their drive for improvement. They have high expectations and they communicate these to staff in order to secure good provision that leads to good achievement and progress. Teaching is good as a result of effective systems for performance management through lesson observations and regular teacher supervision. In-service training sessions meet the needs of the school and staff. The school appreciates the importance of self-evaluation; the school checks on its own work are robust and the school is realistic in identifying areas that need to be improved. The proprietor and governors challenge senior leaders to some extent to improve the quality of teaching and to further improve the achievements of pupils. However, this is not as systematic as it might be and they do not, for example, take part in lesson observations. As a result, the quality of teaching and

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Leadership and management Good

pupils’ achievements are not improving at a fast rate.

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Leadership and management Good

The school’s curriculum is broad and well-organised and provides opportunities for pupils with severe disabilities and complex special educational needs to achieve well. The school’s ethos promotes good behaviour and personal development, and provision for the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the pupils is good in all aspects. The school works well with parents, carers and external providers to ensure that pupils progress in all of the areas of learning that they can access and that they are cared for extremely well. Senior managers have ensured that staff are deployed effectively and that there is a good supply of resources that are used to support the curriculum effectively.

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Leadership and management Good

The school’s premises and accommodation are well maintained and furnished and form a very good base for pupils to learn and develop. The school meets all of the requirements related to the provision of information to parents, carers and others, and the complaints procedure includes all of the necessary details. School managers have ensured that all of the independent school standards are met.

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Leadership and management Good

The school’s request for a material change to increase the age range from 0 to11 years to 0 to19 years of age is not recommended because the curriculum, schemes of work and other planning have not been developed sufficiently to cater for the proposed increase in the age range. The premises and accommodation have not been modified to accommodate the proposed increase in age range and are not suitable for older pupils. Decoration and furnishings are not appropriate for the proposed increase in age range and the school does not have the necessary resources to support a curriculum for older pupils. Teachers are not qualified nor do they have the experience required to work with older pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding A school which provides an exceptional quality of education and significantly exceeds minimum requirements. Grade 2 Good A school which provides a high quality of education that exceeds minimum requirements. Grade 3 Adequate A school which meets minimum requirements but needs to improve the quality of education it provides. Grade 4 Inadequate A school where minimum requirements are not met and/or the quality of education has serious weaknesses.

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School details

Unique reference number 135633 Inspection number 408732 DfE registration number 355/6056 This inspection was carried out 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. Type of school Jewish special school for pupils with severe special educational needs and disabilities School status Independent School Age range of pupils 0–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 24 Number of part time pupils 5 Proprietor Mr D Leaman Chair Mr N M Halpern Headteacher Mrs H Harris Date of previous school inspection 9 December 2009 Annual fees (day pupils) £18,000–£23,000 Telephone number 0161 705 0020 Fax number N/A Email address info@aimhabonim.com or admin@aimhabonim.com guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If

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School details

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School details

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School details

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School details

inspects to 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. 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,

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School details

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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