Charlton Park Academy

Charlton Park Academy Charlton Park Road, London, SE7 8HX

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Inspection dates 28 February–1 March 2013

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Overall effectiveness of the residential experience Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Students achieve well; all groups make good progress and some individuals make outstanding progress. All students share a real keenness to learn. The school’s focus on improving skills in literacy, mathematics and other life skills is very effective.  The sixth form is good. Students make good progress in the sixth form and are prepared well for the next stage of their lives through relevant courses and opportunities  Teaching is mainly good and some is outstanding. There are very good relationships between staff and students.  Leadership and management, including the governance of the school, are good. Senior leaders consider carefully how teaching and achievement can be further improved and are ambitious for the school to be outstanding.  All staff, including residential staff and therapists, work together extremely well as a team to provide effective all-round care and support for each student.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Students’ behaviour is good in classes and around the school, and in the good residential provision. Students are polite, friendly and a credit to the school. Both the school and residential provision are safe environments, in which pupils thrive.  The school meets the national minimum standards for residential special schools.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 In a few lessons, teachers do not move the most able students on quickly enough in their learning.  There are some inconsistencies in marking students’ work.  Information on the school’s performance is not always summarised well enough to make it easy to see what works well and what could be improved.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 21 lessons. Over a third were joint observations with the headteacher or other senior leaders. Additional information was gathered from observations during informal times of the school day. Observations were made in the residential provision.  Inspectors held meetings with students, staff and the Chair and Vice Chair of the Governing Body. The lead inspector held a telephone conversation with a representative from the local authority and had a meeting.  Inspectors scrutinised progress information, assessment records, the minutes of the meetings of the governing body, safeguarding information and residential care plans, school development plans and evaluations. Inspectors listened to students reading.  The inspectors took account of 15 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View); 38 staff questionnaires and the school’s own parental surveys were taken into account.

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Inspection team

Sonja Joseph, Lead inspector Additional inspector Maureen Coleman Additional inspector Mary Geddes Additional inspector Seka Graovac Social care inspector

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Information about this school

 Charlton Park Academy converted to academy status in August 2012. When its predecessor, Charlton School, was last inspected by Ofsted it was judged to be satisfactory overall.  All students have a statement of special educational needs; over half of the students have an autistic spectrum condition and severe learning difficulties, and have challenging behaviour as a result of these conditions.  About a quarter of students have profound and multiple learning difficulties. Other groups include those with sensory, physical, and medical needs.  The majority of students are boys.  The proportion of students from ethnic backgrounds other than White British is well above average.  The proportion of students who speak English as an additional language is above average.  The proportion of students eligible for the pupil premium , which is extra funding from the government to schools, based on the numbers of pupils known to be eligible for free school

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Information about this school

meals, pupils in the care of the local authority and those from families in the armed forces, is well above average.  The school provides outreach to other schools and colleagues through the Centre for Micro- Assisted Communication, its own advisory service.  The sixth form has an additional small class based on a local college site.  A small number of students use the school’s residential provision on week days during the school terms. Each boarder has a personalised package of time and support in the residential provision.  Some students attend courses off site at local colleges in animal care, information and communication technology, and horticulture for part of the school timetable.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that more is outstanding and raise students’ achievement by:  making sure teachers always set work at the right level of difficulty, particularly for the most- able students  ensuring the marking of work consistently gives students clear advice on how to improve further.  Strengthen the quality of leadership and management, including in the residential provision, by: – improving the quality and use of the information collected on the effectiveness of the school’s work by summarising it more sharply and consistently, so that it is easy to identify trends, strengths and where improvements need to be made. – ensuring the quality of record keeping across the residential provision is always of a consistently high standard.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Taking into account their different starting points, all students make good progress and all achieve well, whatever their individual special educational needs or disabilities.  Boys and girls make similarly good progress, as do all other groups, including residential students, those from different ethnic heritages and those who speak English as an additional language.  All staff effectively use signs, gestures and facial expressions, as well as new interactive technologies, enabling students to make good progress in developing their own communication and thinking skills.  Some of the students who have the most profound difficulties with learning move from having very limited communication to communicating reliably using symbols. They make similarly rapid progress in early mathematical skills and learn to use very early problem-solving skills in a logical way.  High quality medical, sensory, therapeutic and physical support, especially the ‘Move’

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The achievement of pupils is good

programme, enables students to make rapid progress, particularly in their physical development. For example, one student has made very good progress in walking with a pacer and is now able to play independently with classmates.  A wide range of support has been introduced for students in receipt of pupil premium funding, including additional learning support for reading and writing, counselling and the use of specialist technological equipment. This has helped these students to take a full part in lessons more easily and frequently. All groups of students who benefit from the pupil premium reach similar levels of attainment to other pupils in the school in both English and mathematics, as measured by their average points scores at the end of Key Stage 4.  Students make significant strides in improving their reading because they make good progress in improving their ability to ‘sound out’ letters and groups of letters when dealing with difficult

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The achievement of pupils is good

or new words. This improves their confidence in learning in all subjects.  Students in the sixth form, including the college-based class, develop relevant work-related skills and acquire a wide range of qualifications, including at GCSE level. They are very well- equipped to cope as independently as possible in adult life.  Residential students make excellent progress in their independent living skills. For example, they learn to cook meals with minimal adult help. They also learn to keep themselves safe and travel independently.  On occasion, not all students make the best progress possible because work set by teachers is not always at the right level of difficulty, particularly for the most able, and marking does not always show students how well they are doing and what they need to do better.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching enables students to make good progress overall, and some to make outstanding progress in developing their communication skills and in their personal development.  All staff are committed to the use of communication approaches which are suited to individual needs. Students are confident in the use of different technologies and symbolic communication systems. As a result, there is a marked improvement in their communication skills. Good support helps students to feel a real sense of achievement when they master a new word or sign or use the interactive whiteboard to answer a question or make choices.  In most lessons, teachers and teaching assistants work very well together to determine each student’s needs and to plan interesting and challenging activities. For example, in the sixth form, students moved from one carefully planned task to another as they learnt about using money in different ways. Each member of the staff team worked on a different activity and

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The quality of teaching is good

showed that they had a good understanding of their role and high expectations for each student.  Teachers work extremely well with therapists and specialist staff to provide excellent intensive all-round support for students who have more complex medical, physical and sensory difficulties. This may require classroom staff to operate specialist equipment such as standing frames and gastrostomy feeding systems. The close-knit teamwork of all the staff means that these interventions are carried out seamlessly without withdrawing students from their learning activities, so that no precious learning time is lost  Teachers collect detailed information about what each student knows, understands and can do. They mostly make excellent use of this when planning lessons, so each student’s needs are met. In an English lesson for Year 10 students, effective and targeted questioning by the teacher enabled students to think hard and make choices about the right information to be

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The quality of teaching is good

included in a poster. This meant that each student had work set at just the right level of difficulty and, as a result, they all made outstanding progress.  Occasionally, teachers do not take enough account of students’ differing needs. This can mean, for example, that work is too hard for some and too easy for others, particularly the most able.  There are some good examples of the marking of students’ work. In the best practice, students are given clear guidance on what they need to do to improve their work. However, this is not consistent across the school.  Consistency between the school’s work and activities in the residential provision ensures that students use skills learnt in school during the evenings, such as managing money. This supports students’ progress very effectively. Some staff have a shared role between school and the residential provision, which promotes a consistent approach to teaching, developing

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The quality of teaching is good

communication skills and preparing for future independence.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school is an orderly place and students behave well. Residential students make particularly strong improvements in their behaviour over time. Students are confident and show good attitudes to their learning. They want to do well. Where there are dips in the very high standards of behaviour, these are usually where students are not sufficiently active in their lessons.  Teachers usually manage students’ challenging behaviours well. Students with autistic spectrum conditions are seated so that they are not easily distracted. The communication needs of pupils who find it difficult to express themselves verbally are met very well so that their frustrations ease considerably over time. Those students with complex difficulties show that they are comfortable with the adults who look after their intimate care needs.  Around the school, students are polite and courteous. Students treat each other with respect.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

For example, in a meeting of residential students, they listened to each other, valued what each other said and made sure everyone had their say. After speaking to the inspector, a student said that it was her turn to listen to the inspector and write down her answers.  Students have an appropriate knowledge and understanding of different types of bullying and know how to keep themselves safe, including when using computers and other media. As a result of a broad and balanced personal curriculum, they are aware of the dangers of alcohol and drugs, and of stranger danger. The school works well with other agencies to ensure these preventative measures are in place.  There are well-developed procedures to keep students safe in school and when they are off site and in the residential accommodation (Rainbow House). Governors responsible for this area have a very good understanding of the additional needs and vulnerability of the students.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Older students develop a strong sense of responsibility. Independent skills learnt through outings, residential adventure trips and work experience stand them in good stead for the future.  Parents and carers express confidence that behaviour and safety are good overall in both the school and residential provision.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher provides strong leadership. Together with senior leaders, including governors, he has been extremely effective in improving the quality of teaching and students’ achievement across the school.  Leadership and management of the residential provision are good, ensuring that all routines run smoothly, weaknesses are identified and appropriate action taken to secure improvements.  School and residential leaders and managers maintain close links to ensure consistency of approach in meeting students’ individual needs.  Staff are mostly effective in ensuring that every student has the best opportunity to succeed. There are excellent relationships at all levels and staff try to ensure that every student is treated fairly and that there is no discrimination. The local authority has supported the school well in its drive for improvement, checking the accuracy of school judgements on teaching, and

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The leadership and management are good

giving advice and support to teachers.  There are clear links between students’ progress, teachers’ targets and whole-school priorities. The school keeps extensive records of the close checks it makes on students’ progress and other aspects of its work. Nevertheless, these are occasionally not well enough summarised to provide a clear, sharp overview of trends and strengths and where improvements need to be made to ensure that each student is making as much progress as possible.  The school has good systems to check on how well teachers are teaching. All teachers have targets to bring about improvements and these are linked to students’ progress. Teachers feel well supported and are given additional help to improve their teaching and to fulfil their roles if necessary. There are 25% of teaching staff who have moved into the upper pay spine for salaries, and inspectors found that this was generally a fair reflection of their skills and

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The leadership and management are good

responsibilities.  The curriculum, including that of the sixth form, offers a good balance of academic, practical and vocational subjects and high-quality personal learning programmes. There is an appropriately strong focus on developing key skills, including literacy and numeracy.  Opportunities for students to take part in exciting outdoor activities, residential trips and artistic and musical activities encourage students to test themselves in supportive situations. These activities and opportunities promote students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development exceptionally well. The majority of students gain access to further education or employment when they leave school.  Partnerships with parents and carers, including those of students in the residential provision, are strong, especially through the home–school contact book and parents’ forum.  There are also strong partnerships with other schools, through the school’s outreach work.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governance is good. The governing body is well organised so that all governors are involved in checking how well the school is doing. It challenges the school well to make sure funds are spent wisely to fully benefit the students. The governing body checks on teachers’ work, including underperformance, and ensures that those teachers who successfully meet their targets are suitably rewarded. Governors analyse information about students’ academic and social progress and about how well students are improving their behaviour. They check how well different groups of students, such as boys and girls, those in receipt of the pupil premium and those from different ethnic backgrounds achieve, to make sure that no group does less well than others. They have ensured that pupil premium funding for students has been spent wisely, so that these students achieve as well as their peers. Governors receive

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The leadership and management are good

good training and they have attended numerous courses on issues such as safeguarding, finance and special educational needs. They ensure that all safeguarding arrangements meet statutory requirements.

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are good

 The residential service has a significant positive impact on the lives of students, their families and carers. Working in partnership with the rest of the school, this service is uniquely tailored around the needs of each student. Students receive highly individualised, good quality care and extensive multi-professional support.  Students thoroughly enjoy the residential experience and make the most of the wide range of opportunities provided, including regular trips and visitors. Students say that they love being in Rainbow House and that they regard it as their family.  Residential students show high levels of consideration and respect for others. They are helped by staff to voice their views and take responsibility for running their residential unit through chairing their house meetings, which develops students’ self-esteem and ability to listen to others’ views. Staff use their expert knowledge of the complexity of the students’ special

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are good

educational needs to ensure all students are enabled to participate.  Students’ general behaviour and social skills have improved dramatically since coming to the residential school. They have caring attitudes and are very supportive towards each other. Staff celebrate their achievements and reward appropriate behaviour.This builds the students’ confidence, self-esteem and motivation to try new things and learning. Physical intervention is never used because of the skills of the staff team who have been appropriately trained and are able to calm situations successfully.  Rainbow House is a highly inclusive community. Students have developed a strong sense of equality and justice. There is no bullying or intimidation. Students value each other and their friendships immensely. An example of this is a student apologising to the inspector for not wanting to spend more time with her.  Each individual student’s care plan contains detailed, up-to-date information which enables staff

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are good

to provide effective and consistent care. Effective sharing of information between parents and professionals from within and outside the school ensures that the residential staff know the students exceptionally well.  Staff help boarders understand about healthy lifestyles and encourage them to eat healthily. Those who are fed through gastrostomy feeding systems have appropriate food specific to their individual needs and get involved in the social aspects of gathering around the table.  Healthcare arrangements are good. Children benefit from continual nursing input, as at least one nurse is always on duty and ensures medication is given as prescribed. Other health professionals and academic staff regularly visit the unit to provide extra support. Effective working together across the school that extends to residential time means that children receive consistent messages and enhanced support.  Students experience a sensitive and well-planned induction when they first become resident,

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are good

which is specifically designed around each one as an individual. For example, currently two students come to the unit every day with their classroom assistants, but go home around 5pm.  Students are provided with a broad range of activities; these include local walks, visits to the theatre, cinema and the library, shopping and bowling. They complete homework and use school facilities such as computers, the swimming pool and the sensory suite.  Residential students feel very safe; staff receive regular training and have good understanding of safeguarding. Risk assessments in relation to the activities and individual students are particularly comprehensive and robust.  The Head of Care has good systems to check on the effectiveness of the residential provision. The record keeping in the residential unit is generally of a good quality. However, the quality of the records of the non-prescribed medication stock, the staff duty roster and the register of

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are good

residential students has been inconsistent.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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Grade Judgement Description

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

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School details

Unique reference number 138547 Social care unique reference number SC044128 Local authority Greenwich Inspection number 408778

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection of residential provision was carried out under the Children Act 1989, as amended by the Care Standards Act 2000, having regard to the national minimum standards for residential special schools.

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School details

Type of school Academy special School category Maintained Age range of pupils 11–19 Gender of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 186 Of which, number on roll in sixth form 43 Number of boarders on roll 8 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mostyn Lewis Headteacher Mark-Dale Emberton Telephone number 020 8249 6844 Fax number 020 8317 8053 Email address mdale-emberton@charltonparkacademy.co.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', 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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School details

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 and as part of the inspection.

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School details

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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School details

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, please

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School details

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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School details

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

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