Maudsley and Bethlem Hospital School

Inspection Report

Unique Reference Number 100876 LEA Southwark LEA Inspection number 276408 Inspection dates 12 October 2005 to 12 October 2005 Reporting inspector Michael Farrell AI

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Inspection Report

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

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Inspection Report

Type of school Special School category Community special Age range of pupils 4 to 19 Gender of pupils Mixed Number on roll 18 Appropriate authority The governing body Date of previous inspection 6 November 2000

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School address

BR3 3BX Telephone number 02087771897 Fax number 02087771239 Chair of governors Mr Philip Prior Headteacher Dr John Ivens

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

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Description of the school

The Bethlem and Maudsley Hospital School provides for pupils with psychological difficulties. The hospital decides on entrance and exit to and from the school. Pupils remain on roll for varying periods averaging 70 days for younger pupils and 19 days for older pupils aged 14 to 19 years. The school provides education for boys and girls aged 4 to 19 years but there have been no children in the Foundation Stage for more than two years. The school is designated for 21 pupils and at the time of the inspection there were 18 pupils on roll. All pupils at that time were residential and cared for by the hospital before and after school. The age range was 8 to 18 years. Of the pupils on roll, 16 were white or white British. There were no learners who were looked after by a local authority, Travellers, asylum seekers nor pupils for whom English was an additional language.

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Description of the school

Key for inspection grades Grade 1 Outstanding Grade 2 Good Grade 3 Satisfactory Grade 4 Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness of the school

The senior management of the school judges it to be a good school, while the inspector judges it to be satisfactory with some strong features. The Headteacher and staff work very hard and have adapted well to change. The school cares for, guides and supports learners very effectively and provides very well for their personal development. The school works closely with hospital staff and others to promote the well being of learners. Progress in learning is satisfactory for learners of all ages and different levels of previous learning. The school's self-evaluation is satisfactory and the school provides satisfactory value for money.Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the previous inspection. However, some issues raised then are yet to be fully implemented, for example ensuring that assessment is used well in key subjects and is used to further improve learning. The school has the capacity to make the necessary improvements.

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Effectiveness and efficiency of the sixth form

While the school judges the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the sixth form to be good, the inspector judges this to be satisfactory. Pupils aged over 16 years are generally taught in a group of older learners aged from 14 to 18 although work is provided as appropriate in smaller groups or individually. There is a strong and effective emphasis on personal development, leading to good progress in this area. The teacher in charge of the sixth form works very hard to create interesting and engaging activities for the group. There are appropriate methods of assessing the learners' personal and social development, although effective and useful assessment of learners' progress in English and mathematics is not yet in place.

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What the school should do to improve further

* Ensure that there are useful and accurate assessments across all the provision that are used to indicate the next steps for learning.* Continue to work with the hospital and governors to ensure better punctuality for younger learners and better attendance for older learners.

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Achievement and standards

The school considers achievement and progress to be good, whereas the evidence indicates that it is satisfactory for learners of all ages. Learners arrive at the school at different ages and at different levels ranging from working on early skills in reading and writing to studying for accredited examinations at advanced level. All of them make satisfactory progress. There are examples of particularly good creative writing among some older learners.The school has not yet developed its assessment systems sufficiently strongly to be able to set targets for learning. Individual Education Plans, and for older learners, an assessment indicating personal development; indicate targets for behaviour and personal and social development. There are fewer and less precise targets relating to English and mathematics.

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Personal development and well-being

Learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. They enjoy school and are polite and confidently explain what they are doing in lessons. Learners work steadily and most maintain their concentration well. Attendance is good for younger children but much lower for older students. Learners show consideration for others and are polite. In lessons and around the school, learners are well behaved. Good resources and well-planned activities are used well to encourage cultural development. For example in music, instruments from different parts of the world are used. The older learners' weekly breakfast club often has a cultural theme. One of these celebrated West Indian food and culture which learners enjoyed.Learners visit a range of places to stimulate interest in the community. They are encouraged to adopt healthy life styles through such means as the breakfast club. In a lesson on the theme of a healthy body and a healthy mind,

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Personal development and well-being

the children were given grapes and the teacher emphasised they were a healthy food. Regular assemblies where there are opportunities to reflect and think of others contribute to the learners' spiritual development. Numeracy lessons for younger learners and links with 'Connexions' personal advisers help to develop the learners' economic understanding.

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Teaching and learning

The school judges teaching and learning to be good. Teachers work hard and some good teaching was seen, but over time, the effect of teaching on learning is satisfactory. In a good music lesson for older learners, the teacher sensitively encouraged new learners to the school to participate in a group and then individually so that they were able to copy and invent complex rhythms on percussion instruments.In lessons for younger learners they were not always encouraged sufficiently to join the group, there was not always enough challenge for pupils and what the pupils were expected to learn was not always made clear to them. Progress was slowed because children arrived late from the wards, an issue that was identified in the last inspection report. Resources including the use of information and communications technology are well chosen and used. Relationships are good and teaching assistants and nursing and other staff provided

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Teaching and learning

effective support in lessons. The school is working on assessing younger learners in English, mathematics and personal development but this is not in place for all learners and is not yet used to indicate the next steps of learning as targets. Marking is positive and encouraging and sometimes indicates what the learner has to do to improve. For older learners, while there are helpful assessments of personal development, the school has not yet put in place manageable assessments of English and mathematics.

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Curriculum and other activities

The school's curriculum is satisfactory with some good features. There is a good spread of subjects including sports, history, music, textiles, drama, information and communications technology, religious education, history, pottery, science, swimming and other physical activities. There is an appropriate emphasis on English, mathematics, PSHCE and information and communications technology. The curriculum has been enhanced by the purchase of interactive white boards that engage the attention of learners and are well used. The school works hard to provide a wide range of activities using visiting specialists and trips out of school to further enrich the curriculum. These have a positive impact on learners' enjoyment and self- esteem.

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Care, guidance and support

The provision for learners' care, guidance and support is good. The school has made considerable efforts to gather and respond to the views of parents, learners and others. Staff take great care to work closely with other members of the multi-disciplinary team in the hospital to ensure that new learners have a good introduction to the school. Strong links are maintained with the hospital staff and with others outside the school that contribute well to the safety and well being of learners.Arrangements for safeguarding learners are very good with daily risk assessments being made, depending on the learners and the activities involved. In lessons, proper care is taken with resources. Child protection procedures are strong and are being updated and revised to take account of the requirements of the hospital and those of different local authorities. Older learners are encouraged to assess their own learning in art lessons.

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Leadership and management

Leadership and management of the school overall is satisfactory. The head teacher and staff work very hard and closely as a team and care deeply about what they do. The head teacher has introduced effective systems of performance management and has put in place good structures for monitoring teaching termly. This is helping the school form a clearer picture of the strengths and areas for development in teaching and learning. The school effectively promotes equality of opportunity for all learners. The head teacher has undertaken a detailed analysis of data relating to older learners' personal development.The school works very well in partnership with hospital staff and others, for example though multidisciplinary hand over meetings and through nurses, occupational therapists and others working with learners in the school. Reports to parents are improving and discuss learners' achievements in school subjects and their progress where this

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Leadership and management

information is available. Self-evaluation is satisfactory. The school improvement plan is broad and comprehensive but does not always define targets specifically enough or make sure that targets are easy to monitor.The governing body know the strengths of the school and some of its areas for development and recognise and appreciate the commitment of the head teacher and staff. The atmosphere that the head teacher and staff have created is warm, caring and welcoming for learners and visitors alike.

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? 3 3 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2 2 The quality and standards in foundation stage 2 NA The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 3 3 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection Yes Yes

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Achievement and standards

How well do learners achieve? 3 3 The standards 1 reached by learners 4 4 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 3 3 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress 3 1 Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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Personal development and well-being

How good is the overall personal development and well-being of the learners? 2 2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2

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The behaviour of learners 2 The attendance of learners 3 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community 2 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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The quality of provision

How effective are teaching and learning in meeting the full range of the learners' needs? 3 3 How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of learners? 3 3 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported? 2 2

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Leadership and management

How effective are leadership and management in raising achievement and supporting all learners? 3 3 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected Yes Yes

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy

Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are educated about sexual health Yes

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe

Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them Yes

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community Yes

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The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being

There is provision to promote learners' basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams Yes Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form Yes Education for all learners aged 14-19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy Yes

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you very much for making me feel so welcome when I came to your school. I am writing to explain what I found out about the school.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

There were many things I liked:* John and all the staff work very hard for you and care for you very well* You enjoy school and behave well * You have a wide range of activities to follow.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

There are some things that the school can do even better. I have asked the head teacher and the staff to make more careful records of the work you have done in some subjects like English and mathematics so that it is easier for you to see what you have achieved and what you need to learn next. I have also asked the staff to try to do even more to make sure that younger children get to school on time. I am sure you will want to try and help them do that.Thank you again for being so polite and helpful.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

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. out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspections', which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk .

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