Elmbrook School

Leicester City Primary PRU at the Phoenix Centre Gervase Avenue, Thurnby Lodge Primary School, Leicester, LE5 2EG

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Not enough pupils make good progress in English and mathematics at the Phoenix Centre.  Not enough teaching is good at the Phoenix Centre. Teachers do not always set out clearly enough for pupils what it is they should be learning.  Pupils are not always told what they need to do to improve their work.  The leadership team does not make it clear to staff and the Management Committee how well different groups are achieving.  The Management Committee are not asking enough questions about how well pupils learn and how much progress they make.  The leadership team and members of the Management Committee are not bringing about as much improvement as they could in teaching and pupils’ achievement at the Phoenix Centre.

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The school has the following strengths

 Pupils behave well and feel safe because of the good support and care they receive.  Relationships between staff and pupils are very positive and help pupils to enjoy their learning.  Close partnerships with primary schools and health agencies support individual pupils’ successful return to mainstream schools.  The senior leaders from both sites work very well as a team. Morale is high so there is great consistency in managing behaviour and promoting pupils’ moral and social understanding.  Parents and carers highly value the work of the PRU staff because they can see good improvements in their child’s behaviour and attitudes to learning.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed six lessons and parts of lessons, approximately half of which were jointly observed with senior leaders.  Meetings were held with the teachers in charge, senior leaders and the Chair of the Management Committee. The inspector also talked to individual pupils, a representative of the local authority, a headteacher of a partner primary school, and the primary Behaviour Support Manager.  The inspector took account of various aspects of the school’s work including those concerning safeguarding, the pupils’ progress data, the school’s self-evaluation, the improvement plan, behaviour and attendance records, planning and monitoring documents and samples of pupils’ work.  There were no responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) to give any information. The inspector held a telephone conversation with one parent and took account of the school’s own survey of the views of parents from both sites, as well as questionnaires filled in by staff.

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Inspection team

Kathy Yates, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Leicester City Primary PRU is a small school that is located on two sites, alongside two mainstream primary schools.  The two sites are approximately six miles apart. Both sites have a teacher in charge. The ARC Centre has pupils aged five to nine years and the Phoenix Centre has pupils aged from eight to eleven.  Leicester City Primary PRU caters for pupils who are at risk of permanent exclusion and those whose needs cannot be met in mainstream school.  Currently there are 34 pupils on roll. Pupils join and leave both centres throughout the year.  All pupils have behavioural, social and emotional difficulties, with an increasing number having more complex needs.  Approximately a quarter have a statement of special educational needs and a number are undergoing assessment for a statement. All other pupils are supported at school action plus.  A large majority are of White British background, with others representing a range of minority

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Information about this school

backgrounds.  Around two thirds of registered pupils are eligible for the pupil premium (additional government funding for children in local authority care, children from service families and pupils known to be eligible for free school meals).  The PRU does not use alternative providers for its pupils.  At the Phoenix Centre there is an acting teacher in charge. There have been several changes to teaching staff employed at the Phoenix Centre since the last inspection in January 2011. Currently there are two temporary teachers at the Phoenix Centre; permanent appointments have been made for September.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching at the Phoenix Centre so that pupils make consistently good progress by making sure that:  information gained from checks on pupils’ progress is used to plan challenging work that is well matched to their individual needs  teachers have clear targets for exactly what each pupil is to learn in each lesson and tell pupils what they are  written and verbal feedback about their work tells pupils how well they are learning and what they need to do next to improve.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the impact of senior leaders and the Management Committee by:  developing the skills of senior leaders in checking pupils’ progress, so that they can produce easy-to-understand summaries of progress by different groups of pupils and identify areas for improvement  ensuring the Management Committee to have a greater understanding about pupils’ progress, so that members are able to challenge and support the PRU in making sure that all pupils make at least good progress. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and governance may be improved.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement is not good enough because too few pupils at the Phoenix Centre make consistently expected or better progress in English and mathematics. This is because teachers do not always carefully set work to challenge every pupil. Pupils are happily engaged in activities but it is not always clear to them what they are actually meant to be learning and what they are making progress in.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils are assessed carefully on entry to the PRU. This shows what they can do and what they need to do next. This information is used effectively to plan for individuals’ next steps at the ARC Centre so they can make good progress, but not consistently so at the Phoenix Centre which slows their progress.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils make good progress when they are set challenging individual targets. Teachers and other adults carefully monitor pupils’ progress to plan the next steps in their learning. Teachers make sure there is effective support for developing pupils’ reading skills.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ personal development on both sites is consistently good. The work done by the staff to improve both behaviour and social skills helps pupils engage more effectively in their learning.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 At the ARC Centre, all groups of pupils reach similar levels of attainment in English and mathematics as other pupils in the centre, including boys and girls, different ethnic groups, those who speak English as an additional language and all those eligible for pupil-premium funding.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils at the Phoenix Centre attain similar levels on leaving to those at the ARC Centre but they are older and their rates of progress have been slower.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make similar rates of progress as other pupils on each site, reflecting the quality of the support they receive. This is good at the ARC Centre and requires improvement at the Phoenix Centre.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 All pupils return successfully to their mainstream schools or go on to a special school. Both centres help pupils to settle in and be successful in their new schools.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The pace of improvement has not been fast enough. Teaching is not yet good because strengths are not uniform across both sites and this slows pupils’ learning. Teaching at the Phoenix Centre mainly requires improvement, but it is consistently good at the ARC Centre.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Where teaching is good, teachers have a clear understanding of what they want each pupil to learn and carefully match their work accordingly. Teachers carefully check how well pupils are learning throughout the lesson and adapt the tasks set when necessary, so each pupil is able to make good progress.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Marking and feedback at the Phoenix Centre is not detailed enough so that pupils do not always have a good understanding of how well they are learning and what they need to do to improve their work.  In most lessons there are good opportunities for pupils to develop their reading and speaking and listening skills, especially through the topic sessions planned at both centres. This is supported effectively by the use of role-play rooms and by visits linked to the topic being taught.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 All adults have received training in effective questioning which has helped them support pupils to think more independently and shape their own learning.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers and other adults establish a calm and purposeful atmosphere in lessons so that pupils are keen to learn. They readily give praise and encouragement, which helps pupils to be more confident. Pupils’ attitudes to learning improve when they are given more practical activities to do, which involve them in their learning. For example, when they were learning about different parts of a castle through building a paper model.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Learning and support assistants make a valuable contribution when they run small groups or work with individuals for instance in literacy and personal and social development sessions.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour and safety of pupils at both the ARC Centre and the Phoenix Centre are good.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Relationships between staff and pupils are extremely positive and the pupils show how they feel safe by the way they approach staff and each other at school. All staff are trained and skilled at supporting pupils with challenging behaviours to settle quickly and enjoy participating in their learning.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ behaviour is typically good in lessons and around school. They understand the reward system for good behaviour, which enables them to monitor their own progress successfully and motivates them to do well.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Lunchtimes are pleasant and sociable occasions, and pupils are keen to talk to visitors. They say they enjoy being at school. They say there is not a problem with bullying and they are aware of different types of bullying including cyber bullying. The school’s records show there are no incidents of bullying. Supervision around school and break time is good and sees that pupils are kept safe at all times.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Incidents that are serious enough to require fixed-term exclusions are uncommon at the school. There have been no permanent exclusions.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Both centres provide good opportunities to support pupils in knowing how to keep themselves safe both in school and in the community, for example road safety.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ attendance is above average. Where individual pupils’ attendance causes concern there is strong support in place to improve this in partnership with parents and other key agencies.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well. The activities offered enable pupils to make good progress in their personal and social development. This includes good opportunities to take part in residential experiences. Pupils make good contributions to the community, including fund-raising for different charities.  All parents and carers who responded to the school’s survey say they feel their children are kept safe and secure at all times. They are exceptionally pleased about the positive impact the school has on their child’s improving behaviour. They value highly the communication they have with the school and the support they are given.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because senior leaders on both sites do not use assessment data well enough to be clear about the progress of different groups of pupils. As a result, they are unable to share this data with staff or use it to support school improvement.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The teachers in charge have a good understanding of the PRU’s strengths and weaknesses and appropriate plans are in place to make sure that teaching on both sites is at least good. The teachers in charge and the senior leadership team have been effective in leading support for teaching on both sites. There has been some impact on improving the quality of teaching at the Phoenix Centre, but it is not yet good.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Both teachers in charge manage the performance of staff appropriately to develop teaching skills. This is linked closely to teachers’ salary progression. A wide range of training has enabled staff to develop their teaching skills, including developing effective questioning skills and teaching phonics (the sounds that letters make). The impact of this is greater at the ARC Centre, where the staffing has been more stable than at the Phoenix Centre.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Both sites have only received pupil-premium funding from January 2013. With the limited funds available they have focused spending on activities which have made an impact on improving pupils’ social and behaviour skills so that pupils engage more readily in lessons.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Safeguarding arrangements are outstanding and exceptional links with parents, carers and professionals mean that vulnerable pupils are kept safe. The PRU makes sure all pupils are included and have equal opportunities to learn and do things, although the learning experiences pupils at the ARC Centre receive are more effective than those at the Phoenix Centre.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Good partnerships exist with partner schools and a range of specialists and agencies. The school makes sure pupils additional learning and medical needs are met. Parents say that ‘the school goes that extra mile’ and is always there to support them with any concerns they may have.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The curriculum supports pupils’, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well, with many opportunities for pupils to learn in the community. Pupils enjoy these experiences, for example when they recently visited Warwick Castle as part of their history topic.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The local authority has provided appropriate tailored support for the PRU linked to self-review and improving the quality of teaching.

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The governance of the school:

 The Management Committee has a good understanding of the quality of teaching on both sites, and monitors the improvements through the school’s action plan and outcomes of lesson observations. Members have a clear understanding about how teachers who require improvement are both being supported and challenged. However, they have not ensured that teachers’ pay is linked to their performance.  The Management Committee does not yet receive or seek enough detailed information about the progress made by groups of pupils, such as those in receipt of the pupil premium. As a result, members are unable to hold the school to account for ensuring that all groups of pupils make good progress.  The Management Committee has ensured that procedures for safeguarding are effective and meet fully all requirements.

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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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School details

Unique reference number 132824 Local authority Leicester Inspection number 406498

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School details

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

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School details

Type of school Pupil referral unit School category Pupil referral unit Age range of pupils 5–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 38 Appropriate authority The Management Committee Chair Ms Pamela Weston Headteacher Christine Pay/Zaheera Omar-Davies (Acting) Date of previous school inspection 26 th -27th January 2011 Telephone number 0116 2419538 Fax number 0116 2839078 Email address cpay@lcppru.leicester.sch.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

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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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