Wandsworth Hospital and Home Tuition Service

School report Wandsworth Hospital and Home Tuition Service 5 th Floor Lanesborough Wing, St George's Hospital, Tooting, SW17 0QT

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 This inspection: Outstanding 1 Achievement of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Outstanding 1 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school.  Pupils make rapid progress because staff personalise learning very effectively. From a wide range of different starting points, pupils make significant gains in their skills, knowledge and understanding.  Pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills improve rapidly because the service successfully places appropriate emphasis on them. However, pupils’ learning is also equally strong across the broad range of subjects taught in all classes.  A very good balance is achieved between staff setting high expectations of pupils’ work and behaviour, and providing a caring and nurturing environment. As a result, pupils respond exceptionally well and say they feel very safe.  Pupils’ achievement is accredited throughout the service through a national award scheme and GCSE examinations. This contributes well to pupils’ high levels of motivation.  Teachers are extremely skilled at adapting lessons to take account of changing

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

circumstances. Their accurate assessments allow them to rapidly gain an understanding of pupils’ needs, strengths and preferences.  Pupils’ behaviour is often exemplary in all parts of the service’s provision. They show great respect for those who teach and support them. They often display enthusiastic attitudes to learning and participate well in lessons.  Communication between the service’s education staff and the hospitals’ clinical staff is highly effective. This ensures that pupils’ welfare is safeguarded and, when medically fit to do so, that they attend school regularly.  Parents and carers hold the service in high regard. They are particularly pleased about how well staff engage pupils with learning while in hospital and the quality of relationships that staff form with them.  The headteacher’s strong and focused leadership of the service has driven continued improvements in teaching and pupils’ achievement since the previous inspection.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

Plans for further development focus very well on what will make pupils’ learning even better.  The strong management committee contributes effectively to improvement. It maintains a through and accurate overview of the service’s work. School leaders are challenged rigorously and supported well.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector, together with the headteacher and members of the senior leadership team, observed teaching and learning in seven lessons, taught by five teachers. Teaching was observed in each of the classes on both of the hospital sites. The community provision, including home tuition, was not observed during this inspection although records of progress were scrutinised.  Pupils, staff and school leaders met with the inspector to discuss the service’s work.  The inspector met with representatives of the management committee, who are responsible for the governance of the service, and a representative of the local authority.  The inspector looked carefully at a range of documents including the service’s tracking of pupils’ progress, the service’s checks on how well it is doing and its development plans, safeguarding arrangements and minutes of meetings held by the management committee.  It was not possible to consider the views of parents and carers using the Parent View website

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Information about this inspection

because there were too few responses for results to be shown. However, the inspector took account of parents’ and carers views by looking at the service’s analysis of recent parent questionnaires and by speaking with two parents and carers on the telephone. The inspector also considered the views of 10 staff who completed questionnaires.

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Information about this school

 Wandsworth Hospital and Home Tuition Service (HHTS) provides education for pupils with medical needs. Although the service is able to provide education for pupils in Years 1 to 13, most are of secondary school age. While a few learners over the age of 16 attend Wisteria and Aquarius, there is no distinct sixth form provision in this service. Almost all pupils are dual registered, which means that they remain on the roll of their mainstream or special school.  The service has five distinct areas of provision:  Classroom and ward teaching at St George’s Hospital, Tooting  Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) National Adolescent Eating Disorders Unit (Wisteria) at Springfield University Hospital, Tooting  CAMHS Adolescent Psychiatric Unit (Aquarius), also at Springfield University Hospital, Tooting  CAMHS National Deaf Unit (Corner House), also at Springfield University Hospital, Tooting

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Information about this school

 Community provision, which incorporates the home tuition service for pupils with medical needs as well as services for pupils who are school phobic, those whose mental health circumstances make them vulnerable and those who are pregnant teenagers or young parents. At the time of the previous inspection, each of these was a separate elements of the service.  The service does not make use of any alternative provision.  Pupils accessing education through the St George’s site usually attend for only short periods of time, although it is common for pupils with chronic illnesses to return on more than one occasion. Pupils educated at the Springfield site are usually in-patients receiving longer-term treatment. The length of stay of pupils varies considerably across the service. There is a high turnover of pupils each year.  Pupils attending the Corner House provision have statements of special educational needs

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Information about this school

because they are deaf. In other parts of the provision, only a very small number of pupils have special educational needs that are supported through school action and school action plus. Typically, the needs of these pupils are behavioural, emotional and social.  The number of girls is usually more than the number of boys on the roll of the service.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which is additional funding for looked after children, pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and children of service families, is below average. The service does not receive this funding, which is retained by the pupils’ mainstream or special school.  Pupils mainly come from White British backgrounds although the service works with individual pupils from many different ethnic backgrounds.  The management committee is also responsible for the governance of the local authority’s

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Information about this school

primary and secondary pupil referral units.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the consistency with which adults other than teachers make strong contributions to pupils’ learning in lessons, by ensuring that:  the service’s best practice in planning for how other adults are used in lessons is shared with all teachers  school leaders provide detailed feedback to other adults about their impact on pupils’ learning as part of their routine monitoring of teaching and learning.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The level of pupils’ attainment varies considerably when they begin their placements with the service. Some have significant gaps in their learning because their medical conditions have affected their attendance at other schools. Others are high achievers who have become ill.  Pupils make excellent progress in a wide range of subjects. The accelerated pace of learning is due to small class sizes and outstanding teaching. Time in the classroom is used very well. This ensures that the time pupils spend in hospital having medical treatment has as little impact on their education as possible.  High proportions of pupils make quicker than expected progress in developing literacy and numeracy skills. Pupils make excellent progress in reading. Their development is supported well in a range of different subjects because they read regularly, not just in English lessons.  Pupils make similar progress in all parts of the service, including those who are taught as part of

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

the community provision. All groups of pupils, including those groups with different medical needs, make equally good progress and achieve equally well because their diverse needs are addressed very effectively in the different parts of the service.  The service promotes equal opportunities very well for all pupils. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make progress as rapidly as other pupils and achieve as well as their peers. Boys and girls make progress at a very similar rate. All groups of pupils who benefit from the pupil premium attain as well as others in both English and mathematics. The progress of pupils known to be eligible to receive free school meals is similar to that of their peers.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Pupils’ participation in physical education and sport is closely monitored by the hospital’s clinical staff. Where it is medically appropriate, pupils take part in team sports, supervised by suitably trained professionals. Those receiving home tuition are successfully encouraged to join clubs.  Pupils’ learning and progress are recognised through awards and qualifications. All pupils, including those who are on short-term placements with the service, gain unit awards which are written to suit their needs and externally accredited by a national examinations board.  Where appropriate, pupils sit external examinations within the service’s provision. Typically, students who take GCSEs reach their predicted grades or better, which represents excellent achievement. The service does not enter pupils early for GCSE examinations.  The service successfully reintegrates all of its pupils to appropriate mainstream or special schools

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

or colleges. It prepares pupils very well for this next stage of education because full account is taken of their individual circumstances, needs and preferences.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers are highly skilled at responding to changing circumstances. For example, they adapt their planning very well in response to the needs of pupils recently admitted to hospital, especially on the St George’s site. This ensures that pupils are quickly able to continue learning.  Teachers assess pupils’ learning and progress thoroughly and accurately. They use the information they obtain from assessment to personalise learning very well. This ensures that pupils of different ages in small classes are given work which is well matched to their abilities.  The personalised targets that teachers set for pupils demonstrate that staff have appropriately high expectations of pupils’ work and behaviour. For some pupils, unreasonably high expectations have previously contributed to their mental illness. Education and clinical staff work closely together to advise pupils and parents and carers on what is realistic and achievable while

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

they are receiving medical treatment.  Information about pupils’ targets, as well as their learning and progress in each session, is collected and stored electronically. Service leaders make regular and rigorous checks of this information to ensure that targets are meaningful, challenging and achievable. The system allows leaders and teachers to have a comprehensive understanding of how well all pupils are achieving. It also allows parents and carers to be provided with detailed information about their children’s education on a regular basis.  Teachers’ strong subject knowledge is very broad based. They cope skilfully with the demands of teaching primary and secondary aged pupils in the same class. In the CAMHS provision, staff have sufficient expertise to allow them to guide study at GCSE level in many subjects.  Opportunities for pupils to read are incorporated into almost all lessons. This has made a

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

significant contribution to recent rapid improvements in pupils’ literacy skills. Numeracy and other basic skills are also taught as part of other subjects. For example, in an art lesson, pupils produced a picture of a ‘magic carpet’ using tessellating shapes. This allowed pupils to explore concepts of polygons, including vocabulary such as edges and vertices.  The quality of teachers’ marking and feedback is outstanding. Detailed verbal and written feedback gives pupils a comprehensive understanding about how to improve their work. In almost all cases, pupils use this very well to revise their work and show their understanding.  In most classes, the use of other adults is planned and implemented very effectively. As a result, pupils are very well supported by other adults in these lessons. However, planning and implementation are not yet consistently of this quality across all parts of the service’s provision.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Despite the wide range of their medical needs, pupils within the provision are highly motivated and show excellent attitudes to learning.  The positive relationships that they have with staff allow them to feel safe and participate fully in lessons in the classrooms of the service. Parents and carers say that this is a particular strength of the service.  Pupils demonstrate very good behaviour during lessons. Teachers ensure that all pupils make a purposeful contribution. Pupils work very well independently and with members of staff, although sometimes find it harder to initiate working together with others for themselves.  Records show that attitudes to learning and behaviour within the community provision are equally very positive.  Pupils’ attendance is excellent. Almost all pupils go to every education session they are expected to attend when they are considered medically fit enough. Strong links and liaison between

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

clinical and education staff ensure that time in lessons is protected as far as reasonably possible. Pupils appreciate that this is time that they can focus on their school work.  The service fosters good relations between pupils and tackles discrimination very well. There are no incidents of bullying or discriminatory behaviour within the service. This is mainly due to two factors. Many pupils have prior personal experience of being bullied at other schools and have no wish to see this in their current school environment. The school provides a comprehensive personal and social education curriculum to teach the pupils about keeping safe, building positive relationships between people from different backgrounds and the impact of bullying and discrimination.  The service has a policy not to exclude pupils.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher, the senior leadership team and the management committee have maintained a sustainable pace of change and improvement since the previous inspection. This has ensured that the service has adapted very well to the changing needs of the pupils referred to this local authority provision. By making these changes very effectively and ensuring that pupils continue to make rapid progress during their placements, the service has demonstrated that it has a strong capacity to continue to improve.  The leadership of teaching is exemplary. The headteacher and other senior leaders set high expectations for the quality of teaching and support that is given to pupils, and communicate them clearly to staff. They regularly monitor, and make accurate judgements about, the quality of teaching and its impact on pupils’ learning. The service has appropriate plans to improve the effectiveness of its feedback to additional adults about the impact they have on pupils’ learning

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The leadership and management are outstanding

and progress in the classroom. Service leaders and the management committee use information from these regular checks to produce detailed plans for school improvement.  There are very strong links between service development plans and the management of teachers’ performance. All staff contribute strongly to continued improvement and participate enthusiastically in training. This is highly focused on the most important priorities for improvement. The headteacher has a thorough appreciation of the link between teachers’ pay and their performance. Senior leaders and experienced staff who are paid more highly than other teachers typically teach outstanding lessons.  The curriculum is very well suited to pupils’ needs. There is a diverse range of subjects offered which is a significant strength of this provision because it has a relatively small number of staff. Excellent use is made of facilities and places of interest nearby to supplement work in the

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The leadership and management are outstanding

different centres. For example, pupils use local schools for information and communication technology and food technology lessons. Visits to local museums and visiting experts enrich the curriculum well and support pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development very well.  The service maintains excellent links with parents and carers, both while their children are in hospital and after they return to school. In the case of pupils attending the national CAMHS units, this allows parents and carers who live a long distance away from the service to be as fully involved in their children’s education as possible.  The local authority provides an appropriate level of challenge and support for this outstanding service.  Arrangements for safeguarding pupils’ well-being are secure and meet current requirements.  The governance of the school:  The management committee, which has good support from headteachers of local schools as

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The leadership and management are outstanding

well as local authority personnel, provides the service with expert support from those with current knowledge and recent training. Committee members have a strong understanding of performance data. They rigorously challenge school leaders about the impact of the service on pupils’ progress and readiness for reintegration to school. They are fully aware of the quality of teaching across the service from their own visits and the reports they receive from the headteacher. They have taken appropriate action to ensure that they are in a position to make rigorous checks on the links between teachers’ pay and their performance following recent changes to the responsibilities of management committees nationally.

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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 108892 Local authority Wandsworth Inspection number 425635

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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 5–18 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 28 Appropriate authority The local authority Headteacher Carla Chandler Date of previous school inspection 23–24 November 2010 Telephone number 020 8725 3544 Fax number 020 8725 3544 Email address head@hhts.wandsworth.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

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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