Woodeaton Manor School

School report Woodeaton Manor School Woodeaton, Oxford, OX3 9TS

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Students achieve well in a wide range of subjects and make good progress throughout the school from low starting points. They are well prepared for further education, training or work.  Teaching is good, with some that is outstanding. In the best lessons, tasks fully meet the individual needs and abilities of each student and teachers make very good use of questions to extend students’ skills.  Students with extremely challenging behaviour are helped to make significant improvements so little learning time is lost.  The wide range of work-related learning opportunities on offer contributes extremely well to students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  The welfare of students is at the heart of everything the school does. Staff have very positive relationships with students.  There is good leadership and governance with a clear and ambitious drive to improve the quality of teaching and students’

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

achievements.  The governors provide a good level of challenge and support to leaders.  The sixth form is good. Students are well prepared for the next stage of their lives through relevant courses and the different opportunities provided for them.  Links with parents and carers and with a variety of agencies are exceptionally strong. As a result, the school provides excellent care and support for students.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because:

 Occasionally, teachers miss opportunities to check carefully that students respond to their written comments about how to improve their learning.  Sometimes more-able students are not moved on to new learning quickly enough to ensure they make rapid gains.  The recording of students’ progress does not easily allow comparisons to be made with how well students are performing nationally.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 16 lessons and/or parts of lessons. Over two thirds were conducted jointly with the headteacher.  Inspectors took account of the school's own surveys of parents’ and carers’ opinions as there was an insufficient response to the online questionnaire (Parent View). They also looked at comments from letters and emails to the school.  Meetings were held with various members of staff, parents and carers, and representatives from the governing body. Telephone discussions were also held with two parents or carers and the school improvement advisor. The inspectors spoke to many students, including residential students, and looked at behaviour in lessons and around the school.  They also looked at documentation about students’ progress, the quality of teaching and teachers' planning. The school’s documents on safeguarding were scrutinised together with records of attendance and students’ behaviour.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector listened to students reading in lessons and looked at their work, both in lessons and in books.  Inspectors looked at a range of other evidence, including displays, the school’s website and evidence representing the school’s wider achievements beyond the classroom.

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Inspection team

Sonja Joseph, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Kate Robertson Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Woodeaton Manor School provides for students who have a statement of special educational needs for behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. An increasing and significant number have additional special educational needs including autistic spectrum disorders and mental health conditions.  Many students have had a poor start to their educational experience, with considerable periods of absence, and some are very reluctant to participate in lessons. Some students have been permanently excluded from other schools.  Students enter the school at various points across all key stages. Student groupings vary in size from year to year and class to class. Lengths of stay are varied.  The majority of students are White British boys.  The proportion of students known to be eligible for the pupil premium is below average. The pupil premium is additional funding for those students who are known to be eligible for free

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Information about this school

school meals, those in local authority care and children from service families. This figure varies year on year due to the varied starting points of students.  Different numbers of students use the school’s residential provision on weekdays during the school terms. Each boarder has a personalised package of time and support in the residential provision. This is subject to a separate inspection.  The few students in Year 12 in the sixth form are educated alongside Year 10 and Year 11 students.  The few students in Key Stage 2 are taught in a mixed-age class called ‘The Nest’.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching so that more is outstanding by:  making sure that teachers move the more-able students on to new learning activities earlier in the lesson so that they can make faster progress  ensuring teachers check more regularly that students respond to their comments about how to improve their learning so mistakes are not repeated and learning moves on more rapidly.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of leadership and management, including governance, by:  developing summary information on students’ learning and achievements to allow national comparisons to be made more easily.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Nearly all students make at least good progress over time and some make outstanding progress in both English and mathematics from their low starting points. For some individual students, the improvement in literacy and numeracy is as much as the equivalent of an academic year over one term.  The school enters Key Stage 4 students early for examinations in literacy and numeracy and at entry level in science and information and communication technology and this helps to boost students' self-confidence.  Progress in reading is good because there is a focus on reading throughout the school and students have regular opportunities to read across a range of subjects, whatever their ability.  Students’ progress in mathematics is improved effectively through games and practical activities. Links made in subjects across the curriculum also help to improve students’ writing skills in relevant ways.  In Key Stage 2 ‘The Nest’ students achieve well because teaching is consistently good.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Students make good progress in their physical development because school leaders have used the primary school sports funding effectively to provide a strong sporting and physical programme, featuring a good range of activities. In Key Stage 4, many students gain national awards in health and fitness.  Highly effective mental health and therapeutic work ensures students overcome their barriers to learning and take part successfully in education. In 2013, almost all students gained a range of national qualifications, including in English and mathematics, at GCSE grades A to G and at the higher levels of A* to C. The school has extended the range of courses available for older students, so that all leave with external awards which match their abilities.  Students in the sixth form make good progress and gain a suitable range of academic and work- related qualifications appropriate to their starting points. They undertake courses of study that

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The achievement of pupils is good

provide them with the opportunities to enhance their literacy and numeracy skills and their work experience, and gain vocational training.  Different groups of students make similar progress and there are no significant differences in how well they achieve, including boys, girls, disabled students and those who have different special educational needs. Students on the autistic spectrum make good progress because specialist teaching strategies and individual programmes reduce their levels of anxiety.  Those pupils known to be eligible for additional funding through the pupil premium and Year 7 catch-up money achieve as well as, and sometimes better than, other pupils in English and mathematics because the extra funding is used to provide additional activities and resources and further support to meet these pupils’ needs. Students eligible for the pupil premium achieve GCSE grades in English and mathematics in line with their peers or above those of other

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The achievement of pupils is good

students.  Significant differences in the starting points, length of stay and needs of individual students mean that the progress and attainment of different groups can and sometimes does vary over time and between year groups.  On occasions, not all students make the best progress possible because some individual students of higher ability are not always challenged to move their learning on quickly enough.  Parents and carers are delighted with the progress their children make, both socially and academically. One parent or carer stated, ‘This school has been a lifeline for our family.’

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is almost always good or outstanding because lesson planning is closely related to the needs of every individual. As a result, students usually concentrate well and work hard at their tasks. Occasionally, some lesson activities go on for too long and more-able students are not moved on to new learning quickly enough. Consequently, these students do not always make the fast progress they could.  Where teaching is best, staff are knowledgeable about the students in their care and the subjects they teach. Teachers work in highly effective partnership with specialist psychology and mental health staff, and other professionals to engage and enthuse students. This enables most to quickly improve their reading, writing, communication and mathematical skills.  Teachers make use of a wide range of tactics to accelerate students’ learning. Classroom staff working with students with autism skilfully deploy the required specialist approaches for

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The quality of teaching is good

communication and arrange the room environment to suit their needs. These approaches lead to calm lessons and productive learning. This was seen in lessons in which students with autistic spectrum disorders were learning to listen, take turns and to share.  Reading is taught well across all subjects. In a highly effective drama lesson, students developed confidence to read aloud key parts of a text and then engaged actively in a discussion about characters’ feelings through appropriate praise and encouragement from staff. All students were enabled to move forward in their learning by considering how the choice of words and a tone of voice can depict how a character is feeling.  Effective questioning is a key strength of most lessons, helping to extend students’ knowledge and help them think for themselves. Students in Years 10 and 11 were successfully challenged through skilful and probing questioning by the teacher to explore moral issues, write at length

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The quality of teaching is good

and use extensive vocabulary through their study of human-interest stories. All students made excellent progress in their spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding as they reflected on the feelings and viewpoints of those involved.  Students in the sixth form are taught well. Many of their activities are highly practical and related to the world of work. These help their achievement and growing independence, successfully helping to prepare them for later life and learning.  Teaching in Key Stage 2 is carefully planned and learning is accurately assessed. Staff listen and respond well to pupils in helping them to remain engaged in their learning.  There are some excellent examples of the marking of students’ work. Occasionally, teachers do not check often enough that students have followed up the teachers' written comments on their work so that mistakes are not repeated subsequently.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Students’ behaviour in and around the school is good. This is because behaviour is managed very effectively across the school as all staff have a thorough understanding of each student’s needs and difficulties. Individual care and education plans for students ensure consistency across all professionals in the support they provide.  During the inspection, students showed polite attitudes towards each other, staff and visitors; for example, they held doors open for the inspector without being prompted and were keen to engage in discussions about their learning. They say that they enjoy school. This is evident in their improving attendance over time.  Parents and carers, staff and students all say that the school is a safe place where staff attitudes encourage learning and disruption is rare. While staff are trained in the use of restraint, there is a stress on calming those students who may feel more anxious so that incidents are rare. This

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

helps create a happy atmosphere and a positive learning environment. Consequently, there have been no permanent or fixed-term exclusions in the past three years.  Relationships between staff and pupils are exceptionally positive and this is an important factor in managing their behaviour successfully. Adults get to know the students quickly. The strong support they provide encourages students to trust them and they gain the confidence to step back into learning.  Students say that bullying does not exist. They have a good understanding of different types of bullying including the use of social network sites. They learn to understand about the formation of positive relationships with others through the effective daily staff-student meetings in which they can share concerns and show support for others.  Highly effective multi-agency involvement and individual support programmes ensure a coordinated approach with families.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Occasionally behaviour is less good when learning activities are not well matched to students’ needs. At these times, students are less involved or become distracted during their learning and this slows their rate of progress.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher, ably supported by the deputy headteacher, has established a clear and strong vision, which is widely shared by all staff and governors. The motto of ‘Together Everyone Achieves More’ runs through the Key Stage 2 and secondary provision and this has led to high expectations of staff and students.  The relationship between the pay of staff and their effectiveness is appropriate, and regular observations and appraisal have secured good and some outstanding teaching. There is no inadequate teaching.  Well-planned training programmes provide staff with clear guidance on working with the growing number of students who have complex learning, physical and medical needs. The school’s therapists and mental health staff make a strong contribution to students’ preparedness for learning.  The increased complexity of many of the students who attend the school has provided senior leaders with a set of particular challenges that they have embraced wholeheartedly, as has the

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The leadership and management are good

whole school. Discrimination is not tolerated and the school ensures equality of opportunity for all. Excellent partnerships with health, social and welfare agencies contribute to students’ excellent well-being through specific group activities and one-to-one programmes of support.  Senior leaders have an accurate view of student outcomes and the impact that teaching has on these. There are extensive records of the close checks on students’ progress and other aspects of its work. Nevertheless, information from these checks is not always summarised well so it easily shows how well students are making progress relative to similar pupils nationally, so that leaders and staff can be challenged to make still more rapid improvements.  The curriculum, including that of the sixth form, offers a good balance of academic, practical and vocational subjects and high-quality personal learning programmes. Opportunities for students to

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The leadership and management are good

take part in exciting outdoor activities, residential trips and artistic and musical activities encourage students to test themselves in supportive situations. These activities promote students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development exceptionally well. The majority of students gain access to further education or training when they leave school.  Safeguarding arrangements are effectively in place for the school and for off-site placements.  The local authority has not been actively involved as the school uses the services of an independent school improvement advisor who provides effective assistance in helping the school to recognize what is working well, what needs improving, and in identifying sources of specialist help.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is well informed and responsibilities are aligned to the school development plan, through focused visits. They have tackled weak teaching and have ensured

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The leadership and management are good

that the link between teachers’ pay and performance is closely matched. They have a sound understanding of the school's performance although a simpler presentation of information would help them to make comparisons with national figures easier. They know the strengths and areas for improvement and accurately describe the school as ‘good with some outstanding strengths’. They monitor carefully how the pupil premium and other additional funding for sport and catch-up programmes are used and their impact on students’ achievement. Governors are well trained and have kept themselves up to date with regard to safeguarding, finances and inspection arrangements. They have made sure that safeguarding procedures fully meet 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 123329 Local authority Oxfordshire Inspection number 428864

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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 Special School category Foundation special Age range of pupils 7–18 Gender of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 60 Of which, number on roll in sixth form 3 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Peter Hore Headteacher Anne Pearce Date of previous school inspection 12–13 January 2011 Telephone number 01865 558722 Fax number 01865 311561 Email address head.7002@woodeaton.oxon.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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