The Parks School

The Parks School Burley Road, Oakham, Rutland LE15 6GY

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 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

 Leaders and governors have not provided sufficient challenge to ensure that the quality of teaching is consistently good.  Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage are not always given the opportunities they need to progress through active learning and discovering things themselves. As a result, they do not make sufficient progress in all areas of learning.  Staff do not explain the next small steps children need to take to help them to improve their progress.  The school does not use all of the data and information it collects to identify what children need to learn next or to evaluate how much progress the children are making.  Leaders’ evaluation of the school’s performance does not have a sharp enough focus on children’s achievement and is not related closely enough to improving the quality of teaching and learning.

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The school has the following strengths

 Federation with Oakham CE Primary School has strengthened governance, leadership and management. The school now has access to the effective policies and practices of its partner school.  The headteacher has managed the move to the new premises very effectively and has ensured that the two staff teams are working together cooperatively.  The school promotes children’s spiritual, moral and social education particularly effectively.  Staff relationships with children are excellent. The staff are dedicated, enthusiastic and provide a very high standard of care.  Parents value the school very highly and say that the staff have transformed the lives of their children, particularly in enabling them to communicate.  Behaviour and safety of children are good. Staff work particularly effectively with families and colleagues in health and social care to support families and meet medical needs.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed five lessons, and visited several play sessions. The headteacher watched most of the lessons with the inspector.  Discussions were held with senior leaders, representatives of the local authority, parents and the governing body.  There were insufficient responses from parents to the online parental survey (Parent View). The inspector considered the schools’ parental survey and letters from parents, and she also met parents.  The inspector looked at a range of documentation including the school’s information on keeping children safe, children’s progress, self-evaluation, development plans and reports from the local authority.

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Inspection team

Rosemary Mackenzie, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The Parks provides specialist nursery provision for children with severe and complex learning difficulties. Many of the children also have associated learning needs such as autism, communication difficulties, medical needs or developmental delay.  Most children attend on a part-time basis. The school can accommodate children in Key Stage 1, but there are currently no children in this phase.  All children either have a statement of special educational needs or are being assessed. The school currently has places for 10 full time equivalent places.  At the last inspection, the school was located on a separate site and educated 16 children. There was a different headteacher who shared her post with an acting headteacher.  The Parks moved to a new purpose-built school in September 2011 and is co-located with Oakham C of E Primary School, which was last inspected in November 2011. The two schools are now federated and have a single governing body and headteacher. The new headteacher

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Information about this school

was appointed in 2011 and the new single federated governing body was confirmed in July 2013.  The school currently has a lead teacher, supported by a team of teaching assistants. Some additional teaching is being provided by staff from the federated partner school.  The Parks works closely with parents and professionals from health and social care services to assess and identify young children’s special educational needs.  The school receives additional pupil premium funding for two children. This is additional funding for children who are known to be eligible for free school meals, are looked after by the local authority or who are part of a service family.  A children’s centre and a private nursery are also located in the new purpose-built complex. Both are inspected separately.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that the teaching is consistently good by:  making sure that adults’ feedback is constructive and helps children to understand what they need to learn next  giving children more opportunities to learn for themselves through active investigations and exploratory play  ensuring that planning and assessments follow the guidance in the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework for both inside and outside the classroom,.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Use the data and information the school has collected about children’s achievements to identify what children need to learn next and to provide a clear evaluation of how much progress children are making in all areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that the school’s evaluation of its own performance has a sharp focus on children’s achievement and is closely related to improving the quality of teaching and learning.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children’s progress is not good because staff sometimes, they step in too quickly to provide guidance, with the result that children are not able to explore and discover things for themselves when this would be beneficial.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Assessment is not used well enough to guide learning. In particular, annual and termly learning targets, daily planning, and staff comments on progress, are not linked closely enough to the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework. This means that children’s progress is limited.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children are making the progress that is expected in developing early mathematical and literacy skills and in their personal, social and emotional development.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupil premium funding is used effectively to support the development of communication, physical and social skills and has had a positive impact on progress in these areas of learning.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children make good progress in developing their communication skills because of their interaction with adults when they have personal one-to-one teaching sessions. Adults work enthusiastically with the children. Signed support is used very effectively. Children who were unable to communicate when they joined the school make rapid progress in learning how to communicate, to express their needs and to access learning.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 There is not enough good teaching, because adults can sometimes provide too much support which limits opportunities for children to learn through active and exploratory activities. Adults do not always encourage children to think and problem solve for themselves.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Staff do not provide sufficient verbal guidance to help the children understand what they need to learn next.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Many of the inconsistencies in teaching come from planning that is not related closely enough to teachers’ assessments of what the children know and can do. Staff do not identify clearly enough from this information the next small steps children should take in order to make good progress.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Sometimes, the children play alongside their peers from the private nursery or visit the federated partner school nursery. However, outside play is not planned with sufficient rigour or attention to the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework, as not all activities cover all areas of learning regularly enough.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Where teaching is good, staff are very enthusiastic and motivate the children. They know the children’s detailed learning needs, and provide a strong focus on communication and interaction. Relationships are excellent and there is a calm and happy atmosphere. Medical needs are met in a discreet manner.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Individual learning sessions are a particular strength. Children respond well to adults developing their communication, interaction and learning skills. Children enjoy their individual sessions and develop good attention and listening skills. They work very cooperatively with adults. However, the large proportion of time given to adult-directed activities limits children’s ability to learn by discovering things for themselves.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Children have positive attitudes to learning during their individual sessions. They concentrate on their tasks and persevere to complete the activities presented. However, adults choose which activity is to be completed next. This again limits the opportunity for children to make their own choices.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching assistants and other adults are enthusiastic and skilled. They have very good relationships with the children. They work effectively to support learning and care needs.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Staff from the federated primary school have begun to work with staff from The Parks on curriculum and lesson planning, which is beginning to improve as a result.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of children in lessons is calm and cooperative. There are excellent relationships between staff, children and parents. Children respond very well to staff expectations of good conduct.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Children are kept safe by good systems and a high standard of care and support. Where problems are identified, all agencies work extremely effectively together on behalf of children and their families. Approaches are common across the two schools.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school works extremely effectively to support parents. Two comments from parents indicate the impact on their children’s development: ‘The difference The Parks has made is incredible,’ and ‘Communication between teachers and parents is.’

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Attendance was above average during the previous academic year. Absences are mainly related to medical needs. If children are absent, the school works with families and carers to find ways of supporting children to improve their attendance.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Childrens’ attitudes to learning are good during the individual sessions. However, children are very dependent on adults and do not demonstrate sufficient curiosity or that they are able to investigate things for themselves.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Until recently, there has been insufficient challenge from leaders and managers to ensure that teaching is consistently good and that children have the full opportunities to learn through following the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 School self-evaluation does not relate closely enough to outcomes for children nor focus sufficiently on improving the quality of teaching and learning. There has been no clear analysis of achievement to indicate what is working well and what needs to be improved. Annual learning targets are not clear. Progress over time has not been monitored with sufficient rigour.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders and managers have not provided sufficient challenge for staff to ensure that they are having maximum impact on children’s progress. Performance management systems are shared across both The Parks and its partner school. However, training related to improving learning has not yet been fully established at The Parks.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership and management have started to improve since the school’s federation arrangements with its co-located primary school have been finalised and a new governing body has been appointed. The headteacher and senior managers have formed a strong team and have worked very effectively to successfully federate the two schools. Staff and governors share the headteacher’s vision for the future of the federation.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Subject leaders and senior staff are beginning to work together across the two schools and share best practice. The governing body has determined that The Parks will use Oakham C of E School’s model for self-evaluation and school improvement planning which have clear and precise targets for improving achievement and the quality of teaching. Policies and systems are being brought together across both schools.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Safeguarding arrangements meet current requirements.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The local authority has provided effective support for the federation of the two schools with the co-location of the children’s centre and private nursery. However, it has not provided sufficient challenge to leaders for The Parks to ensure the consistent quality of teaching and learning, focused school self-assessment and the full implementation of the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school offers the children a wide range of spiritual, moral, social and cultural experiences in the community. Children have opportunities to experience awe and wonder in the community and natural environment. This includes walks in local parks and visits to churches and garden centres. Children respond with a calm stillness upon entering the church, show an appreciation of natural environments and enjoy listening to music from around the world. The children particularly appreciated listening to a visitor playing the didgeridoo.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school: – The recently federated governing body has rigorous self-evaluation and strategic planning systems, and clear policies and procedures. This is demonstrated through the partner school’s documentation. The previous separate governing body did not take action soon enough to ensure that the current planning for improvement is rigorous and focused on teaching and learning. The current governors know the school well and are committed and supportive. Performance management is sound, with good teaching being rewarded appropriately. Governors monitor the use of the pupil premium and the impact it is having.

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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 120355 Local authority Rutland Inspection number 424950

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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 Community special Age range of pupils 2–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 10 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Steve Tummom Headteacher Joan Gibson Date of previous school inspection 15 January 2009 Telephone number 01572 722404 Fax number 01572 724337 Email address office@oakham-primary.rutland.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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