Setting

Aviation House 125 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0300 123 1231 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Ms A Potter Headteacher Addey and Stanhope School 472 New Cross Road London SE14 6TJ

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alternative provision

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of your staff and students, during my visit on 20 and 21 May 2014 to look at the school’s use of alternative provision. During the visit I met with you and the deputy headteacher. I also met students and visited the following providers that your students attend: Lewisham and Southwark College (LeSoCo) and Business Education Partnership (BEP) London South Training Centre.

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alternative provision

The visit provided valuable information which will contribute to our national evaluation and reporting. Published reports are likely to list the names of the contributing institutions but individual institutions will not be identified in the main text without their consent.

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alternative provision

This letter briefly summarises our discussion at the end of the visit.

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Strengths of this aspect of the school’s work

 The school has played a key role, along with local authority and other school partners, in identifying, monitoring and quality assuring alternative provision in the local area. This means that the school is confident in providers’ safeguarding arrangements, the quality of their facilities and the provision offered.  There is an extensive and intensive curriculum planning process which starts early in the year and involves a lot of discussion with students, parents and providers to make sure that provision meets students’ personal and academic needs.  You place a great deal of emphasis on making sure that the providers the school uses meet the needs of some of your most vulnerable students and there are good examples of how alternative providers have adapted provision as a result of your careful analysis of need. Students and their parents are fully involved in this process and as a result they are able to

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Strengths of this aspect of the school’s work

make informed choices.  You share useful information about the students with the providers and there are valuable taster days and induction processes so that students, their parents and providers are able to gain a good understanding of what to expect. Any vital information such as statements of educational need or relevant child protection information is shared formally and there is ongoing formal and informal communication with both providers. LeSoCo is very positive about the weekly support provided by your teaching assistant who accompanies the students and BEP are confident the deputy headteacher’s six weekly visits help them to provide the best support possible.  The college courses are one of the Year 10 options and timetables are organised so that all students are working on their options at the same time. This means that the students do not miss out on valuable lessons while they are at college. They follow a balanced timetable and you

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Strengths of this aspect of the school’s work

provide additional sessions on literacy, numeracy and information, communication and technology skills. These build on what they are learning in their college courses and are taught by senior members of staff which underlines the importance you place on this work.  The school plans the provision carefully to make sure that all of the students study English and mathematics and are able to achieve qualifications in both of these subjects. For some this means GCSE qualifications and others will achieve qualifications at Entry Level. Last year more than half of the students attending alternative provision achieved both English and mathematics GCSEs. Almost all achieved a qualification in English and mathematics at GCSE or Entry Level.  You carefully identify the students who will benefit the most from alternative provision. This can be for various reasons but generally they are not making enough progress in school often both personally and

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Strengths of this aspect of the school’s work

academically. Your records show that, in 2012, the students who attended alternative provision made similar progress to the other students. Last year the picture was not quite so positive although the majority did make expected or better progress. You strongly believe that that, without the alternative provision, many of these students would not have achieved as well as they did and would not have gone onto further education courses.  It is not quite so easy to track the progress being made by the current students in the different courses they are following when they are not in school. It is however clear that, where behaviour, punctuality and low attendance were problems, there have been marked improvements this year.  The qualifications achieved at the alternative providers are valuable and can be built on at higher levels. For example a student currently following the computer maintenance course is considering studying for a Diploma in

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Strengths of this aspect of the school’s work

Media studies next year. Almost all past students who have benefited from alternative provision have gone onto further education often in the same or related subjects.  The school and the providers you use place great importance on making sure students are in employment, education or training when they leave. Part of the reason you use both of the providers is because of the high quality of their support for students, so that they make good choices, and the help they give them through the transition from school to the next phase of their lives.  You keep a close eye on how well the students are doing through the weekly visits to the college, and the six weekly visits to BEP. Your staff spend time in lessons alongside the students, looking at their work and checking whether the quality of the provision is meeting their needs. Changes have been made as a result, for example where the quality of mathematics teaching was not good enough in one provider and when the

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Strengths of this aspect of the school’s work

match of activity was not quite meeting the needs of students’ differing abilities in the other. Both providers responded quickly to address concerns raised by the school staff.  Students who attend the providers are positive about the opportunities they are being given. They believe that they are learning important practical skills which suit them better than a more academic approach. They like the different, more adult atmosphere in college and think the small group approach in BEP helps to build their confidence.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 clarifying your expectations and requesting improvements to the information you receive so that you can better track and evaluate how well students are getting on with their learning

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 incorporating information about achievement in courses followed at alternative providers into the schools’ normal reporting systems so that these options are valued as much as other subjects

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 systematically analysing and evaluating information about the achievement and progress of these students as a distinct group.

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