Parayhouse School

New Kings School Annex, New Kings Road, London, SW6 4LY

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of students Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of students Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and students

This is a good school.  Students’ achievement is good. They have benefited from the good quality support they receive from teachers and other adults.  The headteacher, school leaders and governors have ensured improvement in all aspects of the school’s work.  Students’ progress in reading, writing and mathematics, from low starting points, has been good in the last three years.  As a result of good teaching, students make good progress in their speaking, listening, and language skills. They also benefit from the work of speech and language therapists.  Teaching is consistently good. Systems to manage staff performance are rigorous and linked to students’ progress in all subjects.  Parents and carers appreciate the school’s work to support their children. They feel that they are sufficiently informed and involved in their children’s progress.  The school’s work to keep students safe and secure is outstanding. The school is welcoming

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Summary of key findings for parents and students

and supportive of students from all backgrounds. Students feel extremely safe and well cared for.  Students’ behaviour is outstanding. Their attitudes in and outside the classroom are exceptional because of the consistent way behaviour is managed.  Students’ excellent personal, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is at the heart of the school’s success.  The governing body holds the school robustly to account for its performance and management of finances. This has strongly contributed to students’ good achievement.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The progress of a few of the most able students is slower than that of their peers.  Not enough qualifications are available for the most able students at Key Stage 4.  Teachers’ marking does not always lead to improvement in knowledge and skills in writing, particularly for the most able students.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed learning in 10 lessons, all of which were jointly observed with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and subject leaders. The inspector also carried out a series of short visits to other lessons across the school and listened to students read.  Meetings were held with staff and students. The inspector met with the Chair of the Governing Body and four other governors, as well as a trustee.  The inspector took account of the school’s most recent survey of parents and carers and 12 responses to the hard copy of the Ofsted questionnaire. There was only one reply to the online Parent View survey. The inspector also considered 25 responses to the staff questionnaire and one from a member of the governing body.  The inspector observed the school’s practice and looked at a range of documentation, including its checks on how well it is doing, improvement planning and information on students’ progress.

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Information about this inspection

The inspector also took account of documents used by senior leaders to check the school’s work on attendance, behaviour and safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Justina Ilochi, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school caters for students with moderate learning difficulties and severe learning difficulties. All students have underlying speech, language and communication difficulties and some have gross and fine motor skills difficulties. A few students have a diagnosis of autism. All students have a statement of special educational needs.  About a quarter of students are girls, the rest are boys.  Three quarters of students, an above average proportion, are from a diverse range of minority ethnic backgrounds and a quarter speak English as an additional language.  There have been some changes in the school since the last inspection. The governing body and the Board of Trustees have been reorganised and the senior leadership team has expanded to include three middle managers, including a speech and language therapist.  The school works closely with several external services such as occupational therapists.

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Information about this school

 This school receives a small amount of additional government funding for sports. It does not receive additional funding for pupils who are eligible for free school meals or those in local authority care.  Students are not entered early for examinations.  The school provides training and support for other local schools.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching to outstanding so that the most able students make rapid progress by:  ensuring teachers’ marking of students’ books, particularly in writing, is leading to improvements  ensuring that targets for the most able students challenge them to reach their potential.  Improve leadership and management by:  broadening the range of qualifications that are available at Key Stage 4, so that they are better matched to the abilities of the most able students.

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The achievement of students is good

 Students join the school with skills at levels well below those expected for their age. As a result of good quality teaching, students make good progress from their starting points.  Students’ achievement is particularly rapid at the end of Key Stages 2 and 3 and has been so for the last three years. At Key Stage 4, the most able students are not making as much progress as they are capable of. The range of qualifications available does not always match their abilities.  The school actively promotes equal opportunities and tackles discrimination. For example, the few girls in the school are doing as well as the boys because of good teaching.  Students’ speaking and listening skills are well developed because they are given many opportunities to discuss their ideas with a talk partner. As a result, students, including those with a diagnosis of autism, are confident speakers of English.  Current school information shows that students in all year groups are making good progress in

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The achievement of students is good

reading, writing and mathematics. Reading has improved rapidly since the last inspection because of the combined effort of teachers, teaching assistants and speech and language therapists.  Adults who provide one-to-one and small-group teaching for students who need extra help are well trained and highly effective in their role. They make a very strong contribution to students’ good progress. Consequently all students, regardless of their background, make good progress and gaps are not significant.  Evidence in classrooms and students’ work show that students’ progress is typically good. There is effective support for developing students’ literacy, numeracy and language skills. However, achievement is not outstanding because the most able pupils are not making as much progress as they should, particularly in writing.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is good and all students are engaged in, and excited about, tasks. Teachers provide a stimulating, happy atmosphere, both in classrooms and outdoors, so students quickly learn to work well with each other. Their positive attitudes help them to learn well and make good progress.  The planning of learning is consistent across the whole school and helps students to make good progress. For example, teaching assistants guide students’ learning in small groups in all classrooms so all students make good progress. As a result, students make rapid progress, including those who are at an early stage of learning to speak English as an additional language.  Students’ reading has improved since the last inspection, as a result of the school’s rigorous focus on teaching phonics (the sounds letters make). Together with an emphasis on comprehension skills, this has helped to improve most students’ basic reading and spelling skills.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Consistently good teaching has brought about accelerated progress in mathematics since the last inspection. Teachers use a wide range of targeted resources to give good examples that help students to think deeply and consider their answers to questions. As a result, students have good basic numeracy skills.  A good range of strategies are in place to support those students in need of extra help, which enables them to learn well. For example, the school works closely with occupational therapists, who provide instructions on how to teach handwriting to students with motor skills difficulties. Consequently, these students are making good progress with their handwriting.  All students who have speech, language and communication difficulties are making good progress. Staff are using the methods and instructions provided by the speech and language therapists employed by the school. Consequently, students benefit from extra support from

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The quality of teaching is good

additional staff, who are well trained and highly effective in their role.  Marking is regular and teachers give students helpful guidance on how to improve the quality of their work. This has developed students’ confidence in understanding how well they are doing and how to improve their work. In mathematics, students reflect on, and have time to correct, their mistakes. This is not always the case with writing. Teaching is not outstanding because marking does not always lead to improvements in writing, particularly for the most able students.

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The behaviour and safety of students is outstanding

 The behaviour of students is outstanding. There is a strong focus on enabling students to discuss and reflect on ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. This helps students to rapidly improve their behaviour and their moral development is exceptional.  Students have exceptionally well-developed language and communication skills. Students from different cultures are encouraged to work together and interact well in the classroom.  Students’ attitudes to learning are excellent because of the very successful relationships they have with staff. Students respond extremely well to the calm approach from all adults. As a result, they focus well, complete tasks and make good progress.  Students are given many opportunities to take on important responsibilities and develop independent skills that will support their next step in education. For example, they planned their ‘leavers’ day’ and were happy to invite the inspector to see their excellent production. They

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The behaviour and safety of students is outstanding

respect their school environment and the clubs and activities that take place at playtime.  Behaviour in the last two years has been outstanding because adults manage behaviour extremely well. Actions that arise from behaviour incidents are well recorded in ‘five books’ and are well understood by staff, parents and students. As a result, incidents of poor behaviour have reduced significantly, particularly for students who needed behaviour support. In the last two years, only one bullying incident has been recorded.  The school has high levels of adult support and consistent routines throughout the day. Outdoor lessons and visits outside school are carefully checked to ensure that all students are able to take part. There have been no permanent exclusions since the last inspection.  The school’s work to keep students safe and secure is outstanding. Students understand about different forms of bullying, including cyber bullying, and internet safety has a high priority.

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The behaviour and safety of students is outstanding

Occasionally some students are denied access to some social networking sites.  The schools’ work to ensure regular attendance is exceptional. Students’ attendance is in line with mainstream schools and is higher than in other special schools.  Parents and carers who responded to the Ofsted questionnaire say they are extremely happy with the school’s care and guidance for their children. Staff and students confirmed this view.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher, governing body and senior staff have taken decisive action to tackle the areas for improvements highlighted in the school’s last inspection report. As a result, students are now making good progress.  Senior leaders know the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Consequently, weaker teaching has been eliminated. This has led to the good progress seen in students’ work and the good contribution of teaching assistants.  The systems for checking students’ progress are rigorous. For example, the school has rightly identified that students’ progress in reading is linked closely to their speech, language and communication difficulties. The senior leadership team was expanded to include a speech and language therapist to support the teaching of reading. This focus has helped leaders to set the right targets, which have improved the teaching of reading across the school, demonstrating a

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The leadership and management are good

strong capacity for future improvements.  Procedures for setting targets for teachers are rigorous and leaders ensure that salary increases are not awarded unless staff have met their targets, based on students’ progress.  The newly appointed middle leaders are already having a positive impact on the quality of teaching in their areas. They have implemented a consistent approach across the school to checking how well lessons are planned and linking this to students’ progress. However, they have not ensured that targets for the most able students challenge them to reach their potential. As a result, a few of the most able students are not sufficiently well prepared for their next steps in education, and this is why leadership and management are not outstanding.  The school’s promotion of students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is at the heart of the students’ exceptional behaviour. Students celebrate the diversity of different

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The leadership and management are good

cultures through well-planned weekly assemblies throughout the year.  The school works well with parents and carers. Parents and carers are particularly happy about the care and guidance they receive from the school’s ‘family support manager’ and ‘transition manager’. Without exception, parents and carers who responded to the Ofsted questionnaire said they feel that the school sufficiently informs and involves them in their children’s learning.  The additional government funding for sport is used effectively for specialist coaching during lunchtimes. Students report that they now take part in sport more often.  Procedures for safeguarding meet current requirements.  The governance of the school:  Governors have undertaken a review of their performance since the last inspection. Several governors are new to their role and have benefited from relevant training about ways to keep the school under review. They have rigorously followed up on areas where the school could be

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The leadership and management are good

doing better and have scrutinised the school’s current position and future plans. They pay close attention to the school’s student performance information, and how it compares with similar schools. They monitor how the sports funding is allocated and spent and are pleased that participation in physical exercise has improved. They hold the headteacher to account for the school’s performance and the management of its finances, which are sound and linked to the school’s priorities. Governors make sure that the system for managing the performance of staff is robust and linked closely to pay for teachers and senior leaders. They support the school’s rigorous check of its quality of teaching and make it a focus for meetings. The governing body ensures that safeguarding arrangements meet statutory requirements and seeks out parents’ views on important issues.

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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 students’ needs. This ensures that students 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 students’ needs. Students 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 students 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 135175 Local authority Hammersmith and Fulham Inspection number 442162

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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 Non-maintained Age range of students 7  16 Gender of students Mixed Number of students on the school roll 46 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Randall Peterson Headteacher Sarah Jackson Date of previous school inspection 2  3 October 2014 Telephone number 0207 751 0914 Fax number 0207 751 0914 Email address s.jackson@parayhouse.com 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 and 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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