Turney Primary and Secondary Special School

School report Turney Primary and Secondary Special School Turney Road, Lambeth, London, SE21 8LX

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Overall effectiveness

Last inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The executive headteacher, well supported by the governors, has successfully tackled the weaknesses from the last inspection. As a result, teaching is now consistently good and pupils from different backgrounds achieve well.  From very low starting points, pupils make good progress in all subjects. They leave at the end of Key Stage 4 with some GCSEs and Entry Level certificates. In 2014, all pupils left Year 11 to continue their education in local colleges and schools.  New teachers benefit from a very effective induction programme. They also have opportunities to learn from experienced practitioners in both partnership schools.  Autistic pupils with complex needs make good progress because of the collaborative work with various professionals.  Additional funding has been used effectively to ensure that eligible pupils make similar or better progress than other pupils in the school and nationally.  The behaviour of pupils is good. They have positive

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

attitudes to their learning and get on well with each other. This is because teachers and teaching assistants have established a calm atmosphere and encourage the development of good social skills.  Pupils are given many opportunities through a wide variety of themes to develop their cultural, social, spiritual and moral education.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils say that they feel safe. They enjoy school and their attendance is above average.  Senior leaders and managers carry out regular and careful checks on how well pupils are doing. They rigorously monitor the quality of teaching and learning and give constructive advice to help teachers improve.  Governors are knowledgeable about the school. This enables them to question senior leaders about the school’s performance and the quality of teaching.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 A few of the most able pupils are not making the progress they should.  The school’s leaders do not communicate enough with parents or update them regularly.  The school does not check for patterns of behaviour among pupils by analysing its records.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed teaching and learning in 10 classrooms, all of which were jointly observed with the headteacher or deputy headteacher. The inspectors also listened to pupils read.  Meetings were held with staff, pupils, governors, including the Vice Chair of the Governing Body, and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors took account of 10 responses to the online Parent View survey, two written communications to the lead inspector and 15 replies to the staff questionnaire.  Inspectors observed the school’s practice and looked at a range of documentation. This included the school’s checks on how well it is doing, improvement planning and information on pupils’ progress. Inspectors also scrutinised 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

 Although Turney School is a community special school for pupils aged from 5 to 16, at the time of the inspection there were no children in Reception. Every classroom has a teacher and at least two adults.  The school was recently redesignated for pupils with autism. Most pupils, in addition to autism, have complex needs. A few have severe learning difficulties, speech, language and communication difficulties and behaviour, social and emotional difficulties. All pupils have a statement of special educational needs.  About a fifth of the pupils are girls.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is above average and half speak English as an additional language. The major ethnic groups are Black African and Black Caribbean.  More than 80% of pupils are supported through the pupil premium, well above average. This additional funding is for children in the care of the local authority and for pupils known to be eligible for free school

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Information about this school

meals.  The school receives a small amount of sport funding for pupils in the primary stages and some Year 7 catch-up funding.  The school works closely with specialist professionals such as the speech and language therapist, specialists from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, occupational therapists and educational psychologists.  Pupils are not entered early for any examinations.  The school is in a partnership with Lansdowne School. An executive headteacher leads both schools and, at the time of the inspection a deputy headteacher from Lansdowne School was deployed as a replacement for the head of school who had recently resigned.  Since the last inspection, the school has experienced a period of turbulence with major changes. There has been a high turnover of staff; half the teachers have been in the school for less than a year.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the progress of the most able pupils by:  ensuring that teachers encourage them to write more often in all subjects  making it possible for them to gain GCSEs in more subjects, particularly English and mathematics.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management by ensuring that:  leaders check the records of pupils’ behaviour over time to see if patterns can be established  communications are improved between the school and parents.

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The leadership and management are good

 The executive headteacher, supported effectively by other leaders and governors, has successfully tackled the weaknesses identified at the last inspection. Well-planned measures have been taken to improve the school’s work and tackle pupils’ underachievement. Theheadteacher and governors have not shied away from taking difficult decisions.  Staff and governors have created a school where everyone now works together with a clear focus and commitment to continuous improvement, and particularly, to improvements in teaching. For example, faced with the recent high turnover of staff, leaders put a very effective programme in place for new teachers. This has ensured that pupils continue to make good progress.  Procedures for checking the quality of teaching are robust. The successful introduction of coaching across the two schools in the partnership has had a positive impact. Teachers, particularly those new to the

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The leadership and management are good

school, benefit from the experience and support of the best practitioners from both schools.  Senior leaders continuously monitor the school’s performance, using information about pupils’ achievement to inform learning in all classrooms. The arrangement of three adults per classroom based on the complex needs of autistic pupils is having a positive impact on their learning. Autistic pupils with behavioural, social and emotional difficulties behave well in lessons and make good progress.  Middle leaders make a strong contributuion to the school’s work. Subjects are planned well so that pupils have a range of experiences which serve to deepen their knowledge and understanding. Middle leaders have already started using the new changes to the way learning is organised to plan reading, writing and problem-solving tasks for the primary stages and Key Stage 3. They have ensured that phonics (the sounds that letters make) and signing are improving the reading and communication skills of pupils with

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The leadership and management are good

speech, language and communication difficulties.  Staff know that their pupils’ rates of progress will influence their pay progression and that the Teachers’ Standards underpin all expectations. The school has achieved a good balance of combining robust performance management with effective professional development.  The provision for sport is good. In particular, the school uses its sport funding effectively to ensure that swimming remains part of the school’s offer. This is because leaders recognise the importance of swimming for pupils with autism. All pupils benefit from swimming activities outside the school, improving their personal and physical well-being.  Pupils learn about other cultures, religions and countries in their lessons. During assembly, they are given opportunities to reflect on right and wrong and what constitutes acceptable behaviour. The school ensures that all elements of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are covered successfully.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school’s communication with parents through its website is good and letters are sent to pupils’ homes when necessary. However, there is not enough regular communication with parents, some of whom feel uneasy because they do not fully appreciate the changes the school has been going through.  All pupils are given individual targets in line with the national expectations for pupils with special educational needs. However, these targets are not challenging enough for the most able pupils.  The local authority provides effective support and staff training.  The governance of the school:  The governing body makes a strong contribution to the school’s effectiveness. Governors are well trained and have a wide range of skills which they use to support and strengthen the school’s leadership. They are proud that the school appreciates and values pupils from many different backgrounds and is preparing them well for life in modern Britain. Governors know the school’s targets

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The leadership and management are good

for individual pupils and how well they are doing. Consequently, they have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses overall and are able to contribute to its plans for the future. For example, governors have worked closely with the school to eliminate weaknesses in the quality of teaching. Governors monitor the allocation of any additional funding and know the difference the pupil premium made to closing gaps in the attendance and progress of eligible pupils in 2013/14. They check that the school’s assessment processes are robust and in line with the national expectation for pupils with special educational needs. This was an area for improvement in the last inspection report. 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 educational priorities. Governors make sure that the system

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The leadership and management are good

for managing the performance of staff is robust and linked closely to the pay levels of teachers and senior leaders. The governing body ensures that safeguarding arrangement meet statutory requirements.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils from different backgrounds work and play well together. They are polite, courteous and respectful towards each other and they develop good social skills. Pupils say they like their school.  Pupils’ listening skills are good. They listen to instructions in lessons and complete their work to the best of their ability. The volume of work completed by pupils already this term is impressive. Pupils take pride in their work which is presented neatly for teachers to mark.  Pupils behave equally well in lessons and when working with teaching assistants or other adults outside lessons. They engaged well in their learning. The school is effective in supporting those pupils with challenging behaviour so that their behaviour does not adversely affect their learning or that of others in the class.  Pupils say that discrimination on any grounds is not tolerated because the school is very effective at

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

ensuring equal opportunities. All pupils, including those who speak English as an additional language, are helped to settle in quickly. This is because the school has well-established and thoughtful arrangements in place.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. The site is safe and pupils take care when moving around it during playtime. They are supervised well by adults.  Pupils have a good understanding of what constitutes unacceptable behaviour. Theysay that incidents of bullying are uncommon. Pupils understand cyber bullying and how to handle risks. They are confident that adults will help them if problems arise.  The school’s procedures for gathering records of incidents and accidents are robust. The school reacts promptly to incidents of unacceptable behaviour to resolve them on an individual basis. However, leaders do not analyse the few incidents and accidents recorded to see if patterns can be identified.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ attendance is above average. Pupils enjoy coming to school and feel happy and well looked after by adults. However, a few parents who responded to the Parent View survey or wrote to the lead inspector, expressed some anxiety regarding the safety of their children. These concerns were not confirmed by inspectors during the inspection.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Staff have created a calm and purposeful atmosphere across the school. Pupils have many opportunities to share their ideas and to talk about their work. They are confident in doing so individually with teachers or in small teaching groups. This is particularly effective indeveloping the ability of pupils to speak up and ask questions when they have made a mistake. It also supports the language learning of pupils new to English.  The teaching of reading, writing and mathematics is particularly successful, and a key improvement since the last inspection. In some lessons, pupils make very rapid progress and teaching is outstanding. However, this is not yet the norm, and in some classes the most able pupils do not make the progress they should. This is because teachers do not have high enough expectations of these pupils or, at Key Stage 4, are not sufficiently focused on helping them to obtain higher grades at GCSE.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers use imaginative ways to capture pupils’ interest and so pupils enjoy their learning and behave well. Pupils say they enjoy the links between subjects which is part of their ‘learning journey’. For example, in art, pupils were given well-chosen practical tasks which helped them to learn the meaning of key vocabulary such as ‘distortion’ and ‘fragmentation’.  Teachers use questioning effectively to check pupils’ knowledge and understanding and help them to correct misconceptions. In most lessons, teachers carefully note how well pupils are learning and adjust their lessons accordingly. They use their questions to add additional challenge where needed or extra support to those who may be struggling. This helps all pupils make good progress, including autistic pupils from Black African and Black Caribbean heritages.  The teaching of reading is good across the school. Pupils in Year 7 read well because the school has

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The quality of teaching is good

invested its additional Year 7 funding in effective reading programmes. Struggling readers are taught phonics daily, either one to one or in small groups.  Improvements in teachers’ marking since the last inspection are evident. Pupils say teachers’ comments help them to make their work better. Pupils’ books show how they are making good progress over time and gaining knowledge and skills across a range of subjects, particularly in writing but also in mathematics. However, the most able pupils are not improving their writing rapidly enough because they are not given sufficient opportunities to write in all subjects.  Supporting adults have a very good impact on pupils’ progress. They understand what needs to be done because planning is shared and expectations are made clear. They support pupils of all abilities in small groups or one to one during lessons.

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is good

 Pupils’ achievement has improved as a result of measures to improve the quality of teaching. From their very low starting points, the rates of pupils’ progress are increasing year on year when compared to the national picture for pupils with special educational needs.  Pupils work hard and make good progress so that, by the end of Year 11, all pupils have gained a range of qualifications which include GCSEs and Entry Level certificates. Because they have good guidance, all pupils then proceed to college to continue their education.  Because it has been a focus for school improvement, pupils’ progress in reading has accelerated particularly quickly. Pupils enjoy reading more and some confidently read aloud in lessons. They build successfully on their skills as readers during their English lessons and specific reading sessions.  The proportion of pupils making good progress in writing and mathematics is increasing. This is because

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is good

of the good-quality guidance pupils receive from teachers verbally and in their books.  The most able pupils do not do as well as they could because their targets are not challenging enough and they are not offered a wide enough choice of GCSEs. Too few of the most able pupils take GCSEs in English and mathematics.  The progress of pupils supported by additional funding is good. They do as well as, and sometimes better than, other pupils in the school and nationally. School evidence shows that the gap between their attendance and that of other pupils in the school has now closed.  All groups of pupils, regardless of their background or whether they are boys or girls, make good progress overall. Information about pupils’ progress is now used very effectively to identify any pupils that are at risk of falling behind to provide closely targeted support. For example, the school works closely with professionals such as occupational therapists to ensure that pupils are making rapid

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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 100643 Local authority Lambeth Inspection number 447896

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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 5–16 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 117 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Luke Zander Headteacher Linda Adams Date of last school inspection 1–2 February 2012 Telephone number 020 8670 7220 Fax number 020 8766 7588 Email address office@turney.org.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 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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