Greenvale School

Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Outstanding 1 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Outstanding 1 Achievement of pupils Outstanding 1 Sixth form provision Outstanding 1

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This is an outstanding school

 The headteacher, supported by governors and other leaders, has taken action to ensure that all students make excellent progress and develop a love of learning.  The overall quality of teaching is outstanding. High expectations in classrooms ensure there are no significant differences in the rates of progress for different groups of learners.  Teachers’ planning is excellent and their use of information about students’ progress ensures activities are set at the correct level of difficulty. All groups of students make excellent progress.  Throughout the school, reading, writing and mathematics are taught extremely well.  The teaching of communication has been a focus of the school and is now a strength. As a result of effective training for staff, students’ skills in speaking and listening have improved.  Teachers and support staff work extremely well together, so that students learn in a calm and friendly atmosphere.

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This is an outstanding school

 The school promotes students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development extremely well. Visits to interesting places help to develop their self-confidence and social skills in new situations.  Most students enjoy attending school regularly. As a result, attendance has increased over the last three years and is higher than in special schools nationally.  Governors know the school extremely well and care deeply about how well students are doing. They visit the school regularly and have an excellent understanding of its performance. They are confident in holding leaders to account to ensure students achieve their potential.  Students’ behaviour is excellent. Students feel safe and are polite and helpful, both in lessons and around the school. This has a strong and positive impact on their learning.  Students and parents are given regular training on how students can stay safe when using the internet

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This is an outstanding school

and their mobile phones.  The sixth form is outstanding. Students achieve extremely well because they follow interesting courses and are given excellent support that prepares them well for the next stage of their lives.  The excellent range of subjects and activities on offer provides students with a wealth of opportunities that promote British values. Personal development lessons promote tolerance and respect for the views of others. This prepares students well for meeting people from cultures, religious beliefs and backgrounds other than their own.  Middle leaders, including those in charge of subjects, play a key role in ensuring students make exceptional progress. They are thoroughly involved in checking the quality of teaching and sharing ideas for improving literacy and numeracy.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 14 lessons or parts of lessons, all of which were observed jointly with school leaders. A singing assembly was also observed.  Meetings were held with two governors, a representative from the local authority and school staff.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents. These included the school’s information on students’ progress, planning and monitoring documentation, the school improvement plans and its self-evaluation summary. Inspectors also reviewed safeguarding policies, records of checks on the suitability of staff and adults, and behaviour and attendance records.  Inspectors took account of the 15 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire (Parent View). In addition, inspectors took account of the eight responses to a questionnaire for members of staff.  Inspectors talked to students about the school’s work and listened to some students reading in class.

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Inspection team

David Scott, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Greenvale is a special school for young people with severe learning difficulties and/or profound and multiple learning difficulties. Around a third of students are in the sixth form.  Just under a half of all students have a diagnosis of autism, and one in five students has additional physical disabilities and complex medical conditions.  Almost all students are admitted from maintained schools in the borough. All students have a statement of special educational needs. Almost two thirds of the students are boys.  The proportion of students from minority ethnic heritages is above average. The proportion who are at the early stages of learning English as an additional language is also above average. Just over one in five students is of White British heritage.  Just under half of students are eligible for additional government funding known as the pupil premium. This proportion is above average. The funding is used to support students who are eligible for free school

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Information about this school

meals and children who are looked after by the local authority.  Around one in 10 students across the school is involved with the local Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) as a result of their behavioural needs.  Sixth form students attend off-site training at Community Lewisham Education to study arts, crafts and life skills.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase further the range of accredited courses in the sixth form that develop students’ skills in preparation for adult life.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher is supported by a group of highly committed governors, senior leaders and middle leaders. They have ensured that all students are taught exceptionally well so that they make excellent progress, behave superbly and develop a love of learning.  Through a wide range of subjects, students are given many opportunities to gain knowledge and understanding and to develop their personal and academic skills. This helps them to make choices and decisions for themselves. Recently, three classes were established specifically for students with complex needs. This arrangement is already bearing fruit and resulting in faster progress, both for them and their peers in other classes.  Equality of opportunities is promoted extremely well and discrimination of any kind is not tolerated. Leaders use information on students’ progress effectively to ensure all groups achieve as well as they can so that no one falls behind. The well-planned use of additional government funding has ensured that

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The leadership and management are outstanding

disadvantaged students achieve as well as others in the school.  The imaginative programme of training and development for staff has ensured that the overall quality of teaching is outstanding. Leaders have ensured that staff are exceptionally well trained to support students with profound and multiple learning difficulties. Through the checks made by leaders on the teaching and the use of a rigorous process of setting targets for staff, the quality of teaching and the students’ progress have improved since the previous inspection. The assessment of staff performance and progression in staff salaries are closely linked to students’ progress.  The rich curriculum provides students with a wealth of opportunities. It promotes British values and fully prepares students well for life in modern Britain. Activities within the personal, social and health education programme promote tolerance and respect for the views of others. This helps to prepare students well for

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The leadership and management are outstanding

meeting people from different cultures, religious beliefs and backgrounds.  The school provides for students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development extremely well. Visits to the opera, raising funds for charity and singing carols on the South Bank help to develop their self- confidence and social skills when the students find themselves in new situations.  Middle leaders play a crucial role in ensuring students make outstanding progress. They are fully involved in checking the quality of teaching and share helpful ideas and plans for improving literacy and numeracy. They use their excellent understanding of information about students’ progress, effective team work and imaginative approaches to ensure that teaching continues to improve.  Students’ achievement, behaviour and attendance at the off-site training provision are rigorously checked so that senior leaders have a very clear view of each student’s progress.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The progress of students is regularly checked against that in other schools, both within the borough and nationally. As a result, staff have a very accurate view of students’ progress.  Careers guidance is provided from Year 8 onwards. As students move through the school they receive excellent advice to help them make choices and decisions about their futures. Work experience and college placements give further practical opportunities for developing self-esteem and life skills. As a result, students are exceptionally well prepared for the next steps in their school career and beyond.  The school is highly regarded by the local authority and, as a result, receives light touch support. The school improvement adviser has supported senior leaders well by checking their judgements on the quality of teaching and by providing helpful advice and training.  The attractive and well-designed accommodation provides a stimulating place for students to learn. There

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The leadership and management are outstanding

is no litter or graffiti. Students’ work and achievements are displayed and celebrated in classrooms and in corridors. An interactive room, a sensory garden and a hydrotherapy pool help students with physical disabilities and complex needs to be calm and relaxed so they can enjoy their learning.  Partnership working with parents is excellent. Various workshops, such as homework and college choices, enable parents to make sensible decisions about their children’s work and future. Of the parents who responded to the Parent View questionnaire, almost all were entirely positive. All parents said they would recommend this school to other parents.  Safeguarding has a high priority throughout the school. As a result, procedures to keep students safe and secure meet statutory requirements and are highly effective. Checks on all staff and governors are rigorous. Risk assessments for all aspects of the school’s work are of high quality.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The governance of the school:  Governance is highly effective. Governors have extremely good knowledge of the school and care very much about how well students are doing. Each governor is attached to a class that they get to know very well. They visit the school regularly, speak with staff and students and receive reports from senior leaders, so that they have an excellent understanding of the quality of teaching.  Governors are well informed and are able to interpret statistics and information concerning students’ achievement, and how the school’s performance compares with that of similar special schools. They hold leaders to account for all aspects of the school’s performance and have been particularly active in the debate about the future of post-19 special provision.  Members ensure that staff performance is rewarded appropriately, based on students’ progress and school priorities. They understand the overall process for setting targets for teachers well and ensure

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The leadership and management are outstanding

challenging targets are set.  Financial resources are well managed and governors have ensured that additional government funding is spent effectively. This ensures that disadvantaged students achieve as well as others in the school.  Governors have ensured that all statutory requirements are met, including those concerning safeguarding and child protection.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of students is outstanding. They are polite and helpful, both in lessons and around the school. This has a strong and positive effect on their learning. Students across the school have excellent attitudes to learning.  A few students with complex and behavioural needs occasionally show challenging behaviour. This is dealt with calmly and effectively so that no learning time is lost.  Students are kind to each other and display high levels of care and consideration for others. They understand the different forms of bullying and those who spoke to inspectors said that it rarely occurs. Groups of students are given the opportunity for quiet time to reflect on their work and behaviour through the recently introduced ‘Mindfulness Project’. This helps them to relax and keep calm so that they are able to learn well.  Students enjoy school and attend regularly. As a result, attendance has risen over the last three years and

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Behaviour

is higher than in special schools nationally. It is almost in line with that of mainstream secondary schools. There have been no exclusions in the last year.  Students who attend the off-site training behave extremely well as a result of high expectations and clear guidance from staff.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep students safe and secure is outstanding. Leaders have ensured that all staff, including new members, are well trained and kept up to date with welfare and safeguarding arrangements.  The training and procedures for giving medication are excellent. Record keeping is thorough and clear, and monitored rigorously by health professionals.  Thorough risk assessments ensure that students feel safe and that their individual needs are fully taken into account, for activities both in and out of school.  The school provides students and parents with regular training on how students can stay safe whilst using the internet and their mobile phones. Parents who gave their views feel that their children are very well cared for and safe whilst at school.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The overall quality of teaching over time is outstanding. None of the teaching in the school is less than consistently good.  High expectations in classrooms ensure all students widen their knowledge and understanding. As a result, there are no significant differences in the rates of progress for different groups of learners.  Teachers make excellent use of information about students’ progress to plan skilfully, ensuring that activities meet students’ needs, so that all groups make rapid progress. Activities are set at the right level of difficulty for individual students.  Throughout the school, reading, writing and mathematics are taught extremely well and this helps students to make outstanding progress. Teachers have an excellent understanding of students’ needs and regularly check their progress to help plan the next small steps in their learning. As a result, students become better equipped to make decisions and choices for themselves.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The teaching of communication has been a priority for the school and is now a strength. Staff have taken part in carefully planned training and make use of imaginative approaches to the teaching of speaking and listening. As a result, students’ skills in communication have improved considerably.  The school has invested extremely well in excellent resources to enable students to communicate more easily and to help them achieve their challenging targets.  Teachers and support staff work very well together so that students learn in a calm and friendly atmosphere. The staff review students’ learning at the end of the day in order to plan the next steps.  Teachers give helpful and immediate feedback to students in a variety of formats so that they know how well they are doing. Marking is thorough and gives appropriate advice about the next small steps to be taken and this helps students to improve their work.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Students enter the school with levels of skills that are typically very low because of their physical disabilities, complex needs and/or medical conditions. As a result of high-quality teaching, all students gain a nationally recognised qualification in a range of academic and work-related subjects.  School records show that, over time, students’ rates of progress have increased. To a large extent, this has been as a result of students developing the necessary social skills that enable them to relate well to others and participate in classroom activities.  Highly effective teaching ensures students make excellent progress in their literacy, writing and numeracy, and use these skills in other subjects.  Students with a diagnosis of autism, those with profound and multiple learning difficulties, and those with complex medical conditions all make excellent progress. Their needs are carefully assessed so that

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

activities are set at the right level and modified if necessary.  All groups of students achieve equally well. Disadvantaged students achieve as well as, and in some cases better than, their peers in the school. This is because of the use of one-to-one specialist support and high quality resources. For example, communication aids and a variety of special therapies enable students to move ahead quickly in their learning.  Students from all different ethnic backgrounds achieve equally well, as do those new to learning English. This is because staff ensure each student has an individual learning programme that is tailored to his or her specific needs.  The most able students achieve extremely well because staff are highly skilled in nurturing their potential. This means they are constantly challenged and motivated to improve and to reach higher levels. For example, all the most able students are working within the early levels of National Curriculum, with some,

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

achieving Bronze level in the Arts Award.  Students are not entered early for examinations.  Those students who attend off-site training achieve extremely well. This is because courses are chosen by the students and their progress is monitored rigorously.

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The sixth form provision is outstanding

 Sixth form students achieve extremely well. This is because they follow interesting courses, based on their individual needs, and are given excellent guidance that prepares them well for the next stage of their lives. All students proceed to local colleges in the area to take courses suited to their needs.  Teaching that is at least good, and often outstanding, ensures that work is set at the right level so that it stimulates students' interests and enthusiasm. Staff work well together to ensure students develop positive habits and a love for learning. Staff regularly review students’ progress so that more challenging targets can be set.  Students’ behaviour and safety are outstanding. Students regularly consider the needs of others. For example, they cook lunches as a class and undertake voluntary work by setting up tables for a senior citizens lunch club at the local church.  Increasingly, students are given opportunities to become more independent. For example, they take on

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The sixth form provision is outstanding

posts of responsibility such as those of librarian or laundry assistants. They also contribute to the writing of their new Education Health Care Plans.  The sixth form school forum makes helpful recommendations about improving the running of the school. For example, students recently suggested that there should be a new school rule concerning the use of mobile phones. This has been adopted by the school.  The sixth form curriculum provides many opportunities to develop students’ literacy and numeracy skills well. As a result, students are regularly invited to contribute articles for the newsletter.  Students thoroughly enjoy studying the range of courses on offer. However, leaders are aware that there is scope to increase the range of accredited courses available that meets students’ specific needs, to prepare them even better for adult life.  Students are given excellent careers advice which supports decisions for their next steps well.

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The sixth form provision is outstanding

Opportunities are given for students to participate in work experience, both in school and in the community. For this, students apply, are interviewed and are rewarded for the work they do.  Leadership in this area of the school is highly effective and students have a clear sense of direction regarding their future. This is due to the determination of the leader of the sixth form to find the right course for each student. Targets are ambitious and students rise to this challenge.

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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 100765 Local authority Lewisham Inspection number 447898

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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 11–19 Gender of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 111 Of which, number on roll in sixth form 46 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Henrii Webb Headteacher Lynne Haines Date of previous school inspection 28−29 February 2012 Telephone number 020 8465 0740 Email address info@greenvale.lewisham.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 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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