Manor Mead School

Laleham Road, Shepperton, Middlesex, TW17 8EL

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 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 Early years provision Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Excellent school leaders and a highly effective governing body have maintained the excellent provision that was evident in the last inspection.  The school goes from strength to strength because all those with leadership responsibilities, including middle leaders, are unrelenting in their pursuit of the very best outcomes for all pupils.  The school has taken in its stride the planned short-term leadership arrangements. This has been possible because systems and routines for monitoring and checking all aspects of its work are very securely in place.  Leaders at all levels have very high expectations. They have a shared understanding of the school’s aims and they have successfully involved all staff in pursuing them.  Senior leaders routinely check how well the school is doing and they generally analyse this information very well. However, they recognise that the way in which they develop their conclusions about whole-school achievement and

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

present their findings to the staff and governing body can be developed further.  School leaders and the governing body are effective in ensuring that they maintain very high quality teaching.  Pupils make excellent progress. Their achievement is outstanding when compared with that of pupils of the same age and starting points nationally.  All groups of pupils achieve equally well. Disadvantaged pupils make as much progress as others.  The early years provision is outstanding. Classrooms are vibrant, joyful places in which there is a clear sense of purpose. As a result, children make excellent progress in all areas of learning.  Teaching is typically outstanding. Teachers manage class teams extremely well and so every adult knows their role in supporting learning, monitoring pupils’ medical conditions and managing behaviour. Consequently, teaching enables all pupils to make excellent progress.  Pupils’ behaviour is excellent. They follow well-

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

established classroom routines without fuss and listen carefully to instructions. They are similarly well behaved when moving around the school, in the playground or at lunch.  All safeguarding arrangements are secure and they are checked routinely to ensure that they remain effective. The school is a very safe place, in which pupils thrive and learn.  Pupils are extremely well looked after. The input of therapists who work in the school makes a very important contribution to pupils’ well-being and learning.  Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive in their views about the school. Virtually every one of them would recommend it to others.  The staff show unanimous support for the school and are proud to be associated with it.

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Information about this inspection

 All classes were visited by the inspection team. Inspectors were accompanied by a school leader in all of the 10 lessons that were observed, each of which was taught by a different member of staff.  Discussions were held with all members of the senior leadership team and four middle leaders, including those responsible for literacy and numeracy.  Inspectors met two members of the governing body, including the Chair, and an officer from the local authority who acts as the school’s overview partner.  The inspection team gathered the views of the 32 parents and carers who completed Parent View, the online questionnaire.  Pupils’ age and the severity of their communication difficulties meant that their views could not be gathered effectively by formal meetings. However, inspectors developed an appreciation of their feelings and contentment by observing their responses and the relationships that they had with adults throughout

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Information about this inspection

the two days.  Inspectors examined the questionnaires that 33 members of staff completed.  The inspection team looked at a very wide range of documentation. This included reports submitted to annual reviews of pupils’ statements of special educational needs and the targets that were set; pupils’ learning and communication passports; information about pupils’ progress and achievement; attendance records; safeguarding procedures; behaviour logs; leaders’ reviews of the school’s strengths and development areas, and improvement planning.

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Inspection team

Mike Kell, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Manor Mead is an average size special school, catering for pupils with severe, profound and complex learning difficulties. Many pupils have specific additional difficulties, such as autism and physical disability.  Pupils in Key Stages 1 and 2 are placed in classes according to their main learning difficulty. There are four classes for pupils with severe learning difficulties, two for those with very complex difficulties and two for pupils with autism. Each class in the early years provision has in it children who together span the whole range of learning needs for which the school caters.  The school federated with Walton Leigh, a local secondary special school, in October 2014. A single governing body is responsible for the two schools.  All pupils have a statement of special educational needs or are in the process of having an education, health and care plan developed. Almost two thirds of the pupils are boys. Pupils represent a very wide

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Information about this school

range of ethnic backgrounds, with White British forming the largest group.  The school receives pupil premium funding for a quarter of its pupils, which is around the national average. Pupil premium is additional government funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and for children who are looked after. Only one child is looked after by the local authority.  The school also receives additional funding for primary school physical education and sport.  Almost a third of pupils are children in the early years provision. All Nursery children attend part time, for two or three days each week. Children in Reception attend full time.  There was a significant change in the school’s leadership in July 2014 when one of the two assistant headteachers retired and was not replaced. Instead, middle leaders took on additional responsibilities. This was seen as a temporary arrangement because the headteacher was intending to retire and so it was

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Information about this school

known that more permanent changes would be likely at that time. She is leaving at Easter 2015 and the headteacher of the federated school has been appointed executive headteacher of the two schools from the beginning of the summer term. The remaining assistant headteacher has been appointed head of school (primary) with effect from the same date.  Groups of pupils do not attend any other schools for any part of their education. Some individual pupils get the opportunity to work alongside mainstream pupils in local schools for part of the week.  The school receives termly visits from the local authority’s overview partner.  The health service funds the physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists who work in the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Refine the way in which leaders communicate pupils’ achievement to the staff and governing body by:  explaining in more detail the way in which they use teachers’ accurate judgements about individual pupils’ progress to determine the overall excellent achievement of pupils compared with those of the same age and starting points nationally  presenting graphs and tables in a consistent way that makes it easier to compare them.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Highly influential school leaders have continued to maintain a school with the very highest aspirations for pupils. They and the very effective governing body work very closely together. Consequently, Manor Mead is a school with a very clear sense of purpose that is communicated to staff, parents and carers.  Leaders have established a school with very high expectations of pupils and staff. As a result, the school is highly organised, calm and orderly and one in which pupils arrive at the start of the school day with a sense of anticipation.  Pupils go to school with such enthusiasm because their learning and personal needs are met so well. Equality of opportunity is at the heart of the school’s work. Leaders are demanding in ensuring that all pupils have the opportunity to learn effectively, such as by making sure that every pupil’s communication needs are met. They are equally vigilant in making sure that all pupils can work safely and without any

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The leadership and management are outstanding

fear of intimidation or discrimination.  Middle leaders responded very well to the extra demands that were placed upon them following the temporary restructuring that took place in the summer of 2014. They carry out their responsibilities very effectively and are benefitting greatly from the school’s commitment to helping all staff to develop professionally, especially those who may become senior leaders of the future.  Leaders have a very good view of the most effective features of teaching. Their regular checking of lessons, teachers’ planning and pupils’ learning gives them a very good understanding of aspects they may need to develop further. This regular monitoring is supported very well by rigorous formal procedures for appraising teachers’ performance. These procedures are linked effectively to pay awards, and are supplemented by a very well-considered professional development programme.  The school has very good procedures for checking how well it is doing, and leaders effectively share their

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The leadership and management are outstanding

findings with the governing body to identify appropriate priorities for the future.  Leaders routinely check records of pupils’ behaviour and respond with additional support planning if required. They also check pupils’ learning and progress frequently, but elements of this procedure are not refined enough. They have a very good understanding of individuals’ learning and they use this effectively to arrive at conclusions about achievement in the school as a whole. However, they do not explain this process in sufficient detail to the staff and governing body, and the graphs, tables and text that they use when presenting their findings in reports are not always clear or concise. The school’s leaders are well aware that this needs to be developed and have begun planning how to improve the situation.  The school provides a very good range of learning activities. There is a very strong focus on developing

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The leadership and management are outstanding

pupils’ communication skills, early literacy and numeracy skills and personal development both in school and when they are learning in the community. This includes providing opportunities to develop in pupils the importance of respecting others and the need to celebrate the differences between people. Therefore, pupils leave school well prepared for moving into secondary school and subsequently into living as adults in modern Britain.  Leaders make very good use of the additional funding that it receives for disadvantaged pupils to ensure that these pupils can learn as effectively as others. This may be through targeted specialist teaching support, such as for reading, or indirectly through the additional hours that have been made available for the home link worker to engage with families.  The additional physical education funding has been spent wisely. New fixed playground equipment has been erected and provision for swimming has been improved, which includes training to develop staff’s

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The leadership and management are outstanding

confidence and competence when taking lessons.  The school has excellent links with parents and carers, and is very highly regarded by partner schools with which it works, such as other special schools within the local authority. Partnerships with local special schools enable teachers’ assessment of pupils’ work to be standardised. As a result of these checks, the school’s assessment procedures are accurate and robust.  The potential benefits of being federated are not yet entirely obvious because the two schools federated only a short while ago. However, the early signs are encouraging as, for instance, staff are beginning to work together to share best practice.  The local authority maintains very good oversight of the school from the visits of its overview partner. These visits give the governing body a very good external view of the school’s performance and contribute much to governors’ ability to hold leaders to account.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Leaders and governors ensure that the school’s safeguarding arrangements are very secure. All statutory requirements are met fully. Policies and procedures are reviewed regularly to ensure that they are up to date and fit for purpose.   The governance of the school:  The governing body is an influential partner in the school’s development. It supports leaders very well, but it is also prepared to query and challenge the reports that it receives. It is able to do this so effectively because all governors know the school for themselves as they make planned, focused visits with a pre-determined agreement on what it is they are looking at.  The governing body makes very good use of leaders’ reports and those from the overview partner to explore the quality of teaching and outcomes for pupils, such as their behaviour and achievement.  Governors maintain good oversight of how effectively additional funding for the disadvantaged is spent.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

They are well informed about the impact that this spending has on pupils’ learning and personal development.  The governing body has a very good appreciation of the arrangements for judging teachers’ performance. They are aware of Teachers’ Standards and know how these relate to individuals’ performance and the criteria that have to be met before pay increases are agreed.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. They react very well to adults’ requests and advice. On the very few occasions when an individual pupil’s behaviour becomes especially challenging, as a result of complex learning difficulties, adults manage the situation calmly and so pupils respond quickly to what is being asked of them.  Virtually every parent and carer believes that pupils behave well, and every member of staff agrees with this view. No parents or carers think that bullying is a concern in the school.  Pupils’ excellent behaviour contributes significantly to the outstanding progress that they make. They get into lessons on time, settle quickly and move from one activity to another without argument. Pupils have very positive attitudes to learning.  Pupils are very considerate of their classmates and they play happily alongside each other. They also interact very well with adults because there are excellent relationships throughout the school. They

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Behaviour

respect resources very well, handling props such as puppets and small toy animals carefully.  Attendance is average. It is not high because the school’s small roll means that the extended absences of pupils with the most complex medical conditions have a significant effect on the overall figure. Pupils attend whenever they are fit to do so.  Pupils make excellent progress in all aspects of their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Traditional British values, such as tolerance and appreciating others as individuals, permeate all of the school’s work. As a result, pupils develop awareness of right and wrong and learn to work and play with each other harmoniously.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. All parents and carers believe that their child is safe in school, and the staff agree unanimously.  Leaders and the governing body have established detailed and very effective safeguarding procedures. Staff and governors regularly update and extend relevant training.  The school completes a variety of detailed risk assessments, such as those to evaluate the potential harm that individual pupils’ behaviour might create or the risk that others’ medical conditions may have for their day-to-day well-being. Different areas of the school are also closely risk assessed, as are all trips off site. The detail in all risk assessments, taking each pupil’s needs into account, ensures pupils’ safety when they are in school and learning in the community.  Many pupils have particular personal needs associated with their complex conditions. There are clear

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Safety

procedures for toileting, feeding, handling and moving pupils safely, and staff follow them closely and sensitively. Pupils are treated in a dignified way.  The school does a great deal to help pupils develop a sense of staying healthy and living safely. It works hard with pupils and their families to balance the value of using the internet for learning and communication with the possible risks associated with its inappropriate use and the growth of social media.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teaching across the school is typically outstanding. Class teachers lead their teams very well and so all learning support staff are very well briefed about their roles. As a result, very effective teaching assistants who work with individuals or small groups make a full contribution to the overall quality of teaching in the school.  A key feature of teaching is the way that it meets the particular needs of the three different groups of pupils in the school. A tailored, finely tuned approach in each of these different settings ensures that all pupils make excellent progress.  Adults use a range of communication approaches very effectively and so every pupil’s preferred communication style is catered for. This enables all pupils to participate in learning activities and to make known their views, opinions and needs.  Teaching in all subjects promotes pupils’ language and literacy skills very well. Adults seize all

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

opportunities to develop pupils’ speaking and listening skills and extend their vocabulary. Adults’ very good knowledge of each pupil’s learning also means that teaching encourages the few most able pupils to make excellent progress in acquiring reading and writing skills.  Pupils develop their mathematical skills extremely well because teaching provides many opportunities for them to practise what they have already learned and to acquire new understanding. For instance, staff exploit every opportunity that presents itself for pupils to count, in any subject, and they always make the most of any situation that offers pupils the chance to recognise patters or sequences.  All pupils are routinely given tasks and exercises that are set at just the right level of challenge. This happens because class teams have very good awareness of what each pupil has achieved previously and of what is now required to build on that learning.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 A very good range of carefully chosen props and other aids to learning are used extremely well to encourage pupils’ participation. These are primarily sensory resources as in some classes pupils become motivated by the touch, smell or sound of materials. More able pupils learn through handling and exploring more complex objects, such as examining the idea of cause and effect when using a remote controlled car or looking at the mechanisms of different types of puppet.  Adults’ use of time is one factor that makes teaching so effective. On the one hand, this means using time efficiently by starting lessons promptly and establishing classroom routines that pupils understand and follow. Behaviour management is very effective and efficient. On the other hand, adults are skilled at allowing pupils to have thinking time. They know how much time to give pupils to think for themselves and work things out, and when to offer prompts and guidance.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Staff make extremely good use of very well presented wall displays around the school as additional aids to supporting pupils’ learning. As well as being attractive and catching pupils’ attention, they are also very informative. Every pupil can access this information because text is always supported by symbols and photographs.

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is outstanding

 Pupils enter the school working at levels that are significantly below average. They make excellent progress from these low starting points, irrespective of the nature of their main learning difficulty. A small number do not make the progress that is expected of them, but this is generally because the complexity of their medical conditions often results in prolonged disruption to their learning.  The vast majority make the progress that is expected of pupils of the same age and starting points, with many exceeding these national expectations for pupils who are working below Level 1. As a result, their achievement is excellent when compared with pupils of the same age and starting points in other similar settings.  A small number of pupils make such good progress that they achieve Level 1. However, although these pupils may be in the school in Year 3, they do not necessarily feature in the school’s end of Key Stage 2

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is outstanding

results because they often transfer before the end of Year 6 to schools that are better suited to meet their needs.  Pupils make excellent progress in English. They make particularly good progress as communicators, using their preferred communication approach. This often includes very good development of their speaking and listening skills and, in a few cases, reading and writing.  Leaders recognised that a slight dip recently occurred in pupils’ achievement in mathematics as they were not making the same progress as they were in English. This was addressed quickly and the situation is now resolved. Pupils achieve as well in mathematics as they do in English.  Pupils’ achievement is such that by the end of Year 6 they are beginning to close the gap between their attainment and that of all pupils nationally.  There are no significant differences in the performance of different groups of pupils. Those who receive

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is outstanding

additional funding do as well as their classmates in both English and mathematics. This indicates that this funding is being used effectively to accelerate the learning of disadvantaged pupils. Boys achieve as well as girls, and pupils from different ethnic backgrounds make similar progress.  Every pupil has a learning and communication passport, which contains very detailed information about their achievement and how they can be helped to improve. The content of these passports is used to develop challenging, individual targets that contribute to accelerating pupils’ rate of progress. Pupils make excellent progress towards achieving them.  Therapists who work in the school make an important contribution to pupils’ achievement. They support pupils’ learning very well by working with them in classes for most of the time, and work with class teams to set targets and check progress.

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is outstanding

 Excellent leadership and management have been instrumental in establishing this outstanding provision. As a result, children in the Nursery transfer smoothly into Reception, where they are prepared very well for moving into Key Stage 1.  Children are assessed very quickly when they enter the provision. Their needs are identified and individual plans are produced that identify precisely how all aspects of their development are to be encouraged.  Children enter the early years provision with starting points that are significantly below what is typical for their age. They make outstanding progress from these starting points in all areas, especially in relation to their communication skills, social awareness and, in many cases, their physical development.  Children make such excellent progress because outstanding teaching ensures that they are given every opportunity to learn throughout the day. Adult-led activities are very carefully chosen with each child in

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is outstanding

mind and so every one of them has tasks that provide just the right level of challenge.  A very good mixture of these activities and opportunities for children to learn and express themselves through free play stimulate children’s curiosity and encourage their enjoyment of learning. Staff make very good use of outdoor learning space to extend these experiences.  Staff check children’s learning in every activity and they record carefully all small steps of progress. Consequently, they quickly change activities in response to how well children are achieving and they build a very comprehensive picture of how much progress each one makes over time.  Children’s behaviour is excellent. They learn to follow classroom routines and make excellent progress in their ability to interact with adults and to relate to other children.  Staff in the early years provision take every precaution to ensure that children play and learn safely.

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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 125473 Local authority Surrey Inspection number 449539

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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 2–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 90 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Annette Crozier Headteacher Fiona Neal Date of previous school inspection 28–29 January 2010 Telephone number 01932 241834 Fax number 01932 248927 Email address office1@manor-mead.surrey.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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