Heritage Park School

Heritage Park Community School Norfolk Park Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S2 2RU

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 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

 This is a good school which knows itself well. The highly effective leadership of the executive headteacher and acting assistant headteacher have brought about change at a fast pace ensuring all areas for improvement identified in the previous inspection report have been addressed.  Governors’ good level of understanding of school data has contributed to the improvement in pupils’ achievement.  Good behaviour in classrooms ensures pupils make good progress and achieve well. Staff have very high expectations of pupils’ attitudes and behaviour. The rigorous application of the school’s behaviour policy ensures pupils’ behaviour outside the classroom is equally good.  The vast majority of pupils are very clear when they say that they feel safe in school. Activities included in the school’s outdoor education programme help them to develop skills and understanding of how to keep safe both inside and outside school.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 ‘Staff here have taught me so much including important things, like how to read and write’ was a typical comment from pupils. This demonstrates the impact of school’s successful focus on improving pupils’ achievement to good overall.  Teaching is nearly always good with some examples of outstanding practice. Pupils clearly enjoy learning as evidenced by the enthusiasm of the vast majority to join in activities set.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Pupils in Key Stage 3 make less progress than others because the work set, particularly for the most able pupils, does not always match their needs sufficiently accurately. When this happens progress slows.  Pupils’ books are diligently marked in all areas of the school. However, the comments by teachers give pupils insufficient guidance on how to improve their work.  Occasionally, support staff are not used effectively enough to promote pupils’ learning and manage behaviour in the classroom. When this happens, learning slows and behaviour dips.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection team observed lessons and parts of lessons from across the school taught by teachers and support staff. Five lesson observations were undertaken jointly with senior leaders. The inspection team also examined the quality of work in the books of pupils across the school.  The inspection team held meetings and discussions with pupils, the headteacher, middle leaders and members of the school’s staff. The lead inspector met with four members of the governing body.  The inspection team took into account the views of 13 parents who responded to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View). They also took into account the views of eight staff members who returned questionnaires to the inspection team.  The inspection team studied health and safety documentation, documents relating to the procedures to check the performance of staff, pupils’ attendance data and the school’s system for checking pupils’

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Inspection team

Marian Thomas, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school provides for of 101 pupils between the ages of seven and 16 who live in and around the city of Sheffield.  All students who attend have a statement of special educational need for social, emotional and behavioural needs Many have additional needs, including autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and moderate learning difficulties.  An approximately three times greater than average proportion of pupils is disadvantaged. These are pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those in the care of the local authority and are supported by the pupil premium funding.  The school has a small offsite provision, The Lodge, which is attended by 12 pupils with the highest level of need.  Twenty-two pupils from the school attend altenative provision at 11 different centres, including a motor vehicle workshop and an urban farm.  The executive headteacher is headteacher of both the Heritage Park Community School and Holgate

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Information about this school

Meadows Community School, which is also a special school. The schools formed a hard federation in January 2014. Currently, the executive headteacher is also supporting the Sheffield Inclusion Centre, a pupil referral unit.  From the 1 June 2015 the school will become a foundation school as part of a trust formed with five other local special schools.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Accelerate pupils’ achievement and improve the consistency in the quality of teaching in Key Stage 3 by:  ensuring the work set matches the needs of the most able pupils accurately and enables them to make as much progress as possible  making certain that marking and feedback consistently give pupils clear guidance about how to improve their work  ensuring that teaching assistants’ time is always used consistently well to support pupils’ learning and behaviour.

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The leadership and management are good

 The executive headteacher and assistant headteacher lead the school well, as evidenced by the improvement in the quality of teaching and pupils’ behaviour since the previous inspection. Their exceptionally clear vision of how to move the school forward is shared by staff. An effective plan is in place which focuses on improving the quality of teaching and outcomes for pupils still further.  Senior leaders regularly carry out valuable checks on the quality of teaching. Improvement has continued at a good pace since the previous inspection. Evidence of this can be seen in the increase in the numbers of pupils successfully attaining national accreditations at the end of Year 11.  Middle leaders have recently been appointed and are beginning to play a more active role in monitoring the quality of teaching in their subjects and key stages. As a result, they are beginning to contribute to the improvement in the achievement of all groups of pupils. This is evidenced by the improvement in

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The leadership and management are good

standards reached by pupils in both Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 last year.  The headteacher and the governing body ensure performance targets for staff link directly to pupils’ achievement and targets in the school improvement plan. Checks on the performance of staff are undertaken regularly and robustly and this information is used to make decisions on teachers’ pay progression.  The high expectations of what every pupil can achieve is at heart of the school’s ethos. Leaders and staff ensure that all are welcomed into school and that every pupil is given an equal opportunity to succeed. Staff continually challenge discrimination and foster good relations with all pupils.  Careful management of the pupil premium funding by governors and senior managers has enabled the school to support disadvantaged pupils effectively. As a result, the achievement gap between this group and other groups in the school is closing.

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The leadership and management are good

 Both the primary and the secondary curriculum are well planned and subjects are successfully linked. The curriculum meets the new requirements for the teaching of British values well. Through visits away from the classroom, for example, to London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, pupils of all ages and abilities gain an understanding of life in modern Britain.  A myriad of visitors and visits away from the classroom enrich all areas of the curriculum. These experiences bring learning to life for pupils. For example, trips to France widen pupils’ horizons and understanding of the world which contribute well to their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  The vast majority of parents support the work of the school and feel staff support helps pupils as evidenced by their recommendation of the school to others.  School leaders are justifiably proud of the sporting accomplishments of their pupils. The funding for

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The leadership and management are good

primary school sport is used effectively to ensure every primary pupil has weekly swimming lessons and all pupils become proficient at trampolining. These activities contribute directly to improving pupils’ health and fitness.  The school prepares pupils well for the next stage in their education, training or the world of work. Last year all Year 11 pupils gained a college place or an apprenticeship, clearly demonstrating the high quality of careers guidance provided by the school.  The local authority has given a good level of support to senior leaders, which has contributed directly to the improvements in pupils’ achievement and the quality of teaching since the previous inspection.  Senior leaders carry out rigorous checks on the quality of alternative provision. As a result, pupils attend regularly and make equally good progress to their peers.  Safeguarding procedures and policies meet current requirements. Governors undertake regular child

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The leadership and management are good

protection training and carry out regular checks on the premises and school buildings.  The governance of the school:  Members of the governing body have a valuable range of skills and experience, which they have updated by undertaking further training. As a result, they understand data and offer good levels of challenge and support to senior leaders on the achievement of pupils and quality of teaching.  In partnership with senior leaders, governors have developed an effective system for checking the performance of all staff which rewards good teaching and addresses underperformance.  The finance committee ensures that financial resources are managed effectively. As a result, the inherited deficit budget is reducing and will be resolved in the near future.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Despite their very high levels of need, the majority of pupils show good attitudes and behaviour. This combined with the effective support given by staff, ensures that learning is infrequently interrupted by difficult behaviour. Pupils’ positive attitudes to learning have contributed directly to the improvement in achievement across the school.  A caring ethos is promoted throughout school and is reflected in the attitudes pupils show to each other and adults alike. ‘Coming here has helped us to improve our behaviour because staff understand us’, commented several pupils, reflecting the views of others. Pupils’ improving levels of attendance and punctuality further evidence this.  Parents hold the view that their childrens’ behaviour improves once they join the school and that they are safe and well cared for in school. Parents of older pupils feel that the school prepares them well for the

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Behaviour

future.  Two years ago, pupils were too frequently excluded from school. Senior leaders have effectively addressed the issues behind this and school records show that no pupil was excluded in the past year.  Incidents of difficult behaviour rarely escalate because of the effective way in which the behaviour policy is consistently applied across the school by skilled staff.  Pupils who attend alternative provision behave equally well to peers in school because the curriculum offered engages them well and staff understand their needs.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Safeguarding training is undertaken regularly by all staff and effective work is undertaken with outside agencies to ensure pupils’ safety both inside and outside school.  Pupils say they feel very safe and secure in school because staff are there to help them. They commented that there is always someone who will listen should they have concerns and they know where to turn if they feel troubled.  Outdoor education plays an important role in developing pupils’ understanding of how to keep safe and in helping them to address their sometimes unsafe behaviour. Training on keeping safe whilst walking and survival skills help older pupils to successfully complete their Duke of Edinburgh award and safety training on the internet ensures pupils understand how to make safe decisions now and in the future.  The school’s recent work on anti-bullying highlighted to pupils the different forms bullying can take. Those

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Safety

pupils who spoke with the inspection team, both formally and informally, showed good understanding of the many forms bullying can take and the majority were adamant it did not happen in their school. They were also clear about where to turn should an incident occur.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching and pupils’ learning across the school is good over time.  Reading and writing are taught well and pupils make equally progress in both areas. For example, pupils studying Romeo and Juliet showed good levels of understanding of the feelings of the key characters. Mathematics is also taught well as evidenced by good and better progress made by the vast majority of pupils.  Staff know pupils well and as a result, planning for future learning is usually accurate. This generally ensures that the work set meets the needs of pupils, and enables most groups of pupils to make good progress. However, pupils in Key Stage 3 make less progress than those in Key Stage 2 and 4. This is because staff do not have high enough expectations of what they can achieve in the time available and the work set does not always match their needs sufficently accurately. This slows the progress of this

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The quality of teaching is good

group.  Homework is set, where appropriate, and pupils often take pride in completing it. Most parents agree it helps pupils to practise skills and increases their rate of progress.  The majority of teaching assistants and teachers work exceptionally closely together in order to meet pupils’ complex behavioural needs. They share high expectations for the progress of the pupils in their care. Effective teamwork and planning is apparent within the majority of classrooms and results in pupils’ increased enjoyment of learning, which reflects in their good attitudes and behaviour.  However, in a small number of classrooms, teaching assistants’ time is not used as effectively as it could be and staff do not participate fully in supporting pupils’ learnng and behaviour. When this happens learning slows and behaviour dips.  Extra sessions planned for pupils who need more help with their learning are well thought out and

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The quality of teaching is good

carefully monitored. Staff always go the extra mile to support the needs of all their pupils. For example, pupils who attend The Lodge often attend school at different times to others in order to maximise their concentration and learning time. As a result, these pupils make the same good progress as others in the school.  Pupils’ work is diligently marked in most areas of the school. However, marking and feedback is often just an encouraging comment or a suggestion to continue in the same way, which does not always give pupils sufficient guidance on how to improve their work.  Pupils undertake a wide variety of activities and lessons, which include religious education, personal and social education, and art and design, which promote and develop their good spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Achievement is good overall. Well-targeted support for individual pupils ensures most groups make equally good progress in English and mathematics as their peers. Pupils with additional needs, for example, those with ASD, make good progress because of the well thought out and individual curriculum which is provided for each pupil.  Disadvantaged pupils make similar progress to others in the school. This demonstrates the effective use of pupil premium funding which the school uses to provide extra support to boost pupils’ achievement in a variety of different ways, including one-to-one and small group sessions.  Current school data shows pupils across the school are set to make greater gains than last year. Lesson observations, a scrutiny of pupils’ work and staff records, support this view.  Pupils’ progress in mathematics is good because lessons activities are made exciting and learning is fun. A

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The achievement of pupils is good

group of Key Stage 2 pupils explained just how much they enjoy the innovative approaches taken by their teachers with the comment: ‘We love maths because our teacher makes it fun and always helps us if we get stuck’.  Pupils’ progress in reading has improved this year and pupils spoken to said how much they enjoyed reading books for pleasure. For example the inspection team was told that a pupil who could not read when he joined the school had just completed his fifth Harry Potter book and was encouraging his younger brother to ‘pick up a book and read’.  The most able pupils across the school make good progress overall. However, the most able pupils in Key Stage 3 make less progress than others of the same age. This is because staff sometimes set work that is too easy for these pupils. For example, too often more able pupils are not given sufficent opportunities to write longer pieces of work in English and other subjects. As a result, they do not develop skills as quickly

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The achievement of pupils is good

as they could and this hampers their progress.

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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 126705 Local authority Sheffield Inspection number 453527

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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 7–16 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 101 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Rose Slimani Headteacher Tony Middleton Date of previous school inspection 26 March 2013 Telephone number 0114 279 6850 Fax number 0114 275 8476 Email address enquiries@heritagepark.sheffield.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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