Hillingdon Manor School

School report Hillingdon Manor School Harlington Road, Hillingdon, Uxbridge, UB8 3HD

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Overall effectiveness Good 2

Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Early years provision Good 2 Sixth form provision Good 2

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This is a good school

 School leaders and managers set high expectations for staff and students. They have ensured that the school continues to provide a good quality education for its students.  Students with a wide range of abilities and learning difficulties settle well in the school and make good progress. This is a result of good teaching, an effective curriculum and well-planned care and support.  Students’ behaviour is good. As a result of receiving the support they need, students’ behaviour improves during their time at the school.  Students are, and feel, safe and secure. This is because policies and procedures to ensure their safety and well-being are carried out well.  The proprietor provides effective governance for the school, actively supporting the headteacher and ensuring all the independent school standards are met.  Children make a secure start in the good early years provision. They are well taught and find the

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This is a good school

activities exciting.  The sixth form is good. It provides an effective range of courses that ensures students are prepared well for their adult lives.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 In a small minority of lessons, students are not clear about the purpose of their activities.  Computers and tablets are not always well enough maintained to ensure that students gain all the benefit from them that they can.  The school’s strategies to raise students’ awareness of the differences between people are underdeveloped.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 The school meets schedule 1 of the Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2010, as amended, and associated requirements.

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection was carried out with a day’s notice. The inspectors observed 18 lessons across both of the school’s sites. Four lessons were jointly observed with the headteacher or assistant headteacher.  The inspectors looked at students’ work and spoke to students about it. They held meetings with the proprietor’s regional manager, the headteacher, the senior leaders, staff members and students.  They looked at documentation including policy statements, schemes of work, teachers’ planning and records of students’ progress and of staff training, in order to check compliance with the independent school standards.  Sixteen responses to Ofsted’s on-line questionnaire Parent View were analysed. Inspectors also considered the outcomes of recent surveys, conducted by the school, of the views of 46 parents and carers, 21 staff members and 90 students. The inspectors held meetings or telephone conversations with

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Information about this inspection

the parents or carers of six students. Sixty five questionnaire responses from members of staff were taken into consideration.

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Inspection team

John Gush, Lead Inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Hillingdon Manor School is an independent co-educational special day school. It caters for up to 150 boys and girls aged three to 19 years, who all have a diagnosis of autism or Asperger’s syndrome.  Students have a very wide range of ability and many have additional learning needs, including uncooperative behaviour. Many students come to the school following an experience of educational failure or emotional trauma at one or more previous schools.  All students have statements of special educational needs and currently 17 local authorities fund their placements.  The number of students at the school has increased in recent years and there are currently 150 students on roll between the ages of four and 19 years.  The school is located to the south of Hillingdon in London and occupies two sites. Yiewsley Grange is located about two miles from the main site; it accommodates children in the early years and students up

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Information about this school

to the age of 11. The main school site accommodates those aged between 12 and 19 years.  The school opened in September 1999 and was last inspected in October 2011, when it was judged to provide a good quality of education. An application to increase the number of students for which the school is registered, to 170, led to a material change inspection in October 2014. The change in registered numbers was not recommended at the time because some building work was still required. This inspection will make a recommendation to the Department for Education about the numbers of students the school can accommodate.  The school is led by the headteacher with the support of a senior management team. Assistant headteachers provide day-to-day leadership for each of the school’s sites.  Off-site training is made available for older students to extend their learning experience. Sports’ training takes place at Abbotsfield School (URN 102449) and a course in motor vehicle maintenance is delivered

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Information about this school

by the Youth Skills Development Team’s GEARZ Project. In addition, swimming and physical education lessons for some students take place at Uxbridge Leisure Centre.  The school’s aim is ‘to provide effective specialist education and support to students with autistic spectrum disorder and their families, which will allow students to achieve their full potential in education and life’.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality and impact of leadership and management by: ensuring that computing equipment is always well enough maintained and that students gain all the benefit from it that they can.  Improve the quality of teaching, to raise students’ achievement still further, by: ensuring that teachers help all students to understand the purpose of their learning ensuring that the school enhances the quality of the strategies it uses to raise students’ awareness of the differences between people.

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The leadership and management are good

 Under the effective direction of the headteacher, leaders in all areas of the school, including the early years and sixth form, provide a clear vision.. They set high expectations for the achievements of students; all staff members understand and respond well to these expectations. As a result of this effective leadership, the school meets all of the independent school standards, including those relating to safeguarding and child protection.  Three assistant headteachers support the headteacher well to provide strong leadership of the teaching across the school. They visit classrooms regularly to gauge the quality of teaching and they provide valuable guidance that is well received by most teachers to improve their performance. This results in good teaching overall and enables students to make good progress.  Middle leaders lead teaching and therapy teams. They communicate regularly and well with the assistant

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The leadership and management are good

headteachers and provide effective support for their team members.  Leaders ensure that members of staff have the skills and qualifications necessary to provide the learning support needed by students. Staff are recruited with a wide range of appropriate professional qualifications. Regular staff training refreshes and deepens the skills of all staff members. In addition, the school enables many individual staff members to enhance and extend their professional expertise through training to gain further qualifications. Leaders ensure that salary progression is linked closely to students’ progress.  Leaders have developed an effective and flexible range of subjects that provides all students with valuable opportunities to learn in a manner that reflects their differing needs and abilities. This enables them to work towards appropriate qualifications in a range of subjects and to develop valuable skills in

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The leadership and management are good

literacy, numeracy and communication. All students take part in weekly physical education lessons and this helps them to develop a healthy lifestyle and to keep physically fit. Leaders check the quality of off- site education and training to ensure that they extend students’ work-related skills and bolster their self- confidence.  Mutual respect, tolerance and fairness are consistently promoted to ensure equality of opportunity. The school places strong emphasis on students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Personal, social and health education (PSHE) is effectively integrated throughout their learning day. This is particularly effective in supporting students’ personal development. Together with the range of different subjects, it helps pupils to understand and appreciate British values, and prepares them well for life in modern Britain.  Effective and appropriate careers advice and guidance are provided so that students in the senior school

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The leadership and management are good

learn about the options open to them when they prepare to move on from the school.  The headteacher and her team use a good range of systems to make sure the school is meeting the learning and development needs of the students, and is keeping them safe. Information about students’ learning, as well as about their development and behaviour, is collected regularly and carefully considered. It is used well to make sure that the right support can be provided where it is needed.  A good range of facilities and equipment is available and used well to meet students’ varying needs. In addition to well-equipped classrooms and therapy rooms, good quality specialist accommodation and resources are available. These include science, art, design and technology, music technology, food technology, painting and decorating, and horticulture. Information and communication technology (ICT) equipment is available in all areas of the school. It is used well by students and staff to promote and

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The leadership and management are good

support students’ learning. However, students report that poor maintenance of computers diminishes their enthusiasm for learning, and can reduce rates of progress.  A good range of procedures to ensure students safety are in place. These are regularly reviewed and brought up to date as required. Very effective arrangements and supervision ensure students’ safety when they are away from either of the school’s sites. This includes educational trips, visits to local community facilities, work experience placements and off-site training.  Staff recruitment is well managed. All staff, including those in the organisations that provide off-site education and training, are checked for their suitability to work with children.  The information that is required for parents, carers and others is provided on the proprietor’s website or in the school’s brochure. The school’s complaints policy is publicised and used appropriately. It meets

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The leadership and management are good

requirements.  The school provides adequate accommodation and facilities for the education of up to 170 students across both its sites. As a result of this inspection, it is recommended that the Department for Education accepts the request for a change in the number of students for which the school is registered.  The governance of the school: The proprietors have a good range of procedures to ensure the school complies with the independent school standards. Valuable new systems to improve the monitoring of students’ achievements have recently devised by the proprietor’s board of directors. As a result, they have a good understanding of data about the school’s performance. The headteacher provides the board with regular information about teachers’ performance. As a result, the board knows about the quality of teaching and there are effective arrangements to ensure that good teaching is suitably rewarded.

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The leadership and management are good

The proprietor’s regional manager provides valuable support to the school leaders, helping them to ensure the school continues to develop well.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of students is good. All the independent school standards that relate to students’ behaviour and safety are met. Almost all students, including children in the early years provision, are courteous to visitors, staff members and to one another in classrooms and as they move around the school. They attend regularly and are usually on time for their lessons.  Some students, as a result of their learning difficulty, experience frustration and emotional volatility. When this leads to unsettled or disturbed behaviour, staff members respond quickly and effectively. This helps students to settle as quickly as they can and minimises the impact on the learning of others. Very effective reporting and recording are used well by staff to help them to understand the patterns of students’ behaviour. They devise effective ways of helping students to learn to regulate their own behaviour.  The number of instances of unsettled behaviour fluctuates due to a wide range of differing needs

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Behaviour

amongst the students. However, for most students the frequency and severity of unsettled behaviour decrease during their time at the school. A large majority of parents and carers comment very positively about the impact the school has had on helping students to improve their behaviour.  In classrooms, students are usually keen and ready to learn. They respond well to requests from teachers and other staff and support one another in a good-humoured manner. Mutual respect between students and staff leads to an effective learning atmosphere that pervades most areas of the school.  As a result of an effective anti-bullying strategy, students of all ages have a good understanding of bullying and what to do to avoid it. They are aware of the dangers of bullying through the internet and on social media and mobile phones. Their parents and carers receive valuable information from the school to ensure that they understand these dangers and what can be done to keep young people safe online.

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Behaviour

Students say that although some bullying does occasionally take place, the school responds quickly and deals with it well.  Many activities help to promote students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The students learn with interest about the expectations of modern British society in citizenship and other lessons. Understanding the rule of law and about right and wrong actions is effectively promoted through the school’s simple, but clear, code of conduct as well as through discussions in tutorials and citizenship lessons.  Assemblies, lessons and very attractive displays around the school help students to learn about and gain an appreciation of other cultures. Students are active fundraisers for a variety of charities. They run activities such as paying to dress up as a character in literature for World Book Day to raise funds. Together with the curriculum, these activities prepare them well for life in modern Britain. Students

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Behaviour

benefit greatly from learning to understand their own disabilities. However, the school’s strategy to raise awareness of other ways people are different from one another is not yet fully developed. This includes differences associated with sexual orientation and gender identity.  Staff members understand, and follow, the school’s policy that prohibits the promotion of any partisan political views in any activity associated with the school.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep students and early years children safe and secure is good.  Students learn about keeping safe, both in school and in their local communities. Many speak confidently about this. They say that they are safe in school and that members of the school staff are active in promoting their safety.  The valuable relationships that students build with staff and therapists create a safe working and learning atmosphere. This helps students to settle and to make the most of their potential for educational success.  Suitable training in child protection is provided for all staff members and they have regular opportunities to refresh and deepen their understanding and knowledge in this area. The headteacher is the designated safeguarding lead person and has received the required advanced level of training. Senior staff are trained in safer recruitment. A single central register appropriately records the checks made by the school

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Safety

to ensure that all staff members are suitable to work with children.  Students’ safety is underpinned by robust policies that are consistently put into practice. These include policies about fire safety, first aid and the health and safety of students and staff. Very good arrangements are carried out well to make sure that students are safe when they are off site for training or for educational visits.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers assess students’ capabilities regularly and gain a good understanding of what students know and can do. They utilise this well to set suitable targets on students’ individual education plans. They plan lessons and activities that take account of students’ individual capabilities and help the students to learn and to work towards their goals and, where appropriate, their examinations. All the independent school standards that relate to the quality of teaching are met.  The school has an effective process that enables teachers to check the accuracy of their checks of students’ progress. The school has also devised a ‘measure of autistic tendencies’. This is effectively used across the school to identify how well students understand and can overcome the impact of their disability. These processes help teachers to make sure that they are setting targets that are realistic and that will stretch all students to achieve as well as they can.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In most lessons, teachers make sure that students understand what they are working towards. Teachers, assistants and therapists help students to recognise what they need to do to increase their understanding and skill. This helps students to develop confidence in their learning and to make good progress.  In a small minority of lessons, students are not fully clear about what they are trying to achieve. In these lessons students do not engage as well as they could and, as a result, learning is slower.  Teachers emphasise the importance of developing reading, writing and communication skills. They encourage all those students who can, to read every day. They communicate well with parents and carers to support this. All students have daily opportunities to develop their abilities in writing and mathematics.  Teachers in most classes make good use of the teaching assistants who are present in almost all lessons.

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The quality of teaching is good

Some support continuous and effective support for individual students and others are directed by teachers to help students to focus on their tasks and thus to develop their self-confidence.  Therapists play a vital role in supporting students’ learning. Every student is assessed by speech, language and communication therapists and by occupational therapists. Detailed plans are shared with teachers and these therapists work alongside teachers and assistants in lessons to help students develop the skills they need. Some students are referred to the school’s drama and music therapists. Together with the school’s counsellors and clinical psychologist, they help students to understand and overcome the barriers that get in the way of their learning and their personal development. These therapies enable students to develop self-awareness and confidence, and to become ready for further learning and to extend their achievements.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Students enter the school at various ages, frequently following difficult experiences of education and with negative feelings about school. Leaders enable almost all students to achieve well as they progress through the school. The school also supports late starters well so that they settle quickly and begin to catch up well, so raising their achievement. All the independent school standards that relate to students’ achievements are met.  Students’ progress in their academic work is monitored monthly. Their ability to make sense of their autism is also measured, as is the extent and severity of any unsettled behaviour. The school uses all of these measurements to assess the extent of students’ progress. Records show that, overall, students make good progress in their learning and in their personal development. Although the attainment of many students remains well below the national average, the great majority make good progress from

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The achievement of pupils is good

their starting points at the school.  All students study English and mathematics, and most work towards suitable examinations and qualifications in these and a number of other subjects. In recent years, results of functional skills tests and GCSE examinations show that many students gain passes in two or more subjects. Some gain high grades in some subjects.  Disabled students and those with special educational needs make good progress as a result of the effective specialist support they receive. They make steady progress, increasing their skills in literacy, communication and the use of number, as well as in the skills they need to live well in the community. They achieve well from their starting points.  The most able students of all ages achieve very well, especially in their areas of specific interest. They receive effective support, helping them to make good use their abilities and to broaden their range of

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The achievement of pupils is good

interests. Some are very successful, achieving very high grades in GCSE as well as A-level passes.

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The early years provision is good

 The school makes effective use of the early years curriculum, not only for very young children but also for many children in Key Stage 1 (aged five and six years).  Leaders of the early years provision are clear about its strengths and areas for improvement. They provide suitable training that extends staff members’ understanding of the use and impact of the early years framework to enhance the children’s learning and progress.  Insufficient children have used the early years setting as three- or four-year-olds for a meaningful judgement about progress over time in the early years provision to be made. However, the early years setting meets the learning needs of the children who use it very well. The accommodation and facilities provide safe and well-equipped indoor and outdoor learning areas for children to play, explore and learn in a wide variety of ways.  Individual education plans for each child identify specific targets in the seven areas of early years

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The early years provision is good

learning. As staff follow these plans, children are able to settle very well and make sustained and good progress in their learning and development.  Good relationships exist between staff members and children, and these enable children to settle well into the life of the school. Children behave well. They listen and respond appropriately to questions and requests as well as they are able. They come from a range of different cultural backgrounds and they mix well together.  Members of staff work well together to provide a good learning experience to develop children’s knowledge and skills. This also enables children to develop their speaking and listening skills and to develop the confidence to speak in a group.  They receive valuable and effective support from speech and language and occupational therapists. Their interventions ensure that children’s behaviour does not hinder their development of learning and

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The early years provision is good

developing skills.  The teaching of phonics is effective and is valuable in helping those children who can, to develop early literacy skills.  Strong emphasis on personal, social and emotional development provides effective support as children make gains in their ability to regulate their own behaviour.  Children are well supervised at all times and are well looked after by the staff members. Staff take appropriate steps to make sure children are secure in school. They carry out regular checks on the premises and resources to ensure children’s health and safety.  Staff members and key workers work closely with parents and carers. This helps them to have a joined up approach to supporting the children’s development and helping the children to make progress.

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The sixth form provision is good

 Almost all students in Key Stage 4 progress to the sixth form. Their work is based on their own individual learning pathway, which the school designs in collaboration with students and their parents and carers. These meet students’ learning and development needs well.  Some students achieve good results in courses that lead to examinations. These include a good range of GCSEs, including English and mathematics, and some take A levels in art and music technology. Other pathways lead to students achieving passes in entry-level qualifications in English and mathematics, as well as work-related qualifications in motor vehicle maintenance or sports science. In addition, students gain credits from a wide range of courses that assist them effectively to develop their capacity for independent living.  The sixth form is well led and managed and high standards are expected from students and staff members alike. Therapists work closely and effectively with teachers and assistants to enable students to

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The sixth form provision is good

make the most of their abilities. As a result of this effective support and the good teaching, students make good progress overall.  A good variety of work experience placements are in use and many students succeed in developing work related skills and to extending their awareness of life in the local community, as well as their work-related opportunities.  Regular and very useful meetings are held during the sixth form to ensure that all students, and their parents and carers, have the information they need to make informed decisions about their options for the future.  Students who have left the school in recent years have made good use of the skills and knowledge they have gained at the school in their new placements. Almost all of them have moved on successfully to further education and training at local or residential colleges, or to take part in supported employment projects.  The sixth form provides a safe working and learning environment. Although some students find some

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The sixth form provision is good

aspects of the security arrangements irksome, they recognise that they benefit from the protection they provide. The school has effective systems to check that work experience placements and off-site training are managed in a manner that does not put students at risk.

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Grade Judgement

Grade 1 Outstanding Grade 2 Good Grade 3 Requires improvement Grade 4 Inadequate

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Grade Judgement

Detailed grade characteristics can be viewed in the Non-association independent school inspection handbook which is published on the Ofsted website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/non- association-independent-school-inspection-handbook .

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School details

Unique reference number 131940 Inspection number 454263 DfE registration number 312/6063 This inspection was carried out under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008, the purpose of which is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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School details

Type of school Co-educational day special school for pupils with autistic spectrum disorders School status Independent school Age range of pupils 4 to 19 years Gender of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 150 Of which, number on roll in sixth form 40 Number of part time pupils 0 Proprietor Outcomes First Group Chair Richard Greenwell Headteacher Akinyi Dulo Date of previous school inspection 11-12 October 2011 Annual fees (day pupils) £37,587 Telephone number 01895 813679 Fax number 01895 813679 Email address enquiries@hillingdonmanorschool.org.uk guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . 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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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School details

inspects to 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit

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School details

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our website for news, information and updates at https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/user .

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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