Sheffield Inclusion Centre

Sheffield Inclusion Centre Spring Lane, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S2 2JQ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Inadequate 4 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Not enough students make more than expected progress in English or mathematics. Opportunities are missed to develop students’ literacy and numeracy skills.  The recently developed assessment and progress tracking systems are not consistently used by all staff.  Some students do not make enough progress because the teachers do not plan activities based on students’ previous learning. This means that some students find tasks too easy while others find them too difficult.  Assessment of what the pupils know, understand and can do is not always accurate.  Marking does not always provide sufficient guidance to students about how to improve their work.  Middle leaders have not developed their skills enough to support the continued improvement in the quality of teaching or the behaviour of the students.  The centre’s procedures to manage behaviour and attendance are not consistently implemented by all staff. As a result students’ behaviour requires

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

improvement.  A small number of students do not attend regularly enough to gets the full benefit of the opportunities the centre offers.

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The school has the following strengths

 The interim executive headteacher, deputy headteacher and other senior leaders have had a significant impact in the last 12 months in addressing weaknesses in the quality of teaching and students’ achievements.  The centre’s leaders have high expectations for the students and the staff.  All students have the chance of gaining external qualifications.  Most students, including those who face enormous challenges in life, improve their attendance and achievement when placed at the centre.  The centre is rapidly developing a range of sites offering further opportunities for students excluded from mainstream schools.  The centre makes effective use of alternative providers.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in lessons. Seven observations were joint visits with senior leaders. Inspectors observed learning in three of the centre’s sites and at four of the alternative providers used by the centre. The inspectors also observed the students arriving and leaving the centre, at break times and lunchtimes.  The inspectors heard students read individually and during lessons. The inspectors looked at the work in students’ books and the records of the assessments completed by the centre.  Inspectors held meetings with students, staff, centre leaders, representatives of the governing body and the local authority.  Inspectors reviewed the centre’s policies and records relating to the safety of the students, governing body minutes, evaluation and monitoring records and individual student records.  The centre information about students’ attendance, attainment and progress over time were reviewed and

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Information about this inspection

discussed.  There were not enough responses to Parent View (Ofsted’s online questionnaire for parents) for these to be considered. The inspectors reviewed the records of the centre’s contact calls with parents.  The inspectors considered the responses to the inspection questionnaires returned by 17 staff.

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Inspection team

Susan Hayter, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with section 13 (4) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires special measures.

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Information about this school

 Sheffield Inclusion Centre is the pupil referral centre for Sheffield City. The centre makes provision for Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 students who have been permanently excluded from school. The centre also makes provision for Key Stage 2 pupils who have either been permanently excluded or who are at risk of exclusion.  The centre provides an outreach service for primary aged pupils to support their inclusion in their mainstream school.  The centre is based at three different sites. The main secondary provision is at Spring Lane. The Southey Centre which opened in November 2014 provides for Key Stage 3.  Key Stage 2 provision is at The Meadows, a site newly developed in January 2015.  During the inspection the centre was using 24 alternative providers. Age UK, A Mind Apart, Clubs for Young People, Construction Design Centre, Dimensions, GTA, Education Through Angling, Heeley City Farm, In2Change, Lane End Farm, Musical Works, NACRO,NotSchool.net, Recycle, Sheffield Sharks,

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Information about this school

Sheffield Media Productions, Sheaf Training, Sheffield College, Sheffield Wednesday, SYTG, The Source, Sheffield Engineering Centre, Whirlow Hall Farm and YASY.  The majority of the students are White British boys; however, there is an increasing number of students from different ethnic backgrounds, reflecting changes in the local community.  A small number of Key Stage 2 pupils are dual registered with their mainstream primary school.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by pupil premium funding (additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those looked after by the local authority) is above the national average.  The executive interim headteacher and deputy headteacher have been seconded to the centre since March 2014, from local special schools. The assistant headteacher, responsible for Key Stage 3 joined the centre in January 2015. There has been a significant number of new staff joining the centre since the last

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that it is at least consistently good and results in consistently good achievement including in English and mathematics, by: - ensuring that accurate assessment of what the pupils know, understand and can do is developed across all key stages and all the centre’s sites - ensuring that the work given to pupils matches their varying needs and abilities, so that work is never too easy for the most able nor too difficult for other pupils - ensure that all students develop their literacy and numeracy skills in all lessons at all sites and when attending alternative provision - making sure the centre’s marking policy is implemented consistently across all sites so that pupils know how to improve their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the impact of leadership and management by: - helping middle leaders to develop the skills required drive to forward improvements to the quality of teaching and the achievements of students - ensuring that middle leaders fully understand the principles behind the centre’s behaviour management and attendance policies and apply these policies effectively - making certain that the centre’s assessment and progress tracking systems are consistently used by staff across the centre’s different sites.  Improve behaviour and safety by: - ensuring the centre’s procedures to manage behaviour and attendance, including strategies contained in personalised plans, are used consistently by all staff including support staff - making sure that all staff have the same high expectations of students’ behaviour and use a constant approach to tackle some pupils' swearing - ensure all students attend regularly enough to gain the full benefit of the opportunities offered by the

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The interim executive headteacher has considerable skill and knowledge. He has used this to bring about significant positive change in the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement and attendance in a short period of time. The centre has benefitted enormously from his knowledge of the local community and relationships with other secondary schools in developing the procedure for reintegrating students back into mainstream schools.  The new senior leadership team has worked tirelessly to develop safe and robust systems that ensure vulnerable and disengaged students are safe and make progress in their learning. Some staff do not consistently implement the new systems but they are being supported to do so through coaching and mentoring from the senior leaders.  Senior leaders have improved performance management systems so that they are more robust. They monitor and evaluate the impact teaching has on the progress pupils make through regular visits to

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The leadership and management requires improvement

classrooms, reviews of teachers’ planning and of pupils’ work. Their judgements about teaching are accurate and perceptive; therefore, they have a very clear understanding of the standards achieved and what needs to be done for the effectiveness of the centre to be become good.  Senior leaders and the governing body have responded to Her Majesty’s Inspector’s monitoring reports and their own monitoring by implementing effective action plans. This has underpinned day-to-day improvements, while moving forward longer-term plans to make provision on different sites closer to where the students live.  Senior and middle leaders recognise that not all staff fully implement the centre’s assessment and progress tracking systems.  The middle leadership team is relatively new and has not had time to develop the skills required to robustly drive forward improvements to the quality of teaching and the achievements of the students.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

Additionally, their contribution to the development of the centre is reduced because they do not fully understand and apply the principles behind the centre’s behaviour management and attendance policies.  The centre works hard to make sure parents support their children to attend more and to work hard at the centre. Frequent telephone calls and joint work with external agencies make sure that most parents work with the centre to improve outcomes for students.  Students benefit from a curriculum that reflects their individual needs and retains an appropriate focus on the development of literacy and numeracy skills. The large number of alternative providers used by the centre ensures the students have a range of curriculum choices that keeps them engaged in developing their skills. The centre makes sure that the students regularly attend the alternative providers and checks daily to ensure they are safe.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The centre ensures the students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is well supported through a range of subjects, external visitors and individual mentoring. It works with individual students to support them to make good choices when presented with extremists’ views of any type.  Students are taught British values both at the centre’s sites and at alternative providers. This includes students supporting young people with learning disabilities at one of the farm placements. The way the centre supports students to develop good relationships with a range of different people and addresses negative stereotypes illustrates its commitment to challenging discrimination and fostering good relationships.  Pupil premium funding is used to support the attendance and engagement of the disadvantaged students. The centre is at the early stages of measuring the impact of the funding. The centre spends the Primary

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The leadership and management requires improvement

Physical Education and Sports Grant to provide swimming and visits to local specialist sports centres. This encourages the students to be fit and healthy.  The special educational needs coordinator is skilful in identifying students who have been excluded from their mainstream schools due to unmet and unidentified needs. He has initiated education and health care plans to support 18 students since September. This process ensures students can access the support they need to learn and where necessary gain places in more specialist schools.  Senior leaders and the governing body have extensive and challenging discussions to ensure that all the students enjoy equal opportunities across the range of sites used by the centre. They are aware that for some students their individual needs make full inclusion a challenge that can only be resolved over time.  The local authority has provided practical and strategic support to the centre over a two-year period,

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The leadership and management requires improvement

which has helped to develop the centre’s practice. The focus for joint work between the centre and the local authority is now moving towards work with mainstream schools to develop more inclusive practice.  Joint work between Sheffield Futures and centre staff ensures that most students receive appropriate careers advice and guidance. They are able to make informed choices and develop suitable plans for the next step in their education. A small number of students spoke about their aspirations for the future, including higher education.  Safeguarding procedures meet government requirements. Staff are trained in a wide range of relevant safeguarding issues including child sexual exploitation.  The governance of the school: - The governors responded positively to the review of governance following the last inspection and now provide appropriate challenge and support to the centre. - Governors know from first-hand visits to the different sites that the provision has improved significantly

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The leadership and management requires improvement

and recognise that it still requires further improvement in order to be good. - Due to the number of new appointments over the last 12 months and the secondment arrangements for senior leaders, the governors did not have to consider performance-related pay recommendations. They do receive and question termly reports from the monitoring and evaluation work the centre undertakes, including information about students’ progress and the quality of teaching. - The governors, working with senior leaders have taken the appropriate steps to reduce a significant financial deficit.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of students requires improvement. This is because despite recent improvements not enough students attend as often as they should and some poor behaviour, for example swearing, goes unchallenged by some staff.  Senior leaders understand that for a significant number of pupils the lengthy and complex journeys to the centre on public transport is a barrier to their attendance. This is why they are developing more sites across the city to reduce travelling time and to keep the students’ connection with their local community.  Most students’ attendance and engagement in learning improves significantly when they start at the centre but for some students the improvement takes longer. They are offered a range of personalised support including lessons at home, to build up their acceptance of school. However, some students are still not attending the centre regularly and therefore cannot take full advantage of what the centre offers.

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Behaviour

This has a detrimental effect on their progress.  The number of serious incidents within the centre has reduced significantly and this has led to a significant reduction in fixed-term exclusions. Whole staff training on how to support students who are challenging rules or who are experiencing emotional crisis is increasingly effective in reducing the amount of physical restraint used. Inspectors saw examples of successful, positive approaches to supporting students before their behaviour became extreme.  Although students’ enthusiasm for learning is yet to be fully developed, in most lessons the students get on with the tasks they are asked to complete with very little support. A few students really engaged in art lessons, showing the potential for enthusiastic learning.  Key areas of achievement for the students placed at the centre are in their improved attendance and improved engagement in learning. The centre has recently introduced a system for recording the level of

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Behaviour

engagement of each student in each lesson. The information shows a positive picture of improving engagement for all groups of students. The students are motivated by the system. However, the system is yet to be used consistently by all staff.  Students say they feel safe at the centre and that if bullying occurs the staff ‘sort it out’. The students talk about which staff they would go to if they had worries or concerns. Students are aware of homophobia. Incidents of bullying are recorded and appropriate action taken. Most students attending alternative providers behave well. The students know their placement can stop if their behaviour is inappropriate when they attend the alternative provision.

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Safety

 The centre’s work to keep pupils safe and secure requires improvement. This is because not all staff, including support staff, fully implement all the centre’s procedures consistently. This includes procedures to manage behaviour and attendance and strategies contained in students’ personalised plans.  When senior leaders are made aware of actions that are not in line with school policy they take very prompt and robust action.  Staff are keen to protect potentially vulnerable students and they work with a range of other agencies to ensure students get the help they need when safeguarding and child protection issues are known.  The centre’s record keeping of their work with other agencies is not systematic, which restricts its usefulness.  Students learn about safe and healthy lifestyle choices including e-safety and drug awareness.  Staff are trained appropriately to keep students safe and have received specific training about exploitation.

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Safety

The training ensures the centre works with other agencies to provide good support to students at risk of all forms of harm. The sites and premises are well maintained and any emerging concerns are addressed promptly.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement because not all teachers plan lessons based on what the students already know, can do and understand. In some lessons the work set is too hard and some work too easy.  The development of literacy and numeracy skills across a range of subject is not promoted effectively enough. There are lots of times students could practise literacy and numeracy skills but are not encouraged to do so.  Recently introduced and developing assessment systems are beginning to improve the accuracy of assessment in some areas of the centre, particularly Key Stage 2. However, there are still inconsistencies in the accuracy of assessments across the different key stages and sites.  The centre’s marking policy is not consistently implemented across all sites. Therefore students do not always know what they need to do to improve their work.  Many of the students are reluctant to read. The centre is working to develop strategies to improve

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

students’ confidence and desire to read. However, there are still missed opportunities for students to read in lessons. There is a limited range of opportunities for students to be inspired to complete extended pieces of writing.  Some teaching of mathematics ensures students make good progress because the work is planned at an individual level; however, this is not the case in all lessons.  The work of the teaching assistants and other adults to support the students is variable in quality. Some teaching assistants secure exceptional progress with individual students. However, some teachers do not plan for the use of teaching assistants, which means they do not have much impact on the students’ progress.  Senior leaders have ensured that newly recruited teachers have the skills and knowledge to improve the achievements of students in reading, writing and mathematics. The impact of this is seen in the improved

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

rate of progress the students are making in these essential areas.  Some teachers and other staff question the students very skilfully. Students deepen their understanding because they talk about their learning and teachers can correct any misunderstandings.  There are some well-planned activities that take into account the students’ existing knowledge, understanding and preferred ways of working, leading to students working hard and making progress  Displays of the students art work in corridors and displays of students’ work in classrooms is having a positive effect on the students’ sense of pride and valuing themselves. Displays that promote attendance and subject-specific skills and key words are helpful in supporting the students’ learning.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Students arrive at the centre with very low levels of attainment and some have regressed from the levels they achieved at the end of Year 6. In the past the centre did little to reverse this trend. However, since the last inspection there has been significant improvement for most students as the centre now sets targets for students to make progress at least in line with national rates of expected progress in English and mathematics.  However, not enough students across all year groups make more than expected progress in English or mathematics. This is why the achievement of pupils requires improvement.  Students who attend the Key Stage 2 site are making good progress in English and mathematics. Those students in Key Stage 2 who are supported at home or other settings are making very limited progress.  Year 11 students are now, as a minimum, all entered for Level 1, Level 2 or GCSEs in English and

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

mathematics. The centre is planning a range of strategies to ensure that all the students have the chance of gaining essential qualifications.  A small number of Year 11 students are predicted to achieve five A* to C GCSEs including English and mathematics. This compares favourably with the available national data for attainment for pupil referral units.  The proportion of current Year 11 students predicted to make expected or better progress in English and mathematics from their starting points on entry to the centre has improved significantly. A range of evidence indicates that the predictions are likely to be accurate.  The achievement of the most able students requires improvement as they are not consistently challenged. However, some teaching in physical education and mathematics results in the most able students making good progress.  The centre has developed stronger systems for identifying those students who experience special

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

educational needs. The students with special educational needs who attend regularly make expected progress. The centre ensures the least able students gain the appropriate entry level qualifications by the end of Year 11.  There is no significant difference between the achievements of different groups of students. Disadvantaged students make progress similar to other students linked to their attendance and engagement in learning while at the centre. The progress made by students from minority ethnic groups is also closely aligned to their attendance.  Some students’ achievements at the alternative providers are good. The opportunity to gain Level 1 and Level 2 qualifications in vocational subjects alongside their English and mathematics qualifications allows students to access the college courses they want to attend.

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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 137596 Local authority Sheffield Inspection number 453795

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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 Pupil referral unit School category Pupil referral unit Age range of pupils 7–16 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 179 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Pat Toner Headteacher Tony Middleton Date of previous school inspection 26 March 2013 Telephone number 0114 253 1988 Fax number 0114 253 1989 Email address headteacher@holgatemcs.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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