RISE Education

School report Rise Education Units 1–3, 37−39 Western Road, Mitcham, CR4 3ED

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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

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This is a good school because

 The headteacher and staff have created a culture in which students take an interest in their learning. As a result of effective leadership and teaching, most students re-engage with their studies, make good progress and achieve well.  Parents, carers and staff from previous schools are positive about the improvements in the students’ attitudes to their work during their time at Rise.  Students’ personal development is promoted well and, as a result, they appreciate that people’s beliefs and cultures differ. They are well prepared for life in modern Britain.  Students are well motivated and go on to education or training when they leave.  Students feel safe and generally behave well. They form positive relationships with adults and increasingly enjoy school. As a result, their attendance and behaviour improve considerably.  The headteacher, who is also the proprietor, has ensured that all the requirements of the

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Not all teachers provide students with clear advice on how to improve their work.  Some teachers do not demonstrate good standards in handwriting and spelling when writing on boards.  The programme for checking the quality of teaching and for coaching teachers is not fully developed.  Some students are over-reliant on adults to supervise their learning.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 The school meets the schedule of The Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2014, and associated requirements.

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection took place with one day’s notice.  The inspector observed seven lessons or parts of lessons. He held informal discussions with students.  There were no responses to the online survey (Parent View). The inspector considered five responses to the staff questionnaire and met with the headteacher and other staff.  The inspector reviewed key documents and policies and scrutinised students’ files and the school’s information about students’ attainment and progress.

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Inspection team

David Scott, Lead Inspector Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 Rise Education is situated in Mitcham in the London Borough of Merton. The school is governed by Immanuel House Ltd. The school was registered and opened in February 2010 and provides an education for students who are at risk of permanent exclusion from mainstream schools. The school received its first inspection in March 2012, when the quality of education was judged to be satisfactory.  There are currently 32 boys and girls aged from 14 to 16 years on roll, including three students who attend school on a part-time basis. Students are referred to the school by Croydon, Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth local authorities. In addition, students are referred independently from schools across London.  The proportion of students who are from minority ethnic groups is above the national average. Half of all students are White British, with a quarter being from Black African and Black Caribbean heritages. The

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Information about this school

remainder are predominantly from Eastern Europe. There are currently slightly more girls than boys on roll. This represents a dramatic increase from the previous year when there were only four.  There are no students with a statement of special educational needs. There are currently four students who are looked after by a local authority.  Students attend off-site training at South Thames College for practical science lessons and the Melodic Beats Studio for lessons in personal development. All full-time students attend the Sports Village in Sutton, for access to physical education and sport.  Students are not entered early for examinations.  In October 2013, the school introduced a three-week course for students in mainstream school to help them manage their feelings and frustration, with the aim of enabling them to return to their schools.  The school has a Christian ethos, but welcomes students from other faiths or none. The headteacher is

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Information about this school

also a pastor of a local church. The school’s aims reflect the letters in its name: ‘restoring, inspiring, sustaining and empowering individuals to reach their potential and achieve their dreams’.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure teachers’ marking provides students with clear advice on how to improve their work.  Make sure teachers demonstrate good standards of writing and spelling when writing on boards.  Ensure students are not over-reliant on adults to supervise their learning by providing them with the necessary study skills.  Strengthen the monitoring and coaching programme for teachers to improve the quality of teaching.

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Leadership and management are good

 The headteacher and all the staff have created a culture in which students who previously held negative views about school are now able to behave positively and achieve well.  Middle leaders play an important part in ensuring students achieve well. They are increasingly involved in checking the quality of teaching, and provide helpful strategies to staff to improve students’ behaviour and learning.  Senior leaders regularly lead staff training sessions, often supported by external trainers, to ensure staff are refreshed and have the skills to meet the needs of the students. This is beginning to have a positive impact on the quality of teaching. However, the programme for checking the quality of teaching and providing coaching for teachers is still not developed fully enough. This is why leadership and management are not outstanding.  There are effective arrangements for assessing teachers’ performance. Salary increases are not agreed

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Leadership and management are good

unless staff achieve the targets set.  Procedures for monitoring the attendance, behaviour and progress of students taking part in off-site training are good. Effective communication with those who are providing the training ensures students make good progress and achieve well.  This year senior leaders have introduced a comprehensive system that tracks students’ attendance, behaviour and academic progress. This is used increasingly effectively to pinpoint underachievement and put in place support to get students back on track.  The school offers an appropriate and increasingly wide range of subjects and is very responsive in ensuring that its courses meet the needs and interests of students. For example, following a threefold increase in the number of girls attending the school, five additional GCSE subjects have been added.  The school places a high priority on promoting fairness, tolerance and mutual respect so that all students

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Leadership and management are good

have an equal opportunity to learn and improve. Discrimination of any kind is not tolerated. Personal development and citizenship sessions help students to overcome their feelings of frustration and failure. These, together with a range of interesting activities, help students to gain an understanding of democracy, the rule of law and an appreciation of British values. In this way, they are well prepared for life in modern Britain.  Students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well. Staff act as good role models so that students learn how to respect and get along with one another. The students have many opportunities to learn about people from different cultures, backgrounds and beliefs. For example, in their personal development sessions, students have attended a local studio to produce a radio advertisement based on social justice issues. Through working together, they improve their communication skills and

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Leadership and management are good

self-confidence, and have presented their recordings to their previous schools and parents and carers.  Students attend one-day work-experience placements with local employers. They receive effective careers advice which helps them make well-informed decisions about their future education or training.  Effective supervision arrangements are in place to help keep students safe. These include management by staff of movement between buildings, of trips and visits, of work-experience placements and of training off the school site. Recruitment procedures and checks on suitability of staff to work with students are robust.  Leaders have ensured that all the independent school standards are met for this aspect of the school’s work, including those relating to safeguarding and child protection. Polices are readily available to parents.  The governance of the school: The headteacher, who is also the proprietor, has ensured that all the independent school standards

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Leadership and management are good

are met. He has an excellent grasp of information about students’ performance. He and the deputy headteacher were involved in designing the school’s very thorough system for collecting information on students’ performance. As he takes lessons himself, the headteacher is well informed about the quality of teaching and regularly leads effective training sessions to improve the work of his colleagues. The school has in place effective arrangements for the management of staff performance. There are effective arrangements to ensure good teaching is suitably rewarded and to tackle any underperformance. Robust checks are in place to ensure all new staff meet the requirements to work with children. The proprietor has ensured that safeguarding policies and procedures meet requirements.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of students is good. It is not outstanding because some students are over-reliant on adults to supervise their learning. This is because not all students have the necessary study skills to keep them focused on their learning.  The school’s information shows that incidents of disruptive behaviour have reduced over time, and that students’ behaviour and enjoyment of their learning improve the longer they remain at Rise.  All students are required to sign a ‘contract of commitment’ which helps them respect the school’s values and expectations.  Teachers and learning mentors are highly skilled in helping students to manage their emotions and to respond more positively to any problems they encounter. For example, when students are upset, effective use is made of the ‘time-out card’. This allows them to come out of class, ‘chill’ in the common room and then return to lessons when calm. The process helps them to become more settled and focused on their

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Behaviour

learning and to make good progress. Positive feedback from parents, carers and the students’ previous schools states that the young people’s attitudes improve while attending the school.  Attendance is effectively checked, and as a result of swift action by staff, has increased by 15 percentage points this year. The school’s records show that for most students, this is in clear contrast to attendance levels in their previous schools.  Students are encouraged to understand those members of society who are in most need. They regularly donate clothes that they no longer need to a local charity that helps people with disabilities.  Arrangements for checking the attendance, punctuality and behaviour of students who attend off-site training are very effective.  Leaders have ensured that a range of policies and procedures is in place, so that the independent school standards for this aspect of the school’s work are met.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep students safe and secure is good.  Students learn about a range of appropriate topics that support their personal development. They have many opportunities to study such themes as the risks associated with substance abuse and how to stay safe while online and when using social media. They report that they feel safe and secure in school.  All staff have received training on issues that are particularly important to women. As a result, they are able to give accurate and appropriate advice on issues such as female genital mutilation.  Students are well supervised within the school. Arrangements for the assessment of risk for work placements, trips and attending off-site training are thorough. Through highly effective personal development sessions, students know about different forms of bullying. Because the school is small, they always have an adult they can turn to for advice. All the independent standards are met for students’

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching is good and enables students to achieve well, and to improve and apply their skills in literacy, reading and mathematics.  Teachers and learning mentors enjoy positive relationships with students, based on mutual trust and respect. They are effective in devising ways to persuade students who are sometimes reluctant to take an interest in their learning.  Staff use questioning to challenge and deepen students’ understanding. For example, in a Year 11 English lesson, students were analysing the literary techniques that contribute to successful speech writing. Through the teachers’ effective questioning, students felt confident enough to comment on how far a speech by Barack Obama contained these techniques.  Marking is regular and contains positive comments on completed work that build students’ confidence and self-esteem. Teachers maintain an assessment file which contains useful information about students’

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The quality of teaching is good

progress, with samples of their work. However, teachers’ marking does not provide students with enough clear and detailed advice on how to improve their work. Also, some teachers’ board writing is difficult for students to read and sometimes contains spelling errors. This is why teaching is not outstanding.  Students are given many opportunities to develop and improve their confidence in reading and numeracy. For example, in a citizenship lesson, students read aloud confidently, from newspaper cuttings and online articles, about the forthcoming general election. Here they gained a good understanding about the democratic process and how the proportion of votes cast can affect the election outcome in different parts of the country.  Leaders have ensured all the independent school standards for teaching and assessment are met.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Students enter the school with negative experiences of education, and significant gaps in their learning as a result of poor attendance at their previous schools. Consequently, their attainment is below that which is typical for their age. Leaders enable students, including those who are disadvantaged, to achieve well and make significant improvements in their behaviour and attendance. As a result, students are well motivated and well prepared for the next stage of their education.  At the end of Year 11 students leave with a range of up to three GCSEs, including English and mathematics, as well as work-related and functional skills qualifications. This enables them to study A levels in sixth forms or to move on to colleges of further education to study work-related qualifications or begin apprenticeships. In 2014, all students went on to further education or training.  As a result of the school’s highly effective work in improving students’ attendance, behaviour and

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The achievement of pupils is good

personal development, they are well prepared to take on their share of responsibilities of life in multicultural Britain.  The school’s own information, from tracking progress, from written work and from sound recordings, demonstrates that students, including those from different ethnic backgrounds, make good progress.  Students who attend training away from the school site achieve well. Arrangements for monitoring their work and checking their attendance, behaviour, punctuality and progress are effective.  The most able students achieve very well. As a result of effective support and regular practice in examination techniques, some students make good progress from their initial starting points, are very successful and attain high grades at GCSE.

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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 136678 Inspection number 462890 DfE registration number 315/6589 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 Day special School status Independent Age range of pupils 13−16 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 32 Number of part-time pupils 3 Proprietor Immanuel House Ltd Headteacher Joe Kerson Date of previous school inspection 29 February–1 March 2012 Annual fees (day pupils) £6,500−£10,500 Telephone number 020 8665 2605 Email address info@riseeducation.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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