Cambian Beverley School

School report Cambian Beverley School Units 19-20, Priory Road Industrial Estate, Beverley, HU17 0EW

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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

 Students make good progress from their different starting points.  Students’ attainment in a broad range of subjects, including English and mathematics, improves well during their time at the school.  More able students benefit from the opportunity to take GCSEs. By the end of 2014 they achieved well.  Students say that they like learning in the small groups with the good support from staff. This contributes well to their positive attitudes and good behaviour.  Students know how to keep themselves safe and staff keep a close watch on them throughout the school day.  The staff care for students and meet their different needs well.  Students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development prepares them well for life in modern Britain.  Students are given useful help to consider their next steps in education and beyond.  The headteacher has an accurate view of the quality of teaching. His clear planning and

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This is a good school

effective actions by school leaders are improving teaching and students’ achievement.  The proprietor has ensured that the school has continued to meet the independent school standards.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Occasionally, opportunities are missed to give students even more challenging work.  Not enough marking in books follows the school’s marking policy. Students occasionally lose out on gaining valuable improvement guidance.  At times, students’ attendance dips and their progress can slow when they miss too many lessons.  Information about students’ progress is not always robustly analysed and used to inform staff training and development.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 The school meets the schedule to The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 (‘the independent school standards’) and associated requirements.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed students’ learning in the school. Most observations were undertaken jointly with the headteacher.  The inspector scrutinised samples of students’ work in different subjects.  Discussions took place with students and staff, including the headteacher, national director and chair of the board of directors of Cambian Group.  The inspector spoke on the telephone to parents, carers and placing-authority staff. There were not enough responses to the online Parent View survey for these to be analysed.  A number of school policies and documents were examined to check the school’s compliance with the independent school standards. These included the school’s prospectus, information about students’ progress and the school’s own evaluation of its work and plans. Records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding were also scrutinised. A website for the school was not available to view at the time of

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Information about this inspection

the inspection.  The inspector took account of eight staff questionnaire responses.

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Inspection team

Jonathan Woodyatt, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school occupies a small industrial unit close to the centre of Beverley. Since the last inspection, the proprietors have installed a small external accommodation unit with two classrooms.  The school is registered to admit up to 16 students age 10 to 18. There are 12 students currently on roll. There have been no students of sixth form age since the last inspection.  Students join the school at different times of the year. Their ages on entry vary; however most students on roll are in Key Stage 4. They are placed on part-time or full-time programmes which last for varying lengths of time.  Students placed at the school typically have behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. At the time of the inspection, all students have statements of special educational needs (none has an education, health and care plan). No student has a disability.  The school is overseen by the headteacher. There is one middle leader who is a lead teacher and special

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Information about this school

educational needs coordinator.  Since the last inspection there have been several changes of proprietor, a change of headteacher and several staff have left or joined. The headteacher has been in post for just over a year.  The board of directors of Cambian Group oversees the governance of the school. They are led by the Chair of Directors. The Chair and the National Director take responsibility for the school.  The school does not use alternative provision.  The school was last inspected in February 2012.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the quality of teaching to outstanding in order to boost the achievement of students, by: ensuring staff plan more challenging work for all ability groups making sure that marking consistently follows the school’s policy so that students receive the best guidance on how to improve their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Develop more ways of increasing students’ attendance.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management, including governance, by: making sure that information about students’ progress is analysed carefully and informs the training and development of staff.

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The leadership and management is good

 The headteacher and proprietor have responded positively to the issues identified in the last inspection. Over the last year they have improved the quality of teaching to good and students’ achievement is rising well.  The headteacher is ambitious to drive the school forward. His success is demonstrated in the growing effectiveness of the school, which is clearly endorsed by the views of parents, carers and placing- authority representatives.  The headteacher benefits from the support provided by the directors and other staff that they bring in to help, such as external advisors. Consequently the school’s evaluation of its own performance is increasingly accurate.  Leaders support students to improve their attitudes well and parents, carers and placing authority- representatives commented on the high standard of care provided by the school. Staff have fostered good relationships with many parents and carers.

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The leadership and management is good

 Middle leaders make an effective contribution to the school’s rising standards. The special educational needs coordinator has a clear understanding of the needs of students and routinely reviews action plans in order to improve support further.  The appropriate range of subjects on offer ensures that students can learn a variety of essential skills. This also provides opportunities for them to gain qualifications and awards at levels that are well matched to their different levels of skill. Subjects include English, mathematics, science, information and communication technology (ICT), history, citizenship (including religious education), art and physical education.  Learning activities support students’ good personal development and prepare them well for life in modern Britain. In conversation, they talked about different college courses and the beliefs of groups in today’s multicultural society.

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The leadership and management is good

 The school promotes students’ understanding of spiritual, moral, social and cultural aspects of society well through planned activities, including visitors and visits. Students spoke to the inspector about different faith groups, the law and getting on with others in society. They demonstrated their skills for living in modern Britain.  The leaders endeavour to ensure equality of opportunity for all students, including arrangements to improve access to the premises. Records kept by the school show that discrimination in any form is not tolerated by staff.  Visitors support older and younger students to consider their next steps in education and learning. Most students who left at the end of the last academic year went on to continue their education.  Training provided by leaders is securing the necessary improvements in the subject knowledge of staff and, as a result, the quality of teaching is rising well. However, staff are not sufficiently well trained in

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The leadership and management is good

providing the most challenging work for students.  As soon as students start at the school, leaders and directors gather and track a wide range of information on how well students are doing. Although the recently introduced progress monitoring system provides a good range of information, this is not being analysed well enough to inform the best targeted staff development.  Statutory safeguarding arrangements meet requirements and are effective. Staff are trained in this aspect at an appropriate level.  The governance of the school: The directors have a clear understanding of the quality of teaching. They have developed systems to tackle underperformance in teaching and use these as required. Their actions are effective and have contributed to improving the school since the last inspection. Staff have clear targets set by leaders and these are linked well to their pay. Targets are reviewed regularly so staff, leaders and directors know how well they are doing.

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The leadership and management is good

The directors gather a wide range of information from the headteacher, including weekly updates on a broad range of aspects of the school’s performance. They use this information to support staff with training and the quality of teaching has improved to good since the last inspection. However, their analysis of the progress made by students is not detailed enough to identify the best training for staff to move teaching to outstanding. The directors and leaders have ensured that the school is meeting all the independent school regulations.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of students is good. Staff know them well and foster their confidence to take part in learning which boosts their positive attitudes.  Students cooperate well with staff requests so that learning activities are rarely disrupted. If students are struggling to concentrate, staff intervene quickly to bring their attention back to their tasks.  The organisation of students into small groups was praised by students for helping them to improve their attitudes and good behaviour.  The school’s records show that significant behavioural incidents are uncommon, including bullying incidents. Staff act quickly to support students who are struggling to manage their own behaviour.  The school helps students to protect themselves from a range of risks. Staff provide opportunities for students to consider how to keep themselves safe in different situations, such as when using the internet.  Students placed at the school have struggled to attend in their previous placements. The school’s records

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Behaviour

clearly demonstrate that the attendance of the vast majority of students quickly improves, although overall levels are below those in other schools nationally.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep students safe and secure is good.  There are no incidents of bullying behaviour in school records. Students are aware of different types of bullying and explained them to the inspector. Students, placing-authority representatives, staff, parents and carers confirm that students feel safe.  The quality of the care and supervision provided by the school is a clear strength and supported by evidence in case studies. Staff take effective action to ensure that students’ difficulties are regularly reviewed and addressed by skilled staff from inside and outside the school.  Arrangements to support students undertaking physical education offsite or going on visits are robust. Appropriate training is provided to staff who carry out safe procedures.  Staff within the Cambian Group provide help with monitoring the arrangements for health and safety. Checks, such as fire evacuation drills for students, are carried out and recorded as required.

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Safety

 The school meets the required independent school standards in relation to behaviour and safety.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Leaders have brought about significant improvements in teaching since the last inspection. As a result, students’ achievement is improving.  Students read often during learning activities and books are available to read in the classrooms. They have opportunities to continue reading beyond the school day which helps secure their improved skills.  If they fall behind in their English or mathematics and their basic skills need improving, staff get students back on track quickly by providing individual tuition. Students spoke about being helped to catch-up with others in their reading, writing and mathematics.  Students with special educational needs are supported well. They benefit from the small classes and caring support by the skilled and experienced staff, including teaching assistants.  Improvements in staff subject skills have ensured that the quality of teaching is improving. However, more training is needed to help staff plan challenging work that fully meets all students’ levels and skills

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The quality of teaching is good

in order for achievement to be outstanding.  The school’s policy for marking sets out the approach that staff should take to provide useful guidance for students to improve their work. However, not all staff are following the policy consistently and students are occasionally missing out on knowing what to improve when staff do not provide enough guidance.  The school meets all the independent school standards fully in relation to teaching.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Students achieve well because the teaching is good. Consequently, they improve their knowledge and skills well, including basic skills in English and mathematics.  Almost all students start at the school with skills that are well below those expected for their age. Many have missed out on learning by not attending their previous schools regularly.  Students, including the most able, are entered for GCSEs and other qualifications at the appropriate times. Most students leaving Year 11 in 2014 gained a GCSE in mathematics, as well as English, science and ICT.  Leaders recognise that students frequently have short term placements at the school. Consequently, they have introduced courses that take less time to complete in English, mathematics and ICT.  Students with special educational needs do well because the school works hard to tackle previous barriers to learning such as poor attendance and attitudes to learning.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 More able students benefit well from the opportunity to access additional GCSEs and the good teaching helps ensure that they attain the higher levels. However, there is more to be done to increase the level of challenge in work planned by teachers.  Staff carry out checks on students’ skills as soon as they join the school so they have a clear view of their previous attainment. This information helps staff plan tasks and activities well, though students are not always provided with work that makes them think even harder.  In relation to students’ academic and personal development, the school meets the independent school standards fully.

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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 133429 Inspection number 463006 DfE registration number 811/6012 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. Type of school Day special school School status Independent school Age range of pupils 10–18 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 12 Number of part time pupils 4 Proprietor Cambian Group Chair Stephen Bradshaw Headteacher Kevain Parsons Date of previous school inspection 14-15 February 2012 Annual fees (day pupils) £32,000 - £38,000 Telephone number 01482 307830 Fax number 01482 307832 Email address kevain.parsons@cambiangroup.com 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

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School details

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

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School details

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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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