Instituto Espanol Canada Blanch

Instituto Espanol Cañada Blanch 317 Portobello Road, London, W10 5SY

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Context of the inspection

 This inspection was undertaken at the request of the registration authority for independent schools in order to follow up the school’s progress in meeting the standards for independent schools. This was an unannounced inspection.  The school received its full inspection in November 2013, and was judged to be good. Several standards were not met, however. These related to the provision of showers, facilities for medical examination and care of sick pupils, and maintenance of the accommodation.  The school drew up an action plan for improvement in response to the findings of the inspection. The action plan was evaluated in June 2014 and, subject to its successful implementation, was found to be satisfactory.  The school received its first progress monitoring inspection in November 2014. Inspectors also checked the school’s safeguarding policies and procedures against the independent school standards. The inspection found the school not to be meeting a number of standards. These

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Context of the inspection

failings related to arrangements for the safeguarding of pupils, compliance with regulatory reform regarding fire safety, requirements relating to the recording of admissions to the school, and shortcomings relating to premises and accommodation.  The Department for Education requested the school produce another action plan. This was evaluated in March 2015 and judged to require improvement. The school submitted a further action plan in April 2015. Following some modification, this was accepted by the Department for Education.  This monitoring inspection focused on the school’s actions to rectify the weaknesses identified in the first progress monitoring inspection in November 2014.

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Welfare, health and safety of pupils

 The first progress monitoring inspection of November 2014 reported that the school had a policy in place relating to the safeguarding of pupils, but it was not clear whether this was reviewed annually, as required. The designated safeguarding lead within the school was named in the policy, but had not received any related training. No member of staff had completed the higher- level training required to fulfil this role. Records showed that all members of staff had received regular updates on child protection from the Spanish Ministry. School leaders were not aware of the Secretary of State’s most recent guidance, Keeping Children Safe in Education, published in April 2014. This guidance was not referenced in the school’s policy, and staff members had not read Part 1 of the guidance, as required.  This inspection found the school’s safeguarding policy to reflect the latest statutory safeguarding

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Welfare, health and safety of pupils

guidance provided in the Department for Education publication Keeping Children Safe in Education, March 2015. All members of staff have now undertaken training at appropriate levels in child protection, including the designated child protection officers. Staff have read and are familiar with Part 1 of the above safeguarding guidance. School leaders are now clear about Monitoring report: Instituto Espanol Cañada Blanch, 25 June 2015 2 of 5

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Welfare, health and safety of pupils

their safeguarding roles and responsibilities and ensure that the safeguarding policy is reviewed annually, as required. The safeguarding policy is available to parents, carers and others on the school’s website. Staff members know what to do should a concern arise.  The previous progress monitoring inspection noted that termly fire drills were held, but these were not recorded in the appropriate way. There were no fire risk assessments available at the time of the inspection, despite these being required by the school policy. The school’s admission register was kept online. All relevant information was held, except for that regarding students’ previous schools, which was kept elsewhere. Printed copies of the admission register were not kept as required by the regulations.  This inspection found that fire safety and evacuation policies and procedures have been reviewed, updated and implemented effectively. Fire fighting equipment and electrical

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Welfare, health and safety of pupils

appliances have been tested by professional engineers to ensure that they are safely operational. The school conducts regular fire drills and records these appropriately. School leaders use this information to improve fire safety practice in school. The school has now trained eight fire wardens to help staff and pupils to evacuate the building safely. The premises have been inspected by a fire safety company to ensure compliance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005; the level of fire safety is deemed to be satisfactory.  The school records all pupil admissions using an online system. This holds all of the required information on pupils, including the previous schools attended by pupils. Printed copies of the admission register are kept by the school, as required.

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Premises and accommodation

 The earlier progress monitoring inspection reported that the school’s action plan, accepted by the Department for Education in June 2014, detailed plans to refurbish parts of the building in response to the shortfalls found at the inspection of November 2013. Architects’ plans were completed, showing proposed refurbishments to toilet and washing areas. The local authority had agreed to these changes to the building, and the Spanish government had allocated sufficient funds. However, this had been a drawn-out process, and work was not completed by the end of August 2014 as planned. Therefore, in November 2014, the accommodation provided for these purposes remained inadequate. Toilet and washing areas were poorly maintained. In many cases, there was no soap or facility for drying hands. Most of the cubicles had missing locks. Many taps were broken or did not work, and there was no hot water. Students said they

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Premises and accommodation

did not like the toilet facilities, and that they were often dirty. The school had not undertaken any remedial works to improve matters whilst the building works were awaiting completion. Concerns regarding the uneven surface in the playground, identified at the time of the last inspection, had not been addressed.  The school has successfully implemented its action plan and all of the shortcomings have been remedied related to the premises and accommodation. The proprietor has invested significantly in developing the premises to meet the needs of the pupils. The school has recently refurbished several toilets and washbasins for staff, visitors and pupils to use. They are well equipped with soap and hand drying facilities and well supplied with cold and hot water, as required. Pupils like the newly refurbished toilets. The facilities are very well maintained.  The school has ensured that there is a designated area for pupils who might feel unwell. This

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Premises and accommodation

provision contains a washbasin with running water and is close to a toilet.  There are newly built showers and changing facilities for older boys and girls to use. These are very well kept. The proprietor now ensures that the flooring is in an acceptable condition in all parts of the school. The premises are checked regularly to ensure pupils’ health and safety. Monitoring report: Instituto Espanol Cañada Blanch, 25 June 2015 3 of 5

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Inspection team

Fatiha Maitland, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Vicente Cañada Blanch Spanish School is a mixed independent day school which is owned by the Spanish government and managed by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of Spain. The school follows the Spanish Education curriculum.  The school is housed in a former Dominican convent in Kensington, London, and caters for pupils aged from five to 19 years. There are currently 532 pupils on roll.  Pupils are either bilingual in English and Spanish, multilingual or at various stages of learning English or Spanish as an additional language. The proportions leaving and entering the school at times other than at the start of the academic year are high.  There are no pupils with disabilities or special educational needs.  The aims of the school are to provide pupils with a deep understanding of both Spanish and British culture, within a curriculum which ensures pupils ‘develop linguistic competence in

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Information about this school

Spanish and in English so as to enable their complete integration as citizens in the United Kingdom and in Spain’.  The school is also inspected annually by the Spanish inspectorate. Monitoring report: Instituto Espanol Cañada Blanch, 25 June 2015 4 of 5

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School details

Unique reference number 100532 Inspection number 464918 DfE registration number 207/6305 This inspection was conducted at the request of the registration authority for independent schools. It was carried out under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008.

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School details

Type of school All-age day school School status Independent school Age range of pupils 5–19 Gender of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 532

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form

Number of part time pupils 0 Proprietor Spanish government Chair Dr M Isabel Martínez López Headteacher Dr M Isabel Martínez López Date of previous school inspection 26 November 2014 Annual fees (day pupils) Spanish nationals £315 and non-Spanish nationals £3,125 - £3,875 Telephone number 020 8969 2664 Fax number 020 8968 9432 Email address Canada.blanch.uk@mecd.es Monitoring report: Instituto Espanol Cañada Blanch, 25 June 2015 5 of 5

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form

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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form

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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form

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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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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form

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

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