The school at Hackney city farm

1a Goldsmith Row, Hackney, London E2 8QA

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not applicable

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This is an inadequate school

 Leadership and management are inadequate. The proprietor, director and governors have not sufficiently monitored and checked the work of the school. Consequently, they have not ensured that all the independent school standards are met.  Pupils have not been given guidance on how to keep themselves safe from potential dangers associated with extremism and radicalisation.  Pupils are not safe because safeguarding systems are not robust. Risk assessments, such as those for pupils who are given permission to go out for their individual breaks, are not rigorous.  Health and safety are compromised. The classroom heating is inadequate. The premises are not sufficiently well maintained or cleaned.  Leaders do not have an accurate view of the strengths and weaknesses of the school on which to base plans for improvements. They do not check carefully on the quality of the school’s work.  The attendance of nearly half the pupils is low and

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This is an inadequate school

their punctuality is a particular concern. They are not sufficiently challenged or supported to attend school or arrive on time.  Few pupils make more than expected progress because teachers do not have high enough expectations. Teachers do not challenge most-able pupils robustly to make sure that they make the best possible progress.  Teaching, learning and assessment are not monitored rigorously and consistently by the leaders to bring about further improvements.  The sixth form is inadequate because of the same concerns identified for younger pupils.

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The school has the following strengths

 Working relationships between staff and pupils are positive. Pupils conduct themselves well and appreciate that the school has enabled them to improve their behaviour.  The school’s assessment procedures are robust. Pupils’ progress is tracked and measured regularly and parents are kept well informed.  An appropriately broad and balanced curriculum is in place, which adequately caters for the needs of pupils. There is a good emphasis on developing pupils’ skills in English, mathematics and computing.  Some parts of the farm areas are used effectively to offer courses on animal husbandry and horticulture.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 The school must take action to meet the requirements of the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 (‘the independent school standards’) and associated requirements. The details are listed in the full report.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Take urgent action to rectify weaknesses in health and safety, and actively promote pupils’ welfare by ensuring that: the premises are maintained to safe standards and the heating is adequate, so that pupils can work comfortably cleanliness of the premises is maintained so that pupils can work in a healthy environment robust risk assessments are in place for pupils who go out on their own for individual breaks an admissions register is maintained in accordance with the regulations, and that rigorous procedures are in place to record pupils’ destinations when they leave the school pupils’ attendance improves, and that appropriate challenge and support results in improved punctuality.  Improve the quality of leadership and management by ensuring that: monitoring of teaching and learning is rigorous, and accurately pinpoints what teachers need to further improve so that pupils make rapid progress staff with responsibilities for monitoring teaching and learning are given training

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

high staff to pupil ratios are used effectively so that pupils make rapid progress and are kept safe greater rigour is brought to the quality assurance of all aspects of the school’s work, and use is made of the information to remedy weaknesses and draw up appropriate plans for improvements to provision.  Improve the quality of teaching so that it is good or better by: ensuring that teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve so that they make more rapid progress.  The school must meet the following independent school standards: Ensure that arrangements are made to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils at the school; and such arrangements have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State (paragraphs 7, 7(a) and 7(b)). Ensure that relevant health and safety laws are complied with by implementing the health and safety policy (paragraph 11). Ensure that pupils are properly supervised through the appropriate deployment of school staff

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

(paragraph 14). Ensure that an admission register is maintained in accordance with the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 (paragraph 15). Ensure that the welfare of pupils at the school is safeguarded and promoted by the drawing up and effective implementation of a written risk assessment policy; and appropriate action is taken to reduce risks that are identified (paragraphs 16, 16(a) and 16(b). Ensure that the school premises and the accommodation and facilities provided therein are maintained to a standard such that, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of pupils are ensured (paragraph 25). Ensure that particulars of the arrangements for meeting the standard contained in paragraph 7 are published on the school's internet website (paragraphs 32(1) and 32(1)(c)). Ensure that the standards about the quality of leadership and management is met by ensuring that

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

persons with leadership and management responsibilities at the school demonstrate good skills and knowledge appropriate to their role so that the independent school standards are met consistently; fulfil their responsibilities effectively so that the independent school standards are met consistently; and actively promote the well-being of pupils (paragraph 34 (1), 34 (1)(a), 34(1)(b), 34 (1)(c)

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

 Leaders and governors have not made sure that pupils are safe and secure. Consequently, safeguarding is ineffective and a number of independent school standards are not met.  The health and safety of those within the classroom and the offices are compromised. The heating is inadequate; as pupils remarked, ‘It is icy cold in the classroom.’ They sit with their coats, hats and warm mufflers on, which restrict body movements, particularly when they write or cook.  Leaders have ensured that all staff have received training on how to protect pupils from extremism and radicalisation, but they have not made sure that pupils have a secure awareness of the potential dangers. Pupils are not able to express how they might protect themselves from such risks.  Pupils are allowed to go out of the school, for example, to visit the local shops, when they lose concentration and need a break from work. The associated risks are not sufficiently well assessed to

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

ensure that individual pupils are kept safe. This poses a serious risk to pupils’ safety. Parents’ permission is not sought for these breaks off the school premises.  Attendance is low and punctuality is poor. The school has not been successful in motivating pupils to engage in their learning. The farm premises, which are available to the school, are not used effectively to motivate and stimulate learning. Exclusions are not recorded and there is no provision made to support pupils when they return to school.  Leaders are not aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the school’s work. There are no plans to indicate the areas to be improved in the near future.  Leaders have not ensured that teaching is consistently of a high enough quality to enable pupils to make good progress. The monitoring of teaching is not rigorous and targets for individual teachers to further improve are not set, monitored or reviewed to ensure improvements.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

 High staff to pupil ratios are not used judiciously to extend and enrich pupils’ academic or emotional learning. For example, as attendance is low, sometimes three or four adults are present in the classroom with few, if any, teaching duties.  Assessment procedures are strong. The school’s performance information indicates that most pupils make expected progress, with a few making good progress. However, a high percentage of pupils do not attend regularly and are not punctual; this impacts adversely on the overall progress of the cohort.  The curriculum is broad and balanced, and relevant to pupils’ needs. Pupils have opportunities to study animal husbandry, horticulture and cooking. Some pupils attend music and swimming sessions away from the school site.  There is a good focus on teaching the basic skills of reading, writing, mathematics and computing, and most pupils make expected progress in these areas. Those who attend the school more regularly and are

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

punctual make better progress. However, teachers’ expectations are not sufficiently high to ensure that pupils make accelerated progress to catch up with missed schooling and attain age-related expectations.  The provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is satisfactory. Pupils learn about fundamental British values when, for example, they visit the Houses of Parliament and discuss the roles of the Monarchy, the Prime Minister and the Mayor of London. They visit local museums and other places of interest.  Arrangements for teachers’ performance management have been introduced only recently and are not yet fully established.  No parents responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and none were available to talk to the inspector. Staff confirmed that they are happy working in the school.  The governance of the school The governance of the school is inadequate. Governors are not well informed about the work of the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

school. They do not check for themselves that the school is safe or that the independent school standards are met. The governing body receives verbal reports from the headteacher through discussion. The handwritten minutes of meetings seen during the inspection are more related to operational than strategic matters. Appropriate systems are in place to check the suitability of members of staff recruited to work within the school.  The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective. The premises are not conducive to work as the heating is inadequate and cleanliness is not maintained. Risk assessments are not rigorous and the admission register is not maintained according to requirements.  Although the paper copy available to parents in the school takes account of the guidance contained in Keeping Children Safe in Education, July 2015, the safeguarding policy on the school’s website does not reflect this latest statutory guidance. This results in several unmet standards. Nonetheless, staff have all

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

undertaken the required training and are aware of their duty to safeguard their pupils.  Leaders have not ensured that all independent school standards are met for the leadership and management of the school’s work, including those relating to safeguarding.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

 The school’s assessment systems show that not all pupils make good progress. This is because teaching is not consistently challenging. Many pupils are not sufficiently motivated to attend school regularly.  Teachers do not always have high expectations of their most-able pupils’ learning. Tasks set are often not pitched at the right level for pupils’ aptitudes and abilities to enable them to make accelerated progress. Pupils remarked that they do not get any challenging work.  Teachers create a positive climate for learning, and relationships are good. Staff know their pupils well and support them with any emotional or behavioural issues before the lessons start. This results in lessons progressing with little or no disruption.  Staff have good subject knowledge and use questioning skills effectively to assess pupils’ understanding throughout lessons. Pupils receive one-to-one support from specialist subject teachers. However, pupils

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

sometimes receive little challenge or support to improve their work. For example, having written a letter in an English lesson, although giving praise for having completed it, adults offered no advice or challenge to improve its quality. This limited progress.  Information technology is used effectively to engage pupils and stimulate learning, as seen in English and computing lessons.  Assessment of pupils’ work in their books is good. Staff typically give clear messages to pupils on how to improve their work. Pupils’ progress is assessed regularly and the information is used to set targets. However, these targets are not always challenging enough to enable most-able pupils to catch up with the education they have missed.  The school uses the GCSE functional skills specification for both mathematics and English. Most pupils sit for entry levels and some for GCSE Level 1, having made at least expected progress from when they

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

joined the school. Not all make good progress because teaching is not consistently effective.  All the independent school standards for teaching, learning and assessment are met.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is inadequate.  Leaders have not ensured that all the regulatory requirements for welfare, health and safety are met. The inspector identified several health and safety concerns. While some remedial action was taken during the inspection, school records show that these issues had not been identified through the school’s own risk assessment procedures.  The proprietor has not ensured pupils’ physical safety. The classroom is cold and cleanliness is not maintained. Throughout the inspection, pupils wore their outdoor clothing to keep warm while inside. The classroom remained unswept.  Pupils are confident and able to communicate their thoughts and feelings. They spoke to the inspector enthusiastically, fluently sharing their views.  Pupils know about different types of bullying and how to keep safe. They know how to be safe on the

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Personal development and welfare

road and travel safely on buses to and from home.  Pupils receive good careers guidance and the older pupils know the apprenticeship and training they are planning to pursue.  Leaders have not ensured that all the independent standards are met for these aspects of the school’s work.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. Although pupils’ behaviour improves during their time at the school, it is not yet consistently good. Some do not attend regularly and are often late for lessons, missing valuable learning time. Some of those who attend do not have positive attitudes to learning.  Pupils have good relationships with staff and their classmates. They are polite to visitors and like school once they arrive. They know the consequences of poor behaviour but do not fully understand the arrangements for rewarding good behaviour.  With the support of staff, most pupils behave well in lessons and during lunchtimes. They sit as a family and enjoy the healthy food cooked on the premises. However, records show that incidents of bad behaviour often occur during breaktimes.  The school records incidents of poor behaviour but does not consistently analyse the information to support pupils to improve their behaviour. There has only been one exclusion, for one day, in the last

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Behaviour

year. This was mentioned in the incident book but not recorded in the exclusion book.  The independent school standards relating to these aspects of the school’s work are met.

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

 Outcomes require improvement because not all pupils make consistently good progress in all subjects. Some, but not all, pupils make good progress in English and mathematics from the time they start school. This is because not all pupils attend school regularly and some arrive late, missing valuable learning time. Those who attend the school regularly and arrive on time make good progress both in their personal development and academically. Analysis of the assessment information provided by the school confirms this. Pupils’ work in their books is generally well presented but handwriting lacks careful attention.  There are systems in place to assess pupils’ behaviour, and social and emotional progress, along with their academic progress. These records show that pupils make expected progress, with some making better than expected progress. Most pupils’ behaviour shows good improvement over time. However, the

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

school’s incident logbook records that some pupils still find it difficult to accept responsibility for their own behaviour.  Pupils have low levels of attainment when they join the school as many have typically been disengaged from education in their previous schools. The school has managed to get some pupils re-engaged as they become interested in the vocational subjects that the school provides.  The school uses robust systems to track and record pupils’ progress. Information about their entry level in functional skills GCSE examinations is recorded in English, mathematics and computing. Targets are set for further progress. However, these are not consistently ambitious for those who are most able, those who need to catch up and those working at the expected level for their age. Pupils also sit for horticulture, animal husbandry and cooking examinations. Most pupils have been successful in receiving

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

accreditation at appropriate levels through Open College Network London certificates.  Pupils who attend regularly are well prepared for their next stage of training. For example, some pupils have chosen careers such as hairdressing, or to train as paramedics.  All pupils have special educational needs or disability. There is no difference between the achievement of boys and girls.  Leaders have ensured that all the independent school standards for this aspect are met.

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Sixth form provision is inadequate

 There is currently only one learner on roll in the sixth form who is in the first year and who follows an individualised curriculum tailored to their needs, interests and abilities. It is not appropriate to comment on the achievement or behaviour of this individual learner.  The strengths and weaknesses outlined in the other sections of this report apply equally to the sixth-form provision. Accordingly, the sixth-form provision is inadequate.

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School details

Unique reference number 141737 Inspection number 10008634 DfE registration number 204/6011 Type of school Special school School status Independent school Age range of pupils 13–17 Gender of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 10 Of which, number on roll in sixth form 1 Number of part-time pupils 6 Proprietor Hackney City Farm Chair David Brook Headteacher Adrian Johnson Annual fees (day pupils) £13,500 Telephone number 020 7729 6391 Website www.hackneycityfarm.co.uk Email address school@hackneycityfarm.co.uk

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Information about this school

 The Hackney City Farm school operates as an alternative education provider for pupils who are not in school as they are at risk of exclusion. They all have behavioural, emotional and social difficulties.  The school is located in a farm, which is open to the public. The school was set up in 2005 and received its first pre-registration visit in June 2014, but it was not given registered status as it was not likely to meet the independent school standards. The school succeeded in gaining registration as an independent special school in January 2015. This was its first standard inspection.  The school admits a maximum of 10 pupils aged from 13 to 17, at any one time. There are currently 10 pupils on roll, between 15 and 17 years of age. Four pupils attend full time and six part time. There is one pupil in the sixth form.  All pupils have either a statement of special education needs or an education, health and care plan.

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Information about this school

 Most pupils are referred to the school by New Regent’s College.  The school does not have any religious affiliation. The proprietorial body is Hackney City Farm, which consists of two trustees. Since registration, the school has appointed a governing body comprising three governors. The farm director is also a member of the governing body.  The school currently uses the alternative provision ‘Inspire’ where some pupils learn music.  The school uses the facilities within the farm to provide courses for animal husbandry, horticulture and cooking. Pupils take Open College Network London certificates in these courses.  The school’s aim is ‘to engage, nurture, care and prepare pupils for their future lives’.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection was carried out with one day’s notice.  The inspector observed learning in a number of lessons in English, mathematics, computing and cooking. All pupils were seen in lessons three to four times. All teachers were seen teaching.  Pupils’ work in their books was evaluated.  The behaviour of pupils was observed throughout the inspection. Records of pupils’ behaviour, including those in incident and accident books, were examined.  Discussions took place with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, four members of staff including teachers and learning mentors, assessment leaders for English and mathematics, a leader from New Regent’s College, and a headteacher from a school which refers pupils to the provision.  Discussions were held with the director and two governors of the school.  A meeting was held with pupils to ascertain their views. Questionnaires completed by seven members of

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Information about this inspection

staff were considered.  No parent completed Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and none were available for interview during the inspection.  The inspector scrutinised a wide range of documentation, including that related to the school’s compliance with the independent school standards.  Written policies and other documents available on the school’s website were examined, as were those available in the school.

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Inspection team

Kanwaljit Singh, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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, further education and skills, 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 1231, 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 www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Inspection team

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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

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