Moorlands View School

Moorlands View School Manchester Road, Dunnockshaw, Burnley, Lancashire BB11 5PQ

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Overall effectiveness Good Effectiveness of leadership and management Good Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good Outcomes for pupils Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher, well supported by the proprietor and governors, has a strong, purposeful vision for this improving school. His effectiveness is reflected in pupils’ good social and academic development.  Pupils with different abilities make good progress from their starting points.  As a result of good teaching over time, pupils leave the school with a range of worthwhile qualifications. This prepares them well for their next steps in education, training or employment.  Pupils behave well and feel safe. Relationships between pupils are good, and with adults are excellent. Pupils like coming to school. This is evident in their excellent attendance and punctuality.  The school provides an interesting and engaging curriculum. It enables pupils to extend their knowledge and understanding and improve their skills in a range of artistic, creative and sporting activities.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

development is successfully promoted and pupils are fully aware of fundamental British values.  Leaders have made sure that all the independent school standards are met.  Teachers do not consistently set work at the appropriate level to enable the most able pupils to make the best possible progress.  Procedures for monitoring teaching and learning are not yet sufficiently rigorous to ensure that teachers know what they need to do to improve so that pupils make rapid progress.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

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

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of leadership and management further by ensuring that:  the monitoring of teaching and learning is rigorous and accurately pinpoints how teachers need to improve, so that pupils make rapid progress  checks are made to be certain that the recommended improvements are implemented  teachers consistently set work at the appropriate level so that the most able pupils make the best possible progress.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 The school meets all the regulations of the independent standards.  Leaders and governors have brought about many improvements since the last inspection. These include faster rates of progress made by pupils and higher rates of attendance and punctuality.  Leaders have been successful in delivering in practice the school’s mission statement, ‘To provide a caring and stimulating environment where every child matters’.  The school is too small to have an extended leadership team with subject specialists. It makes good use of in-house expertise such as key stage specialist teachers to share good practice. The school’s strong commitment to improving teaching and the curriculum can be illustrated by its many links to the network of similar schools within the company.  The curriculum, with its imaginative organisation, ensures that pupils receive a broad and exciting range of learning opportunities. This means that their learning needs are

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

generally well met. As there are such small numbers of pupils in the school, the curriculum opportunities can be individually designed. For example, younger pupils benefit from construction and role-play activities in the designated playroom.  The curriculum provides good opportunities for pupils to take part in art, music and sport, often through visiting local centres and sporting facilities. Leaders also make it a high priority to promote pupils’ independent living skills, and the importance of this is recognised by pupils. ‘I’m able to catch a bus, go shopping and get all the food I need for a meal,’ was a comment made by one pupil. He added that, ‘I’ll need to do all this when I leave.’  The promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. The school prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain and strongly promotes fundamental British values. Citizenship lessons and school council membership are

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

used successfully to provide pupils with insights into the democratic process.  Teachers’ performance in the classroom is regularly monitored by leaders but systems to ensure that improvements are made are not rigorous enough. The current arrangements do not always make it clear what teachers need to do to improve further. Nor do they provide checks that plans for improvement are subsequently put into practice. This explains why much of the teaching remains good but not outstanding.

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Governance

 Governors have a good understanding of the school and its effectiveness. They hold leaders to account for the performance of pupils and systematically monitor the progress pupils are making both socially and academically. Their scrutiny is having a positive impact on the outcomes for pupils.  Governors make valuable contributions to the school’s self-evaluation. The document provides a rigorous and accurate analysis of the current position and offers an honest appraisal of where improvements are needed. For example, there is recognition that the current curriculum expectations are not always demanding enough for the most able pupils.  Governors ensure that the safeguarding policy meets current requirements and is published on the school’s website. Pupils say that they feel safe and governors have well-established systems to deal with any concerns that are raised.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders and staff take all the necessary actions to ensure that keeping pupils safe is given the highest priority. Arrangements to safeguard pupils meet all the latest advice and guidance provided to schools.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good .  Most pupils make at least good progress from their different starting points. Teachers plan interesting activities and are well equipped to support pupils’ individual learning needs.  Pupils often arrive part-way through a key stage and with specific learning or emotional needs. Staff are quick to adapt teaching and planning accordingly to cater for the requirements of the individual pupil or the particular course he or she may be following. They use their secure subject knowledge well to integrate pupils successfully and access external support where necessary.  Pupils value the efforts made by staff. They shared with the inspector the view that staff, ‘help us follow our interests and career ambitions.’ This includes working with external providers to enable pupils to access courses that they wish to follow. As a result of high levels of staff commitment and skilled teaching, pupils are able to

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

continue with subjects and vocational courses that interest them.  Carers are overwhelmingly positive in their comments about the quality of the school’s work. They say that the structure of the school day offers pupils the opportunity to access the same curriculum as in any school and that the quality of education they receive is good.  Regular homework consolidates and deepens pupils’ learning. One care home manager referred to pupils’ high levels of attendance as an indicator that, ‘Children are desperate to come to school as they enjoy the learning and the stability that the school offers them.’  Pupils do their best to meet the high expectations set by staff. They work hard to gain their praise. Pupils say that they also value the encouragement and rewards they receive for their good behaviour. These include the star and points system where access to Friday afternoon activities is determined by pupils’ abilities to behave

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

well for most of the week.  Teachers, teaching assistants and other staff work seamlessly to support pupils and this contributes to the consistency of expectations both pastorally and academically. There is a strong emphasis on developing pupils’ basic skills through subjects other than English and mathematics.  Leaders and teachers have worked hard to improve the accuracy of the school’s assessment information. Systems include progress measures for all aspects of pupils’ development. As a result, leaders now know how well pupils are performing, pick up potential underachievement early and use this information well to plan future work.  Occasionally, the work set for the most able pupils is not challenging enough. When this happens the most able pupils are given the same task as the rest of the class and find the work too easy. This limits their rates of progress.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.  Adults provide excellent levels of care and do all they can to help pupils settle and learn effectively. Pupils’ self-confidence and self-awareness show rapid improvement as they adapt to the school’s routines.  Both staff and pupils listen to each other’s views, take them seriously and act on them where appropriate. For example, arrangements for rewards and free time at the end of the week resulted from consultations led by the school council.  Pupils are proud of their achievements and of their school. They describe to visitors how much more confident they feel since joining the school. Older pupils receive high-quality careers advice that enables them to consider courses or career paths that they might pursue as they prepare to leave Moorlands View.  Leaders take immediate and effective action when they identify any potential risks to

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Personal development and welfare

the welfare of pupils.  Pupils have an excellent understanding of how they can keep themselves safe. Pupils from all key stages are able to describe the risks associated with internet use and how to avoid any dangers.  Pupils say that bullying is rare, a fact confirmed by the incident log, and that, should it occur, it is dealt with swiftly. As a pupil in key stage 3 commented, ‘We all get on here most of the time and if we don’t then it’s always dealt with fairly.... even if I don’t think that at the time.’

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  This is a strong feature of the school’s success, especially given the challenging behaviour that many of the pupils demonstrate when they first arrive.  Records demonstrate the good progress made by pupils in managing their own behaviour. This view is confirmed by some of the managers of children’s homes where the pupils live. They comment on the strong relationships they have with the school, the mutual support and improving behaviour of most of the children who live with them.  Behaviour in lessons and around the school is good. The agreed clear expectations of how pupils should behave are consistently applied. Consequently, most classrooms and play areas are calm, orderly places where effective learning takes place.  Pupils rarely miss a day in school and attendance levels are much higher than when the school was last inspected. Similarly, pupils arrive punctually and are well

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Behaviour

prepared to start their lessons.  The school has effective systems to check on pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare in alternative provision.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Pupils join the school with mixed experiences of education. Some have not attended school for some time because of the difficulties that local authorities and previous schools have had in finding placements for them. As there are so few pupils in the school, staff are able to set targets for each pupil which are appropriately challenging on most occasions.  Evidence from displays around the school and scrutiny of pupils’ work show that pupils make good progress. This includes those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, pupils who need to catch up and those who attend alternative provision. Despite the small numbers, the proportion of pupils making the expected rate of progress in English and mathematics, based on their various starting points, compares favourably with that of all pupils nationally.  Pupils’ good rates of progress are also evident across a range of different subjects

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Outcomes for pupils Good

including art, history, geography and physical education. Throughout the school pupils read regularly and widely.  Pupils in key stage 4 successfully complete accredited courses or training programmes. These include GCSE examinations and vocational qualifications, sometimes delivered with the support of an external provider. This helps them to be well prepared for the next step in their education, training or employment.  Some pupils are identified by staff as being among the most able. These pupils often work on tasks that extend them, for example, through problem solving in mathematics. While they make good progress overall, some tasks they undertake are too easy. Scrutiny of their work books shows that when this happens, they have been given the same activity as their classmates. Often, all the work is correct and pupils talked to the inspector about finishing this work very quickly. As a result, their rates

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Outcomes for pupils Good

of progress are slower than they could be.

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School details

Unique reference number 132079 DfE registration number 888/6046 Inspection number 10020809 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 Special School status Independent school Age range of pupils 7–16 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 9 Number of part-time pupils 0 Proprietor Nicola Kelly Chair Nicola Kelly Headteacher Wayne Carradice Annual fees (day pupils) £35,000 Telephone number 01282 431144 Website www.keyschildcare.co.uk Email address waynecarradice@keyschildcare.co.uk Date of previous inspection 19–20 November 2013

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Information about this school

 The school opened in April 1999. In August 2008 it joined Keys Childcare Limited, which owns a number of other schools in England.  It is a small, independent school which is registered for up to 24 pupils aged from seven to 16 who have significant behavioural, social and emotional difficulties. Some pupils have associated learning difficulties.  Currently, there are nine pupils on roll. They are taught in three classes covering key stages 2, 3 and 4.  All the pupils are looked after by local authorities and live in foster care or in residential provision owned by Keys Childcare Limited.  Two pupils have a statement of special educational needs.  The school uses one alternative provider, Burnley College.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed pupils’ learning in several lessons, all of which were jointly visited with the headteacher.  The inspector looked at pupils’ work and the school’s records of their progress.  The inspector held meetings with, or was in contact by telephone with, senior leaders, staff, pupils, managers of children’s homes and a range of other professionals.  There were no responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire.  The inspector scrutinised a range of documentation provided by the school.  The inspector checked the school’s compliance with the appropriate regulations for independent schools.

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Inspection team

Mike Hewlett, 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

Parent View 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. 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 children looked after, 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-

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Inspection team

government-licence , write to the Information Policy 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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