Manchester Jewish School for Special Education

Manchester Jewish School for Special Education Manchester Jewish Community Centre, Bury Old Road, Manchester M7 4QY

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an inadequate school  Leaders and managers are not aware of the independent school standards and a substantial number of these were found to be unmet. The school is also failing to meet the standards relating to leadership and management.  The progress that pupils make is not checked rigorously enough. Leaders do not evaluate whether the teaching and additional support for pupils that they use are improving pupils’ learning.  Leaders do not consider carefully enough how the time spent on the Kodesh and the Chol curriculum helps or hinders the progress pupils make. The quality of education, especially in secular subjects including English and mathematics, has not been maintained since the last full inspection.  The school’s effectiveness has not improved since the last inspection.  Procedures for checking the quality of teaching are not rigorous enough. They do not allow leaders to give accurate feedback to teachers

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

or to follow up observations of their work with professional development. Performance- management procedures are not fully embedded for all staff, including the headteacher.  Leaders are unaware of the most recent statutory requirements for keeping children safe. The safeguarding policy is out of date. Staff have not received up-to-date training to enable them to understand and fulfil their duties appropriately.  Students attending post-16 provision do not have access to independent external careers advice and guidance. They do not have appropriate opportunities to gain qualifications to help them prepare for life after school. The school has the following strengths  The headteacher has created a culture where all pupils are made to feel welcome. Staff work hard to remove barriers related to pupils’ special educational needs and/or disabilities.  The headteacher knows the pupils well. She takes effective steps to ensure that they feel

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

safe and at ease on the premises.  Parents’ views are welcomed by the school’s leaders, who do their best to respond to parents’ requests.  The education provided by the school is valued by the pupils, their parents and the wider community.  Pupils are polite and respectful. They behave well. Working relationships in the school are good. Compliance with regulatory requirements  The school must take action to meet the requirements of the schedule to The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 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?

 Improve leadership and management by ensuring that: – the headteacher and governors keep up to date with changes in statutory duties, including those relating to the independent schools standards, pupils’ registration and safeguarding policies and procedures – the school develops plans for improvement that drive the school forward and allow leaders to assess the impact of their actions – leaders keep a tight focus on the impact different activities have on the progress of all pupils, in order to achieve the best use of the pupils’ time in school – pupils have access to a broad and balanced curriculum – performance-management procedures are robust and hold teachers and leaders to account for pupils’ achievement and the impact of their work – appropriate training for leaders and staff is arranged to help them improve their practice – students attending the post-16 provision are given independent careers advice and

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

opportunities to acquire qualifications and work experience that will help them make informed choices when they leave school.  Improve the quality of teaching and learning, so that pupils and students make at least good progress in subjects by ensuring that: – the quality of teaching is never less than good and that assessments of pupils’ progress are accurate and used to inform teachers’ planning – teachers check pupils’ understanding in lessons, including whether they need new or more challenging work or extra help to consolidate their learning – appropriate schemes of work and assessment are in place for all areas of the curriculum so that teachers are clear about the skills, knowledge and understanding that pupils will develop and the criteria against which their learning will be assessed – the range and quality of pupils’ learning is improved and they have suitable opportunities to develop their abilities in a wide variety of subjects.

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The school must meet the following independent school standards

 The proprietor ensures that a written policy on the curriculum, supported by appropriate plans and schemes of work, which provides for the matters specified in sub-paragraph (2) is drawn up and implemented effectively; and the written policy, plans and schemes of work take into account the ages, aptitudes and needs of all pupils, including those pupils with an education, health and care plan; and encourages respect for other people, paying particular regard to the protected characteristics set out in the 2010 Act (paragraphs 2(1), 2(1)(a), 2(1)(b), 2(1)(b)(i) and 2(2)(d)(ii)).  The proprietor must ensure that for pupils receiving secondary education, access to accurate, up-to-date careers guidance that is presented in an impartial manner; enables them to make informed choices about a broad range of career options; and helps to encourage them to fulfil their potential (paragraphs 2(2)(e), 2(2)(e)(i), 2(2)(e)(ii) and

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The school must meet the following independent school standards

2(2)(e)(iii)).  The proprietor must ensure that the teaching at the school enables pupils to acquire new knowledge and make good progress according to their ability so that they increase their understanding and develop their skills in the subjects taught; involves well-planned lessons and effective teaching methods, activities and management of class time (paragraphs 3, 3(a) and 3(c)).  The proprietor must ensure that such arrangements have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State (paragraphs 7 and 7(b)).  The proprietor must promote good behaviour among pupils by ensuring that a record is kept of the sanctions imposed upon pupils for serious misbehaviour (paragraphs 9 and 9(c)).  The proprietor must ensure that an admission and attendance register is maintained in accordance with the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 (paragraph 15).  The proprietor must ensure that particulars of the arrangements for meeting the standard

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The school must meet the following independent school standards

contained in paragraph 7 are published on the school's internet website or, where no such website exists, are provided to parents on request (paragraphs 32 (1) and 32(1)(c)).  The proprietor must ensure that 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 (paragraphs 34(1), 34(1)(a) and 34(1)(b)).

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders do not fully understand their responsibilities in several areas, including their duty to check that the school is meeting all of the independent school standards. In addition, they have limited knowledge of safeguarding regulations, including the most recent statutory guidance on keeping children safe in education. The school’s safeguarding policy does not provide sufficient information to enable staff to fulfil their duties to keep pupils safe.  The quality of school-improvement planning is weak. There is no written plan and no information about how developments will be monitored and evaluated. As a result, it is not possible for governors to have a secure view of the progress made by pupils and to hold leaders robustly to account for improvements.  Leaders do not monitor the quality of teaching and its impact on learning rigorously enough. The system for performance management does not ensure that teachers focus

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

tightly on improving their skills or that teachers are held to account for pupils’ progress.  The school offers a Kodesh (Jewish studies) curriculum and a Chol (secular studies) curriculum. The curriculum policy makes reference to linguistic, mathematical, scientific, technological, human and social, physical and aesthetic and creative education. However, in practice, curriculum coverage is at best variable. Leaders do not consider how all curriculum areas should be developed and taught. Insufficient time is given to enable pupils to make enough progress in all subjects. The majority of time each day is spent on Kodesh studies, with the afternoons devoted to the rest of the curriculum. An analysis of pupils’ books exemplified this lack of progress, with only two pieces of work for English and two for mathematics completed since the term started in September.  The monitoring and evaluation of the progress that pupils make is not rigorous enough.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

The systems to monitor teaching of Chol subjects are not fully developed. They do not identify whether pupils are making sufficient progress. For instance, leaders were not aware that the school’s own assessments showed that many pupils were not progressing year on year in Chol subjects including English, mathematics, science, history and geography.  The quality of the curriculum plans and schemes of work do not support good teaching and learning. Plans for sessions in the afternoon do not contain enough detail to ensure that teachers are able to teach effectively, tailor the work according to pupils’ needs or assess according to clear criteria. As a result, the quality of teaching and the progress made by pupils are inadequate across the curriculum.  Leaders have not given sufficient priority to important tasks such as ensuring that the school’s admission records are accurate and include all of the information needed to

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

comply with statutory requirements, for example the dates when pupils arrive and leave school. Nor have they kept a log of behavioural incidents and sanctions given to pupils.  Study programmes for pupils over the age of 16 are very limited. The school has initiated plans to enable students to take accredited qualifications through the Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network. However, this has yet to be implemented. In addition, post-16 pupils are not given opportunities for independent careers advice or appropriate work experience placements. This does not prepare them well enough for life after school.  Leaders have created a calm and purposeful environment where pupils’ behaviour is usually appropriate. The routines that leaders have established mean that pupils are clear about the expectations adults have of them and they respond well to these.  The headteacher is keen to strengthen leadership and has appointed a deputy

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

headteacher to take responsibility for teaching, learning and assessment. The appointment of a special educational needs coordinator has further supported leadership. However, these roles are at an early stage of development and are not yet having the impact required to improve the school.  The headteacher creates a positive ethos that has a beneficial effect on staff, parents and pupils. The staff and parents are very supportive of her. Feedback from the three parents who responded to Ofsted’s survey was positive.

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Governance

 The chair of governors relies on the headteacher for the leadership of the school. He values the school’s contribution to education within the community. However, governors have not ensured that students are as safe and secure as they should be.  Governors demonstrate continuing and long-term commitment to the school and share its ethos.  The chair of governors meets regularly with the headteacher to provide support and help resolve issues. However, his role is not linked firmly enough to the expectations set out in the independent school standards to monitor the work of the school and provide challenge to school leaders.  The governors have not conducted an appraisal of the headteacher’s work.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.  Safeguarding procedures are in place but are not sufficiently robust. The school has a policy for safeguarding. However, issues such as child sexual exploitation, faith abuse, forced marriage and preventing radicalisation are not considered in the policy. The policy is out of date in a number of other respects; it does not make reference to the latest government guidance. This means that a safeguarding policy that complies with requirements is not made available for parents. Leaders acknowledge that the school’s policy and practice for preventing radicalisation are underdeveloped. Staff have not had training in this area. Consequently, the school does not promote pupils’ safety and well- being well enough.  There is a lack of vigilance in evaluating policy and procedures and the impact of actions to keep pupils safe. The school does not keep a record of behavioural incidents or

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Safeguarding

sanctions given to pupils. The school has not made any referral to social services in the last three years and has no records of previous referrals.  The school’s admission register does not contain all the required details. The dates when pupils join or leave the school are not recorded, nor is their previous school placement.  The school has appropriate risk assessments in place. Tests have been carried out to ensure that fire safety equipment is maintained and fire drills are carried out regularly.  The school has improved the security of the premises since the last inspection. A secure fence surrounds the school and visitors are required to enter via a gate that is kept locked and is continuously staffed.  Appropriate procedures are in place for the vetting of new staff.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 Learning in secular subjects is inadequate overall because it does not enable all pupils to make the progress of which they are capable. Teachers do not cover the range of subjects required fully enough.  In secular subjects, including English, mathematics, history, science and geography, teaching is too varied in quality. As a result, not all pupils develop sufficiently their abilities to read, write, speak, listen and understand mathematics. Pupils’ books show that teaching in some of these subjects is too repetitive. For example, some older pupils completed the same worksheet 12 or sometimes 18 times in the period of a few weeks, when it was clear from the outset they could already do the work.  In other classes, pupils’ work in books is often very limited. For example, in English and mathematics for pupils in Years 4 to 7, pupils have very few opportunities to write or apply their knowledge.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 The most able pupils, as well as those who require additional support, are not provided with enough opportunities to make sure that they can progress well from their own starting points.  Some teaching does not engage the interest of pupils. Teachers do not consistently set work at levels that match different levels of pupils’ ability. Although pupils try to work hard and to behave well in these lessons, they are not always attentive and this causes their progress to falter.  Some teachers of Jewish religious studies use their high levels of expert knowledge well and pupils try hard to concentrate during these lessons. However, a small number of pupils who have the most significant special educational needs and/or disabilities are not engaging sufficiently well because what they are asked to do is too challenging.  Teachers’ plans and pupils’ work show that pupils are not given sufficient opportunities to

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

broaden their understanding of the differences between people based on their culture, religion, gender, gender identity and sexual orientation.  Pupils have positive attitudes to reading and engaged well with a Bible story read to them. When reading aloud they are able to make predictions about the story and use some phonics knowledge when they are stuck on a word. Most pupils are reading books that are well below their chronological age. Reading resources are limited. For example, pupils use books photocopied from an original.  Staffing levels mean that pupils are given one-to-one attention when they need it. This helps to support pupils who become distracted or disengaged.  Pupils respond positively to their teachers’ instructions. In one class, a well-established reward system that acknowledges pupils’ achievements, motivates them and helps them to learn.  Homework is set regularly and staff work hard to encourage good study habits.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school's work to promote pupils' personal development and welfare requires improvement.  The school policy to keep pupils safe does not cover important aspects that they need to learn, including cyber bullying, staying safe online, sexting and preventing radicalisation and extremism. This has the potential to place pupils at risk.  The anti-bullying policy contains insufficient detail. For example, it does not refer to prejudice-based bullying. This potentially puts pupils at risk of harm.  The school is well ordered and pupils know and understand the school rules and routines. This has a positive impact for many pupils who find change and disruption upsetting.  The school promotes respect and tolerance. There are good relationships between adults and pupils and between pupils themselves.  Pupils speak positively about the school and understand that adults do their best to help them to learn. They think they have enough help with their lessons and enjoy the range

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Personal development and welfare

of additional activities that the school provides. These include swimming and cookery. These activities help to promote positive attitudes to learning.  Staff in school work hard to try to encourage pupils to develop skills to assist them to become independent. For example, they are taught how to shave, shower, cook and shop.  Pupils are given many opportunities to enjoy experiences which promote their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. They visit a nearby museum to help them understand technology. A visiting singer from America helps them develop self-esteem. The local police support the school in helping pupils understand road safety and also in helping to broaden pupils’ understanding of public institutions and services in England.  Pupils learn about democracy by visiting a local courthouse and discuss British values by celebrating Remembrance Day. In addition, the school promotes tolerance and respect

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Personal development and welfare

by holding a Purim party to encourage pupils to dress in costumes to celebrate cultures from around the world.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  The school safeguarding policy is not up to date. The school does not keep records of behavioural incidents or of sanctions administered to pupils. Therefore it cannot effectively monitor the impact of its behaviour policy.  The school does not provide all the required information to parents. It does not set out the sanctions to be adopted in the event of pupils’ misbehaviour.  School leaders say that pupils attend well and registers and pupils’ records confirm this. However, leaders do not analyse attendance systematically and were unable to provide information about the school’s overall attendance.  Pupils get on with each other very well. They enjoy their social time when they play in the well-equipped playground or quietly talk together. The good relationships between all members of the school community reflect the school’s ethos and the way pupils value

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Behaviour

and respect others.  Pupils said they felt safe in school and the three parents who responded to the questionnaire agreed.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 Pupils often join the school having had significant disruption to their education. This, coupled with their complex learning difficulties, means they enter with very low starting points. However, assessment information is not sufficiently detailed to allow the school to accurately measure their progress.  From their different starting points, too many pupils do not make the progress they should in a range of subjects in the secular curriculum. Work in their books and progress files do not evidence the view that leaders have of pupils making good progress. Leaders’ information is unreliable because they do not have adequate systems in place to check the progress that pupils are making.  All pupils have an education, health and care plan or statement of special educational needs. However, rates of progress in almost all areas of the curriculum are very slow for most pupils. Individual education plans show appropriate targets for pupils but these are

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

not routinely used by teachers to help pupils move on in their learning.  The most able pupils are not always given work that matches their ability and therefore are not challenged sufficiently to make the progress that they should. In some cases, pupils’ individual aptitudes are recognised and fostered but this is not routinely the case.  Pupils do not leave school with any qualifications, either academic or vocational. This means they are not well prepared for the next stage of their education and training. Their employment prospects are limited.

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Sixth form provision Inadequate

 The sixth-form provision is inadequate because a number of regulations affecting these students have not been met.  Students in the sixth form do not have the opportunity for independent careers advice that they need to prepare them for life after school.  The curriculum for pupils in the sixth form is not broad enough and pupils are not given the opportunity to study for qualifications or accredited courses.  Students do not have the opportunity to develop their employability skills because they are not given sufficient work experience chances that would help them to develop as independent young adults. Leaders say that parents want pupils to work in the Jewish community, so opportunities for work placements are limited.

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School details

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 Other independent special school

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School details

Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed

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School details

Of which, number on roll in sixth form 3

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Information about this school

 The Manchester Jewish School for Special Education is housed in a Jewish community centre in north Manchester. It is owned by a charity that also operates under the name T’mimei Lev. It does not have a proprietor but has three trustees. One of these is also the chair of governors.  Torah Tots nursery operates from the same building and is led by the same headteacher and board of trustees. This school has a separate Department for Education number.  Although the school is registered for pupils from aged four years, the youngest pupils currently on roll are aged eight years.  The headteacher has worked in the school for nine years but took up her leadership post a little over one year ago.  At the time of the inspection all of the pupils were boys. There are 16 pupils on roll, with one pupil who is dual registered attending part-time.  All of the pupils belong to the Jewish community.  The school has access to a swimming pool on site.

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Information about this school

 Pupils attend for four and a half days per week. The school also offers after-school facilities each evening and on Sunday mornings. The majority of the school day is taken up with Jewish studies.  All pupils have an education, health and care plan or a statement of special educational needs. Most pupils have moderate learning difficulties and some have more complex needs.

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Information about this inspection

 Meetings were held with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, special educational needs coordinator, speech and language therapist and the chair of governors.  The inspector observed learning in lessons and around the school, heard pupils read and analysed pupils’ work in files.  The inspector spoke with pupils and parents to gather their views of the school.  The inspector observed the school’s work, scrutinised information about achievement, behaviour and attendance and looked at a wide range of school documents and records relating to the monitoring of teaching and learning.  The inspector took account of feedback from staff surveys, Parent View and from records kept by the school.  The inspection was carried out with one day’s notice.

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Inspection team

Cathy Parkinson, 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.

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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

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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