Southview School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mr Julian Cochrane Headteacher Southview School Conrad Road Witham Essex CM8 2TA

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No formal designation monitoring inspection of Southview School

Following my visit to your school on 5 July 2017, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings.

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No formal designation monitoring inspection of Southview School

This monitoring inspection was conducted under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 and in accordance with Ofsted’s published procedures for inspecting schools with no formal designation. The inspection was carried out because, following the section 5 inspection of February 2017, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector was concerned about the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements at the school.

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Evidence

I scrutinised the single central record and a range of documents that you have introduced relating to safeguarding and child protection arrangements. I met with you and the deputy headteacher, with the chair of the governing body and the governor responsible for safeguarding, with six members of staff, with the leaders of early years and 16 ─ 19 provision, and with a representative of the local authority.

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Evidence

We visited classrooms together, during which I observed pupils’ learning and behaviour. I also looked at a further range of documents, including your development plan, records of local authority safeguarding and adviser visits, the governance review, minutes of governing body meetings, records of governor visits, records of the strategic intervention board meetings and other relevant documents. I took account of the 22 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for parents, Parent View. Having considered the evidence, I am of the opinion that at this time:

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Context

Southview School provides education for children and young people, between the ages of 3 and 19, who have complex and neurological difficulties. Almost all pupils enter the school with attainment that is much lower than is expected for their age. The proportion of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium is in line with the national average. All pupils have a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan.

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Main findings

Following the previous inspection, working closely with the deputy headteacher, you took immediate action to improve the systems for recording and managing any concerns identified about pupils’ well-being and safety. The strategies you have established are detailed and effective. Relevant information and concerns, shared by staff, are logged, and the necessary actions to follow up on these are identified. Because you have established a weekly review with the other two designated safeguarding leads, you challenge each other about the quality of the management of concerns. Actions are taken swiftly when necessary and are revisited and followed up appropriately. A strength within your processes is the way in which pupils use specific technology to communicate when they have worries. Staff respond to pupils’ concerns with sensitivity and share these with leaders and parents as appropriate.

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Main findings

The governor responsible for safeguarding has undertaken a series of visits to monitor the processes in place to check staff suitability to work with children and young people, and to ensure that child protection training and procedures are in place and working effectively. You have worked closely with the local authority safeguarding adviser to make sure that arrangements are fit for purpose and wider agencies are involved quickly when their support is needed. There is good evidence to show that the strategies you have implemented are already ensuring that the pupils and their families are receiving additional support because the right agencies have been involved at the right time. When this has not happened quickly, you are using the school’s own resources to provide families with advice and support, which is resulting in pupils’ welfare needs being addressed well.

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Main findings

You have taken action to ensure that sufficient staff are trained to manage pupils’ behaviour, including in positive handling techniques. This is particularly important because many pupils are dependent on the use of powered wheelchairs for their mobility and sometimes they may misuse these through frustration or anger. You have implemented appropriate procedures to stop them causing harm to others. When incidents occur, although relatively few, they are recorded appropriately. Senior leaders monitor such occurrences carefully through recently introduced procedures to analyse this information along with any other recorded concerns. Staff have a good understanding of pupils’ needs and of how to de-escalate inappropriate behaviour if it recurs. While sufficient staff are now trained, you have also enrolled on a course to qualify to train others, so that this training can be rolled out to all staff and updated regularly.

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Main findings

The deputy headteacher has reviewed the systems in place for monitoring the funding and provision for children looked after by the local authority. Records are detailed, and there is good evidence that the pupils are well supported to make progress. You are currently concerned about the children who have been placed with you and away from their home-funding local authority, because it is taking too long for their future placements to be arranged. For example, with only three weeks to the end of term, some pupils do not yet know where they will live and continue their education when they finish school for the summer. Your recorded evidence shows that you are making every effort to ensure that these pupils receive the support they are entitled to, but concerns about their future remain.

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Main findings

Our visits to classrooms together endorsed the quality of practice seen at the previous inspection. Pupils and staff worked together in relationships, which evidenced high levels of trust and understanding. As a result of this, pupils made good progress through well-planned and relevant activities. For example, in one lesson, pupils were avidly engaging with mathematical tasks, ranging from essential data analysis and graphing activities to A-level study. In another, students worked to make pizzas, while others reviewed a wheelchair slalom they had designed to challenge pupils of all ages and stages in the school on sports day. The youngest pupils enjoyed greeting each other using appropriate technology and confidently used this to welcome me as a visitor. The ethos that leaders have engendered ─ ‘a community of learners with strong self-esteem and high expectations for personal success’ ─ is evident in all classes. Activities are carefully thought through so that

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Main findings

pupils’ time is not wasted, and they engage in meaningful learning experiences.

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External support

The local authority has provided timely and informative support. This has helped you to reshape and tighten up the systems for recording and reporting any concerns about pupils’ safety and well-being. Following the inspection, the local authority implemented a strategic intervention board to support governors to review and challenge the school’s effectiveness. The board has concentrated on key strategic issues, because the safeguarding adviser has effectively supported you to make changes to safeguarding procedures, and governors are now appropriately monitoring safeguarding. The review of governance, recommended in the previous inspection, endorsed the work of the governing body, but, unhelpfully, did not make any significant recommendations for the improvement of its work.

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Priorities for further improvement

 Sustain and embed, as part of expected practice throughout the school, the approaches implemented, to ensure that pupils are safe.

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Priorities for further improvement

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Essex. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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