Horton School Beverley

Horton School Beverley Sammon Road, Beverley HU17 0BG

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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 Not previously inspected

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Senior leaders and the proprietor do not check important aspects of the school’s performance. As a result, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate.  The school does not currently have a framework in place to measure and evaluate pupils’ progress. This makes it difficult for leaders to identify when pupils are not doing well enough.  Pupils who attend the school all have special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, their needs are not always correctly identified and supported by staff and this slows their progress.  Pupils make inadequate academic progress across the school, particularly in mathematics.  The subject knowledge of staff who teach pupils is inconsistent. In some subject areas, teachers’ subject knowledge is strong and pupils make better progress. In other areas, for example humanities, their subject knowledge is weak and pupils’ progress is poor.  Pupils make slow progress in English because

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

they have too few opportunities to develop their writing skills.  Pupils told inspectors that they do not feel their views are always listened to.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The newly appointed leadership team has a very clear understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses.  Pupils’ personal development and well-being are a key focus for all staff. As a result, pupils’ behaviour improves over time.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The school must take action to meet the requirements of the schedule to the Education Act (‘the independent school standards’) and associated requirements. The details are listed in the main report.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Rapidly improve the quality of leadership and management and governance, by: – developing a whole-school system which enables senior leaders and staff to assess pupils’ progress over time and to set future targets – ensuring that regular checks are made on the quality of teaching, learning and assessment across the school – increasing the role that the newly appointed special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) plays in accurately identifying pupils’ additional needs and ensuring provision is put in place to support pupils across the school – further developing the role subject coordinators and other middle leaders play in bringing about improvement across the school.  Urgently improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, by: – ensuring that work planned for pupils meets their individual needs more accurately – ensuring that pupils with additional needs are given appropriate support so that they

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

are able to make the progress they should – making sure that staff have sufficiently strong subject knowledge to plan and deliver effective learning – further developing the role played by teaching assistants in supporting pupils’ learning.  As a matter of urgency improve outcomes for pupils, by: – making sure staff measure and evaluate pupils’ previous knowledge and skills accurately when they arrive at the school – broadening the range of areas that pupils study in the mathematics curriculum – increasing opportunities for pupils to use and apply the knowledge and skills they have learned in order to solve problems and deepen their mathematical knowledge – developing more opportunities for pupils to practise their writing skills across the curriculum.

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The school must meet the following independent school standards

 The proprietor must ensure 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 takes into account the needs of pupils, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, and does not undermine fundamental British values. This must also ensure that all pupils are given the opportunity to learn and make progress and must reflect standards (paragraph 2(1), 2(1)(b)(i), 2(2)(b), 2(2)(h), 2(2)(i)).  The proprietor must ensure that teaching in 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 and fosters in pupils self- motivation and the application of intellectual, physical and creative effort, interest in their

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The school must meet the following independent school standards

work and the ability to think and learn for themselves. It must be delivered by staff through well-planned lessons using effective teaching methods. Staff must have an understanding of pupils’ prior attainment, manage class time effectively and have good subject knowledge. Effective teaching and learning must also be supported by effective use of a range of classroom resources and a framework must be in place which enables staff to use assessment to plan pupils’ future work (paragraph 3, 3(a), 3(b), 3(c) 3(e), 3(f), 3(g), 4).  The proprietors must ensure that persons with leadership and management responsibility demonstrate good skills and knowledge appropriate to their role so that the independent school standards are consistently met, and must 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 Inadequate

 The leadership and management of the school is inadequate because leaders, managers and the proprietor have not been effective in meeting the independent school standards. They have also failed to put in place systems for monitoring the quality of teaching and learning across the school. As a result, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inconsistent. Work in books shows much is inadequate currently and over time.  At the time of the inspection, it was difficult to assess pupils’ progress from their starting points. Leaders and managers did not have information showing pupils’ current or previous progress. This is because an effective system to check pupils’ progress has not been put in place.  All pupils who attend the school have an education, health and care plan. Usually, this identifies social, emotional and mental health as being their primary needs. However, a significant number of pupils have additional special educational needs, including autistic

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

spectrum disorder and learning difficulties. Up until very recently, the role of SENCo was being carried out by staff on both sites who were insufficiently qualified to recognise and support individual pupils’ special educational needs and/or disabilities. As a result, work in books shows that this group of pupils makes slow progress.  Current middle leaders do not make a significant contribution to improvements needed within the school. They do not monitor the quality of teaching and learning effectively within their own subject area.  A curriculum plan is in place and is supported by subject area plans. However, these plans do not always meet the needs of pupils and do not always reflect what is actually being taught in classrooms. Therefore, the curriculum does not meet the requirements of the independent school standards.  The newly appointed leadership team has a clear view of what is needed to move the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

school forward. They, working closely with the manager and proprietor, have begun to put in place systems to monitor safeguarding and behavioural incidents more closely and a system to check and monitor pupils’ progress across the school. However, these systems will not be fully in place until September 2017. As a result, it is not possible to measure their impact or success in improving outcomes for pupils.  The very newly appointed deputy headteacher has taken on the role of SENCo within the school. She has made a quick start and is already planning to work very closely with an educational psychologist to evaluate pupils’ needs and to put in place appropriate future support.  Curriculum enrichment activities are a strength of the school and enable pupils to experience a wide range of activities including horse riding, canoeing, boxing, rock climbing, drama and art projects. These experiences enable pupils to develop their

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding.  The school has been open for less than a year. A small number of Year 11 pupils are leaving at the end of the year. They are all transferring to further education. All have received help and careers guidance from their local authority.

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Governance

 The proprietor and board of trustees are currently working closely with the leadership team. Since the arrival of the new headteacher, they have become more aware of the issues facing the school and are now committed to bringing about improvement. Evidence of this can clearly be seen in the recent investment in systems to more accurately measure pupils’ progress and behaviour.  The proprietor and the board of trustees are aware that more needs to be done to improve the quality of teaching and outcomes for pupils within the school.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  School leaders and the proprietor ensure that there is a strong culture of safeguarding within the school.  Systems in place to record safeguarding concerns are secure. Staff are effectively trained and are clear about what needs to be done should a concern be raised within the school.  The new headteacher is the designated safeguarding leader. She has evaluated and strengthened current systems since arriving in the school. She also works closely with the deputy headteacher with responsibility for safeguarding to ensure that processes and procedures support pupils’ needs effectively.  Leaders regularly attend multidisciplinary team meetings. Records show that through this work they make an effective contribution to meeting the needs of vulnerable pupils.  The school is part of the Horton Education and Care group which has a generic website. The school’s safeguarding policy is available on this website.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inconsistent across the school. Too often, staff do not have the knowledge and skills to teach the pupils in their care effectively. This leads to pupils being taught misconceptions and inaccurate knowledge. For example, it was suggested to pupils learning about the Tudors that Henry VIII may have spent time caring for his children in the style of a 21st century father. This sort of misinformation contributes to pupils’ low levels of knowledge and understanding and impedes their future progress.  Work set for pupils does not always meet their needs. In some subject areas, work set is too easy or too hard and this slows pupils’ progress overall.  Currently, pupils’ additional needs are not always recognised. As a result, they do not receive extra support to access the curriculum. For example, worksheets given to pupils are sometimes too difficult for them to read and this slows their progress and leads to

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

dips in their behaviour.  Support assistants working in classrooms are not always sufficiently well trained in supporting pupils’ academic needs. For example, they sometimes do not have a sufficiently clear understanding of the answer to questions being asked and offer pupils prompts towards incorrect answers in both mathematics and English. This slows progress overall.  In some subject areas, for example in science and information technology, teachers have good subject knowledge and an effective understanding of how pupils learn. In these subjects, pupils make better progress and demonstrate a keenness to learn.  Staff develop strong relationships with pupils and this increases pupils’ trust in adults. Staff interests outside school often contribute to this. For example, the mathematics teacher also offers skateboard lessons as he is an enthusiast. Pupils said this activity had helped them to get to know the teacher and had increased their enjoyment of

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

mathematics.  Senior leaders have a clear view of the strengths and areas in need of improvement within teaching and learning. They have planned a comprehensive programme of continuous professional development for all staff, starting in September. They have also made close links with a teaching school alliance. This has enabled staff from the school to observe teaching in other settings as well as creating opportunities for mentors to come and work with them.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils spoken to during the inspection confirmed that they feel safe in school and that staff are supportive and caring. However, they also suggested that they do not always feel listened to, particularly in relation to improving things in school.  Staff have a clear focus on ensuring that pupils’ welfare needs are a key priority. Their empathy and understanding of pupils’ needs enable pupils to make strong progress in developing self-respect and self-esteem during their time in school.  Parents spoken to during the inspection agree that the school is a safe and nurturing environment where their children are supported in their efforts to re-engage with education and make social, emotional and academic progress over time.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  Despite their very high levels of need, pupils’ behaviour improves once they settle into the school routines and many start to attend regularly and begin to learn once again.  However, when learning is poorly prepared or does not interest pupils, their behaviour can dip and this is reflected in their challenging and at times violent actions. Bound behaviour books show that this happens less frequently the longer a pupil is in school. However, as school leaders do not currently analyse these incidents, it is difficult to get an accurate picture of behaviour across the school.  Pupils are clear about the different forms bullying can take but feel that when it does occur in school staff deal with it well.  School leaders are beginning to analyse attendance data more effectively. Overall, attendance is close to the national average for a mainstream secondary school. This

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Behaviour

represents a marked improvement in levels of attendance for nearly all pupils compared with their attendance at previous schools.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 Pupils enter school with a wide variety of starting points. Many have significant gaps in their education, often linked to previous exclusions for difficult behaviour. Currently, subject coordinators are not always able to assess pupils’ starting points accurately as some are very reluctant to sit the required tests. As a result, in some subject areas where staff knowledge and understanding is weak, pupils are given inappropriate work which is either too hard or too easy and reduces the progress they make.  Currently, pupils have too few opportunities to develop their independence skills or to use and apply what they are learning to deepen their knowledge and understanding, particularly in mathematics and humanities.  The current curriculum taught in mathematics is focused on developing numerical skills and too little learning time in all key stages is devoted to other areas of mathematics. This slows pupils’ progress overall and reduces their performance in external

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

examinations and accreditation.  Pupils’ reading skills remain weak because they are not offered sufficient opportunities to read in lessons or for pleasure. The newly appointed deputy headteacher plans to introduce a more comprehensive approach to teaching reading from September 2017.  The work in English books looked at during the inspection shows that pupils across the key stages have spent much of their time in English learning about grammar and punctuation and little time practising their skills writing longer pieces of work.  The most able pupils are not currently identified as a group within the school. However, individual pupils have been given more challenging work in some subject areas and this has improved their progress overall.  Pupils who attend the school all have identified special educational needs and/or disabilities. All currently make inadequate progress overall.  The school does not receive clearly identifiable pupil premium funding from local

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

authorities. It therefore does not identify this group of pupils and does not currently analyse data on their progress.

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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

Email address enquiries@hortongroup.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school meets the needs of up to 55 pupils aged between seven and 18 years.  Pupils who attend the school travel from across east Yorkshire and surrounding areas.  The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage.  A small number are in the care of the local authority.  This is the school’s first standard inspection.  The school opened in September 2016 and was registered by the Department for Education on 16 August 2016.There have been several new staff appointed since it opened, including the appointment of the current headteacher in March 2016 and an additional deputy headteacher and SENCo in June 2017.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed learning in classrooms across the school, accompanied by senior leaders for some of the observations.  The inspector scrutinised a wide range of documentation including the school’s curriculum policy and schemes of work, the complaints policy and other documents required to check compliance with the independent school standards.  Meetings were held with senior leaders, staff, the director and a trustee. Informal discussions were undertaken with several pupils. A formal discussion was held with three secondary-age pupils.  No responses were received from parents and carers to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. However, a discussion was held with a parent at the beginning of the school day.

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Inspection team

Marian Thomas, lead inspector Her Majesty’s 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

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 .

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Inspection team

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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.gov.uk/ofsted

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