The Levett School

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

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Ms Karen Green Headteacher The Levett School Melton Road Sprotbrough Doncaster South Yorkshire DN5 7SB

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Short inspection of The Levett School

Following my visit to the school on 26 October 2017 with Chris Campbell, Ofsted Inspector, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in October 2013.

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Short inspection of The Levett School

You and your leadership team have maintained the good quality of education in the school since the previous inspection. Since joining the school in September 2016, you have tackled points of need and developed many areas of the school. You and your new senior leadership team have a clear vision and this has created a shared understanding of the expectations of both staff and pupils. Your determination, coupled with the implementation of a strong development plan written in conjunction with the management committee, ensure that the school continues to improve.

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Short inspection of The Levett School

You are ensuring that a strong culture of respect is present throughout the school. Pupils show this to teachers, visitors and each other. Pupils are self-aware and they are confident to challenge each other’s views and opinions in a positive manner.

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Short inspection of The Levett School

Since the previous inspection, you are ensuring that behaviour management across the school is consistent. Staff work really well with pupils to de-escalate incidents and support pupils to begin to manage their own behaviour needs. The use of safe spaces is beginning to allow pupils to remove themselves from situations that make them angry and disrupt their learning. They receive support to calm down and help to reintegrate back into the class.

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Short inspection of The Levett School

Attendance has improved since the previous inspection, especially within key stage 3. You have introduced personalised timetables and an alternative provision programme to ensure that pupils have a curriculum that meets their needs. Pupils are pleased to be in school and this is reflected in their words and actions. Some pupils have increased their attendance to be above the national average of maintained primary and secondary schools.

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Short inspection of The Levett School

At the time of the previous inspection, assessment was not used frequently enough to plan and adapt learning. You have introduced assessment methods which are starting to have an impact in the classroom. Personalised learning is apparent and progress is clear in pupils’ books. However, we agreed that you need to continue to strengthen and develop this to sharpen teaching and improve progress for all pupils.

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Short inspection of The Levett School

Reading is a strength across the school. Pupils enjoy reading and it clearly takes place regularly within classroom teaching. Pupils in the lower school read fluently and can talk confidently about their reading choices. This frequent reading allows pupils to learn the wider reading skills they need to access the curriculum fully.

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Short inspection of The Levett School

Your leadership team ensures that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are of a high quality. The designated safeguarding officer is meticulous and knowledgeable both in relation to safeguarding training and practices, and about the pupils within the school. Your team of safeguarding officers works effectively across both sites to support and manage pupils who have complex issues, and reports these to the local authority when necessary. The management committee safeguarding representative fully supports these processes.

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Short inspection of The Levett School

The wider staff team has a positive grasp of safeguarding issues and understands the risks to their pupils. They are vigilant for signs of distress, agitation, and possible neglect and abuse, and know how to record and report this effectively; the staff are confident with the safeguarding policies of the school and clearly understand what to do in the event of any allegations.

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Short inspection of The Levett School

You ensure that there are ongoing opportunities for pupils to learn about how to keep themselves safe, through assemblies and the wider curriculum. As a result, pupils in the school feel safe and can articulate how to keep themselves safe outside school, for example, in the digital world.

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Inspection findings

 During the inspection, we focused on how teaching has continued to improve and ensures good learning and achievement. The training and support that you have established within the school allow teachers to plan individually for pupils, ensuring that personalised education is available to all. This needs to be delivered by the newly created middle management layer of school to ensure that teaching and learning remain targeted and focused.  Teaching assistants are used effectively throughout the school for both additional support for pupils and small-group work. Teaching assistants are clear about their roles and consistently challenge pupils to read aloud and answer questions for themselves.  Pupils spoken with during the inspection clearly understood the tasks given to them in class and what to do in order to be successful. Pupils can talk about their prior learning and what they need to do in the future to improve and progress.

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Inspection findings

 Work in books shows that pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds make the same good progress as others and those that are most able are challenged effectively to improve. There is evidence to support the success of the work that you are undertaking with staff to improve the personalisation of access to the curriculum for all pupils.  A further focus of our visit was behaviour and attendance. Across the school, classrooms are calm learning environments and pupils are encouraged and supported to engage with learning. The small amount of disruption observed in lessons was managed well by staff and did not affect the learning of others.  Behaviour across the school is consistently well managed, with clear high expectations of pupils. Pupils respond to the expectations and are proud of their work and achievements.  Pupils in the lower school prepare well to move back to mainstream school. For those pupils who will return, a transition classroom ensures that the expectations

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Inspection findings

placed upon them by a mainstream primary school are replicated. For those who transfer to the upper school in Year 7, a successful transition period lasting six weeks has been tried this year. Within key stage 3, work within the curriculum contributes to pupils’ readiness to transfer back to mainstream school; however, this could be more focused to ensure a smooth successful transition.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 assessment is used more sharply to make teaching more personalised to each pupil  the leadership skills of the new middle management layer of the school are developed to support curriculum development and teaching and learning within the wider staff team.

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Next steps for the school

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

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Information about the inspection

Inspectors met with you, senior leaders and middle leaders. Meetings were held with the vice-chair of the management committee, three representatives from the local authority and two parents. The inspectors visited both the upper and lower school sites and observed learning, breaktime and lunchtime. Inspectors scrutinised a range of documents, including the school’s evaluation of its own performance, minutes of meetings, information on the progress of pupils and the single central record. Inspectors spoke with pupils both formally and informally during the inspection.

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