Haughton School

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

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Gillian Knox Headteacher Haughton School Queen Street Madeley Telford Shropshire TF7 4BW

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Short inspection of Haughton School

Following my visit to the school on 8 November 2017 with David Rzeznik, 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 January 2014.

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Short inspection of Haughton School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

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Short inspection of Haughton School

You have assessed the progress made towards the areas for improvement found at the last inspection. Your evaluation of the school’s current performance is accurate. You identified what actions you need to take to secure further and continuous improvement. You recognise that there are still areas that need development to ensure that the best practice you would like to see is consistent across the school. You have been helped in this work by advice from the Severn Teaching School Alliance, the school’s external consultant and representatives from the local authority.

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Short inspection of Haughton School

This has been against a background of major changes for the school over the last few years. At the last inspection, there were 100 pupils in the school. Since then, numbers have increased to the current total of 132 pupils. New pupils coming into school also present with a far wider range of special educational needs (SEN). This has led to redesignation of the school to reflect the more complex needs that you now have to meet. The school population has outgrown the capacity of the building to accommodate the number of pupils. While you wait for approval for the proposed extension, one group of pupils has to be housed in a separate building on the site of another school in Dawley. Outcomes for pupils at the end of both key stage 1 and key stage 2 are good. All pupils are making good progress from their low starting points. Pupils in the Reception class make particularly strong progress against the early learning goals.

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Short inspection of Haughton School

This applies to all areas of literacy, although progress in writing is less than that in the other areas. You have put in place appropriate interventions to support pupils who are in danger of falling behind other pupils in the class.

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Short inspection of Haughton School

Pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around school is very good. Pupils told inspectors that they like school and enjoy their lessons. They appreciate the opportunities they have to go on trips and residential visits. This creates a positive and supportive learning environment in which pupils are always ready to try their best. Pupils said that they feel safe in school and are well looked after by staff. They said that some pupils have difficulty with their behaviour but they are confident that staff always sort out issues. Teachers are certain of what they need to do to record any incidents. There are very clear procedures in place to track all incidents.

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Short inspection of Haughton School

Attendance is a real strength of the school. This reflects how much the majority of pupils enjoy coming to school. You have made sure that robust practices are in place to check on all absences and that these are followed up in school and with other professionals.

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Short inspection of Haughton School

Governors have a great deal of confidence in the leadership team in the school. They believe that leaders have the capacity to manage the proposed changes effectively. Governors hold regular meetings and know the school’s current strengths and areas for development. They also reflect on their own practice and consider ways of improving. For example, they have identified that more regular visits to school will further strengthen the level of challenge that they provide to leaders.

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Short inspection of Haughton School

Parents spoke very positively about the school to inspectors. The responses made on Parent View, and to the school’s own parent surveys, reflect this level of satisfaction. They are delighted with the quality of education provided for their children and the level of care from the staff. They appreciate how well you keep them informed of their child’s progress and how you deal with any concerns. Comments included, ‘My child has gone from strength to strength since starting at this school’ and, ‘Our son is really flourishing at Haughton.’

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Short inspection of Haughton School

School leaders have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Staff are very clear that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Keeping children safe is integral to all of the school’s work. Children’s medical needs are well supported, and checks on medication are in place. There are appropriate procedures in place to ensure that all concerns are registered and followed up immediately. There are clear protocols in place for dealing with absences and children missing from school. When there have been safeguarding incidents, school leaders have followed the school’s own and the local authority’s procedures to the letter. Safeguarding training is regularly provided for all staff, who know what to do and whom to contact when they have any concerns. You have ensured that you follow through all concerns referred to social services or the local authority. These result in actions that support pupils and their parents. Staff teach pupils about the potential

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Short inspection of Haughton School

risks and dangers they might face. Thus, you keep pupils safe in school, and when online or on school visits.

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Inspection findings

 One of the areas for improvement identified in the previous inspection was to improve the skills of teachers, especially in the teaching of phonics. Inspectors found that the teaching of phonics is now secure. You have put in place training and moderation processes for literacy and numeracy. This has helped to develop a consistency of approach to these subjects across the school. In most lessons, teachers use clear routines and structure to support and scaffold pupils’ learning tasks. This helps pupils to understand what they are learning and what they need to do to get better. It was particularly seen in the early years provision, where pupils were enthusiastically engaged in lots of exciting tasks. In some lessons, the strong elements that characterise effective teaching in the school are not present. Identifying what best practice looks like in school and sharing this with all teachers would help to raise the standard of teaching.

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Inspection findings

 The previous inspection report recommended that teachers use the other adults supporting learning more effectively. In most lessons, teaching assistants work well with teachers, supporting learning activities and teaching individual or small groups of pupils. An inspector saw this very clearly in a visit to your Base for a group of pupils who have autistic spectrum disorder and challenging behaviours. Here, there was seamless management of pupils’ learning throughout the lesson by all adults. The teaching assistants had a very clear shared understanding of the pupils’ needs and of how they could adapt the task to help them achieve their individual targets.  A further area for improvement from the previous inspection was to raise achievement by making sure that all teachers are involved in the school’s tracking and assessment systems. This would enable them to plan more accurately for the various pupil groups in their classes. You have introduced a

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Inspection findings

new assessment system. Teachers are using this to inform their planning. Analysis of the school’s information about pupils’ progress and attainment in different year groups, and work seen in pupils’ books, confirms that you have addressed this area for improvement in the core areas of English, mathematics and science. You have also started to consider how you will improve the quality of assessment in other subjects.  You have developed a curriculum that meets the needs, abilities, interests and aspirations of all pupils. They enjoy a wide range of enrichment experiences. You work with other schools to make sure that you can support pupils and prepare them well for the next stage of their education. You have recently introduced a new curriculum for personal, social and health education, but need to develop ways of assessing it in order to be able to measure the impact on pupils’ learning.  You have used extra government funding from the pupil premium and the sports

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Inspection findings

premium on a range of strategies. You have planned these to support the learning and progress of disadvantaged pupils. You have used the pupil premium to make sure that disadvantaged pupils have the extra support they need. This includes support from learning mentors, targeted intervention groups, improved staffing ratios for some groups, professional services and residential experiences. Leaders carry out a reasonable analysis of this additional funding. However, it could be more precise to enable them to be certain about what is giving good value for money. You have used the sports premium to employ sports coaches to support teachers to develop their own skills in delivering physical education lessons. This funding has also enabled pupils to take part in a range of sports competitions and activities outside of school.

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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

 they develop systems to assess progress in personal and social development, especially in relation to targets detailed in education, health and care plans, and ensure that all staff use this to identify the next steps in learning and to inform additional support  the evaluation of pupil premium funding is more precise, so that leaders know which strategies have the most successful impact on disadvantaged pupils  they involve subject leaders in the monitoring and evaluation of teaching to help identify where best practice exists and to disseminate this more effectively across the school.

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Next steps for the school

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

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Information about the inspection

To explore the main areas of enquiry for this inspection, inspectors:

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Information about the inspection

 met with you, senior leaders, the school staff, governors and a representative from the local authority  met with six parents at the beginning of the school day to discuss their children’s welfare and progress  spoke with pupils and met with a group of pupils from each class to discuss their learning and school experiences  met with staff formally and informally to discuss the school’s progress since the last inspection  scrutinised a range of documents including work in pupils’ books, teachers planning files, curriculum folders, the single central record, safeguarding documents, behaviour and attendance records and the school’s system for measuring pupils’ progress  visited 11 lessons across early years and key stages 1 and 2, some with a senior leader  visited the Base in Dawley where a group of eight pupils are taught  considered the results of a recent parent questionnaire undertaken by the school,

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Information about the inspection

which had 67 responses, the views of the 12 parents who contacted Ofsted through the online questionnaire, Parent View, the 20 responses from staff to the online staff questionnaire, and the 69 responses from pupils to the online pupil questionnaire.

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