Parkwood Hall Co-Operative Academy

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

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Mr Nick White Principal Parkwood Hall Co-Operative Academy Beechenlea Lane Swanley Kent BR8 8DR

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Short inspection of Parkwood Hall Co-Operative Academy

Following my visit to the school on 18 April 2018 with Derek Kitchin, 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 your predecessor school was judged to be good in November 2014.

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Short inspection of Parkwood Hall Co-Operative Academy

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

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Short inspection of Parkwood Hall Co-Operative Academy

You have successfully managed significant changes since the previous inspection. Pupil numbers have increased over successive years and the school now caters for pupils from a younger age. In addition, there are now more pupils attending the school who have complex needs.

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Short inspection of Parkwood Hall Co-Operative Academy

Leaders, including governors, have an accurate view of the school’s strengths and areas for development. You are currently revising your staffing structure to strengthen leadership at middle and senior levels. Governors have a plan in place to ensure that strong leadership continues in the future.

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Short inspection of Parkwood Hall Co-Operative Academy

You and your team have developed an environment for your pupils that is calm and nurturing. Staff know the pupils extremely well and are therefore able to cater successfully for their individual needs. Relationships between staff and pupils are strong, positive and show mutual respect. During the inspection, we saw that pupils’ behaviour is exceptional both in classrooms and around the school. Staff ensure that breaktimes are well organised, with pupils clearly enjoying the activities on offer. Your dedicated team say that they are proud to be a member of staff at the school. They say that the school has a culture that is aspirational for all pupils.

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Short inspection of Parkwood Hall Co-Operative Academy

Parents and carers made many extremely glowing comments about the school’s work. All parents who spoke with inspectors said that their children are very happy to attend. Parents say that the school is ‘amazing’, ‘awesome’ and ‘wonderful’ and that the staff are ‘fantastic’ and go above and beyond what is expected of them to make sure that their children make progress.

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Short inspection of Parkwood Hall Co-Operative Academy

Pupils say that staff are aware of their individual needs. They say that bullying is rare and that pupils behave well. Some pupils feel that teachers provide work that challenges them. Other pupils say that the work is too easy. Pupils enjoy the range of activities on offer, for example performing arts and opportunities to work outside in the natural environment. They benefit from the many visits they make into the local and wider community such as participating in steel pan performances and workshops, acting in theatres and shopping trips.

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Short inspection of Parkwood Hall Co-Operative Academy

There is a strong culture of safeguarding across the school. Leaders make sure that all staff have the required pre-employment checks. You rigorously monitor all safeguarding policies and procedures. All staff have relevant and up-to-date training and know what to do if they have a concern about a child’s welfare. Leaders ensure that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose.

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Short inspection of Parkwood Hall Co-Operative Academy

Parents say their children are kept safe and are well looked after. They have no concerns about bullying. Pupils say that they feel safe and can name adults that they would go to for help if they needed to. They are taught how to keep themselves safe when using the internet and mobile phones and about cyber bullying. Leaders use very effective strategies to ensure that pupils attend regularly, including personalised approaches for individual pupils. Links with other professionals are very effective.

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Inspection findings

 We agreed on some key lines of enquiry at the start of the inspection. First, we looked at what leaders are doing to improve the quality of teaching so that pupils make consistently good progress. Throughout the school, we saw lessons that were personalised to meet individual pupils’ needs. When teachers carefully plan activities that are well matched to pupils’ abilities, they make better progress over time. Pupils are given opportunities in lessons to make choices and to practise their numeracy and literacy skills. Staff use skilled questioning in some lessons, allowing pupils to deepen their learning.  Your senior leaders have an accurate picture of the quality of teaching across the school and are aware of any inconsistencies. You have recently introduced a new approach to monitoring teaching and learning, based on the school’s core values. Teachers are supported effectively to improve their practice, with the focus

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Inspection findings

clearly on pupils making better progress. When we visited classrooms, senior leaders were not always clear about the lesson being taught as individual teachers plan weekly timetables for their classes. Your senior leaders are currently reviewing this situation to ensure that the best use is made of pupils’ learning time across the full curriculum.  We also looked at pupils’ progress over time as they move through the school and how leaders make sure that assessment information is accurate and reliable. Pupils make good progress with their writing skills and number work and this can be seen in their books and folders. Learning folders of photographic evidence also highlight pupils’ progress over time. Current school assessment information shows that most pupils are making at least good progress. Teachers compare their assessment judgements across the school to ensure that they are consistent. You are currently in the early stages of implementing a new

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Inspection findings

assessment system that will provide more clarity and coherence throughout the school. You acknowledge that this new system needs time to embed so that it is used consistently well to monitor pupils’ progress, particularly in literacy and numeracy.  Finally, we wanted to find out how well the curriculum meets pupils’ needs and prepares them for the next stage of their lives. Our visits to classrooms showed that learning opportunities are frequently related to everyday life. Your commitment to this as a school is clear and is shown, for example, in your choice of naming literacy lessons ‘words for living’ and numeracy lessons ‘numbers for life’. Pupils are encouraged, through carefully planned activities, to develop the skills they need to become adults who are as independent as possible. These include counting money to pay for a chosen drink, shopping trips within the local community and learning how to store food safely.

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Inspection findings

 Older pupils have the chance to participate in appropriate work experience placements. You and your team recognise the need to provide more external accreditation opportunities for the most able pupils. Sixth-form students may attend off-site college placements according to their needs. These students have individual study programmes and can gain externally accredited qualifications. You have ambitious plans to develop provision in the ‘gatehouse’ to offer training and work experience. Sixth-form students are currently painting and decorating the ‘gatehouse’ as part of a vocational qualification. These students are focused on their task and able to work independently. They can talk about the work they are doing and successfully relate it to possible future employment and decorating their own homes.

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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

 the new assessment framework is fully established to show clearly pupils’ progress, particularly in literacy and numeracy  external accreditation opportunities are further developed to provide challenge for the most able pupils  the most appropriate use is made of curriculum time so that pupils make rapid and sustained progress in all subject areas.

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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 Kensington and Chelsea. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely

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Information about the inspection

The inspection team met with you and your senior team, including the designated safeguarding lead, the assessment lead, teachers and teaching assistants. We also met with the school business manager to review the school’s single central record. We met with the chair of governors and your school improvement adviser. Inspectors visited classes across the school accompanied by senior leaders to gather a range of evidence related to teaching, learning and assessment. We met with pupils to talk about their experience of school and aspects of safeguarding. We also talked to parents. Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of school documentation including the school’s self-evaluation, school improvement plan, policies, assessment records and work in books. Inspectors took account of the 26 responses to the staff questionnaire and 43 free-text responses to Parent View. There were no responses to the pupil questionnaire.

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