TLG Wakefield

TLG Wakefield All Saints Parish Church, High Street, Normanton, Wakefield, West Yorkshire WF6 1NT

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Outcomes for pupils 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

This is a school that requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The school’s assessment information does not consistently reflect pupils’ capabilities. Consequently, teachers plan some activities that do not challenge pupils appropriately and their learning and progress are limited as a result.  Teachers’ planning does not always consider the varying lengths of time pupils spend at the school. The learning needs of a small number of pupils who are at the school for longer periods are not always fully met. As a result, their progress is not as rapid as it could be.  The school does not always check whether all pupils have effective, impartial careers advice and guidance. In addition, contact with referring schools does not include sufficient discussion about pupils’ curriculum and academic progress. This means that a few pupils are not being successfully prepared for the next stage in their education.  Pupils are not given sufficient opportunities to develop and deepen their writing skills.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

Handwriting is sometimes poor and there are too few opportunities for pupils to write or think at greater length. The school has the following strengths

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders ensure that all the independent school standards are met consistently.  School leaders ensure that pupils are safe and have developed a strong safeguarding culture. Pupils say that they are safe and they are taught how to keep themselves safe.  Pupils make strong progress in art and in personal and social education because of imaginative teaching.  Pupils, parents and carers are highly positive about the school’s work and effect on their lives.  The proprietor and TLG staff work closely and effectively with the centre manager. They have a passion and commitment to do the best for their pupils. They have created a supportive environment where the personal development of pupils, including those with mental health problems, is strong.  Pupils’ behaviour and attendance improve while they join the school. They speak highly of the support that they receive from their teachers.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

Compliance with regulatory requirements The school meets the requirements of the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 (‘the independent school standards’) and associated requirements.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of teaching, learning and assessment by: – developing strategies to deepen pupils’ thinking skills – providing opportunities for pupils to write at greater length – ensuring that staff develop a stronger understanding of how to assess the learning needs of pupils so that lessons which are appropriately challenging can be planned.  Accelerate the progress of pupils by: – taking greater account of the curriculum pupils receive at their referring school, and the length of time the pupils attend TLG, when planning work which meets their academic needs so that they are better prepared to rejoin mainstream schooling – further developing the curriculum to include improving the provision of impartial careers advice and guidance.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 The proprietor, centre manager and TLG leaders have ensured that all the independent school standards are met.  The work of the school is founded upon a clear vision and a strong ethos which school leaders foster well. They create a caring and welcoming school environment. Staff know the pupils very well and want them to succeed. Hence, pupils who have had poor previous education experiences want to be in school and their personal development significantly improves.  The centre manager and TLG leaders work closely together and have ensured that the school has made strong progress in the relatively short period of time since registration. Staff, parents and referring schools all speak highly about the work of leaders. This leadership team demonstrates a strong capacity for continuous improvement.  Staff form a small but cohesive team. They greet pupils at the start of each day and are highly supportive of each other during lessons. They value the training that they have

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

received in behaviour management and safeguarding. They appreciate opportunities to take part in webinars and to share resources and experiences with staff in other TLG centres via the internet.  A varied programme of motivating visits extends pupils’ experiences and has a positive effect on their personal development and academic progress. These visits have included a sculpture park and a space centre. These experiences contribute well to pupils’ gains in their spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding. In addition, work with the local town council is contributing to pupils’ understanding of fundamental British values. The school works hard to help pupils be tolerant and respectful of others.  A broad and balanced curriculum provides opportunities for pupils to achieve. However, teachers’ planning is limited as programmes do not make sufficient provision for pupils who are on placements for different lengths of time. The small number of pupils who are

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

on roll for substantial periods of time do not, at times, have access to the full range of learning opportunities. Consequently, some pupils are not well prepared to return at the end of their placement.  The arrangements for pupils’ physical education are modest, mainly because of limitations imposed by the premises. Pupils currently engage in only a small number of activities.

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Governance

 A management committee, which is the school’s governing body, is made up of a representative of All Saints Church, the centre manager and the TLG centre support manager. This is an effective group which ensures that all members of the partnership are accountable and provides challenge to the centre manager.  TLG provides strong support for all aspects of school leadership and management. It provides a sophisticated computer-based management system, staff and proprietor training, policy development and an extensive support network which includes other TLG schools.  TLG staff visit the school regularly to monitor and evaluate the performance of the school. Importantly, they do not simply accept what they are told in reports – they check things out for themselves.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  The safeguarding policy on the school’s website is compliant with the latest government guidance. Leaders ensure that all staff receive training. Staff are knowledgeable about their roles in protecting pupils. All staff receive training about the ‘Prevent’ duty. Pupils learn about the dangers associated with radicalisation and extremism in their personal and social development lessons.  Leaders carry out all appropriate checks on adults who work with children. Leaders record these checks effectively on a single central record.  Staff maintain high levels of supervision throughout the day to ensure that pupils are safe. Pupils recognise this and particularly value the secure environment that the school provides.  Leaders foster a strong safeguarding culture. Pupils say that they feel safe and know that they have staff to speak to if they need help. Staff have an acute awareness of the

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Safeguarding

vulnerabilities of pupils, especially those with mental health issues.  The school has appropriate filters in place to protect pupils from accessing inappropriate material from the internet.  Leaders have thorough systems for risk assessment and the management of health and safety.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is not consistently good.  Teachers tend to rely too heavily on computer-generated assessments of pupils’ ability. These may accurately identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding but teachers are not yet sufficiently skilled at recognising how to build adequate challenge into planning learning when using these assessments. As a result, sometimes the challenge is too high or too low or pupils have too few opportunities to think deeply for themselves.  Across the curriculum, there are too few opportunities for pupils to be stretched and achieve highly. Sometimes, this is a result of computer-generated activities which are too simple. English lessons frequently focus on basic skills, including spelling, punctuation and grammar. Pupils do not attempt many longer pieces of writing which stretch and improve their writing skills.  In mathematics, pupils develop mastery, for example in number work. While some

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

problem-solving occurs, pupils are not developing their skills in mathematical reasoning and have limited opportunities to work at greater depth.  Planning for pupils’ learning is made more difficult for staff by the varying periods of time that pupils remain in their care and their lack of knowledge about the work that pupils complete when at their referring schools.  Staff give good-quality feedback to pupils about their work. They are careful to phrase their comments in a positive way and encourage pupils to move forward in their learning and learn from mistakes.  Lessons in art are exciting and include photography and the work of local and internationally renowned artists. Teachers are prepared to take risks and offer pupils opportunities to try different techniques, media and colours. Pupils are encouraged to be creative and most have developed portfolios containing some impressive pieces of work.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Similarly, pupils have engaged in practical science activities. Novel use of simple equipment has given pupils an insight into scientific method. They could, for example, explain their work on microbiology and the use of a control. Pupils could also talk confidently about their personal, social and health education (PSHE) lessons, demonstrating the knowledge and understanding that they had gained.  The school provides parents with a detailed report on their child’s progress each term. This includes details about attendance and behaviour, achievements in each subject area and a comment from the centre manager. The comments are personal to each pupil and, for each area, a ‘next steps’ statement gives manageable and challenging things for the pupil to aim for.  Teachers are skilled at preventing low-level disruption in their lessons. This is because they act before any disruption has a chance to occur. As a result, most lessons are

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils know that their welfare is a high priority. Several pupils who attend school have significant mental health issues. Staff are particularly successful in helping these pupils overcome the barriers that prevent them enjoying school life. Two pupils commented that the school had taught them to keep their anger under control, develop more respect for others and feel more confident. Staff also work closely with other agencies to develop pupils’ well-being.  Pupils spoken with say that there is no bullying in the school and school records confirm this. They know that teachers would deal rapidly and effectively with any issues that did occur.  Pupils generally respond quickly to instructions given by staff. They are well supervised and move around the building in an orderly way. Staff are quick to tackle the use of any

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Personal development and welfare

undesirable language.  Sessions at the start and end of each day, called ‘mindset’ and ‘my day’, encourage pupils to reflect on their feelings and behaviour. These are then discussed both in a group setting and on an individual basis with staff. In this way, pupils are becoming more reflective, poor behaviours are challenged and the benefits of positive attitudes are highlighted.  Pupils benefit from careers education as part of their personal development programme. However, opportunities for impartial advice and guidance are limited and the school largely relies on referring schools to provide this service. This is insufficient for pupils who are at the school for longer periods of time.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils since starting the school have made significant improvements in their behaviour. Pupils with unsuccessful previous experiences of school are helped to successfully re- engage in education. Parents who made their views known are very happy with the care and attention that are provided by the school.  A system for recording and monitoring pupils’ behaviours in fine detail is used by staff at the school. This is used to inform pupils’ individual learning plans and weekly targets are set. A rewards system for positive behaviours is an integral part of the behaviour management system.  Fixed-term exclusions of pupils from school are minimal and there has been no need for staff to use physical restraint since the school was registered.  Attendance usually improves when pupils arrive at the school, although some pupils’ attendance rates remain below average. Pupils are punctual and overall rates of

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Behaviour

authorised absence are low. This is partly because the school monitors and encourages good attendance. It is also due to the way in which pupils’ attitudes towards school change and become more positive.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Although pupils are making progress in filling gaps in their knowledge and understanding, few are making rapid progression into new areas of knowledge and understanding. Those pupils who are at the school for longer periods of time are not sufficiently prepared academically for their return to mainstream education. This is because assessment information does not consistently reflect their capabilities and the school is not fully aware of their programmes of study at referring schools.  School records show that most pupils make at least the progress the school expects of them in mathematics and a slightly lower proportion make similar progress in English against their targets. However, the quality of pupils’ work and their comparatively strong progress in PSHE suggest that they could produce better work in English. On occasions, when pupils spend more time on a piece of work – such as when pieces of work in

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

English are redrafted – progress made is more significant. Pupils’ handwriting, however, is sometimes poor.  Pupils enjoy a reading scheme and are encouraged to read out loud in class. Several pupils read fluently and with comprehension and expression. However, pupils otherwise read very little, either for information or pleasure.  Since most pupils are at the school for relatively short periods of time, there is insufficient opportunity for them to study for the common external qualifications. However, the school is currently entering key stage 4 pupils for small unit awards, partly as an incentive but also so that they start to build some accredited qualifications.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported effectively in their learning and so make similar progress to their peers.  Pupils have made very strong progress in art and their personal development. Their

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

Japanese Notan art, for example, requires very exacting work, including symmetry and the placement of light and dark elements next to each other. Such work has contributed to building pupils’ patience and resilience.

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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

Proprietor Normanton Parochial Church Council (PCC) – All Saints Parish Church Chair Reverend Alan Murray

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) £15,808 (based on four days per week)

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 This inspection is the first standard inspection of the school since it was registered by the Department for Education on 13 July 2017.  The school is run in partnership between All Saints Church, Normanton and TLG – The Education Charity. The school accepts pupils who find it difficult to cope with learning or have been or are at risk of being permanently excluded from school.  The school has a distinctive Christian ethos.  Pupils are referred from their mainstream school, known as the referring school. Typically, pupils attend the school for two or four days per week for specialist support to re-engage them with learning and improve their behaviour and attitudes to school. All pupils are dual-registered, remaining on the roll of the referring school. When not at TLG Wakefield, pupils attend their mainstream school or a college placement.  The school operates in church buildings which have been refurbished to accommodate

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Information about this school

the school.  The school does not use any alternative providers of education.  The centre manager oversees the work of a teacher, an intern and a volunteer.  Pupils attending the school are currently mainly key stage 4 pupils. A very small proportion of pupils have an education, health and care plan.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection was carried out over two and a half days, with a half day’s notice.  The inspector toured all buildings currently used by the school, both inside and outside.  The inspector observed teaching and learning in a range of lessons. The centre manager observed some lessons jointly with the inspector.  The inspector held meetings with the centre manager, representatives of TLG, staff and pupils.  The work of several pupils was reviewed.  Pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school was observed. The inspector met formally and informally with pupils.  The inspector reviewed a range of documentation, including leaders’ evaluations of the school and development plans, admissions and attendance registers, policies, monitoring information, child protection and safeguarding information, and reports from TLG and for the PCC. The inspector also looked closely at all other documents and policies as required

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Information about this inspection

as part of the independent school standards.  Consideration was given to the school’s evidence of communication with parents. There were insufficient responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View. However, the inspector spoke with a number of parents. The inspector also looked at questionnaire responses completed by staff during the inspection.  The inspector had conversations with representatives of two local schools that place pupils at this school.

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Inspection team

Steve Rogers, lead inspector Ofsted 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

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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