Parkview Academy

Parkview Academy 8 Approach Road, Cliftonville, Margate, Kent CT9 2AN

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher leads the school with total dedication. Her vision to provide pupils with a high-quality education in a nurturing environment is shared by all staff.  Senior leaders are an effective team. They understand the school and its pupils well. Their expectations and aspirations are high and impact positively on the outcomes of pupils.  Communication between staff at all levels is a strength. Positive relationships with other professionals from outside agencies contribute well to the quality of provision at the school.  Despite attending the school for relatively short periods of time, pupils make good progress at Parkview. This is true of both their academic and personal development.  The quality of teaching is good. Classrooms are generally productive places where staff deliver lessons that are interesting and challenge pupils to do their best.  Staff track pupils’ attendance well and intervene

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

when required. As a result, absence is low.  Leaders and the proprietor have ensured that all the independent school standards are met.  The curriculum meets the needs of pupils well. Staff work hard at stimulating pupils’ personal interests, which leads to increased levels of engagement in learning.  Safeguarding is effective. Promoting the welfare, health and safety of pupils is the number one priority of all staff.  Pastoral care is strong. Staff understand pupils’ vulnerabilities and work hard to break down the barriers to learning that many of them have.  Pupils have the desire to behave well and succeed. Staff are skilled at de-escalating situations when pupils’ behaviour falls short of expectations.  Although the curriculum is a strength, leaders know that the vocational element could be strengthened to give pupils wider choice.  Leaders understand that building partnerships with other schools will enable staff to share

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

good practice and develop professionally.  Systems to track pupils’ achievements need to be refined. This will allow leaders and staff to have a more accurate view of pupils’ age- appropriate outcomes.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

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?

 Review the system for tracking pupils’ progress, so that staff have a better understanding of pupils’ achievements in mathematics and English, in order to plan more effective next steps in learning.  Broaden the vocational education element of the curriculum, so that pupils have a greater range of subject areas that they can access.  Develop partnerships with similar school settings to share good practice and provide leaders and staff with wider opportunities for professional development.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 The headteacher leads the school with absolute commitment and determination. She knows the school well and has high expectations of pupils and staff. She has strong aspirations for the school to build on its growing strengths in order to improve further.  The partnership between the headteacher and her deputy is strong. As a team, they hold the total respect of staff. Well-planned routines and excellent communication ensure that teaching and support staff are highly motivated and understand clearly what is expected of them.  All staff in this very small school are considered to be leaders and managers. The culture is one of collective responsibility, with everyone having an important role to play. This impacts very positively on pupils’ outcomes, because staff care deeply that pupils should enjoy coming to school and become successful learners once more.  Leaders have created a strong culture of tolerance and respect at Parkview. Staff know

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

that they can ask for help without fear of criticism. Equally, staff are supportive of leaders and willing to contribute additional time and effort when pupils require extra support. As a result, pupils trust staff and show increasingly good attitudes to school.  The curriculum is very bespoke in nature. It caters for the individual needs and interests of pupils well. Much of the learning is based on real life and takes place outside the classroom. This includes the teaching of mathematics and English, enabling pupils to develop their knowledge and understanding through meaningful, practical activities.  Trips to the gym and forest school, or into the community, are daily occurrences. Pupils particularly enjoy planning and making items such as wooden toys in a local workshop. Opportunities are also available in a range of other vocational areas, such as health and social care. Leaders are keen to broaden this aspect of the curriculum.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 The spiritual, moral, social and cultural education of pupils is particularly strong. Although the planned curriculum covers different aspects of this well, incidental learning is also important. Staff constantly look for meaningful connections to reinforce pupils’ understanding of life in modern Britain. As a result, pupils have an increasingly good understanding of equalities and the cultures and faiths of others, for instance.  Leaders understand that fostering informal partnerships with other schools would be beneficial. This will allow teaching staff to develop good practice further, and provide staff at all levels, including leaders, with wider opportunities for professional development.

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Governance

 Arrangements for governance are effective. Because of its size and the way in which it is led, the school does not have a formal governing body. However, the proprietor and school leaders all perform their different roles effectively to ensure that the quality of education is good, and that all the independent school standards are met.  External monitoring of the quality of education is provided by independent consultants. This means that the proprietor has access to good-quality, impartial advice, and that leaders and staff are subject to appropriate levels of professional scrutiny. The proprietor also employs an operations manager, who ensures that aspects such as the health and safety of pupils and staff are effective.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The headteacher and staff make this their number one priority on a day-to-day basis. All staff are very well informed about the potential risks faced by pupils, both in and out of school. The headteacher’s qualifications and experience make her particularly well suited to her role as the designated safeguarding lead. As a consequence, the culture to keep pupils safe is strong.  Policies, procedures and systems to keep pupils safe are fit for purpose. This includes the safeguarding policy, which follows current guidance, but is only available on request because the school does not currently have a website. Staff are trained well and know what to do if they have concerns. Partnerships with outside agencies are well developed. Staff feel that pupils are safe at the school. Other professionals who spoke to the inspector agreed with this view. Pupils told the inspector that the school is a safe place,

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Safeguarding

because staff listen to them and care about their well-being.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Teachers and support staff know pupils extremely well. Communication within school and with other key professionals is strong. This impacts positively on relationships in classrooms. This also helps in unstructured times, such as break and lunchtimes, or transitions in and out of school at the start and finish of the school day.  Staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and engagement in learning. They show great patience and are persistent when they need to be. They go out of their way to understand pupils’ individual strengths in order to plan learning that interests and engages them. As a result, pupils make good progress from their different starting points, especially those who have attended the school for longer periods of time.  High staff-to-pupil ratios mean that pupils are taught in very small groups or on a one-to- one basis. This ensures high levels of adult support, appropriate levels of challenge, and

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

positive pupil-adult interaction throughout the school day. As a result, pupils enjoy increasingly successful learning experiences within a short period after joining the school.  Teaching staff have good specialist subject knowledge, which they use effectively. Classroom and workshop visits showed this to be particularly the case for music and different aspects of technology and science. Importantly, staff are skilled at exploiting more practical learning experiences to build on pupils’ mathematics and English skills, which are generally below what might be expected when they join the school.  Pupils relish the opportunity to visit the gym, because teachers plan activities that are relevant and appropriately challenging. Staff are also skilled at making the most of opportunities to extend pupils’ learning in other directions during these visits. As a result, pupils’ mathematical and scientific knowledge is extended as their physical fitness and

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

well-being are enhanced.  Teachers use appropriate baseline assessments to assess pupils’ attainment in mathematics and English on entry to the school. However, leaders know that systems to monitor pupils’ progress over time could be better. They could allow teachers to assess pupils more accurately against age-related expectations, as well as better equipping them to identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge and plan next steps in learning.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Teaching pupils relevant life skills is a key aspect of the school’s work. Many pupils have had negative experiences at previous schools. Staff understand that rebuilding pupils’ self- esteem and sense of self-worth is crucial if successful learning is to be achieved.  Staff understand that pupils will make little progress if they are not emotionally ready to learn. Much effort is spent on addressing this aspect of pupils’ personal development, prior to them entering classrooms. Transitions are purposeful and carefully planned. Although expectations are high, staff understand that small steps are often better than giant leaps.  The daily timetable and wider curriculum equip pupils increasingly well to stay safe both in and out of school. During discussions with staff, pupils talk openly and with great insight into the potential dangers they face. Tailored programmes target specific problems

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Personal development and welfare

that individual pupils encounter. Pupils that say bullying is not a problem at school because staff care and are always present.  Despite previous negative experiences in education, pupils are tremendously loyal to their school and its staff. In discussions with the inspector they made it clear that they trust staff. This is a direct reflection of the quality of provision and the immeasurable impact staff have on improving the life chances of pupils.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Despite their previous negative experiences, most pupils enjoy coming to school and want to learn. This is especially the case with pupils who have attended the school for longer periods of time and had the chance to build positive relationships with their peers and staff.  During the inspection, pupils conducted themselves well and responded positively to staff and the inspector. This was certainly the case when the fire alarm sounded. The school was evacuated without fuss or undue panic. Staff were in control at all stages. Pupils responded sensibly. Routines worked smoothly and minimal time was lost before pupils and staff returned safely into the school.  Most pupils attend school most of the time. Leaders monitor absence rigorously and are proactive when they need to be. Pupils know that they are expected to attend school and that staff will follow up any case of absence or lateness immediately.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Pupils make good progress at Parkview because the quality of teaching and learning is good. Staff know pupils well. They plan learning experiences that stir pupils’ interests, as well as challenging them to do their best. Expectations are generally high. Pupils enjoy learning because staff motivate them well and design lessons that foster success.  Baseline assessments of pupils on joining the school are generally accurate. Teachers use this information to plan learning which addresses the substantial gaps in knowledge and understanding that many pupils have. Because most pupils have attended the school for less than six months, it is not possible to make meaningful judgements about their progress over time.  Evidence gained during classroom and workshop visits showed pupils making good progress in a range of subjects. Often, mathematics and English work is successfully woven into other subjects or topics. When this happens, pupils are largely unaware that

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Outcomes for pupils Good

they are completing complicated multi-stage mathematical problems or using their language skills to read or write sets of instructions, for instance.  Pupils particularly enjoy success when visiting a local technology workshop. Staff are skilled at finding pupils’ unique strengths and interests. As a result, pupils engage well and make particularly strong progress in specialist areas such as welding or wood turning.  Leaders measure pupils’ outcomes in more than just academic terms. However, their expectation is that pupils will make progress in a range of subjects, even if the steps in progress are small. Leaders know that refinements need to be made to the current progress tracking system. These will allow staff to understand pupils’ outcomes against age-related expectations more clearly.

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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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Information about this school

 Parkview Academy is a special school which caters for pupils between nine and 16 years of age who have social, emotional and mental health difficulties. The school is registered for up to 15 pupils. There are currently seven pupils on roll.  Most pupils have histories of severely disrupted schooling. Many have not attended education for long periods of time prior to joining the school. All pupils attending the school are in local authority care.  The school does not have a governing body. The directors act in roles of governance.  This was the first full inspection of the school since it was registered in March 2017.  The school does not use alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector carried out a number of classroom and workshop visits during the inspection. Most were accompanied by the headteacher. The inspector also visited older pupils during an off-site physical education lesson. During these visits, the inspector assessed pupils’ work and talked to them about their learning.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, who was sometimes accompanied by the deputy headteacher. A meeting was also held with two members of teaching staff, as well as a representative group of pupils. Telephone conversations were held with the director, who represented the proprietor, and the named person with parental responsibility for all seven of the school’s pupils.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour in classrooms, as they moved around the school, and at the start and finish of the school day.  Five responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire were taken into account.  The inspector scrutinised a wide range of documents, records and policies, including

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Information about this inspection

those regarding safeguarding and other aspects of the independent school standards. Notes of visits by the proprietor’s independent improvement advisers, the school’s own self-evaluation, improvement planning and information about pupils’ outcomes, behaviour and attendance were also taken into consideration.

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Inspection team

Clive Close, 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

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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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Inspection team

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