Whitmore Park Annexe

Whitmore Park Annexe Rylston Avenue, Coventry, West Midlands CV6 2HD

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate

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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

 Safeguarding arrangements are not effective. Leaders do not take sufficient action to ensure that pupils are safe from potential harm. The designated safeguarding lead (DSL) has not received training for the role.  Governance of the school is inadequate. The management board and the local authority have not provided sufficient oversight of the school over time, despite the changing needs of the pupils, and the school’s effectiveness has declined. Leaders have not been suitably challenged or held to account.  Leaders and governors have not ensured that the previous good quality of teaching and learning, the curriculum and pupils’ outcomes seen at the last inspection have been maintained. The newly appointed leadership team members are all in temporary posts, and their current capacity to improve the school is weak.  The curriculum does not meet the needs of all the pupils well enough. The narrow range of accreditation available to pupils limits their

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

outcomes and preparedness for their future.  Staff have not yet received suitable professional development to enable them to meet the needs of the school’s current cohort of pupils.  Attendance is low and persistent absence is high. Leaders do not record pupils’ attendance in line with statutory guidance, which means that it will be lower than currently reported.  Some pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not receive the support that has been identified on their education, health and care (EHC) plans.  The quality of teaching is variable. Work is not consistently matched to pupils’ needs and abilities. Systems to check on the quality of teaching have not been strong enough.  Pupils do not receive adequate careers advice to help them make choices for their futures.  The school’s assessment systems do not accurately reflect the small steps of progress that pupils are making.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The newly appointed leadership team has begun to identify and bring about the improvements needed to the school. Staff speak positively about the difference they are beginning to make.  Strong relationships between pupils and staff are clear to see. Pupils usually behave well and say that they feel well supported at the school.  Parents and carers value the support their children receive.

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Full report

In accordance with section 44(2) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires significant improvement, because it is performing significantly less well than it might in all the circumstances reasonably be expected to perform.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Take urgent action to strengthen all aspects of the school’s safeguarding procedures so that leaders and governors are fully assured that pupils are not at risk of harm by ensuring that: – all safeguarding concerns about pupils are accurately reported, recorded and followed up with the relevant agencies – concerns about children missing education are followed up swiftly and tenaciously – pupils who need support from external agencies receive it as soon as possible – the DSL completes the necessary training to so that they can discharge their duties effectively – staff and governors receive appropriate safeguarding training.  Improve all aspects of leadership and management by ensuring that: – all governors are suitably trained to enable them to carry out their duties effectively and to provide appropriate challenge and support to leaders – there is a clarity of vision for the future of the school, which is shared and

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

understood by all – the school’s self-evaluation and development plan accurately reflect the provision and its plans for further improvement – the school’s website complies with the Department for Education’s (DfE) expectations of what schools should publish – staff receive appropriate professional development to enable them to better support the needs of this cohort of pupils – pupils receive the support they are entitled to, as identified on their EHC plans – pupils’ attendance is recorded accurately and in line with DfE guidance – pupils’ attendance improves and persistent absence is reduced.  Improve the curriculum and thereby outcomes for pupils so that: – pupils from Year 8 onwards are provided with a programme of careers guidance, in line with the DfE’s statutory guidance – pupils can gain a wider range of accreditation to better prepare them for their futures – the curriculum and associated schemes of work meet the needs of pupils across all

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

key stages.  Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment so that: – the school’s assessment system provides teachers with accurate information that enables them to plan work for pupils that is suitably matched to their abilities. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 The recent instability in leadership due to the secondment of the previous headteacher, and the lack of effective governance and support from the local authority, particularly in helping staff to meet the needs of the pupils which the school is now providing for, have resulted in a decline in standards over the past five years. The local authority has begun to implement their strategic vision for the service, but it is too early to see the impact of this work.  The members of the senior leadership team, who have been in post since September 2018, are all in temporary roles, as the local authority has begun to reorganise the Hospital Education Service. Plans are in place to bring the school within the service overall. However, the school currently continues to run as a separate provision.  Senior leaders have limited capacity to improve the school as they are inexperienced and have not been provided with any additional support to help them develop their

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

roles effectively. They have not been well supported by the governing body. In addition, they have substantial teaching commitments, so little time is left for the strategic leadership of the school. Despite these shortfalls, leaders have high ambitions for the school and are committed to making sure that improvements are made as quickly as possible.  Some of the monitoring systems that senior leaders have inherited are fragile or missing information. As a result, there are gaps in information about pupils’ behaviour and progress. Standards in teaching and learning have not been checked for some time, apart from a recent ‘book look’. Leaders are now establishing better systems for checking all aspects of the school’s performance, but it is too early to see any impact of this work.  The school’s self-evaluation is overgenerous and is not written specifically for the school, but for the wider hospital service. The school development plan is written in a

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

similar vein and it is not clear which actions relate to the school. The plan lacks detail and does not show who is responsible for carrying out the actions, when they will take place, and who will check to see that they have been completed. Consequently, leaders cannot be held to account sufficiently well for their actions. Governors have not contributed to the school’s self-evaluation or development plan.  The staff and governors spoke positively about the recent changes to the leadership of the school and are supportive of the changes leaders are making. They say that previously, few policies were in place, and they were not provided with information about pupils’ needs when they joined the school. They appreciate the changes leaders are now making to improve the school.  Leaders and governors have not made sure that the school’s website meets the DfE’s requirements for the publication of information on its website. Almost all of the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

required information is missing. Leaders were able to provide some policies during the inspection, but they were either in draft form or had not been updated for some time.  Staff have not yet received sufficient training to enable them to meet the needs of the changed characteristics of this cohort of pupils well enough. They have not received any training in working with pupils who have an autism spectrum disorder even though pupils are being admitted to the centre with these specific needs. The acting headteacher has recognised that this is a weakness and has begun to put plans in place to address this.  One of the senior leaders, who is also the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo), has a clear vision for developing her role and the subsequent support pupils receive. Currently, nearly all pupils have an EHC plan. However, the impact of her work is constrained due to the lack of clarity of funding from the local authority for pupils

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

who have identified additional needs. As a result, the provision which is required to meet these pupils’ needs, which is set out clearly in their EHC plans, is not in place.  The school’s curriculum provides a breadth of subjects for pupils but is heavily focused on key stage 4 and examination accreditation. There is currently no scheme of work for English in key stage 3. Leaders could not provide any information about the personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) curriculum during the inspection beyond a list of topics. Leaders and teachers assert that work is suitably differentiated for pupils, but inspection evidence found that this was not consistently the case.  Some pupils are provided with a more bespoke curriculum which better reflects their needs and abilities. The headteacher has a vision for developing this practice across the school so that the curriculum is more responsive to pupils’ needs, experiences and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

abilities. Again, this work is only just beginning so is not yet having sufficient impact on pupils’ outcomes.  Leaders ensure that pupils are provided with a range of enrichment activities to support their learning and personal development. Pupils recently enjoyed a visit to see the National Theatre’s live production of ‘Macbeth’, and a visit to the Black Country Living Museum. These supported visits into the community are helping pupils to develop their coping skills in social situations and learn how to manage their anxieties better.  Parents to whom inspectors spoke, and who responded to the parent survey, talked positively about the recent changes that have taken place at the centre. They appreciate the personalised support their children receive and talked about improvements, such as better attendance.  Since the previous inspection, improvements have been made to the building. Pupils now have a secure, pleasant environment in which to work. Plans are in place to make

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

further changes to improve the environment and technological support.

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Governance of the school

 Governance is inadequate.  Governors, also known as the management board, do not have sufficient skills or understanding of the governance roles and responsibilities to carry out their duties effectively. Many governors have not received training for their roles. While governors are well intentioned, their work has had little or no impact on the school over time.  Governors have not challenged leaders well enough over time and have not held them to account for their actions. They have been too accepting of information given to them. Minutes of governing body meetings show that issues are not followed through to their conclusion.  Governors do not discharge their safeguarding duties effectively. They have not been trained in safeguarding and are not fully cognisant of their responsibilities for safeguarding, described in the DfE’s most recent ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (KCSIE) document. A safeguarding governor has recently been identified and has

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Governance of the school

begun working with the headteacher to identify inadequacies in safeguarding practice, but this work has had no impact so far.  Staff report that governors and the local authority did not keep them informed when decisions about changes to the school’s pupil cohort were made.  The local authority officer and the head of alternative provision are becoming more involved in the oversight of the school. This has gained momentum since the head of alternative provision’s appointment in September 2018.  Governors and the local authority have not made sure that external advice is providing adequate support for leaders. There is little evidence of the impact of the work of the local authority’s improvement partner.  Governors have not made suitable arrangements to manage the performance of the acting headteacher.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.  The designated safeguarding lead has not been trained to carry out her role. In addition, she has delivered level 1 safeguarding training for staff despite not being trained to do so.  There are no records to show that staff and governors have read and understood the recently updated DfE KCSIE document. The school’s safeguarding policy has recently been adopted by the governors without ensuring that it contains information relevant to the school, such as procedures for children missing education.  The licence for the software used to monitor pupils’ use of the internet has expired and has not been renewed. Leaders and governors have not put sufficient alternatives in place to make sure that the internet is used appropriately, beyond relying on staff’s vigilance.  Until this term, safeguarding records have not been well organised to allow sufficient

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Safeguarding

oversight of any emerging concerns. The headteacher has begun to address this, but there are still records that remain in different files or on staff’s laptops.  Safeguarding records show that there has been a lack of tenacity when following up pupils who are missing education. While staff make a follow-up call when a pupil does not arrive at school, there is no further action, even if parents cannot be contacted. Inspectors saw evidence that there was insufficient checking of the whereabouts of pupils at potential significant risk of harm, further compromising their welfare and safety.  Leaders are slow to engage with external agencies to make sure that pupils are getting the support they need. Social workers and the virtual school headteacher are not informed quickly enough about safeguarding concerns.  When additional information is requested, there is not sufficient oversight of cases to make sure that these requests are followed up in a tenacious way.

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Safeguarding

 Pupils told inspectors that they feel safe at school and staff expressed the view that pupils are safe at school.  Leaders carry out suitable checks on staff during the recruitment process and make sure that accurate records are kept.  Safeguarding arrangements for fire safety, first aid, risk assessments and the administration of medicine are in place.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 The quality of teaching and learning is variable. There is some effective teaching because teachers have good subject knowledge and high expectations of what pupils can achieve. The teaching of science supports pupils’ development of knowledge well, which they then apply to their learning. The science teacher helped pupils to make links relating to their own experiences to explain the definition of a chromatogram, which was compared to the word Instagram. In a history lesson, inspectors saw pupils being well supported through the organisation of resources so that their anxieties could be reduced.  Where teaching is less effective, pupils are not being sufficiently challenged with work that is matched to their abilities. On some occasions, pupils are completing the same tasks even though their ages and abilities vary, demonstrating that teachers’ expectations are not high enough.  The quality of teachers’ questioning is not consistent across all subjects. Some of the

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

best questioning enables pupils to explain their thinking and deepen their knowledge further, with open-ended questions such as, ‘How do you know?’ Some teaching relies too much on telling pupils what to do rather than allowing them to think for themselves and work out a solution to a problem.  Work in pupils’ books is well presented and pupils clearly take pride in their work. Teachers do not consistently follow up the feedback they give to pupils, which may involve setting an additional task. Also, work in books shows that pupils are making repeated errors in basic grammar – the use of capital letters at the beginning of a sentence for example – which are not addressed by the teacher.  Work in pupils’ books provides a better overview of pupils’ progress than the school’s assessment information. The school’s system is not able to show the smaller steps of progress pupils are making, some of whom may attend the school for a short period.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

Leaders recognise that their systems need further refinement.  The support pupils receive for their learning varies from subject to subject. In English, pupils are supported well to develop their writing skills with tasks that are broken down into smaller steps. Teachers do not use these strategies consistently in other subjects, which results in pupils becoming less engaged in their learning.  Pupils behave well in lessons and relationships between staff and pupils are strong. Pupils told inspectors that they feel well supported.  The pupils are taught as one group for most of their lessons, which means that teachers must plan and deliver lessons that may be addressing not only different abilities, but also three different key stages, and examination and non-examination courses. Schemes of work do not support teachers well enough in this regard, especially for younger pupils.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is inadequate because safeguarding is not effective and pupils may be at potential risk of harm.  Pupils report that little or no bullying takes place at the school. Leaders were not able to provide any evidence of bullying incidents but were confident that bullying does not take place. Pupils were less confident in their understanding of different types of bullying, such as racist and homophobic bullying. Leaders could not provide evidence that bullying is addressed through the curriculum.  The warm relationships that exist between staff and pupils ensure that pupils feel well supported in school. Pupils are confident that if they have any worries they can talk to a member of staff. Lunchtimes are a relaxed time, where pupils are able to pursue their own interests. The daily scrabble competition with the acting headteacher enables

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Personal development and welfare

pupils to work cooperatively together and develop their literacy skills through a fun activity.  The school has developed a strong working relationship with the child and adolescent mental health service, which means that pupils’ needs can be more quickly identified, and support put in place.  Some aspects of the curriculum support pupils’ personal development well. In a history lesson, pupils were discussing theft and human trafficking and were able to relate these issues to modern day events in a thoughtful way.  Pupils have the opportunity to participate in a range of fundraising events to raise their awareness of issues in the wider community, such as the Macmillan coffee morning. During the inspection, pupils were busy planning how they were going to organise the Christmas fair to raise funds for the school.  Leaders are beginning to gather information from pupils that will enable them to identify any additional support that pupils may require. Pupils have recently

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Personal development and welfare

participated in a well-being survey, but leaders have not acted on any of the pupils’ responses so there has been little impact of this work.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  Inspectors saw very little learning being disrupted because of poor behaviour. On occasions, pupils were seen listening well to others’ views, working together cooperatively.  Since September 2018, leaders collect information about behaviour incidents but do not analyse it to identify any emerging patterns. Leaders have not formalised any behaviour support for pupils who have had several, repeated incidents over a short space of time.  Pupils behave well at school. They are respectful of each other and of adults.  School information suggests that while pupils’ attendance at school is low, it has improved on previous years’ figures. However, because attendance is being incorrectly coded, leaders do not have accurate attendance information. Records also indicate that nearly half the pupils are persistently absent. Discussions with pupils and parents suggest that for individuals, attendance has improved from very low starting points

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 The school’s assessment information and work in pupils’ books demonstrate that pupils are making progress in their learning over time. In 2018, almost all pupils gained external accreditation in English and mathematics, some of which were at GCSE level.  Leaders have built a ‘mock examination’ fortnight into the school timetable. They recognise that examinations can cause anxieties for pupils and want to help pupils develop their confidence and resilience so that they are better prepared for future examinations.  Leaders were able to articulate some individual success stories for pupils who have moved on to further education or training. However, leaders have only recently developed a formal strategy for supporting pupils in their transition to other providers and this has not yet been put into practice for all pupils.  Some pupils are being provided with impartial careers advice and guidance, but leaders

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

have not yet established a formal careers programme. Pupils told inspectors that they had not received any careers advice or guidance recently.  The school currently offers a limited range of qualifications that pupils can gain. As a result, pupils are not being as well prepared as they could be for their next stage of education, employment or training.

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.coventry.gov.uk/info/258/hospital_ed ucation_service/3143/whitmore_park_anne xe Email address sharon.cutler@coventry.gov.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 13 – 14 November 2013

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Information about this school

 Whitmore Park Annexe is part of the Hospital Education Service in Coventry but is currently listed as a separate school.  At the time of the last inspection, the provision catered for pregnant pupils and young mothers aged from 11 to 16 years. Since the last inspection, the school no longer admits this cohort of pupils. The school now supports pupils who have a variety of needs, including autism spectrum disorder, anxiety and mental health needs.  Most pupils have a history of poor attendance at their previous schools.  The school has the capacity to admit up to 16 pupils.  The school has two Year 12 students, so it is currently operating outside its designated age range of 11 to 16 years.  Nearly all pupils have an EHC plan.  The local authority has formally requested that the DfE close the school to enable the provision to be incorporated into the Hospital Education Service and are awaiting a

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Information about this school

decision.  The acting headteacher, acting deputy headteacher and SENCo, who are the senior leadership team, were appointed with effect from September 2018. They are all temporary appointments. These senior leaders are also responsible for managing other elements of the Hospital Education Service, including home and hospital tuition. Ofsted inspected these aspects of the service in February 2018.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors visited lessons on both days of the inspection and evaluated the quality of work in pupils’ books. They observed pupils’ arrival at school and lunchtime arrangements. They talked to pupils about their learning and experience of the school.  Inspectors held meetings with the senior leadership team to discuss the school’s self- evaluation, pupils’ progress, teaching and learning, behaviour and transition arrangements. An inspector met with the SENCo to discuss provision for pupils with SEND.  The lead inspector had separate meetings with the chair of governors and two other governors, one of whom is the safeguarding governor. The lead inspector met with a local authority officer and the head of alternative provision in Coventry, who is also the acting headteacher’s line manager.  An inspector met with three parents and the team considered the very small number of free-text responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors considered the five responses from pupils to Ofsted’s pupil survey and the five responses to the staff survey. An inspector met with a group of staff.  Inspectors reviewed a wide range of school documents, including the school’s development plan, policies, schemes of work, assessment information and minutes of meetings. Inspectors reviewed a range of safeguarding documentation and the checks made on staff’s suitability to work with children.  Inspectors reviewed information about behaviour and attendance and scrutinised individual pupils’ files.

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Inspection team

Deb Jenkins, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Lesley Yates 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

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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Inspection team

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

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open- government-licence/ , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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