Include School Norfolk

Include Schools Norfolk 27 Hurricane Way, Norwich, Norfolk NR3 3UA

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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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 proprietors have not ensured that all of the independent standards are met. Self-evaluation lacks clarity. Improvement plans do not have measurable targets.  The quality of teaching is too variable. Pupils do not make consistently good progress over time.  Staff do not have sufficiently high expectations of what pupils can achieve. Pupils over-rely on staff in order to complete work.  Leaders have not developed strong enough systems to track the impact of spend on disadvantaged pupils’ progress.  Pupils typically do not make strong progress in developing writing and spelling skills.  Not all pupils write at length in different subject areas to help develop their literacy skills.  Teachers do not routinely set work which matches pupils’ needs. Time in lessons is not used productively and pupils’ progress slows.  Not all staff understand the school’s assessment system, to check pupils’ progress over time.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Behaviour is not managed consistently well by all teachers. Pupils’ conduct around the school and in lessons is not always good.  Pupils’ absence is higher than the national average. Leaders works hard to improve attendance. There is limited impact on the most challenging cases.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The curriculum meets the needs and interests of the pupils. It enables them to move on to the next stage of their education.  When teachers have high expectations and plan work that matches pupils’ needs, pupils make good progress over time. English is strong. Pupils are motivated in lessons to do well and work hard.  Pupils’ safety and welfare are of the highest priority. Staff know the pupils very well and provide valuable support.  Transition is managed well. Most pupils transfer successfully to college or employment.  The local authority provides good support for leaders, enabling the school to improve.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The school must take action to meet the requirements of the schedule to The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 and associated requirements. The details are listed in the full report.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management by: – ensuring that the school’s self-assessment is sharply focused and evaluative – prioritising and setting clear outcomes and timelines to school improvement plans to ensure that actions are rapid and have a significant impact on the progress that pupils make – ensuring that the strategies to support disadvantaged pupils are more sharply evaluated to enable teachers to help these pupils to catch up – further improving procedures for reducing pupils’ absence, especially in the most persistent cases.  Improve the quality of teaching so that it is consistently good by ensuring that: – all staff have high expectations of what all pupils should achieve during lessons – teachers in all subjects use assessment information effectively to adapt activities in lessons so that they meet the needs of pupils – assessments inform teachers’ planning so that pupils make consistently good progress

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

– gaps in pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding are addressed quickly – there are more opportunities for pupils to write at length through a range of subjects – teachers correct spelling and grammatical errors methodically – pupils become more confident to work independently of an adult’s support.  Further improve behaviour, by making sure that teachers consistently apply the school’s behaviour policy in a firm and fair way so that pupils establish clear boundaries on how they should act.  The school must meet the independent school standards, as set out in the annex of this report.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Leaders have not ensured that all of the independent school standards have been met. Further improvement is needed to ensure that teaching and pupils’ progress are consistently good.  The school’s own self-evaluation lacks precision, is overly descriptive and is not sufficiently evaluative. The action plan does not have a sharp enough focus on key school improvement aspects or measurable success criteria to monitor the progress made.  Leaders have made some improvements. However, there is more work to do to support pupils to make the progress they should. Some leaders lack the necessary training to empower them to lead improvements to the quality of provision.  The monitoring of teaching, learning and assessment is sufficiently regular. Leaders have a clear insight into where teaching is working well and what needs to improve. The consistency of the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes and ensuring that all pupils

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

attend school regularly is still underdeveloped.  The school’s systems and procedures for recording and analysing the progress made by individual pupils are not well understood by all teachers. Not all assessments are accurate. This has a negative impact on the planning of teaching and learning, as teachers have not been able to plan lessons that are matched to the needs and abilities of all pupils. In some cases, this has resulted in a lack of challenge for the most able pupils.  The school’s expectation for pupils to ‘Be cooperative with staff and other students’ is not uniform across the three school sites. Leaders have high expectations for good behaviour, but these standards are not upheld consistently by all teachers. Pupils who attend regularly learn to develop better attitudes over time.  Leaders have identified a range of strategies to diminish the differences between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and that of other pupils nationally. Access to

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

vocational placements and extra revision support for pupils in Year 11 are working well. The evaluation of this work is not always carried out rigorously to determine the impact of the spend.  The curriculum is broad and balanced and offers pupils a range of subjects to meet their needs. The curriculum covers the core subjects, and human and social, information and communication technology (ICT), physical education (PE) and cultural studies, as well as vocational options. Leaders have reviewed the school’s curriculum and associated schemes of work to ensure continuity of planning. Catch 22 works closely with the school to provide beneficial staff training.  School leaders have ensured that suitable fire risk assessments of the premises are undertaken. Appropriate follow-up checks are commissioned by school leaders. The most up-to-date information for fire safety is not always ‘to hand’ on the three school sites.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

School leaders plan to provide further training to the curriculum leaders of learning about the fire safety standards.  Most staff say that the school is well led and managed. Staff are proud of their school and feel valued. Relationships in the school are positive and there is a sense of team spirit. This is helping to move the school forward.  Most parents and carers are supportive of the work the school does. They say the school is well led and managed, that their children are happy and safe, well looked after, taught well and that the school responds well to any concerns they may have.  The ‘advocates’, whose role is to champion the welfare needs of the pupils, provide sound advice and guidance to those in their care. A high proportion of pupils exhibit challenging behaviours and most have had significant disruption to their education over time. The ‘advocates’ on each site were praised by the pupils for their leadership.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Pupils benefit from well-planned activities to support their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development which permeates the curriculum. They are supported to distinguish right from wrong and to respect the civil and criminal law. Pupils are encouraged to reflect on personal, local, national and global events.  Leaders have robust processes in place to monitor the safety and achievement of any pupils attending other providers for some of their lessons.  The local authority advisers regularly visit the school to provide valuable support and challenge.

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Governance

 Catch 22 has not ensured that all of the independent school standards are met.  The executive principal has a realistic understanding of where the school is at and what needs to be done to improve the school.  Catch 22 has a clear strategic role in terms of shaping and monitoring the plans of the school. A broad range of visits enables Catch 22 to monitor the school’s work closely.  Catch 22 holds the headteacher to account through regular appraisal of his work. They are very supportive of the headteacher and share his view for the school moving forward.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  All checks are carried out when new staff are recruited to work with pupils.  An up-to-date safeguarding policy that reflects the most recent government guidance is available on the school website. Leaders have ensured that robust safeguarding procedures are in place to record and follow up any concerns.  Leaders have created a culture of vigilance and place pupils’ safety and welfare at the centre of its work. Staff training, including the ‘Prevent’ duty and the risks associated with the criminal exploitation of children known as ‘county lines’, is up to date. The pastoral support for pupils is a strength.  There are strong partnerships with other agencies responsible for protecting children and the school provides high-quality support for protecting vulnerable pupils.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Pupils do not make good progress from their starting points, which are mostly below average for their age on entry to the school.  There are inconsistencies in the quality of teaching throughout the school. Learning does not always cater for the different abilities of pupils and sometimes lacks challenge for the most able pupils.  Assessment information is not used effectively, and teachers are not always clear about the rates of progress being made by individual pupils. This means that teachers do not respond quickly enough to pupils’ needs, particularly those of the most able, to reshape learning and provide more support or to move them on more quickly.  When expectations by teachers are too low, pupils make too little progress. This was seen in the quality of work in some pupils’ books, where gaps in learning were evident. The quality of presentation varies greatly because teachers do not ensure that consistently

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

high standards are maintained. Pupils’ work in books showed little extension or deepening of their understanding.  Pupils’ attitudes in class are not always conducive to appropriate learning, particularly when teaching is weaker. Poor-quality presentation, spelling, punctuation and grammar are left unchallenged. Some pupils do not take appropriate ownership of their learning, with low-level disruption preventing the learning of others.  In English lessons, pupils are encouraged to write at length and some are starting to do so with confidence. In other curriculum subjects, sustained writing, the use of subject- specific vocabulary, good presentation and the use of accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar are less well developed.  Where teaching is most effective, such as in English, high expectations, well-established routines and consistency of approach mean that pupils develop their understanding well.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

Learning is personalised according to pupils’ needs, helping them to learn more effectively.  There is clear evidence of some highly effective teaching over time. The resources in these lessons are stimulating and varied and challenge pupils to think. Noticeable progress is seen in exercise books and pupils can talk fluently about their learning, using subject-specific language.  The positive relationships that staff build with the pupils are a real strength of this school.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  The welfare of the pupils is at the heart of the school. Staff are vigilant and sensitive to pupils’ welfare needs. Staff know the pupils and their families well and have built strong relationships with pupils. Pupils have adults who they can confide in and they feel safe when in school. The ‘advocates’ on each school site provide strong support and guidance to the pupils. They help to build a pupil’s confidence, self-esteem and encourage pupils to express their own opinions. This support helps successful transition arrangements into the school and also when pupils leave to go to college.  The curriculum provides pupils with frequent opportunities to learn about how to keep well. Pupils learn about the importance of physical activity, healthy eating, the dangers and misuse of using drugs and alcohol, online safety, gang culture, child sexual

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Personal development and welfare

exploitation and radicalisation or extremism.  Pupils acquire an appreciation and respect of their own and other cultures, in a way that promotes tolerance and harmony between different cultural traditions.  Leaders monitor closely the attendance and behaviour of the small number of pupils who are educated away from the school. These pupils receive effective support to secure appropriate outcomes to move on to further education, employment or training.  Leaders provide a wide range of activities to promote pupils’ understanding of careers and post-16 pathways. Pupils say that they value this information and make good use of the careers information and advice to prepare effectively for college. One pupil echoed the voice of many, saying, ‘I never thought I would have the opportunity to go.’  Staff work effectively with wider agencies to ensure that pupils who are at risk are supported to keep safe and overcome their difficulties. Pupils receive a substantial level of

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Personal development and welfare

support where necessary.  A number of pupils are ardent smokers. Staff remind pupils of the harmful effects of smoking. Pupils are sanctioned when they choose not to follow the rules.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  Pupils arrive at the school after significant instability in their previous schooling. Behaviour is too variable. In some lessons, it can quickly change. Pupils can be calm and focused on their work and then suddenly feel under pressure or become upset. This prevents pupils from making the progress they should.  Pupils’ conduct around the site is not of a consistently high standard. Some pupils display behaviours, such as the use of derogatory language, that fall below the school’s expectations. Some staff do not manage pupils’ behaviour well. Pupils continue to swear.  Pupils said that bullying does happen but are confident that if they had a problem, staff would deal with it quickly and effectively. Some spoke about how staff have helped to deal with problems they had outside school.  Restraint is used only when staff feel they have to intervene physically to prevent a pupil

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Behaviour

from injuring themselves or someone else. Staff recognise the triggers which heighten pupils’ anxiety levels and take preventative actions in order to prevent the regular use of restraint.  Despite the efforts of leaders, pupils’ attendance remains a challenge. While pupils come to school more frequently than in their previous schools, attendance is still too low. The number of pupils who are regularly absent is very high. The school rigorously monitors attendance on a pupil-by-pupil basis.  Exclusion rates during the autumn term have been high among the new intake of pupils because they were testing out their boundaries with staff. Exclusions have fallen this term as pupils have responded more positively to the clear expectations for behaviour.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Not enough pupils make good progress from their individual starting points because there is too much variation in teaching across the sites.  The school is successful in supporting pupils with challenging personal circumstances to re-engage with learning. Over time, pupils begin to catch up with their learning. Pupils’ progress is not yet consistently good because they do not have work personalised to their learning needs across all of the sites. Pupils do not have regular opportunities to complete extended pieces of writing and develop their spelling, punctuation and grammar across the wider curriculum. The most able pupils are not given work that is difficult enough.  Disadvantaged pupils do not make consistently good progress in order to achieve good outcomes. School leaders do not thoroughly evaluate how provision on a day-to-day basis is leading to pupils making more rapid progress academically, as well as in their

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

attendance and behaviour.  Externally accredited qualifications are taken by the pupils who have been at the school for a relatively short period of time. These include GCSE English and mathematics, functional skills in English and mathematics, and a range of awards.  Pupils attending alternative providers are making reasonable progress and enjoy the courses they are studying.  Pupils gain in confidence the longer they are at the school. The vast majority of pupils progress successfully on to their next stage of education or training at the end of key stage 4.

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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

Email address Philip.Hinchliffe@catch-22.org.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 9–11 May 2017

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Information about this school

 Include Schools Norfolk is owned by the Catch 22 organisation. The school’s proprietor is a not-for-profit charitable organisation.  The school is an independent day school with three sites: one in Norwich, another in King’s Lynn and the third centre is located in Great Yarmouth.  The headteacher has oversight of the provision across the three sites. He reports directly to the Catch 22 executive principal, who in turn is accountable to the board of trustees.  A curriculum learning lead is based in each centre to support the day-to-day operation of the school. The curriculum leaders work together with advocates, whose role is to champion the welfare needs of individual pupils.  The school is registered to provide education for 117 boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 16 years. Pupils are referred by the local authority, typically because they have been excluded from mainstream schools, special schools or pupil referral units. A high

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Information about this school

proportion of pupils exhibit challenging behaviours. Most have had significant disruption to their education over time.  A number of pupils have an education, health and care plan relating to social, emotional and mental health needs. Other pupils have additional learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or autism spectrum disorder.  The school receives pupil premium funding for almost two thirds of pupils, including enhanced pupil premium funding for seven pupils who are looked after by the local authority.  The school uses alternative providers who offer part-time, work-related education for pupils at the following centres: – The Vocational Learning Hub at The Short Stay School for Norfolk – St Edmund’s Society in Norwich – Open Road in King’s Lynn – Century Training Service in Great Yarmouth.  Since the standard inspection in May 2017, the Norwich provision has relocated from

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Information about this school

three separate sites to a single location on the outskirts of the city. The Great Yarmouth provision has relocated to different premises on the edge of the town.  At the school’s standard inspection, in May 2017, three of the independent school standards were not met.  Ofsted conducted a progress monitoring inspection in May 2018, commissioned by the DfE. The inspection included the proprietor’s request for a material change in relation to the premises. At the progress monitoring inspection, the school met all the independent school standards identified as not met at the standard inspection (May 2017). The school did not meet three of the independent school standards in relation to the material change request regarding the premises.  The second evaluation of the school’s action plan on 18 January 2019, following the progress monitoring inspection in May 2018, deemed it not to be acceptable. It was the

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Information about this school

third evaluation of the school’s action plan since the standard inspection in May 2017.  The first action plan prepared by the school was evaluated on 7 September 2017 and judged as not acceptable. The second action plan was evaluated on 13 September 2018, after the progress monitoring inspection. It was also judged as not acceptable.

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection took place with one day’s notice.  Inspectors toured the school sites and observed learning on all three sites.  Inspectors met with the executive principal for education, the executive vice-principal for education, the headteacher, the curriculum learning leads at all three sites, the ‘advocates’ at all three sites and the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo).  Telephone conversations were held with a Norfolk local authority representative and the assistant principal for curriculum, teaching and learning at Catch 22.  The single central record of employment checks was scrutinised.  Inspectors considered a number of documents provided by the school, including the school’s self-evaluation document, the school development plan, and the school’s own pupil progress information.  Inspectors scrutinised policies, procedures and records in order to check the school’s compliance with the independent school standards.

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Information about this inspection

 There were 15 responses to Ofsted’s online pupil questionnaire and 33 responses to Ofsted’s online staff questionnaire.  There was one response to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, and one free-text response. Consequently, inspectors used existing internal parent survey evidence provided by the school to ascertain their views.

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Inspection team

Stefanie Lipinski-Barltrop, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Part 1. Quality of education provided

 3 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that the teaching at the school: – 3(a) enables pupils to acquire new knowledge and make good progress according to their ability so that they increase their understanding and develop their skills in the subjects taught; – 3(b) fosters in pupils self-motivation, the application of intellectual, physical and creative effort, interest in their work and the ability to think and learn for themselves; – 3(c) involves well planned lessons and effective teaching methods, activities and management of class time; – 3(d) shows a good understanding of the aptitudes, needs and prior attainments of the pupils, and ensures that these are taken into account in the planning of lessons; – 3(g) demonstrates that a framework is in place to assess pupils’ work regularly and thoroughly and use information from that assessment to plan teaching so that pupils

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Part 1. Quality of education provided

can progress; – 3(h) utilises effective strategies for managing behaviour and encouraging pupils to act responsibly.

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Part 3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils

 9 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor promotes good behaviour amongst pupils by ensuring that: – 9(b) the policy is implemented effectively.

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

 34(1) The standard about the quality of leadership and management is met if the proprietor ensures that persons with leadership and management responsibilities at the school: – 34(1)(a) demonstrate good skills and knowledge appropriate to their role so that the independent school standards are met consistently; – 34(1)(b) fulfil their responsibilities effectively so that the independent school standards are met consistently. 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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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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

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