Catch 22

Catch22 10 Victoria Street, Newark NG24 4UT

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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 Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Safeguarding is ineffective. Not all safeguarding records are accurate or sufficiently detailed.  Senior leaders have not acted quickly enough to resolve an identified fire risk. Furthermore, they do not undertake regular fire-safety checks.  Staff supervision of pupils is not always adequate during social time.  Senior leaders have not managed well enough the changes that have occurred to the school’s provision since the previous inspection. During this time, there has been a decline in the quality of education and care that pupils receive.  Teaching requires improvement. It is variable in quality across the school.  Pupils’ outcomes require improvement. Pupils do not make consistently strong progress across the different subjects.  The proprietor and those responsible for governance have not held senior leaders to account for the quality of the provision, particularly in relation to safeguarding and

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

meeting the independent school standards.  Attendance is below that of similar schools. Not all pupils attend punctually in the morning.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

The school has the following strengths  Pupils say that they feel safe and have adults with whom they can speak if they have a concern.  Positive relationships with staff help pupils to engage well with their learning.  Pupils receive effective support to manage their behaviour. This leads to improved behaviour over time for most pupils.  The personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education programme provides pupils with wide-ranging opportunities to learn about the local community and British society.  Pupils study a broad curriculum that enables them to achieve qualifications that help them to progress successfully to their next steps.  Pupils receive effective careers guidance and undertake work experience, which helps them to understand different employment opportunities.  Well-targeted support enables pupils to improve their attendance while they are at the school.  Most pupils move on to sustained places of

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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?

 Rapidly improve the school’s procedures to keep pupils safe and to monitor their welfare by ensuring that: – arrangements to keep pupils safe reflect the latest guidance – leaders maintain accurate, detailed safeguarding records – any referrals of safeguarding concerns to other agencies are timely – assessments of risk are effective, identifying relevant risk and providing appropriate guidance on which staff can act, including those related to the supervision of pupils during social time – the proprietor and senior leaders respond swiftly to resolve health and safety risks that either they or other professionals identify, including any relating to fire risk.  Rapidly improve the impact of leadership and management by ensuring that: – senior leaders have the time and resources to obtain a secure oversight of all aspects of the school’s provision across both sites and to manage successfully any changes that

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

may occur – senior leaders know the independent school standards thoroughly and ensure that the school meets these standards consistently – there are regular checks on the safeguarding procedures which lead to timely action when procedures are found to be insufficiently robust – senior leaders’ checks on the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement make sure that all teaching is consistently good and enables pupils to make good progress – the training staff receive, particularly in relation to classroom practice, brings about improvement to the quality of teaching – the proprietor and those responsible for governance hold senior leaders to account for the effectiveness with which they bring about the necessary, rapid improvements, including to safeguarding and pupils’ welfare.  Improve the quality of teaching so that pupils make good progress across all subjects by ensuring that all teachers: – better use the information about pupils’ prior attainment when planning learning

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

– have high expectations of the quality of work pupils complete – set pupils tasks at the right level, including work that has sufficient challenge – check that pupils’ understanding is secure before moving learning on.  Improve attendance and punctuality by ensuring that: – attendance is in line with that seen nationally in similar schools – pupils arrive on time at the beginning of the day, ready to start learning.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

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 Inadequate

 The proprietor has not ensured that the school meets all the independent school standards.  The standards the school does not meet relate to safeguarding, the premises, fire safety, the assessment and subsequent reduction of risk, supervision of pupils, the quality of teaching, and leadership and management.  Senior leaders have failed to ensure that the school’s safeguarding procedures comply with the latest national guidance or the school’s own up-to-date safeguarding policy.  Senior leaders had not taken timely action to resolve a fire risk that an independent fire risk assessment identified. Senior leaders resolved this concern during the inspection.  Senior leaders do not have a comprehensive overview of the quality of all aspects of the school’s provision. They have not managed well enough the many changes that have taken place to the school’s provision to enable them to maintain the high standards of

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

care, teaching, behaviour and achievement that the previous inspection identified.  Senior leaders have not been consistent in how they have fulfilled their leadership responsibilities across both school sites. This includes in relation to the oversight of safeguarding, health and safety, and the supervision of pupils during social time.  Senior leaders’ regular checks on the quality of teaching have not ensured that teaching is consistently good across the whole school.  Senior leaders have not ensured that all teachers consistently use information about pupils’ achievement when planning learning. Because of this, not all teachers successfully plan work that is at the right level that enables pupils to make good progress.  Senior leaders have ensured that staff receive opportunities to attend training in relation to effective classroom practice, including with colleagues from a group of similar schools.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

This training has yet to ensure that teaching is consistently good across the school.  Senior leaders’ work to help pupils to improve their behaviour is a strength. Senior leaders ensure that pupils receive the support they need to help them to manage their behaviour effectively. As a result, pupils’ behaviour improves over time.  The curriculum provides all pupils with effective opportunities to develop their knowledge, understanding and skills across the full range of subjects. Pupils complete qualifications, including in English, mathematics and work-related subjects, that enable them to move on successfully to their next steps when they leave the school at the end of Year 11.  Senior leaders regularly review the curriculum to ensure that the subjects pupils study meet their individual needs and help them to prepare well for their next steps. They have ensured that pupils complete studies that enable them to develop those skills that they

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

will need to live independently, including understanding personal finance and budgeting.  Wide-ranging extra-curricular activities complement pupils’ subject studies well. Pupils visit museums and other places of historical interest, which help them to learn about the country’s history and legal system. Visits to the local community, including to a nursery, a care home and a variety of community-based projects, ensure that pupils understand how they can contribute positively to society.  The PSHE education programme enables pupils to become secure in their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils learn about Britain’s diverse society by studying current, topical issues. For example, pupils have recently discussed Britain’s leaving the European Union, equal opportunities for people with disabilities, citizens’ rights and whether different religious festivals should be national holidays. By engaging in class

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

discussions around these topics and expressing their opinion through voting, pupils understand the importance of freedom of speech and democracy.

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Governance

 The proprietor and those responsible for governance have failed to ensure that: – they have resolved in a timely manner the weaknesses in the safeguarding procedures that the school’s senior leaders themselves have identified – necessary action has taken place to resolve concerns that an external risk assessment of the premises has identified – there are regular checks on the school’s fire-safety procedures – the quality of the education and care that pupils receive continues to match the level identified at the previous full inspection – senior leaders have the necessary time and resources so that they can meet fully and consistently their leadership responsibilities across both school sites – their checks on the information that senior leaders provide them about the quality of the school’s provision are accurate.  The proprietor and those responsible for governance do not have a secure understanding

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Governance

of the quality of the provision, including how well the school meets the independent school standards. Due to this, they are unable to provide senior leaders with effective challenge and support.  The proprietor is committed to ensuring that pupils receive effective opportunities to complete qualifications which enable them to move on successfully to their next steps when they leave the school.  The proprietor has encouraged senior leaders to work closely with professionals from a group of similar schools to improve the quality of teaching and raise pupils’ achievement.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.  The school’s safeguarding policy, which reflects the latest national guidance, is available on the school’s website. Not all safeguarding leaders comply with the requirements of this policy when supporting pupils about whom they have a welfare concern.  Safeguarding leaders have not ensured that they keep detailed and accurate records of the actions they take to resolve welfare concerns.  Safeguarding leaders do not always make timely enough referrals to external agencies on such occasions that their concerns about a pupil’s welfare warrant such action.  By failing to undertake regular fire-safety checks, senior leaders have put pupils’ safety unnecessarily at risk.  Senior leaders have not undertaken effective risk assessments of pupils who leave the school site without permission during the school day, including during social time. Senior

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Safeguarding

leaders have not ensured that staff know how best to supervise these pupils. Furthermore, they have not established clear procedures of what staff must do should a pupil leave the school site without permission, to ensure that the pupil is safe.  Senior leaders are highly sensitive to issues in the local area that may affect pupils’ welfare. They ensure that pupils learn how to keep themselves safe should these issues affect them, including from members of the local police force who regularly visit the school. Pupils appreciate the support and guidance they receive.  Staff know that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. They regularly receive comprehensive safeguarding training. They know what signs to look for and what to do if they have a welfare concern about a pupil.  Pupils say that they feel safe and that they have an adult at the school with whom they can speak if they have a concern. They are confident that staff will support them

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Safeguarding

effectively to help resolve their concern.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Teaching is not consistently good across the whole school. Because of this, pupils’ progress is variable across different subjects.  Not all teachers use information about pupils’ prior attainment when planning learning. Consequently, they do not always plan work that is at the right level and deepens pupils’ understanding.  On occasions, the work teachers set lacks sufficient challenge. When this is the case, pupils’ attention can wander and they do not make as much progress as they should.  Teachers do not always have high-enough expectations of the quantity and quality of the work that pupils can produce. On such occasions, pupils do not complete work which truly reflects their ability or their understanding.  Occasionally, teachers fail to check that pupils are secure in their understanding before introducing new tasks or topics. This can result in pupils moving on to new learning without fully understanding what the teacher has previously taught them.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Teaching assistants provide effective support to pupils who are unsure about what they are learning. Pupils respond well to this support. When they identify that pupils can work independently, teaching assistants reduce the amount of support they provide.  Teachers and teaching assistants provide appropriate encouragement to ensure that pupils maintain their focus on their work. Pupils respond well to this encouragement.  Teachers and teaching assistants are quick to challenge any inappropriate behaviour, including the use of inappropriate language.  Teachers have secure subject knowledge. They use this well to provide pupils with clear explanations about key concepts and to respond to questions pupils ask of them.  When teachers plan learning around pupils’ interests, the pupils engage well with their learning and make strong progress.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is inadequate.  Senior leaders have taken insufficient action to ensure that pupils are safe. They do not maintain accurate records of the actions they take to resolve concerns about pupils’ welfare. Furthermore, they have been too slow to resolve an identified fire risk and have not undertaken regular fire-safety checks.  All staff are mindful of pupils’ additional needs and anxieties when providing support. The well-targeted support pupils receive helps them to feel valued.  Strong relationships between pupils and staff enable the pupils to grow in confidence and self-esteem.  Pupils learn how to be safe, including when online and when out in the local community.  Pupils learn about different kinds of bullying, including cyber bullying and isolating people from friendship groups. Pupils say that bullying is very rare at the school, because pupils

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Personal development and welfare

get on well with each other. The school’s records show that bullying rarely occurs and that when it does, staff are quick to take effective action.  Pupils learn about how to live healthy lives and develop positive relationships. Pupils learn about the risks that accompany making unhealthy choices, including smoking.  Through their PSHE studies, pupils learn about diversity in society and the fact that people may hold different values and beliefs from their own. They learn that it is right to respect all people, including those who may have different views from their own.  Pupils receive effective careers advice and guidance which help them to understand the career opportunities open to them. Pupils receive well-targeted support to ensure that they make appropriate choices about their future career.  To this end, pupils undertake work-experience placements. Leaders check the quality and appropriateness of such placements so that pupils benefit from a worthwhile experience

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Personal development and welfare

that teaches them about the different opportunities and challenges they will face when they enter employment.  Senior leaders continue to check on the progress and welfare of pupils once they have moved on to their next steps. They continue to provide pupils with support to ensure that their next steps are sustained and successful.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  Many pupils arrive late to school in the morning, missing crucial learning time.  Attendance at the school, while improving, remains below that seen in similar schools.  Over time, the support that leaders provide pupils to help them to attend more regularly leads to an improvement in pupils’ individual attendance.  The support that pupils receive enables them to manage their behaviour more effectively. The school’s records show that pupils’ behaviour improves the longer they are at the school.  Pupils conduct themselves well around the school. They show respect towards each other and towards the staff.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Pupils’ progress is variable. Some pupils make strong progress across a range of subjects. However, this is not the case for all pupils.  Pupils’ achievement in mathematics is inconsistent. Many pupils’ understanding remains below that expected for their age.  Progress in science fluctuates. Progress is stronger when pupils study scientific topics which interest them.  Most pupils make good progress in their knowledge and understanding in English, particularly in their ability to complete extended pieces of writing. In this, pupils demonstrate increasing accuracy in their use of grammar and accurate spelling.  The longer that pupils are at the school, the more they grow in confidence, due to the effective support they receive. This enables them to engage more effectively in their learning and make better progress.  Pupils attain qualifications at an appropriate level in work-related subjects, including in

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

motor vehicle maintenance, which prepare them well for their next steps and for adulthood.  Pupils who left the school at the end of the last academic year attained appropriate qualifications in English and mathematics. These qualifications enabled almost all these pupils to move on successfully to places of further education or employment.

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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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School details

Website www.midlands-school-catch22.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 13–15 December 2016

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Information about this school

 Catch22 is an independent school located in Newark and in Nottingham.  The school’s proprietor is the chief executive of Catch22, a social business. The business owns a group of schools. The school’s leaders work closely with professionals from this group of schools. An executive principal, an executive vice-principal and two assistant principals have oversight of the leadership of these schools, as well as that of Catch22.  Since the previous inspection, the school has opened an additional site located at 7 Poplar Street, Fishergate, Nottingham NG1 1GP. Furthermore, the school has changed its registration status to teach pupils aged between 13 and 16.  Each site also has a provision for pupils who are aged 16 and over. This provision was not part of this inspection. Ofsted inspects this provision separately.  There are 18 pupils on roll. These include pupils with special educational needs and/or

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Information about this school

disabilities (SEND) and pupils who are in the care of the local authority. Almost all pupils have social, emotional and mental-health difficulties.  Pupils’ mobility is high. There is a high proportion of pupils who arrive at or leave the school during the academic year. Twelve of the pupils currently on the school roll, for example, have joined the school since January 2019.  Pupils are placed at the school either by local authorities or by Unity Learning Centre, which is an educational provision for pupils in key stage 4 who have been permanently excluded from mainstream schools or academies in Nottingham.  The school’s ethos is to ‘provide an environment which prepares pupils as confident, happy citizens’ who ‘flourish academically and prepare for their adult life’.  The school does not use the services of any alternative providers.  The school’s previous standard inspection took place on 13–15 December 2016, when the

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection took place with no notice. This was in line with the commission from the registration authority, the Department for Education.  Inspectors observed learning in six lessons across the two classes.  The lead inspector checked the facilities on both school sites against Part 5 of the independent school standards.  Inspectors looked at pupils’ books across a range of subjects.  Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, the executive vice-principal, the two centre managers, a representative of Unity Learning Centre and a selection of the teaching and support staff.  The inspector spoke by telephone with the proprietor and with a representative of the board of trustees of Catch22, who act as governors of the school.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour at breaktime and lunchtime, during which time they spoke with pupils. An inspector also met formally with a selection of pupils.

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Information about this inspection

 The lead inspector spoke by telephone with representatives from Catch22, including those responsible for safeguarding and for recruitment.  The lead inspector spoke with representatives of two local authorities that have placed pupils at the school.  There were no responses to the online parent and carer survey, Parent View, or to the free-text service for the inspector to consider.  Inspectors considered the two responses to the pupils’ survey and the nine responses to the staff survey.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documentation relating to the school’s provision, including self-evaluation and improvement planning, curriculum and lesson planning, behaviour and attendance, achievement, governance and safeguarding.  The lead inspector checked the school’s single central register and the school’s system for recruiting staff.

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Inspection team

Simon Hollingsworth, 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-

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Part 1. Quality of education provided

– 3(c) involves well planned lessons and effective teaching methods, activities and management of class time;

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Part 1. Quality of education provided

– 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.

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Part 3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils

 7 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that-

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Part 3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils

– 7(a) arrangements are made to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils at the school; and

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Part 3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils

– 7(b) such arrangements have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State.

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Part 3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils

 11 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that relevant health and safety laws are complied with by the drawing up and effective implementation of a written health and safety policy.

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Part 3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils

 12 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures compliance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005[12].

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Part 3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils

 14 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that pupils are properly supervised through the appropriate deployment of school staff.

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Part 3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils

 16 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that-

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Part 3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils

– 16(a) the welfare of pupils at the school is safeguarded and promoted by the drawing up and effective implementation of a written risk assessment policy; and

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Part 3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils

– 16(b) appropriate action is taken to reduce risks that are identified.

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Part 5. Premises of and accommodation at schools

 25 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that the school premises and the accommodation and facilities provided therein are maintained to a standard such that, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of pupils are ensured.

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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-

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

– 34(1)(a) demonstrate good skills and knowledge appropriate to their role so that the independent school standards are met consistently;

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

– 34(1)(b) fulfil their responsibilities effectively so that the independent school standards are met consistently; and

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

– 34(1)(c) actively promote the well-being of pupils. 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

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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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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