Tor View School

Tor View School Kilworthy House, Kilworthy, Tavistock, Devon PL19 0JN

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders have ensured that the independent school standards are met in full.  Safeguarding is effective. The culture of safeguarding is strong. Staff are vigilant in recognising concerns about pupils’ welfare. The school premises are safe and well maintained.  Relationships between staff and pupils are supportive and built on mutual respect. Staff provide a nurturing environment for pupils to thrive.  The teaching of mathematics is effective. Pupils have opportunities to develop their knowledge. They build up to applying this knowledge in real-life scenarios.  Senior teachers have the highest expectations for all staff and pupils. They lead a highly effective team of staff who feel valued and invested in. However, some staff have gaps in their subject knowledge.  On occasion, staff do not ensure that expectations they have set pupils are followed through. Adults intervene too early to help some pupils or lower their initial expectations.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Pupils make strong progress from their starting points. Staff invest time to ensure that pupils’ first weeks at the school are effective and serve as a strong foundation for future progress.  Staff are positive about the school. They state there is a strong culture of accountability and improvement. All staff strive to provide pupils with high-quality opportunities, both pastoral and academic.  The proprietors have a good understanding of the school’s performance. They use this to effectively hold leaders to account and challenge underperformance.  Leaders effectively monitor the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. They acknowledge that this, and further training, will be vital to ensure that pupils’ progress remains strong, particularly if the school’s pupil population increases.  Teachers do not closely consider pupils’ starting points when teaching writing. Pupils have opportunities to write across a range of genres,

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

but they do not develop their knowledge and understanding well enough across a sequence of learning.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

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

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of leadership and management to ensure that: – staff continue to have access to high-quality training and professional development to help them fulfil their roles, particularly with supporting pupils’ academic progress – they continue to closely monitor the quality of teaching, learning and assessment across the school, particularly if, as expected, the number of pupils they provide education for increases.  Further improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that: – when teaching writing, staff closely consider pupils’ starting points and provide them with opportunities to develop their knowledge well across a sequence of lessons – all staff set consistently high expectations for pupils and provide high-quality opportunities for them to meet these.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 Leaders have robust checks in place to ensure that the school meets the independent school standards in full. Leaders use their understanding of the standards and carry out focused monitoring to evaluate how well the school meets these minimum expectations.  Despite the school only recently opening, leaders have ensured that pupils receive a good quality of education. Parents and professionals are positive about the impact the school is already having on pupils’ progress.  Leaders invest well in staff training and professional development. Staff speak positively about the high-quality training in the school, that is helping them to fulfil their roles and responsibilities. Staff feel that leaders value them and invest in their development. As a result, staff are committed to the school and ‘go the extra mile’ to ensure that pupils receive a high standard of education.  Staff effectively adapt the school’s curriculum to meet the needs of individual pupils.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

Leaders’ vision of developing pupils’ independence through the ethos of ‘safety, life and growth’ form the scaffold of each pupil’s curriculum. Leaders ensure that staff closely consider pupils’ needs when they begin their education at Tor View School.  Staff feel valued. All staff who completed the staff questionnaire were positive about the school and the impact it has on the pupils it serves. Staff state they are willing to challenge one another if they feel it will improve the quality of their work. They feel that leaders enable all staff to take risks in a safe, secure environment.  Senior teachers have played a vital role in ensuring that the quality of provision across the school is good. They set high expectations for pupils and provide support and guidance for staff to help achieve these. Senior teachers lead regular high-quality meetings with staff to discuss their practice and how best to refine their future work. Consequently, staff

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

feel supported and leaders encourage staff to reflect on the effectiveness of their work.  Leaders’ assessment system is precise and relevant for the pupils. Staff complete assessments to accurately capture pupils’ achievements on a lesson-by-lesson basis. Senior teachers and staff regularly reflect on and discuss pupils’ progress, when considering how best to facilitate future learning.  The school currently has a small number of pupils on roll. Leaders are effective when evaluating the quality of the school’s work. There is an acknowledgement that pupil numbers will increase over time. Leaders are aware that monitoring will be pivotal if they are to maintain the strong start they have made as a school. To prepare for such growth, leaders have made further staffing appointments and they have in-depth training in place to enable staff to fulfil their roles and responsibilities.  Staff training is high quality and supports them to fulfil their roles and responsibilities.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

However, some staff have gaps in their knowledge, particularly in their work with supporting pupils’ academic progress. Leaders acknowledge this is an aspect of training which requires attention and plans are in place to address this.

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Governance

 The proprietors accurately evaluate the school. They ask leaders for key information to ascertain how well the school is performing. This enables them to provide additional support or challenge as necessary.  The proprietors effectively challenge underperformance, should it occur. Leaders are well placed to ensure that the school is effective in providing education for pupils and keeping pupils safe. Recently, the proprietors have restructured their team. As a result, an operations manager and operations director are on hand to provide support for leaders and staff.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders’ processes for recruiting staff are rigorous. Leaders make sure that all the necessary checks are in place before they make an appointment and record these on the school’s single central record. Records show that leaders have completed additional checks to those required by guidance.  The site is well maintained. Staff make routine checks to ensure that they do not compromise pupils’ safety during the school day. The school premises are of a high quality, reflecting the vast investment made by the proprietor to provide pupils with a rich and nurturing learning environment.  Leaders put a high priority on safeguarding. In staff meetings and in reporting to proprietors and leaders, safeguarding takes precedence above all else. As a result, staff are vigilant when identifying concerns and are clear about how this information should be reported.

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Safeguarding

 Risk assessments are effective in maintaining pupils’ safety across a range of activities, both on- and off-site. Risk assessments are suitably detailed and unique to each event and pupil. Adults are vigilant when identifying risks and put in place appropriate steps to minimise them.  Staff are well placed to maintain pupils’ safety. An appropriate number of staff are trained to administer first aid and most staff are fire-marshal trained. In addition, staff ensure that pupils are well supervised throughout the school day. Pupils feel safe and are safe.  The culture of safeguarding is strong. However, staff are not consistently aware of advice provided by the local authority. This includes information to help them decide the best action to take should concerns about pupils’ welfare arise and when they should escalate concerns to external agencies.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Staff ensure that pupils complete a thorough induction when joining the school. Staff use this opportunity to get to know pupils and assess their current understanding. They also make sure pupils feel safe and ready to learn. Consequently, pupils settle well at school and access activities that closely match their capabilities.  Staff skilfully adapt the curriculum to meet the emerging needs of pupils. On occasion, staff recognise when proposed activities are not relevant and swiftly make appropriate changes. As a result, staff ensure that pupils access schemes of work that are relevant to them.  Staff provide parents and carers with regular updates about their children’s progress. This helps parents as it informs them of what has gone well and what could be improved. Parents value this information and the efforts that staff make to communicate this.  Staff, at all levels, have contributed towards creating a nurturing learning environment.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

Lessons are focused and supportive and pupils are clear what is expected of them. Staff provide pupils with clear, precise instructions and ensure that they access the resources that will help them succeed. Staff utilise the good relationships they have with pupils to tap into their interests. Consequently, staff are effective in engaging pupils in their learning.  The teaching of mathematics is effective. Staff carefully consider what pupils already know and provide activities that build on this existing knowledge. Pupils have high-quality opportunities to develop their understanding before applying this in a meaningful, contextual way, for example working out how to add and subtract money before applying this knowledge when working out how to budget for an event.  Staff regularly use targets within pupils’ education, health and care plans to inform activities. Across all subjects, staff provide pupils with opportunities to make progress

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

against these specific targets. Staff record the progress that pupils make to inform future learning and ensure that pupils regularly revisit work.  The approach to the teaching of writing is not wholly developed. Staff provide pupils with regular opportunities to write across a range of genres, often in context. However, the sequence of lessons does not account for what pupils already know and then meet pupils’ emerging needs well enough. As a result, pupils practise writing in a range of contexts, but they have reduced opportunities to improve their effectiveness in each area.  Staff set high expectations for pupils and most of the time they ensure that pupils meet these expectations. However, on occasions, staff interject too soon to help pupils or overlook when pupils are not working at their best. Consequently, pupils’ rates of progress reduce.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Staff encourage pupils to work closely with the local community. Pupils have benefited from participating in local events such as the Tavistock flower market, where the pupils produced a garden while welcoming visitors from the Tavistock Sensory Garden. Pupils also participate in fundraising for local charities, such as the Tavistock Area Support Services. Pupils raised money by taking part in a ‘Two Tors’ challenge on Dartmoor. Links between the school and the local community are strong.  The school’s curriculum provides opportunities for pupils to learn about different beliefs, cultures and faiths. Pupils also access awareness events such as ‘Pride’ month, cultural diversity day, armed-forces day and Mandela day. These wide-ranging experiences provide pupils with a rich appreciation of equality and the impact of key people and

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Personal development and welfare

organisations.  The school’s curriculum provides pupils with rich and relevant opportunities to prepare them for adulthood. Pupils have regular high-quality opportunities to develop functional skills such as paying for items, using images and symbols to aid them when making choices in everyday life, and interacting with members of the public. Staff prepare pupils well for these activities.  Pupils have regular opportunities to consider jobs and careers. They demonstrate an increasing understanding of public institutions such as the police. Staff facilitate opportunities for pupils to discuss their future aspirations and, through careers advice, help pupils to realise what they need to fulfil these roles.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils enjoy being in school and make strong progress. Pupils have good relationships with the staff that support them, which are deeply rooted in mutual respect. Pupils behave well in school and follow staff instructions well.  Pupils demonstrate courtesy towards adults. They show this in a range of ways, from saying ‘thank you’, to a handshake. Pupils leave adults with no doubt they are grateful for the support they provide.  Pupils attend well and are rarely absent. Attendance across the school is above national averages.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Pupils make strong progress in school. When pupils first join the school, they engage in a twelve-week induction, which helps staff to determine their starting points and ensure that they feel safe and ready to learn. Over the course of these initial weeks in school, pupils demonstrate an increased engagement with their learning. Staff share and celebrate these achievements with parents and external professionals who also support pupils in school.  After each session, staff work with pupils to determine how well they have engaged in the activity. Over time, pupils’ engagement has increased, and staff adapt pupils’ targets to best meet their emerging needs. Staff include pupils when evaluating their performance. This promotes ownership of the assessment procedures, while also developing pupils’ capabilities to accurately assess their own performance. It also helps them to identify their own next steps.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Pupils make strong progress in mathematics. Pupils’ knowledge develops well over a sequence of lessons, which gets progressively more difficult. Pupils apply all they have learned in a rich, purposeful way, such as budgeting for an event and working out the correct amount of food needed to cater for invited guests. These activities provide meaning for what they have learned.  Pupils make strong progress towards their education, health and care plan targets across a range of curriculum subjects. As a result, their academic progress and pastoral progress have benefited.  Pupils have regular opportunities to practise writing across a range of genres, often purposefully and in context. However, over a sequence of lessons, pupils are not making progress in writing from their starting points that is as strong as it is in other subjects.

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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

Proprietor Priory Education Services Ltd

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School details

Email address educationenquiries@priorygroup.com

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Tor View School is part of Priory Education Services. Since the school’s pre-registration inspection in September 2018, leaders have opted to change its status with the Department for Education (DfE). The school no longer provides residential care for pupils.  The school officially opened in January 2019. The school currently has two pupils on roll but has spaces for up to 30 pupils. Both pupils have an education, health and care plan.  Day to day, the leadership team consists of the headteacher and several senior teachers. An operations manager oversees the work of the headteacher, and the operations director supports her.

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Information about this inspection

 The lead inspector considered two responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. He also considered 17 responses to the staff survey.  The lead inspector considered evidence of pupils’ progress. This included evidence in pupils’ workbooks and the school’s assessment information. The lead inspector also considered how well pupils were achieving against the targets in their education, health and care plans.  The lead inspector observed several sessions over the course of the inspection, including an off-site visit. A member of staff accompanied the lead inspector on all these occasions.  The lead inspector met several representatives from the proprietor group, Priory Education Group. He also met with senior teachers from the school to share progress about pupils and the leadership team. In addition, the lead inspector made phone calls to gather evidence from parents and professionals who support pupils in the school.

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Information about this inspection

 Throughout the inspection, the lead inspector evaluated how well the school meets the independent school standards.

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Inspection team

Nathan Kemp, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

Parent View You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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Inspection team

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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

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Inspection team

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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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