The Eaglewood School

The Eaglewood School Culver Road, New Milton, Hampshire BH25 6SY

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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

 School leaders have quickly and effectively addressed the weaknesses that previously existed in the school. Together, they are creating a school that improves pupils’ lives.  The welfare and personal development of pupils is, rightly, the focus of the school. The strong curriculum for this aspect of pupils’ development ensures that many are able to return to mainstream schools.  Teaching is good because staff enable pupils to make strong progress in their social and emotional development, which supports swift reintegration into mainstream for many.  Each pupil has a history of poor attendance and many were at risk of permanent exclusion in their previous schools. Almost all pupils significantly improve their attendance while placed at Eaglewood.  The newly formed governing body has a clear understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Governors have clearly defined roles that enable them, as a group, to have

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

effective oversight of the school’s work.  The support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) ensures effective identification of their needs and the use of successful interventions.  The teaching of basic skills, particularly reading, is not yet ensuring that all pupils swiftly develop the skills they need for long- term success.  Although the multi-academy trust (MAT) has supported the school, trustees do not have sufficient oversight of its performance.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further improve outcomes for pupils by: – strengthening the assessment and teaching of reading – ensuring that staff have the expertise they need to enable pupils to make strong progress in reading – making sure that the curriculum for reading, writing and mathematics is closely matched to pupils’ needs, and enables teachers to quickly identify and address gaps in pupils’ knowledge.  Improve the multi-academy trust’s (MAT) oversight of the school’s work, so that senior leaders in the MAT ensure that pupils make good progress and are well looked after.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 The headteacher and deputy headteacher know the school well and have a good understanding of the needs of pupils. Together, they have addressed the weaknesses in the school’s provision that they identified when they arrived. Leaders share a passion for placing pupils’ needs at the centre of all that happens in school.  The school has created a curriculum that matches the needs of the pupils who attend. As most pupils are with the school for a very short period of time, the number of subjects taught has been reduced. This allows space for a bespoke social and emotional curriculum, focused on teaching the skills that pupils need. The introduction of this curriculum, alongside the school’s nurturing culture, is leading to a significant number of pupils making the progress necessary for a swift return to their mainstream schools. One parent, when describing the positive impact of the school’s work on their

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

child and family, said, ‘They have changed all our lives.’  Leaders and staff effectively identify and address many of the barriers that pupils face. Additional funding, including the pupil premium, is well used. As a result, disadvantaged pupils make the same good progress as other pupils with similar starting points. In addition, leaders are determined that pupils who are looked after by the local authority achieve the best possible outcomes. Leaders and staff work hard to ensure that all disadvantaged pupils receive the high-quality support they need.  Teachers and teaching assistants say that the school is well led. Staff value the curriculum and the family atmosphere within the school. They are confident that it is successfully supporting pupils’ social and emotional development. Teachers feel well supported by the ongoing training they receive. They can explain the impact that the training has on their practice and, in turn, how it improves pupils’ learning. Teaching

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

assistants value the training they receive. They have regular updates and opportunities to develop their skills and particular specialisms.  Pupils with SEND are very well supported. The highly effective identification, assessment and support for these pupils ensure that they get the help they need. Pupils who are not identified as pupils with SEND do not benefit from the same level of tailored support for their learning. Consequently, they do not make the same strong progress in reading, writing and mathematics as they do in other areas of the curriculum.

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Governance of the school

 Leaders in the MAT have a limited understanding of the performance of the school. They have been reliant on the regular reports from the Department for Education (DfE) and have acted when necessary. For example, as a result of a DfE report, they suspended the previous governing body and established new governance. This lack of oversight means that the MAT does not know how the school fulfils its statutory duties.  The leadership of the local governing body is strong. Although they have only been in place for a short time, they have a good understanding of the performance of the school and monitor it effectively. Governors understand the school’s strengths and recognise the areas that need to improve further.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Leaders have created a culture that prioritises pupils’ well-being. Safeguarding policies and procedures are robust. Consequently, staff are alert to the signs that a pupil may need help and protection. Leaders act quickly when they have concerns. Senior leaders and staff ‘go the extra mile’ to make sure that the most vulnerable pupils and their families get the essential help and support they need.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Teachers have high expectations and lessons are well matched to the needs of most pupils. Regular assessments of pupils’ social and emotional needs are well used to inform the curriculum. Individual learning plans are in place, personalising the learning for every pupil. These collate the information about a pupil from other plans, such as education, health and care plans, to ensure that all staff are aware of each pupil’s learning needs and longer-term targets.  Pupils with high levels of anxiety receive very effective support. Staff are experts in ensuring that pupils have the right amount of challenge to keep them on task. Parents and carers highly value this support for their children. For example, one parent described how their child had become more tolerant of others as a result of the teaching he had received at school.  Teachers have secure subject knowledge, enabling them to explain ideas well and

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

identify potential misconceptions. Staff are keen to ensure that pupils understand new subject-specific vocabulary. They use questioning effectively, particularly to probe the thinking of the most able pupils to ensure that they develop their ideas further and deepen their understanding.  Pupils understand and appreciate that their behaviour and attitudes have improved since they started at the school. Many spoken to during the inspection were able to explain which specific aspects of their behaviour need to improve so that they can return to their mainstream schools. Capturing the impact of the school, one pupil said: ‘The school meets my needs. In other schools I had special needs.’  Reading, writing and mathematics are taught well. However, pupils who have gaps in their understanding do not always get the targeted support they need to improve. Consequently, they do not make the same strong progress in these areas as they do in

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

other areas of learning. Pupils, including the most able, read with increasing accuracy and fluency. However, they do not always have the skills they need to decode unknown words. The most able readers are not always given the support they need to tackle more challenging texts.  A small number of pupils stay in the school to take their GCSEs, rather than returning to their mainstream schools. While these pupils do well in the targeted curriculum, plans are rightly in place to ensure that pupils in Years 10 and 11 have a curriculum that enables them to do well in their exams and supports their functional skills, while providing access to further options in other local settings.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils enjoy school. They feel safe and value the support they receive from staff. They talk openly about the issues they face and recognise how the school is helping them to overcome some of these. Describing the support he receives from the school, one pupil said, ‘The school can change you as a person, open you up in a good way.’  Pupils value the school and say that it is helping them, particularly those who want to return to mainstream. Pupils enjoy the respect that exists between adults and pupils, and feel safe at school. They know who to talk to if they feel unsafe, unhappy or upset.  Pupils are knowledgeable about how to keep themselves safe and healthy. This is the result of the well-thought-through personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) programme. Pupils have regular opportunities to reflect on a range of topics,

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Personal development and welfare

many of which are linked to current affairs. These provide powerful opportunities for pupils to consider spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues. Recently, pupils considered Donald Trump’s visit to the United Kingdom and explored equality in football, in the context of the Women’s World Cup.  The school’s culture is one of tolerance and respect, in which pupils are encouraged to be thoughtful and considerate. This helps them to be well prepared for the next stage of their education and for their lives as citizens in modern Britain. Pupils are able to reflect on their previous behaviour and recognise how they have improved.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Staff are proud of the pupils. All agree that pupils behave well and make good progress.  There are clear policies and procedures in place to prevent and address bullying. Pupils told inspectors that when bullying does occur, it is dealt with quickly. Parents say they are kept well informed by the school. The parents spoken to during the inspection said that the communication between home and school is excellent.  Incidents of poor behaviour, including racist incidents, are carefully recorded and closely tracked. This information is used to identify trends in the school’s overall behaviour and to monitor the behaviour of individual pupils. Parents are kept well informed about their children’s behaviour. There are clear criteria in place for the use of exclusion and each exclusion is carefully considered. Exclusions are relatively rare.  Staff manage behaviour well. Pupils wanting to opt out of lessons receive calm, positive

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Behaviour

support that enables them to successfully re-engage with the learning activity.  The majority of pupils had very low attendance before arriving in the school. The attendance of almost all pupils significantly improves after starting at Eaglewood. Leaders have good oversight of pupils’ individual attendance and act quickly if they have any concerns.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Pupils make strong progress during their time at the school and most are able to successfully return to mainstream schools. Many pupils achieve significant improvements in a relatively short period. The carefully crafted culture of the school and its curriculum enable many pupils to make strong progress in their social and emotional development. This is because regular assessments are used effectively to monitor and track pupils’ progress. Gaps in their skills and knowledge are quickly identified and effective action is taken to address these.  Some pupils are able to move on to specialist provision as a result of the very effective assessments of their specific special educational needs. Parents are clear that their children do well because of the work of the school. Parents said that the care and respect their children receive make the most significant contributions to their children’s development.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Disadvantaged pupils achieve equally well as other pupils. Pupils with SEND also make strong progress because their needs are identified quickly and accurately, during their first few weeks at the school. These pupils then have access to high-quality support.  During their time in the school, pupils make progress from their different starting points in English, mathematics and a range of other academic subjects. Their progress in mathematics is strongest. Although pupils develop secure knowledge and understanding in English, progress in reading and writing is not as strong as that seen in other areas. Assessments in English do not always include an evaluation of pupils’ phonics knowledge and skills. While other aspects of reading, such as vocabulary and comprehension skills, are assessed, pupils’ knowledge and skills in phonics are not. This means that teachers do not have a clear enough understanding of the barriers

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Outcomes for pupils Good

some pupils experience in decoding unknown or unfamiliar words.

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Chair of Local Governing Body David Richards

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School details

Email address admin@eaglewoodschool.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Eaglewood opened in September 2016. It is an alternative provision free school for pupils who have a history of poor or irregular attendance.  The school is a member of The Gryphon Trust, a multi-academy trust (MAT) which includes one other school. The chair of the local governing body is a trust board member and represents the school in the MAT.  The MAT has provided a range of support to the school, including the support of an independent school improvement adviser.  Pupils join the school throughout the academic year, usually following a period of significant disruption to their education as a result of non-attendance or exclusion. While at the school, pupils remain on the rolls of their previous mainstream schools. Eaglewood does not have any pupils placed with alternative providers.  There is no data for the outcomes achieved by Year 11 pupils at Eaglewood in the Department for Education’s performance tables.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning on both days of the inspection. They also spoke to pupils, listened to them read and examined work in their books and folders. Several lessons were visited jointly with senior leaders.  Meetings were held with pupils, parents, senior and middle leaders, five members of the local governing body and the chief executive officer of the MAT.  Inspectors examined the school’s documentation relating to: governance; self- evaluation; school improvement planning; pupils’ progress; attendance; behaviour; the curriculum; and safeguarding.  Three responses were recorded on Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire. Inspectors considered the 12 responses to the staff online questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Phil Minns, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Janis Rogers Ofsted 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

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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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