Broadmeadow Special School

Inspection of Broadmeadow Special School Lansdowne Road, Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV1 4AL

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected 8–9 October 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

All pupils, including those in the early years, are happy, safe and well looked after at Broadmeadow. Staff know the pupils really well. Staff think carefully about how to plan activities that will interest the pupils and help them to learn.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff help pupils learn how to behave well. Some pupils might need a bit of extra support with this. Staff give this help in a calm way. Throughout the day, staff keep a close eye on children to make sure that there is no bullying.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils get a lot of help to improve their language and communication. Staff are skilled at helping pupils to get better at explaining how they are feeling. Pupils learn to do this by using objects, pictures or sign language. This helps pupils let staff know what they like and want to do. It also means that staff can help pupils understand daily routines, like ‘now’ and ‘next’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers are really pleased with the school. Their children are happy and are getting on well. During the inspection, one parent echoed the feelings of others, saying, ‘I just can’t thank them enough for the work they’ve put into my child.’

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better?

When pupils join the school, staff work hard to help them settle. Staff quickly build good relationships and help pupils understand how to follow routines. They help pupils to learn in different ways through activities such as rebound and play therapy. Staff help pupils to become more independent.

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better?

Pupils have plenty of opportunities to keep active. They enjoy riding bikes and playing in the forest school area. Pupils learn skills like how to dress or brush their teeth. Sometimes, staff are too quick to help pupils rather than letting them have a go. Lunchtimes are calm. The extra ‘fun with food’ activities help pupils try new foods. Some parents told us that their children are now trying new foods at home. In the playground, there is a variety of equipment for pupils to enjoy. However, a few pupils do not get involved in activities.

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better?

Currently, teachers make their own decisions about what they teach, and when. This includes which topics they teach. Often, this works well because teachers are skilled at matching topics to pupils’ interests. However, leaders have not made sure that pupils do not repeat topics. Staff have been working together to improve the checks they make on pupils’ learning in all subjects. Staff now intend to develop schemes of work and make sure that activities are sequenced.

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better?

Leaders know that developing pupils’ love of books is important. Pupils have the chance to take part in sensory stories to develop their interest and attention. Inspectors saw pupils enjoying the story of the ‘Three Little Pigs’, exploring the textures of straw and sticks. Pupils can choose to sit quietly at lunchtime and look at picture books. The small number of pupils who can read do so with confidence. 8–9 October 2019

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They use their phonics skills to decode unfamiliar words. But they do not get the chance to read often enough. Their reading skills therefore do not develop as quickly as they might.

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Staff help pupils to manage their behaviour well and identify any extra help pupils need. This helps to ensure that behaviour is usually quite calm. Physical interventions are rarely used. Leaders do not use exclusions as a strategy for managing behaviour. They know that pupils are better off in school, being supported.

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Leaders know that good attendance is important for pupils. They work hard to make sure that pupils come to school regularly. Attendance is high.

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Leaders have made sure that pupils learn about British values in a meaningful way. Staff enrich pupils’ spiritual and cultural development through visits and celebrations of other faiths.

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Leaders make sure that families are well supported because staff get to know them well. Parents value the additional workshops that the school provides.

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Both the chief executive officer (CEO) of the trust and the governors have good oversight of the school. They are proud of the difference the school is making for its pupils. They keep a close check on leaders’ work.

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The school is well led. Leaders are sensitive to the pressures working in a small school can bring. They have reduced staff’s workload and look after their well-being. Staff value this. They also appreciate the training they receive.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

All staff and governors understand and carry out their safeguarding responsibilities. They understand the additional risks that pupils and their families may face. All staff have completed safeguarding training. Staff know how to report any concerns they have about pupils’ welfare. They follow up pupils’ absence swiftly to make sure that they are safe.

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Safeguarding

Leaders make sure that risk assessments are reviewed regularly. Staff take care to keep pupils safe when going on school visits. Pupils who need extra help to learn to keep safe are supported through individual plans or social stories.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Currently, the school’s curriculum is not supported by schemes of work. Because of this, pupils’ learning is not mapped out over time. Leaders have now finished 8–9 October 2019

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developing their new assessment system and have identified this as the next step they will take. It is clear from the actions that leaders have already taken to develop the curriculum that they are in the process of bringing this about.  Leaders have not given sufficient oversight to how topics are planned and taught in the school. As a result, some pupils are repeating topics. Leaders need to ensure that topics are planned sequentially.  Pupils’ lunchtimes are quite long, and some pupils are less well engaged in activities. Leaders should make sure that pupils can access a wider range of activities that interest them during the lunchtime period.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you're not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

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. 8–9 October 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10111725 Type of school Special

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School details

School category Academy special converter

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School details

Headteachers Karen Warrington and Lisa Walker

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 While the school is registered to admit pupils aged two to seven years, the school does not have any two- and three-year-old children.  The school caters for pupils with special educational needs, specifically severe learning difficulties and autism spectrum disorder.  Broadmeadow Special School converted to become an academy school on 1 December 2016. When its predecessor school, Broadmeadow Special School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be outstanding overall.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors met with the headteachers, assistant headteacher and subject leaders during the inspection.  The lead inspector met with the CEO of the Central Learning Partnership Trust and four members of the local governing board, including the chair and vice-chair. Minutes of governor meetings were scrutinised.  The lead inspector met with the designated safeguarding lead and a deputy designated safeguarding lead to discuss safeguarding arrangements. A range of documentation was scrutinised, including the pre-recruitment checks that leaders 8–9 October 2019

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make on staff.  Inspectors looked at a range of documentation related to the school’s work, as well as pupils’ files. They looked at the school’s website.  The lead inspector met with a small number of parents to gather their views. Inspectors considered the 12 responses to Ofsted’s Parent View survey, seven free-text responses and the 36 responses to the staff survey.  Inspectors talked to staff both formally and informally during the inspection.  Reading, language and communication, personal, social and emotional development, and physical education were focused on in depth.

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Inspection team

Deb Jenkins, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Amanda Clugston Ofsted Inspector 8–9 October 2019

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regulates and inspects to 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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