The Grange School

Inspection of The Grange School 2 Milner Way, Ossett, Wakefield, West Yorkshire WF5 9JE

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to the school every morning. They know that staff care for them and support them. Pupils say that the school is safe and they know who to tell if they have any worries.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the wide range of activities and trips. These help them to appreciate the community they live in and people around them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils learn well. They achieve in different subjects and in the things that interest them. Pupils know that their teachers have high expectations of them. They know that staff will support them if they struggle to understand. This helps pupils to develop positive attitudes to learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Classrooms are encouraging environments where pupils usually behave well. Staff manage pupils’ behaviour well when challenges arise. Leaders have clear procedures to address any bullying issues, should they arise.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Teachers help pupils to manage their feelings and to begin to understand others. Pupils are proud of their efforts. They like the new reward system. Staff are strong role models who reinforce how to treat each other well. Sometimes staff are over- supportive. This means that pupils have few opportunities to develop independence. This sometimes limits their preparation for their next stage of education.

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better?

Leaders and staff have a clear understanding of what pupils should learn. The plans for learning identify what pupils should learn and when. The plans focus on filling gaps in pupils’ learning, so that they can begin to build their knowledge over time. This ensures that pupils make effective progress towards fulfilling their education, health and care plans.

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better?

Leaders adapt the planning, so that learning interests pupils. Teachers bring topics to life with exciting activities, for example a ‘cave’ set up for an ‘archaeological dig’ in the garden. This helps pupils to remember what teachers want them to learn. The curriculum follows a primary model and, for the few key stage 3 pupils, is not as well developed. Personal, social and health education includes topics relevant to pupils. These include dealing with anxiety and stress.

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better?

Pupils enjoy their learning. Teachers find out what grabs pupils’ attention and then use this to hook pupils into learning. For example, teachers use football events to illustrate a timeline and calculate time spans. Over time, pupils gain confidence and show willingness to extend their learning and try harder things. This is supported by strong, positive relationships between staff and pupils.

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better?

The number of incidents and physical interventions at the school have significantly 26–28 November 2019

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reduced over the last two years. This is due to the engaging curriculum and positive interaction from all staff. Pupils attend extremely well. Staff build pupils’ self- confidence and show them that they can achieve.

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Teachers use assessment to find out what pupils already know and can do. They encourage pupils to try new tasks, while trying to keep anxiety levels low. Through building relationships, staff find ways to build pupils’ resilience and self-esteem. This, combined with effective teaching, enables pupils to achieve well. Staff are highly supportive. Sometimes this means that pupils do not develop independence well enough. Some pupils are not as prepared for the next stage of education as they might be.

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Teachers place importance on developing pupils’ interest in reading for pleasure. Pupils are enthusiastic about stories and reading. They like to read their books to staff. Teachers use appropriate strategies to help pupils who are learning to read and need to practise phonics.

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Leaders make sure that there is a good range of resources to help pupils learn. Staff generally have good subject knowledge. Leaders have put in place training for those staff whose subject knowledge is less strong.

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Staff say leaders support them very well. Leaders check on staff’s well-being. They meet with staff to discuss pupils’ learning and welfare. Staff are very positive and passionate about their work. Parents and carers are generally very supportive of the staff’s work. They recognise that staff ‘never give up’.

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The proprietor ensures that the school meets all the independent school standards. The proprietor has a clear oversight of the school’s work and a commitment to providing leaders with the resources to offer a good-quality education. The proprietor contributes well to the school’s strategic direction. All the required policies are in place and available to parents upon request. The proprietor has started to invest in the premises. For example, there is a new playground area, which pupils enjoy at breaktimes. This promotes pupils’ health and social skills.

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The school complies with schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010. It has a suitable accessibility plan. The school has a suitable safeguarding policy that takes account of the Department for Education’s latest guidance.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Pupils’ safety and well-being are central to all leaders’ decisions and actions. Staff are vigilant about pupils’ welfare. They identify pupils who may be at risk and are quick to act in response.

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Safeguarding

Leaders work with determination with a range of agencies and organisations. This ensures that families get the help they need. Parents are very positive about this 26–28 November 2019

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All staff receive regular training to keep up to date about their safeguarding responsibilities. Staff make sure that they teach pupils to keep themselves safe. This includes when pupils use the internet.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 Most pupils study a personalised curriculum which is based on the primary curriculum. Leaders have designed this learning so that it builds on what pupils already know and aims to fill in gaps in learning. Leaders have not yet ensured that the small number of pupils in key stage 3 are experiencing all subjects in an age-appropriate context to prepare them for their next stage of education. Leaders should ensure that key stage 3 pupils have more access to activities specific to their age. This will help pupils to be better prepared to move on to their next school.  Pupils are highly supervised at all times of the school day, and therefore there are limited opportunities for pupils to become more independent learners or communicators. This means that not all pupils are as fully prepared as they could be for life after school. Leaders need to ensure that pupils are given opportunities to try challenging tasks without constant support.

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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 . 26–28 November 2019

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School details

Unique reference number 136040 DfE registration number 384/6126

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School details

Inspection number 10110721 Type of school Other Independent Special School

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) £35,100 - £66,300

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School details

Email address jennieallport@keyschildcare.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 29–31 March 2017 26–28 November 2019

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Information about this school

 The Grange School is a small independent special day school which opened in 2009. It is managed by The Keys Group.  The Keys Group owns several other children’s homes and schools throughout the United Kingdom.  The Grange School has close links with Denby Grange School and Park House, including a joint headteacher.  The school is registered to admit up to 16 boys and girls aged between seven and 14 years who are identified as having social, emotional and mental health needs.  Pupils are placed at the school by a number of local authorities. Most pupils have been excluded from previous schools or have experienced significant disruption in their previous education. Currently there are 12 pupils on roll.  All pupils have an education, health and care plan.  The school aims to ‘re-engage pupils in learning and provide a quality education for even the most challenging pupils’.  The school does not make use of any alternative education provision.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008. The purpose of the inspection 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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Information about this inspection

The school meets the independent school standards. These are the requirements set out in the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.

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Information about this inspection

 We held meetings with the headteacher and senior leaders, middle leaders and other staff. An inspector met with members of the governing body and spoke with a representative from the local authority. Discussions explored a wide range of aspects of the school, including safeguarding arrangements.  In considering the quality of education, we looked in detail at four subjects. These were English, mathematics, personal, social and health education, and history. We visited lessons across the school. We also met with teachers, curriculum leaders and pupils, and looked at a sample of pupils’ work in these subjects.  We conducted a tour of the premises and checked relevant documents for compliance with the independent school standards.  When considering safeguarding arrangement, we checked a wide range of documents, including the single central record and safer recruitment processes. We also spoke with pupils and parents about feeling safe at the school. An

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Information about this inspection

inspector met with the designated safeguarding lead and scrutinised a range of 26–28 November 2019

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records.  We scrutinised a range of additional documents and records. These included those related to behaviour, attendance, the school curriculum and the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. An inspector looked at plans for improvement, together with leaders’ evaluation of the school’s performance.  We spoke with parents at the start of the day and on the telephone. We took account of the six responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire Parent View, emails from parents and the responses to the staff survey. There were no responses to the pupil questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Pauline Rowland, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Lenford White Ofsted Inspector 26–28 November 2019

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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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