Kingsweston School

Inspection of Kingsweston School Napier Miles Road, Kingsweston, Bristol BS11 0UT

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Sixth-form provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 4–5 March 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils excel at this multi-site school. Pupils are happy and enjoy lessons and social times. Pupils benefit from curriculums precisely matched to their needs. Some have access to mainstream lessons and others to specialised learning environments. Across all sites, staff are skilled and caring. They make sure that pupils’ needs are met because they know pupils well. Pupils feel secure as a result. Pupils like the positive relationships they have with caring staff.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Some pupils arrive following disjointed experiences of education. Others have significant barriers to learning because of their needs. Staff establish pupils’ needs and interests quickly. Most have high expectations of what pupils can achieve. They make lessons interesting. Pupils are positive about their work and learning. However, leaders have rightly identified that more could be expected of pupils at the secondary autism spectrum condition (ASC) site.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well at social times and during lessons. Across all sites, behaviour is managed well. There are clear systems for promoting positive behaviour. Staff enhance this because they know pupils well and use this to motivate them. Individual behaviour plans are well considered. As a result, the school is a positive place to learn. Pupils’ behaviour improves significantly over time. Many go on to succeed in the next stage of their education, employment or training. However, leaders’ records of when there are physical interventions are not detailed enough. Consequently, leaders’ analysis of the use of interventions is not as strong as it could be.

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better?

Leaders have developed a well-considered curriculum. There are three distinct pathways that pupils can follow depending on their needs and aptitudes. In all three cases, the curriculums are clearly sequenced and well planned. Leaders and staff ensure that the intended curriculums give pupils a rich and broad experience. More recently, leaders have worked hard to establish a similar strength in subject progression as already exists in preparing pupils for adulthood. These developments have significantly strengthened the offer across most of the provision. Planning is increasingly helping pupils to develop their knowledge over time. However, leaders’ intent for the curriculum is not as well implemented for secondary ASC pupils.

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better?

Leaders have devised well-structured programmes to develop pupils’ reading and communication skills. These link well with the varying curriculum pathways that pupils follow. For example, pupils in Kingsweston education for exceptional pupils, known as the KEEP, have lots of opportunities to practise their phonics. Staff ensure that all pupils have time to sound out their letters. Many pupils learn to love reading because staff reignite pupils’ interest in learning and books. If any pupils fall behind, teachers give them extra help so that they can catch up. 4–5 March 2020

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Other pupils need a more personalised approach to help them with their reading. For these pupils, staff make very good use of assessment and resources, such as symbols, to help pupils become better readers and communicators. Staff know and understand pupils’ needs exceptionally well. They ensure that every opportunity to encourage communication and interaction is utilised. Teachers plan learning according to pupils’ needs, and this helps pupils to learn. Staff encourage pupils to have a go at every activity and correct pupils when they get things wrong. Lessons interest pupils and link to life beyond pupils’ immediate experiences.

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Most pupils achieve well across all three curriculum pathways. The broad curriculums prepare pupils well for adulthood. For instance, most subjects include a focus on the skills pupils need to become more independent. Staff help pupils to experience success and improve their confidence as learners. Many visitors come into school to help pupils better understand the wider world. For example, leaders have made useful links with local employers. These employers come and talk to pupils about what it is like to work for them. This broadens pupils’ understanding of the world of work in their locality. Pupils’ aspirations rise as a result.

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Pupils’ personal development is promoted very well. Staff ensure that opportunities to promote personal development are threaded into all aspects of school life. Leaders ensure that long-term outcomes are considered with parents, pupils and carers as early as possible. This supports the successful routes into appropriate post-16 provision for pupils.

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In the sixth form, students access similar bespoke, well-planned curriculums. Some learn at City of Bristol College; others continue within the provision for those with severe learning difficulties (SLD). In both settings, students develop high aspirations and achieve well. Through the close links with the local community, all go on to secure education, employment or training. Some successfully gain paid employment.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have established a strong culture of safeguarding. Leaders and staff respond to any safeguarding concerns in a timely manner. Leaders have established strong and well-understood systems to manage safeguarding across the sites of the school. Staff are well trained and receive regular safeguarding updates. Records are clear and precise. Chronologies for vulnerable pupils are thorough and link information from a range of staff well. Leaders work effectively with other agencies to support children and young people and their families.

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Safeguarding

Safer recruitment processes are robust. Leaders ensure that there are appropriate systems for checking the suitability of staff. These include appropriate checks for governors, volunteers and contractors. Records of who made these checks are all kept on a single central register. Leaders, including governors, check that the register is kept appropriately on a regular basis. 4–5 March 2020

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have built well on their well-designed curriculum. Subject-specific planning is increasingly contributing to better learning for pupils. However, the implementation of the changes to curriculum planning is more established for pupils with SLD, those in the KEEP and those within the ASC primary site. Leaders need to ensure that the ASC secondary curriculum is implemented with the same precision and ambition as the curriculums in all other parts of the school.  The use of physical interventions has risen since the development of the KEEP at the school. Leaders have established a culture where the use of interventions is a last resort and that every time they are used it is recorded. However, current records are not as detailed as they could be. For example, they do not record well enough who was present when a physical intervention was used. This contributes to a weakness in how leaders evaluate and analyse the use of physical

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

intervention. Consequently, follow-up to incidents is not as thorough as it should be. Leaders should improve how they keep records relating to physical interventions and improve how they analyse trends over time.

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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 are the school and you are 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. 4–5 March 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10088340 Type of school Special

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sixth form

Appropriate authority The governing body

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sixth form

Chair of governing body Philip Beveridge

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sixth form

Date of previous inspection 11 April 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since the last inspection, the headteacher has changed. The new headteacher was the deputy headteacher. A new deputy headteacher has been appointed.  The school caters for pupils with moderate or severe learning difficulties from across Bristol. The majority have a diagnosis of autism or similar communication and interaction need.  All pupils have an education, health and care plan.  There is an early years foundation stage which is shared with older pupils in Years 1 and 2. At the time of the inspection, there were fewer than five pupils in the early years and so this part of the provision has not been reported on. Pupils join the school at different times, not just in the early years foundation stage.  The school runs across four sites. SLD provision and the KEEP run from the Napier Miles site. Primary ASC provision is located at Shirehampton Primary School. The secondary ASC provision is found at Oasis Academy, Brightstowe.

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There is also a sixth-form class, known as Ashley Down, that runs within City of Bristol College.  Most pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is low. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is broadly in line with the national average. There are more boys than girls.  The proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for the pupil premium is above average.  The school is based on four different sites across Bristol. Three of the sites are hosted by a local school or college.  The school has a sixth form, with some students attending City of Bristol College to undertake work-related courses.  Use is made of two alternative provisions. One is Bristol Hospital Education Service and the other is Education 1 st .

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 We met with senior and middle leaders, including the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, three assistant headteachers and leaders of the sixth form and early years. We also met with four representatives of the governing body, including the chair. We spoke with a representative from the local authority and an external adviser who works with school leaders. We discussed leaders’ evaluations, priorities for improvement and the arrangements for safeguarding pupils.  We did deep dives into four subjects: English and early reading, science, personal, social and health education, and geography. We met with senior and subject leaders, teachers and pupils. We also visited lessons, scrutinised pupils’ work and talked to pupils. The lead inspector listened to some pupils read.  We also met with leaders to discuss the wider curriculum, how they manage behaviour, their records of bullying and behaviour incidents and use of alternative

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Information about this inspection

provision. We analysed the 13 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online parents’ survey.  We analysed school documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation, leaders’ plans for improvement and tracking information about pupils’ behaviour, attendance and exclusions. We also scrutinised policies and procedures relating to safeguarding, how leaders use their pupil premium funding and Year 7 catch-up funding. 4–5 March 2020

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Inspection team

Matthew Barnes, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Martin Greenwood Ofsted Inspector 4–5 March 2020

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