Cambian Bletchley Park School

School progress monitoring inspection report

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Cambian Bletchley Park School Whaddon Way, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire MK3 7EB

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Main inspection findings

Part 3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils Paragraph 7, 7(a), 7(b)  Safeguarding was found to be ineffective at the school’s last standard inspection in December 2018. At the progress monitoring inspection in July 2019, significant weaknesses remained. The safeguarding policy did not specify how to make referrals to the relevant local authority. Despite extensive safeguarding training, some staff did not understand some topics well enough. Leaders did not check safeguarding arrangements rigorously enough.  Leaders’ work to further strengthen safeguarding arrangements is determined and persistent. They have reflected on lessons learned from weaknesses identified in the past. Emerging improvements seen at the last progress monitoring inspection are now embedded into the school’s work.  The school’s written safeguarding and child protection policy is fit for purpose. It is published on the school’s website and reflects relevant and up-to-date legislation and

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Main inspection findings

guidance. It provides a detailed reference point for all those involved in the school’s safeguarding work.  All staff receive ongoing and relevant safeguarding training which is refreshed regularly. Leaders’ detailed records show staff to be up to date with required training. Leaders check training records routinely, chasing up any gaps in a timely way. Proprietor body representatives check staff training records as part of their routine monitoring work.  Leaders have developed ways of checking that staff understand their safeguarding training. Formal and informal checks enable leaders to identify additional training needs. During this inspection, staff talked confidently about recent learning about child criminal exploitation and female genital mutilation.  Leaders keep safeguarding arrangements under review. Processes and procedures have been adapted in response to the changing arrangements for school opening during the

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Main inspection findings

COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. These actions have enabled staff to keep in useful contact with families where pupils have been learning remotely from home. These actions have also provided extra help and reassurance to families of pupils who have been coming into school each day during the most recent national lockdown.  Since the last progress monitoring inspection, leaders have tightened procedures for monitoring the administration of medicines. Additional checks now help ensure that the school’s policy is followed consistently well, with appropriate records kept.  These independent standards are now met. Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools Paragraph 34, 34(1)(a), 34(1)(b), 34(1)(c)  This part of the standards was un-met, both at the standard inspection in December 2018 and the subsequent progress monitoring inspection in July 2019. Un-met standards relating to safeguarding remained. As a result, leaders and those responsible for

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Main inspection findings

governance were not ensuring that the independent school standards were met consistently or that pupils’ well-being was actively promoted.  After the progress monitoring inspection in July 2019, leaders adapted the school’s action plan. Ofsted judged this new plan to be acceptable, with appropriate actions and timescales described. This plan has been fully implemented.  Links and engagement with the proprietor body have strengthened significantly since the school was judged to be inadequate in December 2018. This work had begun at the time of the last progress monitoring inspection in July 2019 and has now developed further. Clear lines of accountability are in place between school leaders and the proprietor body, facilitated by the work of Cambian Group’s regional educational lead. This enables the proprietor body to be suitably informed about standards in the school and to challenge school leaders about the impact of their work.

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Main inspection findings

 The regional educational lead knows the school well. Routines for checking on relevant aspects of school improvement and compliance with the independent school standards are securely in place. Information gathered as part of these checks provides the Cambian Group with the information it needs to carry out its corporate governance role successfully.  Work carried out since the last progress monitoring inspection has addressed the identified historic weaknesses in the school’s safeguarding arrangements. As a result, part three of the independent school standards is likely to be met when the school has its next standard school inspection.  Part eight of the independent school standards is now met.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

The school meets the requirements of the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 (‘the independent school standards’) and associated requirements that were checked during this inspection. This included the standards and requirements that the school was judged to not comply with at the previous inspection. Not all of the standards and associated requirements were checked during this inspection.

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Part 3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils

 7 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that– – 7(a) arrangements are made to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils at the school; and – 7(b) such arrangements have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State.

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

 34(1) The standard about the quality of leadership and management is met if the proprietor ensures that persons with leadership and management responsibilities at the school– – 34(1)(a) demonstrate good skills and knowledge appropriate to their role so that the independent school standards are met consistently; – 34(1)(b) fulfil their responsibilities effectively so that the independent school standards are met consistently; and – 34(1)(c) actively promote the well-being of pupils.

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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

Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed

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School details

Of which, number on roll in sixth form 13

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School details

Website https://www.cambiangroup.com/specialist- education/our-schools/autism- schools/bletchley-park-school/ Email address laura.sharman@cambiangroup.com

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School details

Date of previous standard inspection 4–6 December 2018

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Information about this school

 Cambian Bletchley Park is an independent day school. It provides education to pupils aged seven to 19 who have special educational needs and/or disabilities linked to a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. Pupils are referred to the school by local authorities who, in almost all instances, fund their places. Currently, pupils from seven different local authorities attend the school.  The school is based in purpose-built premises and accommodates up to 60 pupils. All pupils have an education, health and care plan.  The school is owned and run by the Cambian Group, which consists of more than 40 schools and colleges across the country. Cambian Group is owned by CareTech Ltd, which is the school’s named proprietor. The Cambian Group provides a corporate governance structure through which school leaders are held to account for the quality of their work.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection was carried out at the request of the registration authority for independent schools. The purpose of the inspection was to monitor the progress the school has made in meeting the independent school standards and other requirements that it was judged to not comply with at its previous inspection.  The inspection was carried out with no notice. In line with Ofsted’s operating procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic, the inspector telephoned the school thirty minutes prior to arriving on site.  The inspector met with the headteacher, designated safeguarding lead and the regional education lead for the Cambian group. She also met with a small number of pupils and staff and spoke to others while carrying out a tour of the school site.  The inspector reviewed a broad range of relevant documents and records, including those available on the school website and some shared by leaders on the day of the

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Information about this inspection

inspection. The documents were mainly those relating to safeguarding and monitoring arrangements in the school.

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Inspection team

Kathryn Moles, 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 1231, 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/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

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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