Pield Heath House RC School

Inspection of Pield Heath House RC School Pield Heath Road, Uxbridge UB8 3NW

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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 Requires improvement 13 and 14 July 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and staff strive to support all pupils to reach their potential. They help pupils to gain the tools they need to lead successful adult lives. Leaders ensure that teaching, therapeutic and behavioural teams work in tandem to meet pupils’ bespoke goals.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to school and making friends. They care for each other. For example, pupils openly applauded their classmates when they succeeded in a challenging task. Pupils are safe. They appreciate the strong and trusting working relationships they build with adults. This gives them a sense of security. Well-trained staff help pupils to understand their feelings and the impact of their actions on others. Should bullying occur, for example, staff take a restorative approach. They support everyone involved to develop strategies for improved social interactions.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from opportunities that give them a sense of community and belonging. All pupils celebrate their birthdays with their peers, teachers and support staff. Some sixth-form students organise meals in a restaurant to celebrate their birthdays. Pupils marked and celebrated the recent Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Sixth- form students worked together on preparing a leavers’ prom. Pupils raise funds for charity, such as by organising coffee mornings.

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better?

Leaders have reviewed and improved the curriculum. Staff use information from pupils’ education, health and care plans and other assessments effectively. Teachers produce individualised learning, therapeutic and behaviour plans. They keep these under regular review to make sure that pupils get the right support to meet all their needs.

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better?

Leaders have introduced three ‘curriculum pathways’. These cater to the differences in pupils’ cognitive abilities. Leaders have thought about the core knowledge they want pupils to know in each subject. The curriculum is organised so that pupils build their knowledge, bit by bit, in a logical order. Teachers make sure that pupils revise and recap the knowledge they have been taught previously. This helps pupils to remember more in the long term. Staff tailor learning and resources to meet pupils’ individual needs and interests. This helps pupils to succeed in achieving their personalised goals.

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better?

Staff place a strong emphasis on developing pupils’ communication skills. Speech and language therapists and signing tutors work hand in hand with pupils and teachers. They use a range of strategies and resources to ensure that pupils’ communication and understanding skills develop securely over time. For example, they created storyboards to help pupils understand menstruation. Staff help pupils who do not communicate verbally to read essential signs and symbols. This helps these pupils to navigate their way safely in the community, for example. 13 and 14 July 2022

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Staff read often to pupils. This sparks pupils’ enjoyment for reading and helps to broaden their knowledge of the world. Some pupils are at the stage where they are learning to read using phonics. However, not enough staff have the expertise they need to deliver the school’s phonics programme effectively. This is largely owing to staffing difficulties exacerbated by the pandemic. The books pupils use for phonics practice are sometimes not closely matched to the sounds they know. This means that these pupils do not gain the skills to be confident and fluent readers as fast as they could.

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Pupils enjoy their learning. They respect their teachers and follow instructions in class. Staff have benefited from training in a new approach to managing pupils’ behaviour. They are skilled in recognising when pupils’ anxiety levels are rising or when they need some time away from the group. Staff know how to help and encourage pupils to calm down and settle back to their work. This effective support and pupils’ positive attitudes help them to achieve their targets.

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Leaders provide many opportunities which support pupils’ personal development. By electing a school council, pupils put democracy into practice, for example. Staff often take pupils out into the local area to focus on pupils’ social skills and safety awareness. Leaders promote pupils’ physical health and mental well-being. For example, they offer pupils a variety of ways to enjoy sport and exercise. Sixth-form students have the chance to build enterprise skills through community projects and The Prince’s Trust Awards.

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Staff provide effective careers information, education, advice and guidance. They work with each pupil and their parents and carers to create a bespoke career pathway. The sixth-form curriculum offers students many courses and options. These are chosen to support students’ needs and aspirations. Students can study units in life and home skills as well as independent living. They have the option of studying a range of courses with accreditations which can lead to further study or employment. Students gain work experience at the school’s café and also at external providers. They leave the school well prepared for the next phase of their lives.

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Staff said that their line managers respond positively if they seek support for their well-being. Leaders have identified that they need to do more to reduce staff workload. However, this aspiration has been hampered by high staff turnover and absence.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Many staff are in daily contact with pupils. They know that they must report any change of behaviour or concern to the safeguarding team without delay. Staff are also aware of the additional vulnerabilities that pupils might have. They are vigilant and use the various communication tools available to enable all pupils to convey any worries they might have. 13 and 14 July 2022

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Safeguarding leaders work with a range of agencies across the different local authorities in which pupils live. They secure early help and support to ensure the safety and welfare of pupils and families.

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Leaders follow appropriate vetting procedures when appointing new staff to check their suitability for working with pupils.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Not enough staff have the expertise and resources they need to deliver the school’s phonics programme effectively. This means that pupils who are at the stage of learning to read using phonics are not supported to become confident and fluent readers as quickly as they could. Leaders should ensure that enough staff gain the expertise to teach phonics effectively and that the books they give pupils to practise their reading are well matched to the sounds they know.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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. 13 and 14 July 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10229096 Type of school Special

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sixth form

Appropriate authority The governing body

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sixth form

Date of previous inspection 14 and 15 November 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection, there has been a high turnover of staff. An internal appointment of a new headteacher was made in September 2021. There has also been a change to the chair of governors.  All pupils have education, health and care plans. The school caters for pupils with complex learning needs, moderate learning difficulties and severe learning difficulties. Over four in 10 pupils have autism spectrum disorders and associated speech, language and communication difficulties.  This non-maintained special school with a Catholic religious ethos is registered with the Department for Education under the Trusteeship of The Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.  The school’s last section 48 inspection of religious education by the Diocese of Westminster Education Service took place on 8 October 2021. 13 and 14 July 2022

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 The school uses two registered alternative providers for some pupils who attend part time as part of their curriculum courses.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading and communication, mathematics, physical education and personal, social, health and economic education. Inspectors held discussions with leaders and teachers. They visited lessons, looked at examples of pupils’ work and held discussions with pupils. Inspectors also considered other subjects as part of the inspection.  Inspectors spoke with the headteacher, other senior leaders and the chair of governors and two other governors. They spoke with a representative of the Diocese of Westminster.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documentation, including information related to safeguarding and the checks carried out before the appointment of staff.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors looked at records of pupils’ behaviour.  Inspectors held formal meetings with staff, therapists and pupils. They spoke with parents in the playground and took account of the responses to Ofsted Parent View. Inspectors considered the responses to the staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

David Radomsky, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Una Buckley Her Majesty’s Inspector 13 and 14 July 2022

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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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