Henry Tyndale School

Inspection of an outstanding school: Henry Tyndale School Ship Lane, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 8BX

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Outcome

Henry Tyndale School continues to be an outstanding school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Henry Tyndale is a happy, caring and inclusive school. There is a smile and warm greeting for each pupil every time they meet an adult. Positive relationships help pupils to flourish. Their days are full of interesting activities. Leaders and teachers set high standards. They expect maximum effort, but they make learning fun and always praise good work.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are treated as individuals, and they are also very much part of a social group. Right from the early years, children learn to listen and develop language skills. Step by step, they grow in confidence and find effective ways to communicate their ideas. Each class has a weekly visit to the local community to apply their learning with a real-life task. They might go to the swimming pool or park, buy shopping from the supermarket, or visit the library.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils told inspectors that they feel safe at school. Staff are always on hand to help them with any worries. Pupils behave very well. Skilled staff support any pupil who struggles so they can get back to learning. Staff notice and deal with every incident. Records confirm that bullying is very unusual.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders and governors place pupils at the heart of all that they do. Their vision has inspired an impressive redesign of the already strong curriculum. It now meets pupils’ complex needs through flexible pathways that are precisely tailored to pupils’ individual needs. Personal development and communication thread through every aspect of school life. An exemplary assessment framework sets out in detail the sequence of learning. Teachers know exactly how to support pupils to build knowledge successfully across a broad range of subjects.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Pupils learn through stimulating topics that are a means to experience big concepts, such as life in the past. In a recent ‘Fire and Ice’ topic, pupils found out about the Titanic and the Fire of London. Pupils often go further afield in connection with their topics. Secondary pupils learn how to look after themselves. Residential visits make a rich contribution to increasing pupils’ independence. Sixth-form students enjoy work experience either in school 7 and 8 December 2022

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or the locality. Teachers prepare students very well, so they are ready for adulthood. Pupils of all ages enjoy learning activities that involve music and songs. They like stories brought to life through sensory experiences.

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Developing children’s communication and language is of prime importance in the Reception classes. Children settle quickly into routines. At snack time, for example, they learn to make a choice by using picture exchange. Some pupils learn to ask with a short sentence. Throughout the school, teachers use careful observations of pupils’ learning to plan what comes next. They select the right approaches and resources to support learning the basic skills. The school’s reading programme is very effective. Some pupils make steady improvement to learn phonics and decoding. They learn to read words and books with growing independence. Most pupils are non-verbal. They are very well supported to use alternative communication strategies. They learn to read and write using symbols. Teachers set up tablets with personalised pages to assist each pupil’s communication. In time, pupils become adept at using these to ask and answer questions, and to have a short

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Teachers take every opportunity to increase pupils’ independence and well-being. They learn about making relationships, such as having a boyfriend or girlfriend. Adults support pupils to think about the choices they might make. Personal development knowledge increases in the sixth form. Here, students deepen their understanding about self-care. They learn how to maintain their personal hygiene and practise some of the domestic work they will need to do at home. They enjoy learning about horticulture in the school grounds and engaging in work experience in the wider community. Staff support students to make visits to other providers before making a choice at their next annual review. A ‘moving on fair’ supports students to identify what they want to do next.

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School staff make excellent use of guidance from professional partners. Supportive therapies improve pupils’ movement, speech and language, and their well-being. Several p arents told inspectors that their children achieve in ways they never thought could be possible. Regular therapeutic input enables some pupils to improve their physical strength. These important changes mean pupils can learn more easily.

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Staff use positive approaches to manage pupils’ behaviour. They know that all behaviour conveys a message and they interpret it well. Teachers put actions in place that result in change. The curriculum teaches pupils about behaving well. Older pupils are able to identify safe and unsafe behaviour. Breaktime is calm and well-supervised, and lunch is eaten in a family-friendly setting. Pupils like to play alongside the adults. The staff encourage cooperation, for example by joining in with a parachute game.

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Staff say that leaders are visible. Their door is always open, and they listen and act if staff have concerns about workload. Staff feel appreciated and are proud of the high quality of training that the school offers. The governing body is knowledgeable about its role and is dedicated to the school’s continuing improvement. It has provided a firm steer through recent changes. Leaders are well placed to manage the school’s imminent growth in size, when it will occupy three sites. 7 and 8 December 2022

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders oversee clear safeguarding processes. Everyone has comprehensive training and regular updates. Staff know every pupil very well, including how to manage intimate care needs. They do this with dignity.

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Safeguarding

Staff report even the smallest of concerns. Leaders waste no time in responding to any worry and they make sensible decisions. They know that many pupils have additional challenging needs for families to meet. They work proactively with parents, carers and other agencies. Leaders advocate on behalf of pupils and are relentless in getting exactly the right support.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be outstanding, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains outstanding. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding in December 2011.

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How can I feed back my views?

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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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. 7 and 8 December 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10200119 Type of school Special

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Appropriate authority The governing body

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Headteacher Mehal Shah (co-headteacher) Kelly Wilkie (co-headteacher) Website www.henrytyndale.hants.sch.uk

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Date of previous inspection 28 September 2016, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school provides for pupils with a profound and multiple learning disability and for those with a severe learning difficulty. An increasing number of pupils also have a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder. Some pupils have life-limiting medical conditions.  Since the previous inspection, and following the retirement of the previous headteacher, there has been a change to the school’s senior leadership. The school now has a collaborative headteacher model in place. This became fully effective in January 2022.  A new chair of the governing body was appointed at the start of the autumn term 2019. 7 and 8 December 2022

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 The school’s role has increased and there are now two sites. Henry Tyndale Early Years Centre is in Mayfield Road, Farnborough GU14 8LH. A third site is scheduled to open in September 2023 to accommodate a further increase in the school’s roll.  Pupils are placed on roll through the Hampshire local authority. All pupils have an education, health and care plan.  The school currently uses one alternative provider arranged by the local authority.  The school meets the requirements of the Baker Clause, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.

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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 met with the co-headteachers, the deputy and assistant headteachers and other members of staff. The lead inspector met with the chair of governors and two other members of the governing body.  Inspectors spoke with some parents at the start of the school day. They also considered the views expressed by parents and staff through Ofsted’s surveys.  The inspection team carried out deep dives in the following curriculum areas: communication development and early reading; mathematics; and personal, social and health education. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited classrooms, and spoke to teachers. Inspectors also considered the

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Information about this inspection

school’s provision in other areas of learning.  Given that many pupils are non-verbal or have limited verbal language, it was not possible to talk directly to many of them about their work or their well-being. Inspectors talked to some key stage 4 and sixth-form students while they worked. In order to gather such evidence from other key stages, inspectors closely observed pupils’ responses to their learning and other activities.  Inspectors met with the designated safeguarding leader to review records showing how the school’s procedures work. They reviewed a range of documents, including the single central record. They spoke to stakeholders about the school’s work to keep pupils safe.

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Inspection team

Linda Jacobs, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Alan Johnson Ofsted Inspector 7 and 8 December 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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