Park View School

Inspection of a good school: Park View School Temple Park Road, South Shields, Tyne and Wear NE34 0QA

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Outcome

There has been no change to this school’s overall judgement of good as a result of this ungraded (section 8) inspection. However, the evidence gathered suggests that the inspection grade might not be as high if a graded (section 5) inspection were carried out now. The next inspection will therefore be a graded inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a warm and welcoming school. Leaders make sure that pupils and staff are valued as members of the school community. The school consists of a main site and an additional vocational centre. Staff at both sites know pupils well and develop strong, caring relationships with them. Parents and carers are positive about the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have high expectations for the behaviour of pupils in school. Most pupils rise to the high expectations that adults have for them. They move around the school calmly and with respect. There are some pupils who have specific needs which lead them to struggle with self-regulation. Staff respond to these pupils with skill and patience, supporting them to learn how to better regulate themselves. Pupils and staff show great care for each other. Bullying is rare. Pupils share that when it does happen, staff act quickly to stop it. This helps pupils to feel safe in school. They feel that they can always go to an adult if they need support with a concern.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have made changes to the curriculum which have resulted in some subjects being better matched to the needs of the pupils than others. However, leaders continue to fully develop curriculum thinking for a number of subjects which will enable pupils to achieve better across the curriculum. All pupils have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and staff support them skilfully. School leaders have designed pathways that reflect the very different needs of the pupils. This helps teachers to plan teaching and learning to best meet the needs of all pupils.

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

Leaders have thought carefully about what they want pupils to achieve when designing the curriculum in some subjects. Leaders have reviewed each area of the curriculum to check that it matches the needs of the pupils in the school. There are some subject areas 2 and 3 March 2023

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where leaders are still making changes to the curriculum to better match the needs of the pupils in school. For example, leaders’ changes to the English curriculum have ensured that teaching builds on prior learning. This has resulted in more pupils making strong progress. In some other subjects, learning is not as well organised. This means that pupils find it difficult to build on what they already know. Leaders know they need to further refine the curriculum and learning opportunities in some subjects to ensure that the learning is sequenced to match the needs of the pupils.

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Pupils are engaged in lessons and talk about their learning positively. Subject leaders are knowledgeable about the subject they lead. They check pupils’ learning to identify areas for improvement and for gaps in pupils’ knowledge. Pupils recall prior learning well. They are encouraged to practise what they have learned so that it becomes fluent and supports future learning. Teachers remind pupils of their past learning so that pupils remember essential ideas. In English, pupils learn how to structure their writing so that they can use this skill across a number of subject areas. Pupils extend their knowledge by learning about different types of books and writing.

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Reading is a high priority. Staff are well trained and deliver intervention for those pupils who are not yet fluent readers. Pupils enjoy the texts they are studying and spoke about the poetry they are studying in readiness for their GCSE exams.

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Provision for pupils with SEND is effective. Pupils’ needs are identified promptly. In lessons, adults provide well thought out support to help pupils with SEND to fully access the curriculum. For a very small number of pupils who find attending school challenging, leaders have established processes that will support their learning opportunities until they are able to return to school.

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Most pupils behave well in classes and around the school. However, there are a number of pupils whose behaviour has not met the standards that school staff expect. Leaders are developing their approaches to try to prevent repeated poor behaviour, which has resulted in pupils missing school through suspensions.

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Many pupils attend school regularly. For those who do not, the school have actions in place to support better attendance. However, the records of these actions are not always well maintained, meaning leaders are not able to respond to absence concerns as well as they could.

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Staff promote pupils’ wider development well. Pupils have a strong understanding of respect for, and acceptance of, others. Leaders are very proud of their school approach to mental well-being. They have developed their pastoral team who have increased the school offer around mental health support for pupils in school and those who are not yet able to be in the school environment. Leaders provide a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities to meet the different interests of pupils.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 2 and 3 March 2023

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Despite staff being vigilant to pupils’ well-being, leaders do not ensure that accurate records are kept of actions taken to keep pupils safe. This can lead to a lack of clarity around the actions that have taken place.

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Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe. They learn how to stay safe when online, when out in the community or in places where there may be higher risks, such as when undertaking activities at the vocational unit. Pupils know how to respond to any concerns around bullying or name calling.

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Leaders ensure that all required checks are carried out when recruiting new staff. Training and induction ensure that staff know how to keep pupils safe. Staff know what to do if they have any concerns about a pupil. Leaders know pupils, families and the community well.

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Staff engage with outside agencies to request help and support for pupils when needed. However, they do not always follow up on these requests when they are not responded to in a timely way.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have not ensured that safeguarding records have been maintained accurately. These records do not allow leaders to maintain fully effective oversight of the well- being of pupils who are not currently attending school. Leaders need to ensure that the records of actions taken to ensure the safeguarding of pupils are occurring in a timely and appropriate way. The records need to be managed effectively so they can be confident that all actions have been taken to ensure that all pupils are safe.  The school’s curriculum is not fully developed across some subject areas. This means that pupils are not making as much progress as they could in some subject areas. It is clear from leaders’ actions that they are in the process of bringing about change to address this issue. Leaders need to complete their review of curriculum across the subjects and implement their planned improvements within the identified timescale.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 There are a number of pupils whose behaviour does not meet the school’s high expectations. This poor behaviour leads to a number of pupils missing learning through suspension. Leaders need to ensure that there is an effective behaviour policy in place to secure more positive behaviour from pupils, so that suspensions will reduce. 2 and 3 March 2023

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. 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 good in June 2013.

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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. 2 and 3 March 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10242228 Type of school Special

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 17 October 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is a two-site school that consists of a main site and a vocational centre.  The school uses two alternative provisions.

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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.  The inspectors met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the social, emotional and/or mental health (SEMH) lead and other school leaders. The inspectors also met with governors and the school improvement partner.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics and science. For each deep dive, the inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work or other evidence of the educational experience of the pupils. 2 and 3 March 2023

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 Inspectors visited pupils across the school, including pupils attending the vocational centre.  Inspectors met with the school’s designated safeguarding lead. The inspectors reviewed a range of documents, including the school’s single central record, which includes recruitment checks made on staff.  The views of staff who responded to Ofsted’s staff survey were considered. The responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, were also taken into account. Inspectors spoke to pupils in school.

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Inspection team

Catherine Beard, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Christina Jones Ofsted Inspector 2 and 3 March 2023

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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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