Sunningdale School

Inspection of an outstanding school: Sunningdale School Doxford Park Way, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear SR3 2PP

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Outcome

Sunningdale School continues to be an outstanding school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

From the moment pupils start at Sunningdale school, they receive the highest levels of care, support and learning to enable them to be their best selves; as the school motto says, to ‘be more’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have developed an inspirational curriculum that ensures that learning is tailored to meet the needs of all pupils. Because of this, pupils display exceptionally high levels of engagement in learning. They make rapid progress from their starting points.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Sunningdale’s purpose-built school has been designed with exceptional care to give pupils access to the resources that they need to learn. Due to flexible timetabling and responsive staff, pupils can access areas when they need them. These include a role play learning village, sensory spaces and the hydrotherapy pool.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff care deeply for the pupils. They know pupils extremely well and adjust learning activities continuously to ensure that they are appropriate. In turn, pupils love coming to school, and are respectful of staff and each other.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers speak highly of the support their child receives. One parent, echoing the views of others, commented: ‘Sunningdale is an amazing school which works really hard to bring out the absolute best in my child.’

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

Leaders organise the curriculum into four pathways. Each pathway has carefully sequenced planning documents. These identify the important skills that pupils need to learn to become as independent as possible. These documents come to life in the classrooms, which are set out with engaging learning resources that hook pupils into learning. 6 and 7 June 2023

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The expert knowledge that all staff hold of the pupils contributes to the success of the school. Starting from early years, teachers observe pupils carefully. They build up a picture of what each child finds motivating and engaging. This information is then used to create exciting and purposeful learning activities.

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Staff support pupils from early years onwards to develop their communication skills. There is a highly consistent approach across school. Pupils use a range of means, such as switches and symbols as well as speech to extend their language skills. Every activity has communicative support built in. This encourages pupils to develop their expressive communication. This is mirrored in the way that pupils develop their mathematical understanding. Pupils are taught early problem-solving skills. When they are ready, pupils move on to learning about numbers, calculations, measurement and shape. Every consideration is made for pupils to practise and ground their learning in real-life contexts. For example, pupils routinely queue up at the school shop, where they select and buy a snack.

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Early reading has a high priority. Leaders are ambitious for all learners. Pupils in one of the pathways are learning to read using phonics. They are taught well-planned daily lessons and are making good progress in learning to blend sounds. Staff take care in ensuring that pupils develop a love of reading. They have a variety of ways to share books, from massage books and sensory stories to active stories and sound books.

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Teachers use an online assessment tool to monitor and track pupils’ progress across all areas of the curriculum. They use this information to plan the next steps of learning. As a result, pupils make strong progress from their starting points.

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Leaders ensure that pupils learn to become increasingly independent as they progress through school. Personal targets are in place for pupils for self-care and independence. These cover areas such as eating, drinking and learning to cross a road safely. There are also regular learning opportunities on themes such as stranger danger and being a good friend. Leaders have taken time and care to plan wider learning opportunities. These ensure that all pupils can experience exciting and life-enhancing activities. The events include judo, community visits, residential trips and surfing.

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Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary despite the many barriers and challenges that they face. The staff are tirelessly creative in seeking out the best ways to support pupils. Outside and indoor play areas are used highly effectively to ensure that pupils can take movement breaks as and when they need them.

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The governing body shares the headteacher’s passion to make sure that every pupil can be their best self. The information leaders provide ensures that governors know the school’s strengths well. This helps them to support school leaders in their ongoing drive for further improvements.

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Teachers feel supported by leaders in their workload. They value the high-quality training they receive. All staff share a common pride in pupils’ achievements and celebrate these on a daily basis. 6 and 7 June 2023

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders maintain a strong culture of safeguarding. Staff receive regular safeguarding training and are fully aware of their safeguarding responsibilities.

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Safeguarding

Staff know pupils extremely well and because of this can spot any small changes that might indicate harm. Any concerns are reported and recorded, with leaders taking swift action when needed.

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Safeguarding

The staff team works effectively with families and other professionals to ensure that pupils receive the help they need to support their physical and emotional well-being.

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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 April 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. 6 and 7 June 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 30 January 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Sunningdale is a community special school in Sunderland Local Authority.  The school caters for pupils with severe learning difficulties, profound and multiple learning difficulties and autism spectrum disorder aged 2 to 11.  All pupils have education, health and care plans.  Since the previous inspection, the school has moved into a new purpose-built building.  Sunningdale school has an established SENhub which provides teachers, parents and carers with training and advice.  The SENhub is also the venue for an initial teacher training course in partnership with the University of Northumbria for teachers wishing to train to work in specialist settings and 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. 6 and 7 June 2023

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 Meetings were held with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and assistant headteacher.  Inspectors met with the local authority representatives.  Inspectors met with the chair, vice-chair and other representatives of the local governing board.  Inspectors spoke with two small mixed groups of boys and girls.  Inspectors also spoke informally with pupils at playtimes and lunchtimes.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation, including the single central record of recruitment checks. Inspectors spoke with leaders and staff about training and their understanding of safeguarding.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in English, including communication and the early stages of reading, mathematics and physical development. For each deep dive, inspectors met with leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of

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pupils’ work. The lead inspector observed different methods of communication, including eye gaze technology, core boards and signing. The lead inspector listened to pupils reading aloud to members of school staff.  Inspectors reviewed documentation relating to the school’s curriculum, along with the school’s own evaluation and its development plans.  Inspectors reviewed planning and assessment documentation linked to pupils’ education, health and care plans, including behaviour support plans.  Inspectors reviewed responses to the staff survey and comments from parents made via Ofsted Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey.

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Inspection team

Berni Moorcroft, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

David Milligan His Majesty’s Inspector 6 and 7 June 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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