Parkside Academy

Inspection of Parkside Academy 291 Spring Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP4 5ND

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Inspection dates: 30 and 31 January 2024

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Good

The headteacher of this school is Kirsty Osborne. The school is part of Raedwald Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Angela Ransby, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Alan Whittaker. 30 and 31 January 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are well supported to continue with their education while out of mainstream schools. This is equally the case whether pupils are educated at Ipswich Hospital or the school’s provision at Lindbergh Road.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Relationships between staff and pupils are highly positive and encouraging. Staff quickly get to know the pupils. Pupils complete work that is well matched to their needs and interests. They enjoy their time in the school and make progress.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils who need it are supported well to develop strategies to cope when they are upset or angry. As a result of high expectations, pupils become motivated over time to work hard and produce good-quality work. Staff consider pupils’ well-being throughout the day and make adaptations to provision as needed. Pupils can learn in the places in which they feel comfortable. They benefit from teachers slowing down or speeding up activities as needed, which helps pupils learn effectively.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school plans for pupils to be able to make a successful transition back to mainstream education and/or to keep up with their learning. Pupils at Lindbergh Road are positive about their chances of getting GCSE qualifications. The school creates the right conditions for pupils to return successfully to mainstream education.

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better?

The school has thought carefully about the curriculum that pupils learn. Core knowledge and skills that they learn are planned out over the different lengths of placement. At Lindbergh Road, pupils build their knowledge week by week from when they join the school.

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better?

At the hospital, there is a shorter plan, with a strong emphasis on engaging pupils in purposeful learning activities. For older pupils, teachers ensure that they have the tools they need to access online learning from their home schools. When pupils are in hospital for longer, the school works with the pupils’ home schools to help them learn what they would have been learning at school.

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better?

The school promotes and celebrates reading. Staff support pupils effectively to learn to read and develop comprehension. The school carefully selects books to interest pupils and mirror their life experiences. This helps older pupils to improve their reading. Pupils at the hospital enjoy sharing books and stories.

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better?

Pupils make good progress. At Lindbergh Road, some pupils experience success for the first time in several years. Their attendance often rises substantially, with some pupils attending school regularly from having not attended previously. 30 and 31 January 2024

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Some, but not all, pupils have identified special educational needs and/or disabilities. The school ensures that pupils’ needs are accurately identified and met. It uses expert advice to do so when needed.

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Learning follows a consistent structure across subjects. Pupils revisit prior knowledge and learn new vocabulary, which helps them know more over time. Teachers clearly show what they expect pupils to do, building up to independent work. Staff select resources so that activities are purposeful and engaging. Most teaching across the school is of a high standard. However, sometimes, teaching is not adapted to precisely meet pupils’ needs. This means that pupils sometimes do not understand learning as well as they might.

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The school regularly checks on pupils’ progress and understanding. It provides detailed information to pupils’ home schools about what they have learned.

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Pupils learn about life in modern Britain. They consider ethical dilemmas and issues such as discrimination. Pupils have appropriate careers education. Some pupils have very little knowledge of the world beyond their local area, for example not knowing about current world issues. Pupils in the hospital provision experience few activities that take them outside the ward, whether in person or virtually.

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The schools in the multi-academy trust work very closely together. Teachers can develop and improve their practice. This ensures that pupils experience a good quality of education. Staff are confident and effective in teaching the curriculum using the school’s chosen strategies. Trustees challenge leaders appropriately to continue improving provision.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Occasionally, teachers do not adapt their teaching or activities to meet pupils’ needs precisely. This means that sometimes, pupils do not understand what they are taught as well as is intended. The school needs to ensure that teachers are confident and effective in adapting teaching and activities to meet the needs of pupils.  Some pupils do not have much understanding of the world beyond their very local area. Pupils at the hospital have limited opportunities to learn outside or beyond the ward. There are not currently systems in place to expand learning beyond the local area, and as a result, pupils are limited in their understanding of this. The school needs to support pupils’ personal development further by expanding pupils’ experiences of the wider world. 30 and 31 January 2024

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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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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 30 and 31 January 2024

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 25 and 26 February 2020, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has two aspects to its work: alternative provision at Lindbergh Road and hospital education at Ipswich Hospital.  The school is not currently using the registered address, although that remains available for use if needed. The school has sites at Lindbergh Road, Ipswich IP3 9FA and at Ipswich Hospital, Heath Road, Ipswich IP4 5PD.  The school is registered for pupils aged 11 to 16 years, but currently only has a key stage 4 programme in place at Lindbergh Road. This has 10 spaces for pupils who are at risk of being permanently excluded but are likely to return to their mainstream provision. Pupils are dual enrolled with their home school. The school has a range of specialist facilities to enable pupils to continue their GCSE studies.  At the time of the previous inspection, the school took pupils on roll full time after permanent exclusion. The last of these pupils left in summer 2023.

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Information about this school

 The hospital school is based in the paediatric ward at Ipswich Hospital. There are 10 funded spaces. Participation on a daily basis can vary between one and 17 pupils. The hospital school provides provision for any pupil from age four to 18 years who is in full-time education. These pupils are on the hospital school 30 and 31 January 2024

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register but are not dual enrolled. The school previously had a dedicated classroom but does not currently have this facility due to building work. The school previously used video technology to link some pupils to their home classrooms, but this is not currently in use as teaching is taking place in pupils’ bed areas.  The school does not use any other alternative provision.  The school is shortly to introduce additional provision to make greater use of the staffing provision at Lindbergh Road. This ‘haven pathway’ will comprise short- term tuition of pupils who have been permanently excluded. This will be delivered away from the school’s main sites.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school had received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and teachers. They met with the CEO and a number of other trust staff. They met with a member of the trustees. They spoke to a number of senior personnel at the hospital who liaise with the school there.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in mathematics, geography, and personal, social and health education. For each subject, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, looked at pupils’ work and spoke with teachers and pupils.  Inspectors visited a range of other subject lessons and looked at a wide range of

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Information about this inspection

curriculum plans.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.

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Inspection team

Tessa Holledge, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Ashley Best-White Ofsted Inspector 30 and 31 January 2024

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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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