Tees Valley College

Inspection of Keys Tees Valley College Sotherby Road, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire TS3 8BT

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a very welcoming school. The school is a safe and happy place to be. Pupils benefit from a high degree of support from adults. Teaching groups are small. Pupils trust staff to go the ‘extra mile’ to help them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

In subjects such as English and mathematics pupils can study for a wide range of qualifications. These include entry-level certificates, GCSEs and functional skills awards. The school ensures that pupils become independent readers. However, some subjects in the school’s wider curriculum are underdeveloped at present.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils who come to Tees Valley College have struggled to settle in other settings. Some pupils have not been in a school for some time. Many pupils have missed a lot of learning. The school supports pupils’ social, emotional and mental health needs well. Over time, pupils learn to understand, and manage, their feelings. The school is aware, however, that it needs to gather more information on other learning needs that pupils may have.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are prepared well for life outside of school. Pupils learn about the world of work. Some pupils study vocational programmes. These include construction, motor vehicle maintenance and hair and beauty. Pupils go on many trips and visits out of school. Pupils benefit from strong careers guidance. Most pupils go on to college or into training when they leave the school.

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better?

The school prioritises subjects such as English, mathematics, science and citizenship. The school uses these subjects to broaden pupils’ understanding of their world. For example, pupils learn about aspects of history through the texts they study in English. However, some subjects in the wider curriculum, such as geography and art and design, are not covered in as much detail as they need to be. The school is taking steps to address this issue. This aspect of curriculum improvement is at an early stage.

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better?

Most subjects are well planned and well taught. It is clear what pupils need to learn and in what order. Lesson activities match the planned learning effectively. Staff regularly check what pupils know. Staff are quick to address any gaps in pupils’ understanding. Pupils can confidently recall key knowledge in these subjects. However, in a small number of subjects, the long-term and medium-term plans are either not in place or not as well organised as they could be. It is not clear, in these subjects, what key knowledge pupils need to have before they move on to new learning. In these subjects, the checks on pupils’ understanding are not as precise as they need to be.

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better?

The school supports pupils to read widely and often. There is a library lesson weekly and reading for pleasure sessions every afternoon. Each classroom has a book box 12 to 14 March 2024 linked to the subjects taught in each class. All staff contribute to the teaching of reading across the school.

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better?

The school ensures staff know how to meet pupils’ social, emotional and mental health needs. The school is calm. Pupils benefit from well-established routines. Pupils appreciate how staff take the time to listen to them. Disruption to learning in lessons is rare. If this does happen, staff manage it well. Some pupils who join the school have a complex range of special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school is improving how it identifies, and meets, the wide range of needs among its pupils. However, this work is still at an early stage.

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better?

Some pupils have a history of low attendance in their previous school. Improving pupils’ attendance is a high priority for the school. There are prompt follow-up actions to any absence. If the school is unable to get a response from parents and carers, there is a welfare visit to the home. Once settled, most pupils’ attendance improves sharply. The school knows that some pupils still do not attend as well as they need to. The school works closely with families and external agencies to help pupils attend regularly. The school has well-supported attendance management plans for pupils who need them. School attendance has improved significantly in recent months.

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better?

The school has a comprehensive personal, social and health education (PSHE) programme. Pupils understand how to keep themselves healthy. They learn about relationships. Pupils visit different places of worship. Pupils understand the importance of respecting different faiths and lifestyles. Pupils are proud to share what they do to promote diversity in the school. Pupils take on responsibilities in school. For example, pupils manage the rota for clearing away the pool table in the dining hall at the end of breaktime and lunchtime.

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better?

Pupils learn how to search, and apply, for jobs. Pupils visit colleges. They undertake work experience. Pupils benefit from independent careers advice. Older pupils have clear ideas about what they want to do after school.

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better?

The proprietor knows the school well. The proprietor group’s board meets termly to discuss key information about the school. The proprietor ensures that the independent school standards (the standards) are met consistently. There are robust policies and procedures in place to safeguard pupils. The proprietor is rightly proud of the work done to meet the school’s duties under the Equality Act 2010.

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better?

The school had some staffing difficulties in the Autumn term. The proprietor responded quickly to stabilise the school. The school recruited key staff. Staff who joined the school in recent months are now well established. The proprietor has strengthened the school’s middle leadership structure. The proprietor group’s senior managers are in the school regularly. They contribute effectively to the management of the school. The vast majority of the staff speak highly of the support they get from the proprietor. This includes training and consideration of staff well-being. The school has strong relationships with local authorities who place pupils at the school. 12 to 14 March 2024

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 The subject offer in the wider curriculum is underdeveloped. This is limiting what pupils know and can do. The school should review the range of subjects available to pupils, across all key stages, against the school’s recently revised curriculum policy. The school should ensure that the curriculum enables pupils to study the full range of curriculum pathways identified in the school’s agreed curriculum policy.  A small number of subjects are not as well-planned or implemented as they need to be. In these subjects, pupils are not learning the disciplinary and subject knowledge as well as they could. The school should ensure that all subjects are equally well planned and taught.  The school’s checks on pupils’ additional needs are not as robust as they could be. This means that some neurodevelopmental and learning needs are not being identified, or met, as effectively as they need to be. The school should review the

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

checks on pupils’ needs that are done, at the point of admission and as part of on-going reviews, to ensure that staff have all the information they need to meet the full range of needs that pupils have.

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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. 12 to 14 March 2024

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School details

Unique reference number 136259 DfE registration number 806/6002

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School details

Inspection number 10286426 Type of school Other independent school

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School details

Email address admin.teesvalley@keys-group.co.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 9 to 11 July 2019 12 to 14 March 2024

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Information about this school

 Since the last standard inspection a new headteacher has been appointed. She came into post in March 2023. At the time of this inspection, there was an interim headteacher in post. She has been working in the school since February 2024.  The school is part of the Keys Group. The proprietor group runs over 20 other schools and several children’s homes across the United Kingdom.  The DfE approved a change of school name in August 2023. The school was previously called Keys Tees Valley College.  The school caters for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs and additional learning needs. Some pupils have a diagnosis of autism and/or attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder.  The school is registered to take pupils aged 11 to 19 years. At the time of this inspection, the school had no post-16 students and no pupils in Years 7 and 8 on roll.  Most pupils are placed at the school by their local authority. Many pupils have

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Information about this school

EHC plans, but this is not a requirement of admission. Local mainstream schools may also commission part-time places at the school. When this happens, pupils remain on their role of their mainstream school. There are currently no pupils on part-time placement at the school.  The school uses one unregistered alternative provider.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors carried out this inspection under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008. The purpose of the inspection is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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Information about this inspection

The school meets the independent school standards. These are the requirements set out in the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.

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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 interim headteacher, the school’s curriculum and pastoral assistant headteachers and the designated safeguarding lead. Inspectors also met with a range of other staff. 12 to 14 March 2024  Inspectors met with representatives from the proprietor group. This included meeting the chair of the proprietor group, the proprietor’s director for education and the school’s regional manager.  Inspectors undertook a tour of the school and visited the classrooms, social areas and other facilities. The lead inspector checked the school buildings and grounds against the standards.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English (including reading), mathematics and PSHE. The deep dive for each subject included a meeting with

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Information about this inspection

curriculum leaders and a review of subject documents and plans. The deep dive also involved lesson visits, scrutiny of pupils’ work and meetings with pupils and staff.  Inspectors reviewed the curriculum plans of all other subjects. Inspectors spoke to leaders and visited lessons in some other subjects.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour around the school throughout the day, including breaktimes and in lessons. Inspectors spoke to pupils about their experience of the school.  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.  Inspectors scrutinised school documents relating to the standards.  Inspectors gathered the views of parents, pupils and staff through Ofsted’s online

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Information about this inspection

surveys for pupils and staff and through Ofsted Parent View.  The lead inspector spoke to representatives of the local authorities who commission places at the school and to the local authority’s designated officer.

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Inspection team

Patricia Head, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Suzette Garland-Grimes Ofsted Inspector 12 to 14 March 2024 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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