Setting

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Nova Harvey Headteacher Beaufort School Stechford Road Hodge Hill Birmingham West Midlands B34 6BJ

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Beaufort School

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 10 and 11 April 2020, on behalf of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills. The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005 and was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require special measures following the graded (section 5) inspection that took place in June 2023.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Beaufort School

The purpose of a monitoring inspection is not to grade the school’s overall effectiveness, but to identify and report on the school’s progress. It is to highlight to the school and parents any improvements that school leaders have made since the school’s previous graded inspection.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Beaufort School

During the inspection, I discussed with you, other senior leaders and the interim executive board (IEB) the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection. We discussed the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. I also included other activities, such as classroom visits and discussions with staff members. I also reviewed documentation linked to the curriculum, behaviour, communication and safeguarding. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement.

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Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but more work is

necessary for the school to be no longer judged as requiring special measures.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Since the last inspection, there have been considerable changes in leadership at the school. Your appointment in September and the recent appointment of an associate headteacher have brought a dynamic and fresh perspective to the school. Along with the existing dedicated leadership team, you have continued to build on the initial actions completed after the last inspection. Supported by a caring and dedicated IEB, you and your team have created a culture driven to get the best outcomes for pupils with complex needs. You have set a very ambitious but measured approach to school improvement that aims to embed the necessary changes over time. These changes, drive and vision have brought additional capacity to the school, along with clarity about its direction.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Your work on supporting staff to manage the behaviour of pupils with complex needs has been particularly positive. There is a new and dynamic behaviour policy based on an expectation to understand the reasons for behaviour and put the right help in place. An external consultant and occupational therapist have provided whole-school and individual class-based training. Sensory integration strategies, lessons to develop attention and concentration and well-written behaviour support plans are now more common across the school. Behaviour incidents are being carefully recorded, and you are using the data that this gives you to inform future provision and support for classes, pupils and their families.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Your work on communication has been equally strong. Your staff have worked closely with speech and language therapists to understand pupils’ communication needs better. All pupils have now had a detailed and thorough assessment of their receptive, processing and expressive needs. Assisted language displays, picture exchange systems and communication books are more common in classes. Staff ‘communication champions’ now provide additional support and guidance to class teams. However, much work remains to ensure that staff always use these communication systems, including at breaks and lunchtimes when communicating with pupils.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Your work on developing a curriculum for phonics and early reading is still at an early stage. Nonetheless, you have started to consider your whole-school approach and how it can build on what you are already doing. Your engagement with the local literacy hub has supported your understanding of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the current provision for reading. You are currently in the process of purchasing a whole-school phonics programme to replace one that you feel is not appropriate for the school. You anticipate that this will be in place for September. Across the school and in different classes, there are examples of class teams developing innovative and creative ways to develop a love of reading. This includes sensory stories, story massage and story times. However, at the moment, you acknowledge there is not yet a whole school approach to developing reading, and this remains work to be completed.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Since the last inspection, you have purchased a published curriculum scheme. This has provided the foundation of a strong curriculum intent for sequences of lessons in all subjects. Whole-school training on this new curriculum has been provided for all staff, and there are strong examples of this curriculum now being used to inform the quality of

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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE

education in classes. In communication and physical education, you provided additional advice and support so class teams can carefully plan learning sequences. The plan is for all subjects to have this further exemplification over the coming year. You are currently in the process of moving to a curriculum pathway approach for the organisation of classes. This will mean that children with similar needs will be grouped together so that staff with the most appropriate skills can best support pupils’ access to the new curriculum.

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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE

As a school, you know there remains much work to be done to ensure that the curriculum is well implemented and that pupils’ needs are consistently well met. However, this has been a solid and very positive start. The whole school community is working well together to begin to make the necessary improvements identified at the last inspection Your revisions to the post-Ofsted inspection action plan have ensured that progress is well reviewed and clear about what the school has already achieved and what remains. Staff spoken to during the visit and those who responded to the survey were positive about the school’s journey. They feel well supported by the leadership team, which acts quickly when staff need additional help or support. Staff are particularly positive about the support and guidance from training, both formally and through in-class support.

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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE

The IEB has a precise understanding of the school’s journey. They are rightly positive about the school’s developments but clear about what work remains. They regularly attend the school to check on how things are developing. Consequently, they have a precise understanding of the actions that have been completed. Their ongoing support and guidance for yourself and other leaders are particularly notable. Timely and caring conversations have ensured that you and your team feel well supported as you make the necessary improvements to the school.

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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE

Since the last inspection, you have rightly prioritised safeguarding at the school. All staff have had regular training on reporting and recording concerns. During the inspection, I considered the reports made to the designated safeguarding leads when staff were concerned about a child. In most cases, these are detailed and precise and articulate the concerns clearly. Leaders’ responses to these are appropriate and demonstrate a joined- up approach with various services, such as social care. However, in some cases, these reports and responses are too brief and do not provide the necessary information about the concern, who was involved in the investigation, or what actions have been completed.

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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE

When needed, you have sought advice and guidance from external consultants to help you address the areas for improvement from that last inspection. Supported by the local education partnership, you have focused this work on the necessary actions in the post- Ofsted action plan. For example, you have used external consultants to support your work on the curriculum, communication, safeguarding and behaviour. You are positive about this work and feel that it is helping the school move forward.

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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE

I am copying this letter to the chair of the executive board, the Department for Education’s regional director and the director of children’s services for Birmingham City Council. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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