Sunbury Manor School

Inspection of Sunbury Manor School Nursery Road, Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey TW16 6LF

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Inspection dates: 30 April and 1 May 2024

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

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

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

The acting headteacher of this school is Allan Cottle. This school is a single academy trust. The trust is overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Emma Redfern. 30 April and 1 May 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s expectations of pupils are too low. Too many pupils refuse to attend their lessons. When they do, their experiences are very inconsistent. This is partly due to instability in the school’s staffing meaning a large proportion of lessons are taught by temporary supply staff. It is common for pupils not to engage with their learning. Teachers are not consistent in challenging these behaviours.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The use of racist and homophobic language has become normalised between pupils. Many say that they would not report this behaviour because they are not confident it will be dealt with effectively. They are justified in feeling this way. When issues are reported, leaders do not always take appropriate action. This allows these behaviours to continue.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy some opportunities to engage in clubs and trips. This offer is not as wide as the school would like due to the high turnover of staff.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There is a shared understanding that standards of behaviour and education in the school are unacceptably low. Pupils and staff have been frustrated by a lack of consistent and effective leadership in the school over time. They are looking forward to the newly appointed headteacher taking up post soon.

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better?

Leaders and trustees understand that there has been a sharp decline in standards at this school. Staff turnover and a lack of leadership capacity have made it difficult for the school to make the necessary improvements. Trustees have identified this and, working with the local authority, have brokered support from a multi-academy trust (MAT). Leaders and trustees are aware that staff morale in the school has been low. However, recent changes have begun to have some positive impact and have been received well by staff and pupils.

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better?

Pupils experience a fragmented education at this school due to the impact of disruptive behaviour. Although there is a planned and coherent curriculum in most subjects, pupils do not consistently benefit from this because expectations of their engagement and work are often very low. Many staff are new to the school or employed on a temporary basis. Not all have the expertise to deliver the curriculum effectively. There are systems for assessing pupils’ progress, but the school does not currently apply these consistently due to a shortage of permanent staff. The school’s published outcomes are low across the board. This is particularly the case for disadvantaged pupils, whose progress is typically well below average.

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better?

Rates of absence at the school are high. Too many pupils are persistently absent and there is little sign of this improving. Despite some very recent improvements, when pupils do attend school, many are late or truant their lessons. Pupils’ attendance is not always recorded accurately. 30 April and 1 May 2024

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Leaders are aware that they are not providing an acceptable quality of education for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staffing shortages in this team mean that pupils’ needs are not identified quickly enough. Teachers are not always aware of pupils’ needs or the strategies that are likely to help most in the classroom. There is some positive work to support a small number of pupils outside of lessons. This includes some effective intervention for pupils who need help to improve their reading.

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The school has a well-planned programme of careers education, information and guidance. All pupils have opportunities to learn about a range of employers and further education providers. Pupils are taught an appropriate programme of personal, social, health and economic education known in school as ‘life skills’. This part of the curriculum is a relative strength of the school. Pupils find these lessons useful as they learn about a range of topics that are relevant to their age and experiences. Although pupils are taught about fundamental British values, including respect and tolerance, this is not reinforced through the school’s wider work. Discriminatory language is not consistently challenged by adults in school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

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Safeguarding

The school lacks the required capacity to carry out their safeguarding duties effectively. Too many pupils are frequently absent from school and leaders do not consistently make sure that these pupils are safe. This includes some pupils who are vulnerable, for example because they require the involvement of children’s social care. There is a lack of oversight of pupils on reduced timetables. The whereabouts of these pupils is sometimes unknown.

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Safeguarding

There is a lack of connectivity between different systems in school. Information about safeguarding and behaviour are not joined up, which has resulted in instances where patterns of concern have been missed. Weaknesses in safeguarding have not been identified prior to this inspection, including through the work of trustees.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective. There is a lack of oversight of some pupils who are not attending school. This includes groups of pupils who are particularly vulnerable. Leaders must act urgently to address weaknesses in the school’s safeguarding arrangements. Trustees should ensure that this work is prioritised and that they have more robust means of checking the effectiveness of safeguarding in the future.  Leaders have overseen a decline in standards at this school. Although they have identified weaknesses, they lack the capacity required to make the necessary improvements. Working with trustees and external partners, leaders should 30 April and 1 May 2024

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ensure that they put in place a clear and sustainable plan to raise standards of education and behaviour across the school.  The school’s systems to manage behaviour are not effective or consistently applied. Pupils frequently ignore the requests of staff to engage in lessons. Some pupils truant their lessons and disturb other classes. These behaviours frequently disrupt pupils’ learning. Leaders should continue their work to establish clearer expectations of pupils’ conduct. They must ensure that these expectations are upheld consistently and effectively and that staff are supported well to achieve this.  The use of prejudicial language has become normalised by pupils at the school. When incidents are reported, leaders do not consistently take action to stop this behaviour continuing. This has allowed a culture of racist and homophobic ‘banter’ to develop. The school should ensure that there are high expectations of

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the way pupils treat each other and that these are understood by all. They must make sure that their behaviour policy is applied consistently and that prejudicial language is not tolerated.  Pupils with SEND do not receive a high-quality education. Teachers and support staff are not consistently knowledgeable about the individual needs of pupils with SEND. Leaders should make sure that the school has procedures in place to identify the needs of pupils with SEND as quickly as possible. They should ensure that staff receive the training and guidance required to meet pupils’ needs.  Having considered the evidence, we strongly recommend that the school does not seek to appoint early career teachers.

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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 April and 1 May 2024

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School details

Number of pupils on the school roll 1151

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School details

Headteacher Allan Cottle (acting headteacher)

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School details

Date of previous inspection 2 and 3 October 2019

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Information about this school

 Since the last inspection, there have been two changes in the school’s headteacher. Recently, the school’s deputy headteacher has taken the role of acting headteacher on a temporary basis. A new headteacher has been appointed and is due to take up the post substantively before the end of this academic year.  The school has a specially resourced provision for up to 20 pupils with speech, language and communication needs. There are currently 14 pupils accessing this provision.  The school currently uses seven alternative providers. Three of these are unregistered.  The school meets the requirements of the Baker Clause, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspectors deemed the inspection a graded inspection under section 5 of the same act. 30 April and 1 May 2024

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In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, His Majesty's Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

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 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  The inspection was carried out following a number of complaints made to Ofsted that raised serious concerns. His Majesty’s Chief Inspector decided that an inspection of the school should take place to follow up on the whole-school issues that were raised. Inspectors sought to establish whether standards of behaviour were acceptable, whether pupils with SEND were having their needs met adequately and whether leadership and management were effective.  This inspection was carried out without notice. The lead inspector telephoned to notify the acting headteacher of the inspection fifteen minutes prior to arriving on the school site.  This was the first 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.

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 Inspectors spoke with senior staff in the school including the acting headteacher. The lead inspector met with representatives of the board of trustees, the local authority and the MAT offering support.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, geography, physical education, mathematics and modern foreign languages. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  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 considered a wide range of other evidence including the school’s self-

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evaluation.  Inspectors spoke with a wide range of pupils and staff at the school.

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Inspection team

Chris Ellison, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Alan Johnson Ofsted Inspector 30 April and 1 May 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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