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

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Jennifer Grotier Executive Headteacher Lexden Springs School Winstree Road Colchester Essex CO3 0PZ

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Serious weaknesses monitoring inspection of Lexden Springs School

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 2 July 2024, 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 have serious weaknesses following the graded (section 5) inspection that took place in February 2024.

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Serious weaknesses monitoring inspection of Lexden Springs 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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Serious weaknesses monitoring inspection of Lexden Springs School

During the inspection, Liz Smith, His Majesty’s Inspector (HMI) discussed with you, the chair of the interim executive board (IEB), the assistant director for the local authority, other senior leaders and staff 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 visited lessons, checked school improvement documentation and reviewed the school’s system for 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 having serious weaknesses.

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designation

The IEB was appointed in January 2024. This was prior to the findings of the last inspection. Its remit is to drive forward change to enable the school to improve quickly. A new executive headteacher who is a specialist in running schools for pupils with autism, severe learning difficulties and profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD) joined the school in March. The previous headteacher who was in post at the time of the last inspection has left. The new designated safeguarding lead (DSL) has oversight for safeguarding in both the residential provision and the school.

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designation

During this monitoring visit, the focus was on the school’s actions to improve the curriculum so that it meets the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This included consideration of improvements to the assessment of the curriculum, the way in which staff make checks on pupils’ targets on their education, health and care (EHC) plans and whether leaders check more frequently how well pupils learn the curriculum. In addition to this focus, I looked at how well the school is alleviating the workload of staff and how far reaching improvements are to the school’s culture for safeguarding and its procedures.

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Significant changes are underway to improve the curriculum. From September, classes will be grouped according to pupils’ needs and key stage rather than age. This means that appropriate curriculums will be in place for the range of complex needs that the school serves. This includes specialist provision for pupils with PMLD. Social interaction and communication, including early reading, remain at the heart of each pathway. Pupils now have the chance to undertake accreditation such as through Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network (ASDAN) awards. The post-16 provision is appropriately focused on preparation for adulthood. The curriculum team has put into place mission statements and long-term plans, and is working on the granular detail for medium- and short-term plans. This is on track to be ready for delivery in September, once staff receive training at the end of the summer term.

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As part of the planning of the curriculum, appropriate assessment processes are being considered. The school aims to produce an assessment calendar for the new academic year which streamlines and refines the way in which staff check pupils’ progress. This will enable the systematic checking of pupils’ small steps of learning to inform the review of their EHC plans. The senior leadership team is adjusting its quality assurance procedures so that leaders can see quickly how well the new curriculum serves the needs of the pupils.

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The workload for staff is easing. Staff are appreciative of the changes that are being made. Morale is higher. They understand how incorporating EHC plan targets into their curriculum planning will help with efficiencies for the review of pupils’ EHC plans. The streamlining of safeguarding procedures is making a tangible difference to their working lives. The use of a triage system to help escalate more serious concerns is helping staff prioritise. Helpful training run by the local authority has helped staff regain confidence with the use of the electronic system for recording safeguarding concerns. The inclusion of a daily briefing enables staff to share safeguarding practices as well as receive input to keep them up to date in their knowledge. The access to a well-being digital application is supporting staff through a time when there are greater demands to improve the school.

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While there are several improvements with the arrangements for safeguarding, it remains ineffective. This is because essential medical advice is still unavailable to staff. This has limited the updating of some pupils’ care plans. The school has worked tirelessly to remove barriers to address this. This includes seeking the help of a community nurse who was able to commit a day a week to provide necessary support. However, access to this has since stopped. While the local authority arranged a meeting on the school’s behalf with healthcare professionals, the situation remains unresolved. Pupils’ ever-changing medical needs, such as hospitalisation, also means that plans that were reviewed now need reviewing again. Important multi-disciplinary meetings for pupils starting school after hospitalisation have not taken place.

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designation

The school has a school nurse starting in September; however, there is increasing demand for up-to-date care plans. There are a rising number of pupils starting at the school in the new academic year. The local authority is looking again at what else it can do to help the school get to a place where it will have all pupils’ care plans updated.

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designation

The school has in place an improvement plan that is fit for purpose. It focuses appropriately on addressing the weaknesses identified at the previous inspection. Actions are timely and the school is on course to meet the previous inspection recommendations. However, further support is required to remove the current barrier to medical help.

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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 Essex. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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