Prospect School

Inspection of Prospect School Freeley Road, Havant, Hampshire PO9 4AQ

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Inspection dates: 24 and 25 September 2024

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Previous inspection grade Good 24 and 25 September 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff at Prospect School understand how to cater for the needs of pupils who attend the school. Each pupil receives a warm welcome when they arrive. Staff prioritise pupils’ welfare and their feelings. It allows them to adjust the curriculum to meet pupils’ needs. This helps them to be ready to learn.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious. It has a broad and balanced curriculum that reflects its high expectations. Relationships between adults and pupils are extremely positive and help the school be calm and orderly. Pupils are polite and courteous towards each other. In the main, pupils behave well in lessons and during social times. They learn to recognise the importance of accepting differences between people. Pupils know that they can share any welfare concerns and always receive help to resolve them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy different opportunities for wider learning. Staff take them to sporting events and outdoor activities. Their tutors regularly take pupils off site to parks and other public places, to help pupils build their self-esteem.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school has recently considered the design of the curriculum. All pupils have an education, health and care (EHC) plan. Many pupils have previous negative experiences of education. The school ensures that pupils receive appropriate support to help reignite pupils’ passion for learning. For example, the garden group accommodates pupils who need personalised learning to help them settle into school.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Pupils are well prepared for their next stages of education. They study a range of subjects. For older pupils, it often leads to gaining qualifications and national awards. There is ambition for all pupils to achieve as highly as possible. Crucially, there is no ceiling on what pupils can achieve. Most subject curriculums include detailed steps that help pupils build their knowledge over time. However, some subject curriculums do not have the same precision. This means, in these areas, pupils do not progress quickly enough on to more advanced work.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Reading is an important part of the curriculum. Staff in all lessons use sensible strategies to support any pupil who finds reading more difficult. Pupils regularly read aloud in class. For those who are more reluctant, staff skilfully engineer opportunities for reading that are more discreet. There is a positive approach to instilling a love for books. An example of this is the daily ‘drop everything and read’ time that the whole school community joins in with.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school identifies pupils’ additional needs well. Staff adhere to the school’s agreed strategies to help pupils manage their behaviour effectively. Learning is rarely disturbed as a result. The school analyses data on behaviour meticulously. This enables adjustments to be made for pupils’ specific needs. Pupils develop resilience as they progress through the school, which increases their ability to learn and remember more. 24 and 25 September 2024

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Some pupils do not attend school as regularly as they should. The school has successfully adopted its rigorous approach to behaviour analysis to improve attendance. As a result, many pupils’ attendance improves considerably over time.

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Personal development and careers education are central to the curriculum. Individual learning plans, in addition to EHC plans, are used to support this. These learning plans are reviewed thoroughly to ensure they are always in the best interests of pupils. Tutors regularly take their groups out of school to public places. The school organises trips that are well received by pupils and their families. However, the monitoring and analysis of the impact of these activities is not yet established, meaning they do not always enhance learning across the school’s curriculum as well as they could.

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Pupils are well prepared for the challenges that they may face when they become adults. The school supports pupils to explore the different options available. Pupils develop positive attitudes that will help them cope with the demands of employment, further education, or training.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some foundation subjects, the implementation of the curriculum is not fully secure. This means that, on occasion, pupils’ knowledge and skills do not develop deeply over time. The school should continue with its plans to ensure that all teachers are able to deliver their ambitious curriculum precisely.  School trips and activities are organised as opportunities arise. This means that they are not always related to the lessons that pupils are learning. The school needs to more thoughtfully consider and plan how additional trips and activities can reinforce and consolidate learning in the curriculum, so these experiences are not ad hoc.

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How can I feed back my views?

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. 24 and 25 September 2024

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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). 24 and 25 September 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 20 and 21 June 2023, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The primary need for most pupils at this school is social, emotional and mental health.  The school uses seven registered alternative providers and 15 unregistered alternative providers to support pupils’ education.  The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information and engagement about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade. 24 and 25 September 2024

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 Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors met with representatives of the governing body, including the chair of governors.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics, history, and physical education. 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, 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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 Inspectors considered responses to Ofsted’s pupil and staff surveys. They also considered responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for parents and carers, Ofsted Parent View.  Inspectors spoke to leaders about pupils who are working off site at alternative provisions. They also spoke with leaders from two alternative providers.

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Inspection team

Gary Tostevin, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Becky Greenhalgh Ofsted Inspector 24 and 25 September 2024

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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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