New Perspectives School

Inspection of New Perspectives School 197-223 Edward Road, Balsall Heath, Birmingham B12 9LB

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Inspection dates: 10 to 12 December 2024

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Overall effectiveness Good

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

Before joining New Perspectives, many pupils found attending and engaging with education challenging. This changed when they started here. Pupils quickly feel as if they belong, and they enjoy attending this welcoming school. They are delighted to have found a school that meets their needs.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations of, and is very ambitious for, every pupil. Staff carefully weave learning and high levels of care together to help pupils overcome barriers to learning and reach their potential. Pupils achieve well and talk about their learning with enthusiasm and pride.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school carefully supports pupils to meet the high expectations set for behaviour. As a result, pupils behave well. In the classrooms pupils focus on learning and at lunchtimes everyone eats together as a community. This develops social skills and strengthens relationships. Pupils demonstrate kindness to each other. They are proud to celebrate their friends’ achievements in the weekly community group meetings.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn important life skills such as independent travel, budgeting and first aid. They learn to be responsible by growing plants and caring for Snoopy, the school’s therapy dog. Trips to a city-centre police station, garden centre and a Christmas market build pupils’ confidence and independence.

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better?

The school has created an ambitious curriculum that is relevant to the unique needs of each pupil. Targets from each pupil’s education, health and care (EHC) plan are carefully woven throughout pupils’ learning. Pupils’ books, impressive artwork and the work displayed around the school are an indication of the engagement and the progress that pupils make. All pupils gain qualifications that they can use in later life. When they leave the school, they are well prepared for their next steps.

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better?

Teachers’ subject knowledge in their specialist areas is strong and they present information clearly. Activities are carefully chosen to be engaging. For example, in digital media pupils create football posters and in food technology they learn to make healthy meals. Teachers provide effective feedback about how pupils can improve their work.

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better?

All pupils have special educational needs and/or disabilities. The school correctly identifies pupils’ individual starting points, checks their progress and provides them with the support that they need to learn successfully. Adults understand individual pupils’ needs well and they make sure that learning is accessible. Staff and pupils build warm and trusting professional relationships. 10 to 12 December 2024 Pupils benefit from a varied reading curriculum, which includes a rich range of texts. A love of reading is promoted through the attractive library and daily reading sessions. However, the school’s support for early reading and mathematics is not as effective as it needs to be. As a result, some pupils are not securing the important knowledge they need for future learning.

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better?

The school provides an environment where pupils develop characteristics such as resilience, confidence and independence. Pastoral care is highly effective. The library provides a space where pupils can talk through concerns, follow their interests and regulate their emotions.

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better?

Pupils enjoy a wealth of trips and activities beyond the academic curriculum that broaden their experiences. Every pupil receives tailored careers information and guidance. It supports them in their ambitions for future careers or education. Pupils learn about healthy relationships, keeping physically healthy, conflict resolution, discrimination and prejudice. As a result, they learn to respect difference and value equality. However, leaders recognise that there is work to do to develop a more coherent personal development and careers programme to ensure that pupils build life skills in a measured and planned way.

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better?

The proprietor body ensures, through regular checks, that the school is safe, well- resourced and maintained to a high standard. The school fully meets the independent school standards and complies with schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010.

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better?

Staff know that leaders consider their workload and well-being. They are a united and happy team who all put the interests of the pupils first. Parents and carers are highly complimentary about the school and the positive impact it has on their children’s education and well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 The school’s support for pupils who need help to secure their foundational knowledge in early reading and mathematics is not fully effective. As a result, gaps and weaknesses in pupils’ knowledge are not being addressed well enough. The school needs to ensure that staff have the expertise they need to implement the early reading and mathematics primary curriculums.  The school’s personal development programme is not as coherently designed as it could be. This means that pupils are not building their knowledge and skills well enough or in the way that leaders intend. The school needs to refine its personal 10 to 12 December 2024 development programme to ensure that pupils’ experiences and knowledge build more sequentially over time to support their wider development.

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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. 10 to 12 December 2024

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School details

Unique reference number 149864 DfE registration number 330/6142

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School details

Inspection number 10342201 Type of school Other independent special school

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) £71,500 to £110,000

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School details

Email address npsadmin@careperspecitves.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected 10 to 12 December 2024

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Information about this school

 This is the first standard inspection since the school was first registered by the Department for Education on 22 September 2023.  The school operates from one site at its registered address: 197–223 Edward Road, Balsall Heath, Birmingham B12 9LB.  New Perspectives School provides education for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs. All pupils who attend the school have an EHC plan. They are placed in the school by a range of local authorities.  The school is registered to admit up to 50 pupils.  The school’s proprietor also operates 8 residential homes across the West Midlands region.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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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 evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This is the first standard inspection following 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 headteacher, deputy headteacher and a range of staff to discuss the school’s work. The lead inspector met with members of the proprietor body.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, art and design and food technology. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, looked at curriculum plans, 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

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Information about this inspection

considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors conducted a range of activities to confirm whether the school meets the independent school standards in full. This included a review of documents, 10 to 12 December 2024 including policies, health and safety checks of the premises, risk assessments, record-keeping for behaviour management and supervision during social times.  Inspectors considered responses to the online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View, and responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.

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Inspection team

Corinne Biddell, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Tracey O'Keeffe-Pullan Ofsted Inspector 10 to 12 December 2024 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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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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