The Harbour School

Inspection of The Harbour School Tipner Lane, Tipner, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO2 8RA

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The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Inadequate 3 and 4 December 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

This school is a lifeline for many pupils. For most pupils, the school is now a calm, stable environment where they can learn. Relationships are positive and pupils feel confident to talk to an adult in school about their worries and aspirations. Across all provisions, kind and caring staff act promptly to ensure pupils are safe and get the help they need. However, for a minority of pupils, expectations remain too low, leading to learning being frequently disrupted by poor behaviour.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from the changes throughout the school. They appreciate the priority given to careers and exploring possible future destinations. There are increasingly high aspirations for pupils’ achievement and many pupils are now getting a much better education. However, many of the recent changes are in the early stages of implementation. This means the quality of education varies between the different groups of pupils and the different school sites. Although it is one school, The Harbour has six different provisions operating across multiple sites, catering to six distinct groups of pupils with different special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Improvement work is having a positive impact for some sites, but not all. As a result, some pupils achieve well, but some pupils do not.

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

Leaders have reorganised the school, redesigned the curriculum and stabilised staffing. A coherent and ambitious curriculum is now in place. This supports teachers in knowing what to teach and when and is driving improvements in the quality of education for most pupils. However, it is too early to see the full impact of the school’s actions. Most notably, the curriculum for the youngest pupils still requires significant improvement.

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

Teaching is strongest for pupils in the school’s Vista, Horizons and Lighthouse provisions. Staff there have good subject knowledge. They adapt teaching to meet pupils’ needs and use resources effectively to help pupils understand new concepts. Teachers check pupils’ understanding and adjust the work they give pupils accordingly. This helps pupils to experience success in their learning. As a result, they are engaged, and many go on to achieve well. However, this is not true for all pupils. The quality of teaching is more variable at The Bridge and The Bay, where not all staff have the knowledge they need to deliver the curriculum effectively. Furthermore, it is at these two provisions where expectations for behaviour are neither clear nor consistent. As a result, for some pupils, learning is frequently impeded by poor behaviour.

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

Attendance needs to be improved. For some hard-to-reach pupils, often with a history of disengagement from education, the school’s specialist provision supports them to attend regularly. This must be celebrated. However, for other pupils, most notably those at The Bridge and The Bay, attendance is worryingly low, suspensions are high and the use of part-time timetables is commonplace. This fragments pupils’ experience of school. As a result, some pupils have significant gaps in their learning. Strong monitoring systems are now in place, but they need further refinement to ensure the school has accurate oversight of pupils’ attendance and can evaluate the impact of its actions effectively. 3 and 4 December 2024

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Reading has not been prioritised. There is no adequate provision in place to teach pupils the knowledge they need to read fluently. This means pupils at the earlier stages of learning to read are not yet getting the help they need and are underachieving.

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Pastoral support is a strength. In all provisions and across all sites, well-trained staff provide a range of nurturing and specialist support for pupils. This, combined with efficient systems for identifying SEND and proactive work with external professionals, ensures pupils get the help they need. The school has also developed an ambitious personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) curriculum for pupils and is now working on ensuring it meets their wide-ranging needs.

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Staff, leaders and those responsible for governance are united in a commitment to support Portsmouth’s most vulnerable young people. The school has embraced rapid improvement. As a result, the school is beginning to realise its vision. Staff feel valued and have a renewed sense of positivity under the school’s new and inclusive leadership. Staff are resolutely determined to improve things further. However, there is lots of work left to do. Some leaders are new to post, and some improvements, such as the new curriculum, have only very recently been implemented. This means that many improvements have not yet had the impact that leaders intend.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Too many pupils are not coming to school regularly, and the school has not linked its use of part-time timetables with systems used to oversee and improve attendance. Consequently, some pupils’ experience of school is fragmented. These pupils have significant gaps in their knowledge, and the school does not always have a clear picture of the actions it is taking to address this. The school must refine systems and continue its work to urgently improve pupil attendance.  The new curriculum is not being implemented consistently across all provisions and sites. This means the quality of teaching varies, and not all pupils achieve as well as they could. The school must continue its work to develop the subject and pedagogical knowledge that teachers need to confidently deliver the curriculum to pupils in a way that meets their needs.  In some parts of the school, behaviour expectations are not clear and consistent. Here,

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

poor behaviour and disruption to learning are frequent. The school must evaluate and improve its approach to behaviour management in these areas to create an environment conducive to learning.  The school’s curriculum for its youngest pupils is not fit for purpose. As a result, these pupils do not learn as well as others. The school must urgently review the primary 3 and 4 December 2024

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curriculum and its implementation. It must make rapid improvements, to ensure the youngest pupils achieve as well as other pupils.  Aspects of the school’s provision are not yet performing as leaders intend. The school must ensure that leaders at all levels receive the training and support needed to discharge their responsibilities effectively in line with the school’s vision.

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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.

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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). 3 and 4 December 2024

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School details

School category Academy special converter

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School details

Website www.theharbourschoolportsmouth.com

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School details

Date of previous inspection 19 September 2023, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The Harbour School is a special school and alternative provision for pupils with a range of social, emotional, mental health and/or medical needs. Some pupils have education, health and care plans.  The school is part of the Delta Education Trust, a multi-academy trust based across Hampshire and Dorset. The school has a local governing board with delegated powers from the board of trustees of the multi-academy trust.  In addition to The Bay campus in Tipner, the school is spread over three additional sites in the Portsmouth local authority area. These include The Vista Campus, Sundridge Close PO6 3JL; The Bridge Campus, Sundridge Close PO6 3LP; and The Lighthouse, Ranelagh Road PO2 8HA.  Some pupils are single-registered and have places at the school on the basis of the provision being a special school. These places are commissioned by the local authority.  Other pupils attend the school as an alternative provision and are either single-

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Information about this school

registered, or dual-registered on the roll of another school within the city. 3 and 4 December 2024

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 At the time of the inspection, 42 pupils were attending the school’s local authority- commissioned remote provision, Horizon. This is for pupils who cannot attend school due to medical reasons. All are dual-registered with their mainstream school.  The school also provides a reintegration programme for pupils who find it difficult to attend school for a number of different reasons. The school also provides outreach support for other schools in the local authority area.  The school provides tuition for some inpatients at the Queen Alexandra Hospital.  The school was using eight unregistered alternative provisions at the time of inspection.  Pupils join the school throughout the academic year. Many have had low attendance at their previous schools and have experienced gaps in their 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

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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.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, senior leaders, members of the local governing body, the chair of the board of trustees, the chief executive officer, executive leaders, the special educational needs coordinator, subject leaders, teachers and support staff.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in English, mathematics, PSHE and vocational subjects. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed 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

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Information about this inspection

the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for staff and pupils. They also considered the responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View.  Inspectors spoke to pupils throughout the inspection. 3 and 4 December 2024

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Inspection team

James Stuart, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Aimee Floyd His Majesty’s Inspector 3 and 4 December 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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