Tor School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Tor School Beckery New Road, Glastonbury, Somerset BA6 9NS

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Outcome

Tor School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has created a safe, inclusive environment where pupils are well supported, valued and cared for. Positive working relationships between pupils and staff help pupils to develop ‘Tor Traits’, such as building their resilience and sense of responsibility.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff work with parents and carers and children to bring about positive changes to pupils’ attendance and well-being. Staff know pupils well. They skilfully help pupils recognise and understand their emotions and how to respond appropriately. Staff show respect for pupils and in return pupils learn to trust them. Strong routines and positive relationships create a calm, focused learning environment.

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What is it like to attend this school?

While at school, pupils have opportunities to develop important skills for life. For example, they can learn how to maintain motor vehicles or cook a healthy meal. Pupils are proud of their accomplishments. Parents say their children grow in confidence at Tor School.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for all its pupils to achieve. While each pupil’s journey through education and their end points are different, they go on to succeed. This could mean that they access school for the first time in years, or that they return to mainstream education, or they move on to further education, employment or training.

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

The management committee has a clear strategic oversight of the school’s strengths and areas for development. It works effectively with leaders to implement and sustain high- quality changes to the school’s educational provision. Despite recruitment and retention difficulties, the school has maintained its sharp focus on ensuring that staff know how to meet the needs of its pupils. 1 and 2 April 2025

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Most pupils join the school with their special educational needs and/ or disabilities (SEND) identified. Some have education, health and care (EHC) plans. However, when pupils join the school, teachers’ thorough assessments of pupils’ needs sometimes find that pupils’ SEND or co-existing needs have not been fully identified. Staff quickly develop a clear understanding of each pupils’ SEND and adapt teaching effectively to meet pupils’ individual needs.

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The curriculum is carefully designed to give pupils the knowledge, skills and qualifications they need to succeed in their next step. Staff identify important knowledge and subject- specific vocabulary. This is reinforced effectively with pupils. Teachers use questions skilfully to check pupils’ understanding of the curriculum and address any misconceptions.

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Pupils and their families are supported by committed staff every step of the way whether they access education virtually or in school. The school checks regularly on pupils’ learning and well-being. This means any issues are picked up quickly. Frequent communication with parents and pupils ensures that staff know how to meet pupils’ social, emotional and mental health needs well. The school is doing everything it can be reasonably expected to improve pupils’ attendance. This work is having a positive impact.

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Staff recently completed training to improve pupils’ reading and their engagement with reading. This has helped to increase pupils’ interest in reading. Staff read with and to pupils which supports pupils to discuss and comprehend the text. Primary age pupils are taught phonics. They learn to read and write the letters and sounds correctly. They are successfully supported to close the gaps in their phonics knowledge. Some pupils join the school in key stages 3 and 4 with gaps in their phonics knowledge. However, the phonics teaching and learning in the secondary phase is not as well developed as in the primary phase. This means that some pupils in Years 7 to 11, cannot read and spell words accurately or with confidence.

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The school’s ‘preparation for adult life’ curriculum ensures that staff address important issues such as racism or misogyny consistently well. Pupils benefit from working with knowledgeable staff and external agencies to learn how to be physically and mentally healthy. Pupils know and understand the school’s expectations for behaviour. Pupils learn right from wrong. They are taught the skills to know how to advocate for themselves and others.

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The school’s careers offer supports pupils to explore a wide range of post-16 options. For example, visits to places of work and independent guidance meetings provide pupils with a wealth of knowledge on which to base their next step decisions. Alongside the school’s strong personal development offer, this work helps to prepare pupils well for adulthood.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 1 and 2 April 2025

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Gaps in pupils’ phonics knowledge in key stages 3 and 4 are not closed sufficiently well. This means that reading and spelling misconceptions persist and can hinder pupils’ future learning. The school should ensure that staff have the expertise and resources they need to check and support secondary age pupils to effectively secure their reading and spelling knowledge.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in January 2020.

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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. 1 and 2 April 2025

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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). 1 and 2 April 2025

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School details

School category Maintained pupil referral unit

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 22 and 23 January 2020, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Tor School is a pupil referral unit. Pupils who attend the school have a range of SEND such as social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs, autism or medical needs.  Somerset County is the commissioning local authority for the school.  The school uses four unregistered alternative provisions.  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

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 1 and 2 April 2025

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 The inspectors met with the headteacher, assistant headteacher and other leaders and staff.  An inspector met with representatives from the local authority, the school’s improvement partners and members of the management committee including the chair.  Inspectors visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspectors observed pupils during social times and spoke with pupils and leaders about opportunities for pupils’ personal development.  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 the responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. They also took into consideration the responses to the surveys for staff and pupils.

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Inspection team

Marie Thomas, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Sean McKeown Ofsted Inspector 1 and 2 April 2025

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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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