Southall School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Southall School Off Rowan Avenue, Dawley, Telford, Shropshire TF4 3PX

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Outcome

Southall 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?

Southall School is a very special place. It strives to get the very best outcomes for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy. They are eager to learn and take advantage of every moment at the school. Sports and performing arts are highlights for many of the pupils. Pupils told inspectors that they know that staff care for them and are always there if they need some help.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Expectations are high that barriers caused by SEND will not limit the potential of the pupils. Staff and families work together to provide the right support pupils need to overcome any barriers to learning and life. Staff meet pupils’ sensory, communication, health and learning needs well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a very caring and nurturing environment. Pupils and staff are welcoming and enjoy spending time together. Pupils’ behaviour is calm, purposeful and respectful.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Learning in the exciting and well-developed outdoor learning area nurtures pupils’ confidence and self-belief. Residential trips and visits to places such as London or further afield help pupils to develop an awareness of the world outside of Telford. The school parliament offers pupils opportunities to get involved and take on additional responsibilities.

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

Leaders, governors and staff are determined that every moment will count at Southall School. Since the last inspection, they have worked diligently to refine further and develop the quality of education for pupils. In addition, leaders have developed a high-quality 25 and 26 March 2025

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provision at a local secondary school for pupils who can access a mainstream environment and curriculum, with specialised support from Southall School staff.

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From the moment pupils arrive at the school, staff work closely with families to understand the individual SEND of each pupil. Staff then work closely with parents and carers and feeder primary schools to understand the additional needs of Southall pupils. As a result, staff adapt learning and resources skilfully to support individual needs.

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Across subjects, staff have a clear understanding of how learning builds from lesson to lesson. Subject leaders work with class teams to advise them on what pupils should learn and how they can learn it most effectively. There is consistency across classes in how well teachers provide opportunities for pupils to build their knowledge over time.

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The school’s curriculum pathway model ensures that pupils learn well alongside their peers and are supported by staff skilled at meeting their needs. In most cases, staff act quickly when pupils do not understand or need additional help. However, in some lessons, staff do not check effectively that pupils understand intended learning or what help they need to be successful. This means that some pupils are less well prepared for the next steps of their learning than they could be.

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Reading is rightly a high priority at the school. Some pupils join the school unable to read confidently and have found learning phonics challenging. However, at Southall, staff are skilled at adapting the school’s approaches to ensure that pupils learn to read well.

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All staff ensure that pupils’ attendance is exceptional. Pastoral, administrative and leadership staff work closely with educational welfare and children’s services to provide the right support to families at the right time. This work improves pupils’ attendance.

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Positive mental health and emotional well-being are a priority. Some pupils have difficulties with self-esteem or mental health. A caring and supportive pastoral, well-being and nurture team helps pupils to develop strategies for dealing with unpleasant feelings and emotions.

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Pupils are confident, polite and courteous members of the Telford community. The school’s curriculum in personal, social, health and economic education helps pupils learn how to be safe and healthy in their community. Careers fairs and supported visits to local colleges help pupils and parents to develop a strong understanding of the steps that follow after they leave Southall.

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Staff are overwhelmingly positive about the school. The school is well led and managed, and staff feel that they are well supported. One parent, whose comments represent the views of many others, said, ‘The school has not just made a difference to my child, it has made a difference to our whole family.’

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 25 and 26 March 2025

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some teaching of the curriculum, the school does not check carefully enough on what pupils have learned and understood. This reduces how well some pupils are ready for the next steps in their learning. The school should ensure that all staff are skilled in and aware of its assessment approaches and implement them consistently well.

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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 July 2019.

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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. 25 and 26 March 2025

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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). 25 and 26 March 2025

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provision

Appropriate authority The governing body

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provision

Headteacher Abi Martin and Adam Spellman (co- headteachers) Website www.southallschool.com

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provision

Dates of previous inspection 9 and 10 July 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school operates a hub provision at Telford Langley School for pupils who are on the roll of Southall School to access a mainstream curriculum and provision.  The school leases a plot of land at Dudmaston Hall, Shropshire, for the pupils to access forest school sessions and forestry courses.  Two new assistant headteachers took up post in September 2024.  The substantive headteacher is currently seconded to the local authority for two days a week to support the local area partnership’s SEND and alternative provision strategy. On the days that she is not in school, a member of the senior leadership team acts as the co-headteacher for the school.  The school uses two 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.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and other senior staff.  An inspector met with members of the governing body, including the chair.  A meeting was held with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors focused inspection activity on the following groups of subjects: English including reading, and mathematics; and outdoor learning, humanities and performing arts. For each group of subjects, inspectors visited a sample of lessons, spoke with pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also sampled lessons in other subjects to evaluate the quality of curriculum implementation

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Information about this inspection

in other areas.  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.  An inspector visited the schools’ own hub provision, at a local secondary school, to evaluate the quality of provision for pupils on the roll of Southall school but who attend the secondary school.  An inspector also spoke with one of the alternative provisions that the school currently uses to sample the quality of the school’s use of alternative provision.  Inspectors spoke with several groups of pupils and observed their behaviour at breaktime and lunchtime.  Inspectors met with groups of staff and considered the opinions expressed through the staff survey.  Inspectors took account of the views expressed through Ofsted Parent View.

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Inspection team

Chris Pollitt, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Richard Winzor Ofsted Inspector 25 and 26 March 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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