Watling View School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Watling View School Watling View, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL1 2NU

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Outcome

Evidence gathered during this ungraded (section 8) inspection suggests that the school’s work may have improved significantly across all areas since the previous inspection. The school’s next inspection will be a graded inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thrive here. There is a wide range of opportunities that spark curiosity, build their confidence and create joy throughout the school day. They love exploring the dark room and sensory room, where calming lights, sounds and textures create magical spaces to relax. Older pupils proudly help as librarians or take shifts in the school’s ‘Nourish to Flourish’ café. They welcome and serve guests while growing in their confidence, teamwork and responsibility.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Many pupils arrive with different starting points. Some find it hard to manage new experiences or take on challenging tasks. This can lead to behaviour that is difficult or unsafe. However, strong, trusting relationships with consistent and highly skilled staff help pupils to feel secure. Staff recognise early signs of distress, prevent difficulties and gently encourage pupils to face new challenges. The result is typically calm, positive behaviour. Pupils engage with real enthusiasm in a setting that helps them to feel happy and safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There are high expectations for pupils. These are seen in the skilful way staff guide pupils to use communication strategies to express their thoughts, wants and needs. Pupils benefit from a carefully constructed curriculum. There are robust systems to review pupils’ progress that support high ambition, which is reflected in many students successfully moving on to college.

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

Staff are adept at promoting lifelong communication and reading skills. Approaches such as phonics and multi-sensory storytelling help pupils to improve their communication strategies and develop a love of reading. Staff skilfully adapt their teaching for each pupil. 29 and 30 April 2025

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They are supported by expert advice from speech and language therapists. This ensures an effective response when a pupil’s progress through the reading programme slows.

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The school has thoughtfully designed three effective distinct pathways to meet the varied needs of its pupils. Each pathway includes broad and balanced areas of learning. One that spans all three pathways is ‘community learning’. It includes themes such as how to navigate different forms of public transport. These experiences extend classroom learning and help pupils to feel at ease around unfamiliar people and places but with the close support of attentive staff.

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Staff value the well-organised systems that efficiently direct them to key curriculum information. This helps them to focus on adapting lessons effectively while managing their workload with clarity and confidence. For example, staff skilfully weave pupils’ education, health and care (EHC) plan targets into their lessons. They ensure that pupils progress well from their various starting points. For example, how they learn to measure in mathematics and apply this to their cookery lessons.

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Pupils behave well and respond positively to the school’s calm, consistent routines. Staff help pupils take personal responsibility, such as tidying up. This builds their independence and self-esteem. Staff use communication aids and sensory strategies to good effect to help pupils to recognise and manage their emotions. Staff value the new behaviour reporting system, which lets them ask for guidance or a well-being check. Consequently, they feel very well equipped to manage pupils’ behaviour effectively.

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The school takes reasonable steps to promote good attendance and regularly reviews how best to support families. Staff work sensitively with pupils whose attendance may be affected by their medical needs. They balance support, such as liaising with external professionals, with gentle challenge. The school works successfully with parents to help them to overcome anxiety about their child attending school.

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The school offers an exceptional range of experiences that help pupils grow in confidence, independence and emotional well-being. Through activities like performing in theatre productions and working at a local market, pupils gain real-world life skills that spark ambition and pride. From music therapy to hydrotherapy, and sensory play to cooking, every aspect of the school day is designed to help pupils to flourish in life beyond the classroom.

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Careers education begins with broad, cross-curricular experiences and builds towards personalised pathways for pupils. Staff work tenaciously to support every pupil. Whether pupils move on to further education or requiring ongoing care, staff help them to explore suitable providers and opportunities.

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Governors ensure that pupils receive a high-quality education. They engage external advisers and closely review leaders’ reports to understand the school’s effectiveness. They check that policies work in practice and make informed decisions, such as supporting the school to make more time for staff training. This has led to a more skilled and consistent team who better meet pupils’ needs. 29 and 30 April 2025

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The school uses online platforms to share information, photographs and videos with parents. It enables parents to follow their child’s school experience and see the progress being made. A daily written log is used to exchange information between home and school, supporting consistency and joint working.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in June 2016.

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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. 29 and 30 April 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). 29 and 30 April 2025

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form

Appropriate authority The governing body

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form

Dates of previous inspection 10 and 11 March 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since the last inspection, the number of pupils on roll has increased by 20. To support this growth, the local authority funded improvements to the school’s facilities, including the replacement of the hydrotherapy pool and the addition of a dark room, a sensory room, a library and an additional intervention room.  All pupils have an EHC plan. The school caters for pupils with severe learning difficulties or profound and multiple learning difficulties. Many pupils have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.  Although the school is registered to admit nursery-age children, there were no two- or three-year-olds on roll at the time of this inspection.  The school reasonably interprets the Gatsby Benchmarks to meet the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 29 and 30 April 2025

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with information and engagement about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.  The school does not make use of alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspector carried out this ungraded inspection under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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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 held meetings with leaders, including the headteacher, deputy headteacher, assistant headteachers, five governors, a representative of the local authority and a representative of the Hertfordshire virtual school.  Inspectors visited a sample of lessons and reviewed samples of pupils’ documentation, including reports and examples of their schoolwork. Staff were present for inspectors’ discussions with pupils to ensure pupils felt comfortable and to aid their ability to communicate about their education and wider school life.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: reviewed the single central

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Information about this inspection

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 reviewed a range of school documentation, including the school improvement plan, minutes of meetings of the local governing body and external advisers’ reports on the school.  Inspectors considered responses to Ofsted’s staff survey, as well as Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text responses.

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Inspection team

Daniel Short, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Lynda Walker Ofsted Inspector 29 and 30 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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T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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