The Grove Partnership

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Kingsland School Whitecroft Street, Watersheddings, Oldham, Greater Manchester OL1 4HX

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Outcome

Kingsland 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?

This is a nurturing and welcoming school. Pupils, all of whom have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), arrive at this setting having experienced significant disruption to their schooling. Staff equip pupils with effective strategies to manage their emotions and behaviour. Relationships are fundamental to the school’s success. Staff invest time and care in building trust with pupils. Pupils know that the staff around them will listen and respond to any concerns they may have. This contributes to their strong sense of safety.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for pupils’ success. Pupils engage with their learning and achieve well. Pupils are encouraged to be polite and respectful. They take pride in earning ‘BASE points’ when they behave well or show positive attitudes to their learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and enjoy school. Enrichment opportunities extend their learning beyond their academic studies. Pupils value the wide range of activities, trips and events that the school offers. For example, pupils talked excitedly about a recent trip to a theme park. These activities help pupils to apply their learning outside of the classroom.

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

The school has redesigned its curriculum to ensure that it is ambitious for pupils. In most subjects, the curriculum is carefully shaped so that teachers know what to teach and the order in which to teach it. However, in a small number of subjects, the curriculum is not coherently sequenced. This means that, sometimes, pupils do not develop a secure understanding of the curriculum. 24 and 25 June 2025

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Staff are experts in the subjects that they teach. They check what pupils know. Across the curriculum, staff are skilled at identifying gaps in pupils’ understanding. As a result, pupils receive high-quality support that helps them to improve.

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Staff are skilled at identifying the additional needs of pupils with SEND. This includes those pupils who attend the specially resourced provision for pupils with SEND. Effective communication with a wide range of professionals ensures that pupils receive expert support if this is needed. The school provides teachers with information about how to meet the needs of pupils. Teachers use this effectively to support pupils in lessons.

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The school places a strong emphasis on reading. Staff support pupils to strengthen their vocabulary. The school identifies pupils with gaps in their reading knowledge and provides support to help them to catch up. However, for a small number of pupils, this support lacks precision, which slows their progress in building reading fluency and confidence.

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The school has recently refined its systems to improve pupils’ behaviour. This has had a significant impact. The number of pupil suspensions has decreased and continues to reduce. Most pupils understand what is expected of them at this school. Over time, they learn how to manage their emotions well. Nonetheless, there is some variance in how well the school’s behaviour management strategies are used. As a result, some pupils do not receive the help that they need to engage with learning quickly enough.

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Some pupils have low attendance rates. However, the school works proactively with families and external agencies to overcome the barriers that lead to absence from school. As a result, most pupils now attend school more regularly than before, with some pupils showing a marked improvement in their attendance over time.

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Staff provide strong support to help pupils build confidence and resilience. Staff place a clear focus on understanding each pupil’s individual social, emotional and academic needs. This highly personalised approach is valued by pupils. Pupils learn how to stay safe online and in everyday life. Staff have a deep understanding of the specific risks that pupils may face. They tailor the curriculum and their support to address these challenges. This prepares pupils effectively for life beyond school.

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Pupils receive very effective advice and guidance that enables them to make informed decisions about their career or education.

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Since the previous inspection, the school has carefully identified and taken steps that have the greatest impact on pupils’ learning and well-being. The school works effectively with a range of multi-agency partners across the local authority. Governors work closely with leaders, guiding decisions that prioritise the needs of pupils and their families.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 24 and 25 June 2025

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, the curriculum is not coherently sequenced. This limits how well pupils build on what they already know in preparation for future learning. The school should ensure that all curriculum subjects are well sequenced so that pupils build their knowledge securely over time.  The school’s support for some pupils who find reading difficult is not precise enough. This hinders their progress in becoming fluent and accurate readers. The school should ensure that its support for struggling readers successfully overcomes gaps in pupils’ reading knowledge so that they catch up quickly.  There is some variability in how the agreed behaviour management strategies are implemented. This means that some pupils do not get the consistent support that they need to engage with their learning quickly enough. The school should ensure that the chosen approach to promoting positive behaviour is followed consistently well so that

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

pupils receive the help they need to manage their behaviour.

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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 February 2020. 24 and 25 June 2025

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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). 24 and 25 June 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 25 and 26 February 2020, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school operates across two sites. The main school site on Whitecroft Street caters for pupils who have been permanently excluded from other schools. The additional site, Laurel Bank, caters for a smaller number of pupils who are out of mainstream school due to medical or mental health reasons.  There is a specially resourced provision for up to 12 pupils with autism. The specially resourced provision is at the Laurel Bank site.  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.  The school uses three registered alternative providers for a small number of pupils.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision. 24 and 25 June 2025

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 This was the first routine inspection that 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.  The inspectors met with the headteacher, other school leaders and staff. The lead inspector also met with members of the governing body, including the chair of governors.  The inspectors visited a sample of lessons, spoke to groups of pupils and looked at examples of their work. They also considered the school’s self-evaluation document, along with other documentation provided by the school.  The inspectors observed pupils during social times.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and other senior leaders to discuss pupils’ rates of attendance and pupils’ behaviour.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders and pupils; and considered the

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extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors spoke with staff about their workload and well-being.  Inspectors took account of the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text responses.  Inspectors took account of the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff and pupils.

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Inspection team

Rebecca Sharples, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Tracy Beaty Ofsted Inspector 24 and 25 June 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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