Nyland School

Nyland School

Address: Nyland Road, Nythe, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN3 3RD Unique reference number (URN): 138307

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The school's inclusion strategy is highly effective. Leaders make decisions that put pupils' needs first. This ensures pupils and their families and local schools access a wide range of timely support and specialist guidance. This approach has a substantial impact on the achievement and experiences of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those known to social care.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Staff plan careful transitions into the school and take full account of pupils' lives and experiences. Leaders invest continually in developing staff expertise, which enables them to identify and assess pupils' individual needs quickly and accurately. Pupils receive appropriate support as a result. Leaders and staff check rigorously how well interventions work, including the range of therapies delivered on site. They adjust pupils' provision swiftly when required. The school uses additional funding very effectively to broaden pupils' wider experiences and remove any barriers to learning. When necessary, leaders commission alternative provision. The school maintains clear oversight of the education these pupils receive.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Pupils who attend the pupil referral unit, including those on short-term placements, receive highly effective and timely support. This typically helps them to meet their personal targets and re-engage in learning rapidly and successfully.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

The school provides extensive pastoral support and high ‑ quality personal development. Staff understand pupils' individual needs and previous experiences. This characterises everything the school does. The school's relational approach is central to its ethos and daily practice. The school's approach to personal development and wellbeing has a highly tangible impact on pupils' self-esteem, self-belief, their improved behaviour, attendance and academic outcomes.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders set uncompromisingly high expectations for personal development. Staff work systematically to anticipate and identify when pupils need additional pastoral support. What they receive is highly effective. Pupils learn about right and wrong. The school's curriculum for helping pupils understand and manage their feelings is well planned and taught very effectively. It develops pupils' knowledge, skills and resilience related to their social and emotional development superbly. This enables pupils to build resilience and develop positive relationships and social behaviours. As a result, pupils re-engage with learning successfully. Pupils are very well prepared for their next stage of education.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

The personal, social, health and economic education programme is ambitious. Leaders specify precisely the key knowledge pupils will learn. They continuously review this to ensure that the specific curriculum meets pupils' needs precisely. Pupils revisit subject content frequently so that they practise and deepen their learning. Pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, develop deep and secure knowledge as a result. The relationships and sex education and health education curriculum provides pupils with the knowledge that

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Expected standard

they need, for example staying safe online, building healthy relationships and making informed choices.

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Expected standard

Pupils understand how fundamental British values are important in the world they live in. This develops their character. For example, regular discussions contribute to the school council's work to enable pupils to influence whole-school decisions, contribute as young leaders and learn about democracy. Pupils benefit from wide-ranging enrichment activities and visits, including music.

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Achievement Expected standard

Over time pupils achieve well from their different starting points, including disadvantaged pupils and those known to social care. Bespoke curriculum pathways build pupils' emotional awareness, self-esteem and understanding very effectively. As a result, pupils grow in confidence, learn to be tolerant and manage friendships with increasing maturity. This in turn ensures pupils can access academic learning successfully.

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Achievement Expected standard

Many pupils arrive with gaps in their knowledge and skills. Targeted support closes these gaps steadily, including in pupils' speech and language and physical development. Pupils apply their phonics knowledge to read and spell accurately. They strengthen their handwriting and improve the quality of their writing. They become fluent in multiplication tables and make notable progress in securing their mathematical knowledge and skills. This equips them to apply their knowledge across a range of subjects.

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Achievement Expected standard

Pupils are well prepared for their next stage of education, including those attending short- term placements.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

The school's attendance strategy is highly successful. Leaders work extensively with pupils, families and external agencies. Rates of absence are consistently lower than those seen nationally for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders analyse patterns of attendance meticulously, including for pupils who attend the pupil referral unit (PRU). This ensures that pupils' attendance increases the longer they are in school. Very few pupils are persistently absent.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Pupils form positive relationships with staff, including in the PRU. Pupils learn to be respectful of others. Staff use well ‑ planned strategies to support smooth transitions between lessons. Staff are trained in the school's behaviour policy and use de-escalation strategies skilfully. This supports pupils to manage their emotions and typically show positive attitudes to learning and at social times. Discrimination and harassment are not accepted. Suspensions are rare. Pupils who struggle to manage their emotions receive timely and purposeful support. When pupils' behaviour falls short of the school's expectations, staff act promptly and help pupils to re-engage in learning. The number of physical interventions has reduced markedly over time. Staff accurately record any incidents of poor behaviour. However, leaders and the trust do not have sufficiently detailed oversight of some aspects of the school's behaviour systems. This limits their ability to review patterns of behaviour

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have a clear grasp of the strengths of the curriculum and teaching. They know which aspects need further refinement. The curriculum is sequenced well so that it includes all the necessary content across subjects. Staff have secure subject knowledge. They use well-chosen strategies to adapt learning for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This builds pupils' confidence and emotional skills while securing key academic knowledge.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders generally set clear expectations for assessment. This ensures that staff check what pupils know and understand over time. Typically, pupils learn well through the curriculum from their various starting points.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders make effective use of support from the central trust team. A recent development to refine the teaching of English and mathematics has strengthened how staff show pupils what successful learning looks like. This has increased the opportunities for pupils to practise essential subject content. As a result, pupils are learning more effectively. They confidently apply essential subject knowledge, including handwriting, extending their vocabulary and when solving number problems. However, for a minority of pupils, including those who attend the pupil referral unit, teaching does not always build precisely on what pupils need to learn next. This limits how securely these pupils deepen their understanding of more complex content when they are ready.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders and those responsible for governance fulfil their statutory duties effectively. They understand the school's strengths and specific context well. The school is persistent in its work with external organisations, commissioning local authorities and local schools that refer pupils to the pupil referral unit. This puts pupils at the centre of any decision-making. The school acts in the best interests of pupils, including those who are disadvantaged and those known to social care.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The trust and school consider staff workload and wellbeing. Staff are proud to work at Nyland and make a consistently positive contribution to supporting pupils' individual needs. The school uses ongoing support from the central trust team effectively. For example, through the extensive professional development programme, staff continually enhance their subject knowledge in English and mathematics.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders' oversight of the school's work is notable in some aspects. For example, its astute analysis of high rates of attendance and knowing how well pupils progress through the school's personal development programme. Leaders make regular checks on curriculum and teaching. This ensures that they quickly identify any improvement priorities in these areas. However, leaders and the trust do not use detailed and insightful analysis to evaluate a few aspects of the school's work. This limits their ability to review patterns precisely and identify trends quickly, for example the frequency and type of behaviour incidents. Leaders build firm relationships with parents and carers. Parents are highly positive about the difference the school makes in turning their children's experience of school around.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils are accepted and celebrated as individuals. Many pupils have previous negative experiences of education. Pupils quickly learn to enjoy school. This can be seen by pupils' high rates of attendance. Pupils receive high-quality pastoral support and benefit from a range of therapies to support their development. Staff are overwhelmingly positive and nurturing. This persistent praise makes pupils feel welcome right from the start. Clear routines and staff's high expectations ensure pupils belong, make friends and feel safe. Pupils typically behave well. They have confidence in staff to sort out any bullying should it arise.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils benefit from ambitious curriculums that support their academic and social and emotional needs effectively. For example, pupils become increasingly confident in using language to communicate their feelings and needs. The school's 'EQ curriculum' ensures that pupils learn to understand themselves and others much better. Over time, pupils learn to trust others and gain the resilience they need to be tolerant and take on responsibilities, such as being part of the school council. Pupils recognise the difference that the school makes. For example, they praise the school for the way that it helps them understand themselves, understand each other and be calm.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils, including those on short-term placements, are well prepared for their next stage of education. They build secure foundations in reading, writing and mathematics. This enables them to access learning across other curriculum subjects successfully. Staff identify and address any gaps in pupils' knowledge effectively. Pupils particularly relish 'making and doing' in design technology and learning to swim.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils benefit from an extensive range of experiences beyond the academic, including residential visits, outdoor education, sporting events and the mini-police initiative. There are a range of clubs to attend, including martial arts and drama.

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Next steps

• Leaders should ensure that teaching consistently builds on what pupils know already, including for those who attend the pupil referral unit, so that all pupils develop their knowledge consistently well and achieve highly across the curriculum. • Leaders should use detailed and insightful analysis of all aspects of the school performance to evaluate the effectiveness of provision so that they can spot patterns and trends and act on them swiftly and consistently.

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Lead inspector:

Julie Carrington, His Majesty's Inspector

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About this inspection

This school is part of The White Horse Federation, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Dr Dan Nicholls, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Ninna Gibson.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty's Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the executive headteacher, the associate principal, assistant headteachers and a range of other staff, including therapy staff. They met with the CEO, a trustee and 2 members of the local governance committee. Inspectors also met with a range of trust staff. Inspectors also held telephone conversations with a representative of Swindon local authority and a headteacher who places pupils at the pupil referral unit at the school.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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About this inspection

The school mainly provides education for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs.

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About this inspection

Most pupils who attend the school have an education, health and care plan.

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About this inspection

There is a pupil referral unit on the same site, in a separate building, providing education for pupils who have been permanently excluded from their mainstream school.

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About this inspection

The school also, under the same registration, runs an off-site provision for pupils who are at risk of permanent exclusion. These pupils are on the roll of Nyland School and their mainstream school. The provision is situated approximately 3 miles away.

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About this inspection

The school makes use of 5 unregistered alternative provisions.

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About this inspection

Executive headteacher: Paul Holroyd The data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational support needs at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English Indices of Deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced Provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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What does this mean?

The type of Special Educational Needs provision provided at the school (if applicable).

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care. services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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