The Harbour School

The Harbour School

Address: Tipner Lane, Tipner, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO2 8RA Unique reference number (URN): 147720

p.1

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.

p.1

How we evaluate safeguarding

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

p.1

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.

p.1

This school requires special measures

His Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to provide an acceptable standard of education, and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

p.2

Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders are improving the curriculum. It is well designed and logically sequenced to help pupils to build their knowledge over time. Work to increase pupils’ skills in English and mathematics is under way. A whole-school reading strategy is being carefully developed to meet the different needs of pupils across the school. Leaders and staff have recently worked alongside external agencies to provide a specialised curriculum to help some extremely vulnerable pupils to manage and overcome the challenges they face. However, this work is in its early stages.

p.2

Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

At key stage 4, pupils study towards a range of GCSE and other qualifications. This reflects leaders' increasingly ambitious curriculum. This curriculum now includes access to vocational courses, developed in partnership with local colleges. Pupils in Year 10 appreciate the opportunity to try out these work-related subjects.

p.2

Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Staff want pupils to succeed. Knowledgeable teachers adapt what they teach to engage pupils in learning. In the most effective cases, teachers understand pupils’ gaps in learning well and adapt how they teach to help fill them. However, this is not the case throughout the school. Sometimes, this is because pupils’ infrequent attendance hinders how effectively staff can identify what pupils do and do not know.

p.2

Achievement Urgent improvement

Over time, too many pupils do not gain the skills and knowledge they need to be successful in their next stage of education, training or employment. Recent work, for example to streamline the number of subjects pupils study at key stage 4, to improve English and mathematics across the school, and to create bespoke curriculum pathways for pupils, has not had enough impact.

p.2

Achievement Urgent improvement

There are some individual successes. For example, some pupils spoke to inspectors warmly about how staff have helped them to manage their social, emotional and mental health needs well enough that they are ready to return to mainstream education. Other pupils who have recently joined the school show small steps of success as they learn to follow school rules and procedures. However, the progress the majority of pupils make, in particular the most disadvantaged, is consistently low and shows little improvement.

p.2

Attendance and behaviour Urgent improvement

In most of the school's provisions, rates of attendance are extremely low and declining. Leaders have not been successful in helping many pupils to overcome their barriers to attending, including barriers linked to pupils’ social, emotional and mental health needs. This is especially the case in the Bay and the Bridge provisions.

p.3

Attendance and behaviour Urgent improvement

Over time, the school has made inappropriate, excessive and long-term use of part-time timetables, for example by setting out the limited times of day pupils should attend. This practice inadvertently restricted pupils from attending for longer periods of time. Very recently, leaders have started to unpick these issues, but there is not currently an effective strategic approach to maximising pupils’ attendance.

p.3

Attendance and behaviour Urgent improvement

However, in the medical provision, the football academy and for some other extremely vulnerable groups of pupils, the school typically works well to ensure that pupils attend education in a meaningful way.

p.3

Attendance and behaviour Urgent improvement

The school is typically calm. Pupils' behaviour is managed well because staff are skilled in helping pupils to manage their emotions and to interact with others. Staff care about pupils and develop positive relationships with them. However, pupils’ very low attendance hinders the impact of this work. New strategies to reduce suspensions, such as attending some courses at a local college and more outdoor learning, are showing early signs of success.

p.3

Inclusion Urgent improvement

Over time, the school has not been successful enough in removing the barriers to learning that many pupils face. Not enough has been done to help pupils to attend school more regularly. Serious failings in how part-time timetables are used have hindered pupils from coming to school more frequently. This has led to significant underachievement, particularly for pupils known to social care and those who are disadvantaged.

p.3

Inclusion Urgent improvement

Some aspects are more positive. Staff are typically skilled in developing warm, nurturing relationships with those pupils who are extremely vulnerable, including those with medical needs and/or significant anxiety. This is because they take time to understand pupils' individual needs. New leadership is promoting a more strategic approach to identifying, assessing and meeting individual needs. Pupils with similar needs now attend the same part of the school as each other. This allows for specialist support to be better targeted. The school has reduced the use of external alternative provisions by providing its own. For example, a new football academy is re-engaging a small group back into education. The school works with a range of agencies and draws on specialist advice, for example to help pupils who are at risk of exploitation and youth violence.

p.3

Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Over time, the trust has not demonstrated that it has the expertise or capacity to establish secure and effective ways of bringing about improvements to this complex school. Despite leaders' positive intentions, the trust has overseen significant failures to ensure that pupils overcome barriers to their social, emotional and mental health needs. This prevents pupils from attending, learning and achieving well, and it leaves them ill-prepared to have successful futures. Decisions taken by the school have not always been in the best interests of pupils’ current needs. In particular, inappropriate use of part-time timetables has compounded some pupils' irregular attendance.

p.4

Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Nevertheless, there have been pockets of success. For example, leaders have established a football academy that benefits a small number of pupils. In the last year, a new leadership structure has started to make a positive difference. Reorganisation of the school's provision, so that each of the school's sites focuses on different types of need, has concentrated the positive help that some very vulnerable pupils receive, for example at the Vista campus. However, this has also highlighted the poor quality of provision for those other pupils who may have been excluded from other schools or who struggle to behave and attend well, including those at risk of exploitation.

p.4

Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Most staff feel well trained and supported by school leaders. However, there is some unhappiness, including worries from school staff, leaders and governors, about how well the trust knows, understands and supports the school.

p.4

Personal development and wellbeing Urgent improvement

Although the curriculum includes a programme of personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, a significant proportion of pupils do not access it because of their low attendance. Consequently, they do not benefit from a wide, rich range of experiences or receive the pastoral support that will help to meet their needs.

p.4

Personal development and wellbeing Urgent improvement

For pupils who do engage in their education, the PSHE programme helps to develop their knowledge and understanding of life in modern Britain. For example, pupils learn about how democracy works and how to access health services. Some pupils spoke positively about the relationships and sex education they have received and how the life skills programme helps them to interact well in the community, for example when they take trips to the beach. Staff in school help pupils to manage their emotions when they struggle to maintain control and find it hard to understand their feelings. There are some positive examples of the school helping to reduce pupils’ risks of being drawn into criminal and sexual exploitation. Careers education is well planned and tailored to individual pupils. There is some useful recent work to increase pupils' knowledge of the world of work through units undertaken at local colleges.

p.4

Personal development and wellbeing Urgent improvement

However, the school does not have a successful or convincing strategy to help pupils with low attendance to benefit from all the school has to offer. This further disadvantages pupils who are already vulnerable. It hinders their ability to develop their characters positively, prevents a detailed understanding of the fundamental British values and reduces their chances of leading successful, productive future lives.

p.4

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

The Harbour serves pupils with a wide range of social, emotional and mental health needs. It has a number of different provisions operating across multiple sites. Many pupils are extremely vulnerable, including those in the medical provision, those who suffer significant levels of anxiety, those at risk of being drawn into criminal or sexual exploitation and many who have faced other extremely difficult circumstances in their lives. Some pupils have been excluded from other schools. Many have previously low rates of attendance at their former school, and many struggle to manage their emotions and maintain positive behaviour.

p.5

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

Over time, the trust has not secured and embedded improvements to this school. Too many pupils are not helped to overcome barriers to their attendance. Although there have been some recent improvements to the curriculum, most pupils have significant gaps in their knowledge and do not achieve well. Infrequent attendance means that too many pupils do not benefit from the school’s personal development and wellbeing provision. They are not well prepared to have successful futures.

p.5

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

There are some pockets of success. For example, most of the school is calm, and some pupils develop positive friendships with others in the school. Staff help pupils to manage their emotions, and a few do achieve well. This is especially the case in the medical provision and for those pupils with significant anxiety. Pupils in Year 10 are enthusiastic about new opportunities to attend college courses that offer vocational learning.

p.5

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

Pupils are safe. This is because leaders and staff know pupils well. They liaise well with families and external agencies to help keep pupils safe, including those at risk of harm and those who are frequently absent.

p.5

Next steps

Leaders and governors must urgently develop effective strategies to raise pupils’ attendance. This should include ensuring that any use of part-time timetables follows government guidance. Leaders should monitor the effectiveness of these strategies to ensure that they have sustained impact. Leaders should ensure that recent improvements to the curriculum and teaching are further embedded so that pupils develop detailed knowledge and their achievement improves. In particular, leaders should ensure that assessment processes help staff to understand pupils’ gaps in learning and that there are effective methods in place to support staff in filling these gaps. Leaders should develop strategies to ensure that pupils who do not attend regularly receive timely, effective help that supports their personal development and wellbeing and helps to reduce pupils’ risks of harm. The trust should improve how well it oversees the school so that school leaders feel better

p.5

Next steps

supported in their work and that barriers to pupils' learning and wellbeing are reduced more comprehensively.

p.5

About this inspection

The school is part of Southern Education Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), John White, and overseen by a board of trustees, co-chaired by Andy Baker and Mark Grigsby.

p.6

About this inspection

The inspection began on 18 March 2026 as a focused monitoring inspection under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was deemed a full inspection under section 5 of the same Act. As a full inspection requires more time to complete than a focused monitoring inspection, we returned on 19 March 2026 to complete the full inspection. The focused monitoring inspection was carried out following a number of complaints made to Ofsted that raised serious concerns. His Majesty's Chief Inspector (HMCI) decided that an inspection of the school should take place to follow up the whole-school issues that were raised. These issues are related to how well leaders manage pupils' behaviour, attendance and safety.

p.6

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.

p.6

About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the headteacher, senior leaders and other staff. Inspectors also met with one of the co-chairs of the board of trustees, the CEO and deputy CEO of the trust and the chair of the local governance board.

p.6

About this inspection

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.

p.6

About this inspection

In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, HMCI is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing and governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvements in the school.

p.6

About this inspection

HMCI is of the opinion that the school does not appoint early career teachers. The position regarding the appointment of early career teachers will be considered again during any monitoring inspection we carry out.

p.6

About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

p.6

About this inspection

The Harbour School is a special school and alternative provision for pupils with a range of social, emotional and mental health needs. Some pupils have medical needs. Most pupils have an education, health and care plan.

p.6

About this inspection

The school makes use of one unregistered alternative provision.

p.6

About this inspection

The school, under the same registration, operates from a number of different premises. These are:

p.6

Team inspectors:

Victoria Burnside, His Majesty's Inspector Julie Sackett, His Majesty's Inspector

p.7

Facts and figures used on inspection

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

p.7

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.

p.7

200

- The Bay Campus and ‘Primary at The Lighthouse’: Tipner Lane, Tipner, Portsmouth PO2 8RA (this is the school’s main address) - The Bridge Campus and The Outreach Service: Sundridge Close, Cosham PO6 3LP - The Vista Campus, The Horizon Service and Hospital Tuition Service: Sundridge Close, Cosham PO6 3JL - The Lighthouse Campus: Ranelagh Road, Portsmouth PO2 8HA - The Alan Ball Football Academy: King George V Football Complex, Northern Road, Cosham, Portsmouth PO6 3FZ

p.7

200

Since the previous inspection, the previous trust, Delta Education Trust, amalgamated with another trust to become Southern Education Trust.

p.7

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.

p.8

What does this mean?

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

p.8

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.

p.8

What does this mean?

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

p.8

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.

p.8

What does this mean?

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

p.9

What does this mean?

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

p.9

Destinations after 16

Percentage of pupils staying in education or employment for at least 2 terms after the end of secondary school (key stage 4).

p.9

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.

p.9

Persistent absence

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

p.9

Exceptional

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

p.10

Strong standard

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

p.10

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.

p.10

Needs attention

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

p.10

Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

p.10

Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

p.10

Urgent improvement

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.10

Urgent improvement

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk . Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.10

Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.11