Melksham House School

Melksham House School

Address: 27 Market Place, Melksham, SN12 6ES Unique reference number (URN): 151646

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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. Insufficient evidence: Inspectors were unable to gather sufficient evidence to judge whether safeguarding standards are met.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders prioritise inclusion. They have put in place effective systems to ensure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities typically get the right support. Teachers work closely with parents and carers to understand each pupil's specific needs and vulnerabilities. School leaders respond to emerging issues successfully. This includes seeking expert advice from a wide range of other professionals, including occupational therapists and educational psychologists. Staff are generally well trained to support pupils' complex needs. As a result, most pupils settle quickly into school life.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders make the necessary adjustments to provision according to pupils' needs. They rigorously evaluate pupils' behaviour to identify any triggers for negative behaviours. When pupils struggle to manage their emotions, staff typically support them thoughtfully and with care. Staff apply the school rules in line with pupils' needs. For example, pupils benefit from, and show increasing independence to ask for, strategies that help them to regulate their emotions.

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Inclusion Expected standard

While most of the school’s inclusive work is effective, leaders know that there is more work to do to ensure gaps in pupils' knowledge in some aspects of the curriculum are identified accurately and addressed. This includes securing important knowledge and skills in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Achievement Needs attention

As a result of the inconsistencies in teaching, the quality of pupils’ work varies across subjects. Pupils’ knowledge of the basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics varies too much. This means that pupils are not as well prepared for the next stage in their education as they should be.

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Achievement Needs attention

Staff’s understanding of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is developing. However, the curriculum does not consistently meet the needs of individual pupils. At times, expectations are too low. This hinders the progress that pupils with SEND make through the curriculum.

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Achievement Needs attention

In the wider curriculum, pupils' understanding of different subjects is developing. They are beginning to make links between subjects. For example, as a result of a bespoke curriculum to support pupils' social, emotional and mental health, pupils make links between science and cooking.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Leaders check attendance regularly. They analyse information to identify patterns and trends over time. Leaders' work to engage secondary-age pupils with emotionally based school avoidance is beginning to show some success. This is due to the positive relationships leaders build with these pupils and the knowledge they have about them as individuals. However, leaders' work to improve overall attendance, including for pupils in the primary phase, is not progressing quickly enough. As a result, the attendance of too many pupils remains low.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Over time, pupils' needs change and new needs emerge. School leaders seek to support and consider next steps for pupils' emerging needs. In lessons, pupils typically follow the school’s expectations. Most staff have the necessary skills they need to support pupils, who struggle to manage their emotions and feelings. However, high levels of staffing changes mean that some staff are not as clear as they should be about how to support and manage pupils’ behaviour effectively. Despite this, during social times pupils behave well. Older pupils help to deliver lunches and younger pupils play well together. Pupils know that any form of discrimination is not tolerated and that staff will deal with any such incident swiftly.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders have an accurate understanding of the quality of the curriculum and teaching. However, high levels of staffing changes have reduced leaders’ capacity to make the necessary improvements to the curriculum. As a result, the teaching of the academic curriculum is too variable. Pupils do not learn the basic knowledge they need in reading, writing and mathematics as well as they should. Consequently, the school does not meet some of the statutory independent school standards about the curriculum and teaching.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

In some subjects, staff do not have secure subject knowledge to teach important concepts. In addition, staff do not consistently adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those with other barriers to learning. This results in some pupils being over reliant upon adult support and not building the knowledge they need. In addition, the checks that some staff make on how well pupils have secured new learning are not as timely as they should be. This means that misconceptions and errors in important basic skills, such as spelling and punctuation, persist. Where teaching is more effective, pupils build and apply knowledge well. For example, through their ‘moon zoom’ learning, pupils make links between scientific vocabulary while applying their design and technology skills.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

School leaders put the needs of pupils at the centre of any decision they make. However, their actions have been hindered by high staff turnover. This has had a direct impact on leaders’ ability to drive school improvement.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

The proprietor knows there is more work to do to ensure that all pupils achieve well and benefit from their experiences at school. While the proprietor and those responsible for governance have systems in place to ensure they understand the schools’ strengths and development points, they have not acted quickly enough to address the weaknesses that exist, for example, in the quality of the curriculum and teaching in the school. The proprietor and governors have not ensured that the independent school standards are consistently met. The proprietor and those responsible for governance do not show the necessary oversight to enable them to fulfil their statutory duties well enough. Some staff feel valued and supported with their workload and wellbeing. However, several feel that they do not receive appropriate support when it is needed. Nevertheless, most staff feel part of a team who ‘pull together'.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

The school's professional learning programme to help staff understand the complex needs of the pupils who attend the school is improving. However, staff who join at different points in the year do not receive the same level of training as those who start in September. This adds to the variability that exists between staff's practice.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

The school has worked hard to build community links to enable pupils to benefit from the local area around them. However, parents and carers have a mixed view of the school. Some voice concerns about the high rates of staff changes while others feel the school has been a ‘game changer’ for their child and family.

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Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

Leaders prioritise pupils’ personal development and wellbeing. They have recently adapted the school’s relationships, sex and health education curriculum so that it better reflects pupils’ starting points and previous experiences. However, leaders’ actions to improve pupils’ personal development and wellbeing are at an early stage. Therefore, it is too soon to determine the impact of this work.

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Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

The school's focus on supporting pupils’ mental health is a priority. Through developing positive and trusting relationships, staff support pupils effectively to learn a range of strategies to manage their own wellbeing. Despite this, leaders recognise the need to improve the consistency of this work.

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Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

Pupils are developing an understanding of the faiths and cultures in modern Britain through learning about different celebrations. However, this is not yet embedded and, consequently, pupils’ knowledge is limited. Pupils learn about fundamental British values, such as tolerance, through discussing important topical issues, such as antisemitism and misogyny. The ‘rights respecting’ programme helps pupils to reflect on their own rights as well as the rights of others. Pupils are clear that they have a right to be ‘safe, heard and learn.’ This helps pupils develop an understanding of the characteristics that are protected by law.

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Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

The school has a careers programme in place. Despite this, it is not at a point where it supports pupils to make informed choices about possible future careers. Leaders recognise the school's careers work needs to start much earlier. While some pupils gain work experience within the school, such as in the school office or through supporting staff to build and fix things, the careers education programme is not preparing pupils as well as it should for adulthood.

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Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

Pupils access some broader experiences. This includes a newly established link with the local police community team, which helps pupils to develop an understanding of their role within the community. Visits to the local shops to purchase materials for school projects supports pupils to develop important life skills, such as managing a budget and working out change. However, these experiences are not yet planned in a coherent way. They do not build on one another sufficiently well to support pupils’ wider development.

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

Pupils who attend Melksham House arrive with negative experiences of education. Many have not attended school for long periods of time. The new staff team are determined to support these pupils. Pupils feel welcome and well cared for because of the positive relationships they forge with staff.

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

Many aspects of the school’s work are at an early stage of development. While leaders and staff provide opportunities across the school for pupils to re-engage with education, there are inconsistencies in teaching and in teachers’ expectations. The quality of pupils' work is variable because of this. At times, this impacts on some pupils' attitudes to learning. Consequently, pupils are not well prepared for their next steps in education, employment or training.

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

All pupils have an education, health and care plan. Staff work closely with pupils and their families to fully understand the barriers that exist. This is generally successful which means pupils' attendance is notably better than at previous settings. Despite this, leaders recognise there is more to be done to ensure that rates of attendance continue to improve.

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

Pupils are safe. They develop a sense of belonging. Bullying is rare. Pupils trust staff. They know that staff will listen to any worries or concerns sensitively and provide support where necessary. Pupils are typically polite and friendly. Many hold doors open and make visitors feel welcome.

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

Pupils are beginning to benefit from a range of wider opportunities beyond the academic. These include trips to adventure parks and to the local shops, where pupils enjoy purchasing ingredients to make a smoothie. Pupils particularly enjoy working with the school's therapy dog. However, the programme for wider development is not yet developed sufficiently well so that all pupils reap the full benefits intended.

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Next steps

The proprietor and leaders should develop staff's subject knowledge to ensure that they can deliver the curriculum with confidence and accuracy, so that pupils progress well from their starting points. The proprietor and leaders should improve the use of assessment, so that staff identify specific gaps in pupils’ knowledge accurately and address misconceptions swiftly. The proprietor and leaders should strengthen how well teachers adapt the curriculum for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, so that pupils access learning more effectively. The proprietor and leaders should prioritise the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics so that pupils secure the basic skills they need before tackling more complex concepts. The proprietor and leaders should develop the school’s careers programme so that pupils develop the knowledge they need to be well prepared for future education and the world

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Independent school standards

of work. The proprietor and leaders should ensure that they use their analysis of behaviour and attendance to develop more targeted attendance interventions and a better climate for learning. The proprietor should ensure that leaders have the support and expertise that they need to drive improvements and ensure that all the independent school standards are met consistently.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this standard inspection under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008, and checked the school's compliance with the independent school standards. These are the requirements set out in the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.

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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 headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the special educational needs and/or disabilities coordinator, the chair of the proprietor body, a trustee and member of the local governing committee. They also spoke with staff and parents and carers. The lead inspector also held a telephone call with representatives from the local authority and a virtual school headteacher.

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About this inspection

The name of the proprietor is Brunel Education. The chair of the proprietor body is Chris Simms.

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About this inspection

The email address of the school is info@melkshamhouse.uk.

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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 uses 11 alternative unregistered provisions.

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About this inspection

The address of the school is 27 Market Place, Melksham SN12 6ES.

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About this inspection

The school is registered to admit up to 67 pupils. At the time of the inspection, 60 pupils were on roll at the school.

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About this inspection

All pupils who attend the school have special educational needs and/or disabilities, including autism, ADHD and SEMH. All have an education, health and care plan.

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About this inspection

Headteacher: Beckie Deacon Independent school standards are either met or not met for each category.

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About this inspection

1. Quality of education provided Standards not met

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About this inspection

The following standards have not been met:

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About this inspection

The standard in this paragraph is met if–

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About this inspection

(a) the proprietor ensures that a written policy on the curriculum, supported by appropriate plans and schemes of work, which provides for the matters specified in sub-paragraph (2) is drawn up and implemented effectively; and

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About this inspection

For the purposes of paragraph (2)(1)(a), the matters are–

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About this inspection

(e) for pupils receiving secondary education, access to accurate, up-to-date careers guidance that– (i) is presented in an impartial manner; (ii) enables them to make informed choices about a broad range of career options; and (iii) helps to encourage them to fulfil their potential;

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About this inspection

The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that the teaching at the school–

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About this inspection

(a) enables pupils to acquire new knowledge and make good progress according to their ability so that they increase their understanding and develop their skills in the subjects taught; (b) fosters in pupils self-motivation, the application of intellectual, physical and creative effort, interest in their work and the ability to think and learn for themselves; (c) involves well planned lessons and effective teaching methods, activities and management of class time; (d) shows a good understanding of the aptitudes, needs and prior attainments of the pupils, and ensures that these are taken into account in the planning of lessons; (e) demonstrates good knowledge and understanding of the subject matter being taught; (f) utilises effectively classroom resources of a good quality, quantity and range; (g) demonstrates that a framework is in place to assess pupils' work regularly and thoroughly and use information from that assessment to plan teaching so that pupils

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About this inspection

can progress; 2. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils Standards met

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About this inspection

3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils Standards met

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About this inspection

4. Suitability of staff, supply staff, and proprietors Standards met

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About this inspection

5. Premises of and accommodation at schools Standards met

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About this inspection

6. Provision of information Standards met

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About this inspection

7. Manner in which complaints are handled Standards met

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About this inspection

8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools Standards not met

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About this inspection

The following standards have not been met: Paragraph 34(1)

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About this inspection

The standard about the quality of leadership and management is met if the proprietor ensures that persons with leadership and management responsibilities at the school–

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Team inspectors:

Simon Brown, Ofsted Inspector Rachel Hesketh, His Majesty's Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.

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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. (a) demonstrate good skills and knowledge appropriate to their role so that the independent school standards are met consistently; (b) fulfil their responsibilities effectively so that the independent school standards are met consistently; and

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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.

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Insufficient evidence

Inspectors were unable to gather reliable enough evidence to grade an evaluation area. This is rare and normally only happens if there are no pupils on roll at the school.

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Insufficient evidence

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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Insufficient evidence

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Insufficient evidence

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Insufficient evidence

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Insufficient evidence

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

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