Tuition, Medical and Behaviour Support Service

SERVICE

Inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 This report may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that all extracts quoted are reproduced verbatim without adaptation and on condition that the source and date thereof are stated.

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SERVICE

Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the School Inspections Act 1996, the school must provide a copy of this report and/or its summary free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. Tuition, Medical and Behaviour Support Service i

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Type of school: Special service School category: Pupil referral unit Age range of pupils: 4 – 16 years Gender of pupils: Mixed Number on roll: 133

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Shire Hall Abbey Forgate Shrewsbury Postcode: SY2 6ND

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Telephone number: 01743 254594 Fax number: 01743 254597

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: Local education authority (LEA) Name of chair of management group: Mrs Carol Tiddy

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: No previous inspection

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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCHOOL

The Tuition, Medical and Behaviour Support Service (TMBSS) caters for pupils from Years 1 to 11 with emotional and behavioural difficulties, and those who are medically unfit for school through illness, phobia or pregnancy. The service is made up of six education centres and provides home tuition throughout all of Shropshire, and tuition at three hospitals. The six education centres are located at Bridgnorth, Harlescott, Hook-a-Gate, Ludlow, Oswestry and Shrewsbury. Two of the three hospitals are in Shrewsbury and the other is in Oswestry. The table gives information on the age ranges and the number of pupils and teachers at each centre.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCHOOL

Location Years Number of pupils Number of teachers Bridgnorth 7 – 11 10 1 Harlescott 1 – 6 35 4 Hook-a-Gate 7 – 11 21 3 Ludlow 7 – 11 12 2 Oswestry 7 – 11 12 2 Sundorne (Shrewsbury) 10 – 11 18 3

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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCHOOL

Many of the pupils come from areas of socio-economic disadvantage. The combined capacity of the six centres is 110. Currently, there are 134 pupils, of whom 13 boys and 4 girls are on the roll of the service only. The other 117 pupils, 82 boys and 35 girls, are dual registered with mainstream schools. A variable number, but around 30, are taught at home or in hospital. Only three pupils are not White British. There is one traveller child and no one is learning English as an additional language. The attainment of many, but not all, pupils when they enter the service is below that expected for their age. Ninety-two pupils are at School Action Plus and 42 pupils have a statement of special educational need. Of these, 18 are for emotional and behavioural difficulties, two for dyslexia, one for hearing impairment, eight for autistic spectrum disorders and 13 for a range of medical conditions. The service is involved in the North West Shropshire Excellence Cluster,

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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCHOOL

Outreach to Maintained School national initiatives, and the Shrewsbury Partnership for Education and Training. It gained Investor in People status and the Thornton Education Continuity Award in 2003. The service was reorganised into its present configuration in September 2003. This is the first inspection. Tuition, Medical and Behaviour Support Service ii

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Members of the inspection team Subject responsibilities

27424 Dr D Alan Dobbins Lead inspector 19692 Bob Folks Lay inspector 14596 Tony Fiddian-Green Team inspector English

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Members of the inspection team Subject responsibilities

16227 Jim Phillips Team inspector Mathematics Personal, social and health education Citizenship 19413 Frank Price Team inspector Other subjects Vocational subjects 10781 Bob Thompson Team inspector Science Information and communication technology 3055 Clive Tombs Team inspector

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Members of the inspection team Subject responsibilities

VT Education Consultants Ltd Old Garden House The Lanterns Bridge Lane London SW11 3AD

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Members of the inspection team Subject responsibilities

Any concerns or complaints about the inspection or the report should be made initially to the inspection contractor. The procedures are set out in the leaflet ‘Complaining about Ofsted Inspections’ , which is available from Ofsted Publications Centre (telephone 07002 637833) or Ofsted’s website (www.oftsed.gov.uk). Tuition, Medical and Behaviour Support Service iii

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STANDARDS ACHIEVED BY PUPILS 3

Standards achieved in areas of learning, subjects and courses

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STANDARDS ACHIEVED BY PUPILS 3

Pupils’ attitudes, values and other personal qualities

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QUALITY OF EDUCATION PROVIDED BY THE SERVICE 5

Teaching and learning The curriculum Care, guidance and support Partnership with parents, other schools and the community

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS 19

Tuition, Medical, Behaviour and Support Service 1

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OVERALL EVALUATION

The Tuition, Medical and Behavioural Support Service provides very effective alternative education for out-of-school pupils. The service is excellently led and managed by the head of service, who gains the full support of all staff. Each centre is calm, ordered and very well organised because of the very good work of the teachers in charge. In the centres, and in the homes and hospitals, staff have established excellent relationships with pupils and have very high expectations for learning and for the development of their personal and social skills, especially their behaviour. The very good teaching, and excellent advice and counselling, means that pupils make very good progress in most of the subjects and in coping with their other difficulties. The curriculum is broad and relevant because it is tailored to match the learning and additional needs of each pupil. For most pupils, the service meets in full its two key aims, to successfully return pupils in Years 1 to 9 to mainstream

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OVERALL EVALUATION

schools and to prepare pupils in Years 10 and 11 as well as possible for life after the service. The service provides very good value for money.

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The service’s main strengths and weaknesses are:

• The way in which many pupils begin to like themselves and to see education as meaningful again. • The excellent leadership and management of the head of service. • The very good curriculum, which can be flexibly presented to meet the learning and additional needs of each pupil. • The very good attitudes pupils have to their learning, their very good behaviour, and their commitment to doing their best. • The unsatisfactory accommodation at one centre. • The management group is not clear of its role and is not checking the work of the service or helping in its development well enough. • The work of the service is disadvantaged because it is not connected to the LEA’s intranet.

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STANDARDS ACHIEVED

In relation to individual targets in: Pupils’ achievement Subjects of the curriculum Personal and social education Years 1 to 9 Very good Very good Years 10 to 11 Very good Very good Inspectors make judgements in the range: excellent; very good; good; satisfactory; unsatisfactory; poor; very poor.

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STANDARDS ACHIEVED

Overall, pupils achieve very well and make very good progress. Pupils in Years 1 to 9, on the 16-week assessment programme, make very good progress in all the subjects, but especially good progress in reading and in number. Their personal and social skills also improve considerably as they gain in self-confidence and self-esteem. They learn so well to cope with the difficulties in their lives, including gaining better control of their behaviour, that nearly all pupils successfully return to continue their education in mainstream schools. Pupils in Years 10 and 11 make very good progress in gaining a wide range of nationally accredited awards which appropriately reflect their hard work. They are prepared very well for life after the service. Almost all those who leave at the end of Year 11 enrol on college or training courses or take gainful employment.

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STANDARDS ACHIEVED

Pupils make good progress in their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. They quickly learn that they are respected as young people and realise that the service is good for them. At each centre, they work hard to do their best and in most lessons achieve this because of their very good attitudes to learning and their very good behaviour. Attendance is satisfactory, but for almost all the pupils it is much better than was the case when they were in their other schools. Tuition, Medical, Behaviour and Support Service 2

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QUALITY OF EDUCATION

The quality of education is very good. The quality of teaching is very good, as is the quality of learning. Teachers have very high expectations for learning, and they and the classroom assistants work very hard to ensure these are routinely met. The trust and respect pupils have for staff means that they very often take action on the excellent advice and guidance they are given. As a consequence, they do very well in their learning and in dealing with their difficulties. They realise this and are motivated to do even better. In doing so, most pupils see again the relevance of education to their futures. This is the strength of the service. Almost all the pupils who join the service are ‘turned on’ again to education, and their futures are richer for this. Parents and carers, and the headteachers of the primary and secondary schools that send pupils to the service, recognise this achievement and all are fulsome in their praise for the work of the service. The

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QUALITY OF EDUCATION

curriculum is very good and is presented flexibly enough to meet the learning and additional needs of each pupil. The range and quality of resources are good, and the staffing level is generous. The links with other schools are excellent and these underpin the successful return of most pupils in Years 1 to 9. Many of the centres have excellent accommodation. The accommodation at one centre is unsatisfactory but plans to relocate the centre to better accommodation are well advanced. The fact that the service is not able to use the LEA’s intranet, as can the mainstream schools, is a disadvantage to its work.

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LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

Leadership and management are very good. The head of service provides excellent leadership and management. He has a clear vision for the service and very high aspirations for the quality of the work. He, and all staff, are excellent role models who comfort, support, encourage and inspire pupils to think about themselves as a first step to changing their attitudes to learning and to their education. Governance is satisfactory. The chairperson of the management group is a professional officer of the LEA. She has provided valuable support for the head of service since re-organisation. She is rightly keen to recognise in detail the role of the management group and the need to initiate procedures that check the effectiveness of the service. Statutory requirements, which relate to a small number of pupils with statements of special educational needs, are not met.

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PARENTS’ AND PUPILS’ VIEWS OF THE SERVICE

Parents and carers are of the opinion that the service is excellent. They are very pleased with the way their children are looked after, and many are delighted and relieved they are doing so well, especially in how they see themselves and in becoming happier as young people. The parents and carers report that they gain very good information on how their children are doing and feel that they are consulted on many aspects of their education and on the running of the service. Pupils like the service very much. They enjoy going to each of the centres and many are surprised at how enthusiastic they have become about their work.

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The most important things the LEA and the service should do to develop further is to:

• Clearly define the role of the management group in checking the effectiveness of the service and in supporting further development. • Improve the accommodation at one of the centres. • Connect to the LEA’s intranet to make the service more effective in its work. • Meet statutory requirements as they apply to pupils with statements of special educational needs. Tuition, Medical, Behaviour and Support Service 3

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Standards achieved in areas of learning, subjects and courses

Pupils make very good progress in their personal and social development and in their learning. Pupils in Years 1 to 9 are being prepared very well for their return to their other schools. Pupils in Years 10 and 11 are being prepared very well for further training and the world of work.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• The very considerable improvement pupils make in controlling their behaviour and in dealing with their other difficulties. • The very good progress pupils in Years 1 to 9 make in their learning, especially in learning to read and in learning mathematics. • The very good progress pupils in Years 10 and 11 make in gaining a wide range of relevant, nationally accredited awards. • The very good progress pupils who are taught in the hospitals and at home make in their learning and in returning to schools.

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Commentary

1. Pupils gain great benefit from joining the service. Over all the centres, pupils in Years 1 to 9 make very good gains in their personal and social development, and in literacy and numeracy. They are prepared very well for their return to mainstream schools. Pupils in Years 10 and 11 make very good progress in gaining a wide range of nationally accredited awards in preparation for life after the service. Those who are taught at home and at the hospitals make very good progress in their learning and, in the case of some, in preparing to return to full-time education.

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Commentary

2. Pupils in Years 1 to 9 spend a minimum of 16 weeks in the service before they begin their return to mainstream education. When they enter the service many are angry, frustrated, or have serious emotional issues that they need to deal with. They make very good progress in their personal and social development, especially in controlling their behaviour, in becoming more self- confident and self-assured and in coping with their emotions. Many learn to like themselves again. As they spend time in the service they become increasingly responsible and mature, and more capable of dealing with the demands and expectations of mainstream schools. Over the last two years, 98 per cent of the pupils in Years 1 to 6 and 70 per cent of pupils in Years 7 to 9 have successfully returned to mainstream schools without any requirement for further sanctions, such as the use of fixed-term exclusions. These impressive statistics are possible only because of the very

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Commentary

good progress pupils make in dealing with their difficulties and in changing their attitudes to school and to their learning.

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Commentary

3. Most pupils who enter the service in Years 1 to 9 have reading and number ages that are two years below those expected for their chronological age. Over the 16-week assessment period their reading ages gain, on average, about six reading months. It is the same for mathematics. In the other subjects that are taught: information and communication technology (ICT), design and technology, geography, history, music and physical education, they also make very good progress. In science they make good progress.

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Commentary

4. Those who enter the service in Years 10 and 11 make equivalently good progress in developing their personal and social skills, so that they are able to prepare themselves purposefully for the next stage of their education or the world of work. They make very good progress in gaining many nationally accredited awards that match very well with their needs and capabilities. Almost all the pupils who leave the service at the end of Year 11 do so with a range of awards that accurately reflect the extent of their learning. For example, 52 pupils were entered for GCSE courses in Tuition, Medical, Behaviour and Support Service 4 English language, English literature, mathematics, biology, child development, art and design, ICT, geography, design and technology, religious education, history, French and Latin. Thirty-two per cent of pupils gained A* to C grades, 52 per cent gained A* to D grades, and all pupils gained A* to

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Commentary

G grades. Thirty-four pupils were entered for the Entry Level examination in English, mathematics, ICT, science, design and technology and art and design and geography. Over all the subjects, 75 per cent of the grades were at Level 3, 22 per cent at Level 2, and two per cent at Level 1. Only one per cent of the entrants gained an unclassified grade. Six pupils were entered for the National Skills Profile and completed modules in ICT, media and motor vehicles; two completed the Computer Literacy and Information Technology (CLAIT) award and two the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL). One pupil gained the silver award of Award Scheme Development and Accredited Network (ASDAN) and three the bronze award. Of the 41 pupils who left the service last year, all but two gained employment, received training for employment or enrolled on college courses.

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Commentary

Destination Number of pupils Per cent of pupils College courses 12 29.2 Work-based learning 5 12.3 Employment 21 51.3 Army 1 2.4 Home 2 4.8

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Commentary

5. Pupils who receive tuition in the hospitals and at home also make very good progress. The hospital tutors meet pupils during their first or second day at hospital and work closely with medical staff to develop teaching programmes that supplement those to improve their health. This may include teaching only one subject or many, depending on the pupils’ situation. Especially in the homes, teachers work closely with the families and with specialists such as educational psychologists and psychotherapists to provide relevant learning opportunities, but they are also very good at helping pupils to begin their return to mainstream education.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and other personal qualities

Pupils’ attitudes to learning are very good. Over all the centres, behaviour is very good. The relationships between staff and pupils are excellent. Attendance is satisfactory. Punctuality is good.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• The way in which pupils quickly develop very good attitudes to themselves and to their learning. • The flexible way in which the service meets pupils’ personal, social and emotional needs. • The very good provision for moral and social development that helps pupils realise what is acceptable behaviour and what is not. • Many pupils attend the centres more regularly than they did their other schools.

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Commentary

6. Many of the pupils join the service with little enthusiasm for learning, and often with a history of poor attendance. The transition that most go through is remarkable and is a key strength of the service. Pupils quickly realise they like being at the centres and begin to enjoy their learning; for some this is a surprise. They quickly gain in self-confidence and self-esteem, and develop very good attitudes to their learning. With time in the service, they become increasingly mature and develop an understanding of their own capabilities and strengths and how to deal with the problems and difficulties they have. They are encouraged to take responsibility for their actions. They become increasingly independent and this shows in the way they act when taking part in visits and, for the older pupils, when they are on work experience. All are equally valued by the staff, and when they have concerns or difficulties most will quickly approach members of staff, who are

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Commentary

Tuition, Medical, Behaviour and Support Service 5 excellent at providing counselling and giving advice. Parents and carers are of the opinion that their children make very good progress in dealing with their difficulties and in becoming confident young people again. Inspectors agree with these views.

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Commentary

7. The very good attitudes pupils have to their learning are easily seen at each centre. They arrive punctually, are keen to begin their lessons, and behave very well. In this, they are helped by the excellent relationships they establish with staff who, by their actions, show pupils that they care about them and want to help them as much as they can. The pupils know that being at the centres is good for them, and this is seen in their attendance, which improves with time at the centres. For some it is dramatically better than was the case when they were in their other schools.

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Commentary

8. Flexibility is a characteristic of the service, and it is shown best in the wide range of programmes that pupils follow. If they have had substantial time away from school some will attend initially for one morning a week. Others attend for a full week and take subjects that interest them or in which they have a particular talent. For example, one pupil last year gained a GCSE pass in Latin. Having the flexibility to develop individual programmes helps to meet the particular needs of all pupils and results in them seeing their learning experiences as relevant. This helps them develop their very positive attitudes to their learning and to the service, and stimulates them to attend regularly and to gain the most benefit from doing so.

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Commentary

9. Provision for moral and social development is very good. Pupils have many opportunities to learn about what is right and wrong and the appropriate values and moral codes. In each of the centres, this is a continuous and ongoing process which permeates the work throughout each day. Provision for spiritual and cultural development is good. When the opportunity does arise, teachers take full advantage to raise spiritual and cultural awareness, as was the case in a lesson in art and design when feelings generated by the paintings of artists from different cultural backgrounds were explored.

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Commentary

10. Attendance is satisfactory, but very good when considered against the records of attendance for pupils in their other schools. Authorised and unauthorised absence should be recorded more clearly in registers.

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QUALITY OF EDUCATION PROVIDED BY THE SCHOOL

The quality of teaching and learning is very good. The curriculum is very good because it meets pupils’ learning and additional needs very well. Pupils gain excellent advice and guidance. The links with parents are excellent and those with the local communities around each centre are very good. The links with the feeder schools are excellent.

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Teaching and learning

Teachers have high expectations for learning and behaviour, plan very well, and know the learning and additional needs of their pupils very well.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• The way in which lessons are planned to meet pupils’ learning and additional needs. • Pupils’ very good attitudes to learning, which help contribute to their very good progress • The very good way in which staff encourage pupils to do their best. • The programmes that are specially tailored for pupils, which help make learning relevant to them.

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Commentary

11. In lessons at each centre, and in the homes and hospitals, the learning needs of pupils are met very well. This is because teachers plan very well and have very high expectations for learning and behaviour. In the centres, the generous staff/pupil ratio means that class sizes are small, with Tuition, Medical, Behaviour and Support Service 6 sometimes as few as six pupils. As a consequence, staff quickly recognise the learning and the additional needs of their pupils. They make very good use of this information to present lessons that are interesting, relevant, and linked closely with their requirements for life after the centre, whether that means returning to mainstream schools or moving into the adult world.

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Commentary

12. Pupils know that lessons will result in new learning. For many this is a new experience, as records in their previous schools indicate that many were not successful learners. Some get excited about the progress they make and show this by attending more regularly than in the past and by working very hard to do their best. The excellent relationships staff have with pupils contribute to pupils wanting to do well. On the occasions when pupils do have difficulties controlling their behaviour, staff deal with them quickly, fairly and consistently, so that they return to their learning with minimum disruption to their own learning and to that of others.

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Commentary

13. The friendliness of staff, their obvious concern for pupils and the expectations that they will learn, result in successful learning even when pupils are having a troubled time and show little enthusiasm for their work. When pupils in Years 1 to 9 initially join the service, some make too little of an effort to learn, if only because they have not enjoyed learning in their previous schools. This attitude soon changes, because all staff are very good at encouraging pupils by quickly recognising their successes. Pupils like this and respond very well. As a consequence, they make more progress in their lessons than they did in their previous schools. Their realisation of their success motivates them to try harder to do even better.

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Commentary

14. The tailored programmes developed for pupils in Years 10 and 11 make learning relevant. In almost all the lessons, pupils are being prepared for examination for nationally accredited awards that match their capabilities well. This motivates them to do well, and they do. Whether pupils are working on a full GCSE subject or a vocational subject, such as construction in a local college, they see the sense of doing their best, and in most lessons they work hard to achieve this.

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Commentary

15. This also happens in the case of pupils who are being taught at home and at the hospitals. Their lessons have meaning for them because they follow a programme that has been formed to meet their needs. As a consequence, they work hard to do their best in their learning and in overcoming their difficulties, including those that cause some to want not to attend school at all.

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Commentary

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection in 30 lessons Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very poor 0 15 (50.0%) 13 (43.3%) 2 (6.7%) 0 0 0 The table gives the number of lessons observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about lessons; figures in brackets show percentages where 30 or more lessons are seen.

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The curriculum

The curriculum at each of the centres is very good because it is relevant to pupils’ needs and their capabilities. The subjects offered in the hospitals and in pupils’ homes help them maintain a good link with full-time schooling. The curriculum closely reflects the LEA’s curriculum policy for pupil referral units.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• The flexible manner in which the curriculum is presented to pupils. • Pupils in Years 10 and 11 are able to demonstrate the full extent of their learning because they take a wide range of relevant, nationally accredited awards. • Resources to support teaching and learning are good. • The fact of not being connected to the LEA’s intranet is a disadvantage to communication between centres, and it limits the way in which new technologies can support the way the curriculum is presented. Tuition, Medical, Behaviour and Support Service 7

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Commentary

16. The curriculum meets pupils’ needs and capabilities very well and is presented in a flexible and challenging fashion. It is planned carefully to meet pupils’ learning needs and their personal, social, emotional and behavioural needs. Especially for pupils in Years 1 to 9, the recommendations of all the relevant national strategies have been fully implemented. At each centre the curriculum is inclusive in its organisation and content, and because of the flexible way in which it can be presented it ensures equal access and opportunity for all pupils. For pupils in Years 1 to 9 it provides very good preparation for returning to mainstream schools. For those in Years 10 and 11 it provides equivalently good help in preparing them for college or training courses or employment. For all pupils the curriculum is enhanced by outside visits to support learning, especially in art and design, geography and history, and the regular lessons in physical education at

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Commentary

local leisure centres. It is also enhanced by visitors, such as the artists in residence. Pupils have very good access to work experience, careers guidance and outdoor education, and to taster courses in vocational subjects at the colleges of further education local to each centre. Teachers add to the curriculum very effectively by using opportunities in the lessons in all the subjects to promote personal and social development, the meaning of co-operation, and the importance of safe and healthy life styles.

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Commentary

17. Pupils in Years 10 and 11 are being prepared very well for life after the service. They demonstrate the extent of their learning over a very wide range of nationally accredited awards. These include the long and short courses for the full GCSE, the entry level, the ASDAN bronze and silver awards, the National Skills Profile, and other awards in first aid, manual handling, food hygiene and catering. In ICT they gain the CLAIT award and the European Driving Licence. Almost all pupils gain certification in English, mathematics and science but also take other subjects, such as modern foreign languages, food technology and child development. They do especially well in art and design. Through work experience, college links and mentoring placements they become aware of the expectations of employers and colleges. For example, they take part in a rolling programme of work experience, with support and guidance from service staff and those from Connexions. In

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the local colleges, pupils are currently enrolled on courses in hairdressing, engineering and small- animal care, while work-experience placements include painting and decorating, building, thatching and game keeping.

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Commentary

18. Resources across the service are good, with a plentiful supply of books and equipment to engage and motivate pupils. In spite of recent improvements in ICT resources, the quantity and quality of hardware and software vary considerably from centre to centre. No centre is connected to the LEA’s intranet, with the result that the new technologies cannot be used as direct support for teaching.

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Commentary

19. The centres are well staffed by experienced, stable and talented teachers who deliver a wide and diverse curriculum. They are ably supported in their work by an adequate number of well- trained teacher assistants.

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Care, guidance and support

Pupils are cared for very well. The arrangements to ensure their health, safety and welfare are very good and pupils gain great benefit from the excellent support and guidance they receive.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• The way in which pupils are helped to rethink their attitudes to learning and to their futures. • Pupils benefit from the service’s very good links with a good range of outside agencies. • The procedures for ensuring the safety and well-being of pupils are very good. • The procedures for monitoring and improving academic performance and behaviour are very good. • Some statutory requirements relating to a small number of pupils with a statement of special educational need are not met. Tuition, Medical, Behaviour and Support Service 8

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Commentary

20. Pupils in each of the centres and in the hospitals and at home are valued, and they know this. They feel supported, safe and secure because of the way they are treated. Their relationships with staff are excellent and they have little hesitation in confiding in members of staff and in seeking their help and guidance. Staff know the pupils very well and work very hard in providing for their learning and additional needs. Pupils appreciate this, and this contributes to the mutual respect that exists between staff and pupils. Pupils’ increasing self-confidence and self-esteem, and the friendly and supportive atmosphere in each of the centres, make important contributions to helping many to rethink their life styles and to develop positive attitudes for their futures.

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Commentary

21. The links with a wide range of professional agencies are very good and make meaningful contributions to the care and well-being of pupils. For example, Connexions provide particularly useful opportunities for many pupils, some of whom gain full-time employment with the companies with which they were placed for work experience.

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Commentary

22. Procedures for health and safety are well established. Risk assessments are in place for educational visits and other situations that require them, such as practical experiments in science. The nominated person for child protection has received recent training, but other staff need to have their training updated.

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Commentary

23. The procedures for monitoring attendance, behaviour and academic progress are very good. The procedures for checking on pupils who do not attend on any given day operate very well. Parents and carers of any pupil not attending will be telephoned to establish where the pupil is. The excellent links with parents and carers help because they and the service work hard together to ensure that most pupils attend regularly. However, registers are not completed as they should be and this affects the attendance rates that are declared by the service. The ethos of the service includes promoting and celebrating good behaviour. Procedures designed to improve behaviour work very well. These include one-to-one consultations with teachers in charge of the centres, very good liaison between staff and parents and carers, and the setting of clear targets which are seen as meaningful by pupils. These procedures work very well because each centre is a friendly, calm

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Commentary

and safe place in which staff know their pupils very well and care for them. Incidents, when they occur, are recorded in loose-leaf form, rather than in a bound numbered book. Pupils are fully involved in reviewing and assessing their performances. Weekly reports go to parents on pupils’ work and behaviour, and there is frequent telephone contact. Staff regularly celebrate pupils’ achievements and ensure that parents are fully informed of their children’s successes.

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Commentary

24. Provision for a small number of pupils with a statement of special educational need does not meet statutory requirements. The entitlement to the full National Curriculum is not met in one of the centres. Some pupils appear to have been disapplied from the National Curriculum simply because they have been placed in the service. This undermines the security and entitlement of the statement and, for these pupils, the correct procedure for disapplication as outlined in the Code of Practice (2004) has not have been followed.

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Partnership with parents, other schools and the community

The service has exceptional links with parents and carers, who are extremely supportive of its work. They receive excellent information on the progress their children are making and on what they experience within each centre. The links with outside agencies and with the LEA’s primary and secondary schools are very well established.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Parents and carers like the work of the service very much. • Parents and carers are extremely well informed about their children and are regularly consulted so that their views are taken into account. Tuition, Medical, Behaviour and Support Service 9 • The links with agencies outside education are very good and benefit the progress pupils are making. • The links with the LEA’s primary and secondary schools are excellent.

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Commentary

25. The many parents and carers who attended the pre-inspection meeting and who completed questionnaires were extremely positive about the work of the service, as carried out at each of the centres, in their homes and at the hospitals. They report that their children make much better progress in their learning and in becoming increasingly mature and responsible than was the case at their other schools. They like the way their children behave at the centres, and they believe that teaching is very good and that what their children are learning is relevant. They especially like the way their children are supported and looked after, and report many incidents of staff going out of their way to help their children. They have only high praise for the work of the service.

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Commentary

26. The prospectus for the service is very informative and clear. Parents and carers have an excellent knowledge of how their children are doing at each of the centres because they are regularly provided with detailed information. The weekly reports from each centre are supplemented by telephone calls from teachers and by information in the home/school books. Parents and carers have an open invitation to visit or contact the centres at any time to discuss problems or to gain advice. Some are still genuinely delighted when they receive telephone messages reporting the good work and good efforts of their children. The progress made by pupils at the end of the 16-week assessment programme is written up in very detailed reports that parents are able to contribute to. Individual education plans (IEPs) are of a high standard because the targets are precisely stated and are relevant to pupils. Parents and carers know the targets well

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Commentary

because they help to select them. The management group has only recently been formed and, as yet, has not produced annual report to parents and carers.

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Commentary

27. Links with external organisations and are very good. The curriculum is extended by the very good links with colleges of further education local to each centre. In addition, the service makes very good use of the staff from community services such as the police, social services, school nurses, Connexions and those from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. Teachers make good use of places of interest to support classroom teaching, through trips to art galleries, places of historical and geographical interest, by using the facilities of local leisure centres, and by receiving artists in residence in the centres. Local employers co-operate very well with the service and provide a wide range of work-experience placements. Each centre has a good local reputation and a good relationship with its immediate neighbours, in part because they know that pupils behave in a polite and considerate manner.

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Commentary

28. The links with the LEA’s primary and secondary schools are excellent. Most pupils in Years 1 to 9 do not join the service full-time but visit the centres for either mornings or afternoons. This means that in order to be fully effective in its work each centre needs to work closely with the mainstream school. This is achieved. The headteachers of all schools linked with the service have only praise for the work of the service. They especially like the effective way in which service staff work closely with their teachers, both in establishing targets that guide the pupils’ work when they are at the centres, and in continuing to support pupils when they return to the mainstream schools. They are of the opinion that the service provides an important extension of the provision at their schools. They are able to give many examples of pupils whose lives have been substantially changed for the better because of the time they spent in the service.

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Commentary

Tuition, Medical, Behaviour and Support Service 10

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LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

Leadership and management are very good. The head of service sets very high standards. He is very knowledgeable of all the work of the service and knows the pupils and their difficulties very well. Since reorganisation, senior professional officers of the LEA have provided very good support for the development of the service.

p.15

Main strengths and weaknesses

• The head of service leads and manages all aspects of the service very well. • The high standards that are seen over all the work of the service. • The very good morale of staff and the support they provide for the head of service. • The very good support provided by the LEA since the service was re-organised. • The management group needs to play a bigger role in checking the work of the service and in helping its development.

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Commentary

29. The head of service provides excellent leadership. He is committed to providing a service that fully meets the needs of pupils and that functions very effectively as extended provision for the primary and secondary schools of the LEA. Both aims are substantially met. He is respected by the headteachers of the mainstream schools and by the professional officers for the way in which he leads and manages the service. He sets very high standards for his own work and has been very effective in creating conditions throughout the service that allow all staff to work to equivalently high standards in discharging their responsibilities. He is an excellent role model for staff and pupils alike. He represents the service very well in meetings with elected members, professional officers, headteachers, and parents and carers. He is fully supported by the teachers in charge of each centre, those with responsibility for home-based and hospital tuition, and all staff. He has a very

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Commentary

clear vision for the work of the service and the personal skills to be able to articulate the vision persuasively to elected members, headteachers and the staff of the service. The good procedures for management were recognised in 2003 by the granting of the Investor in People award.

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Commentary

30. The high standards seen across all parts of the service are, in part, the results of the careful implementation of service-wide procedures to do with expectations for behaviour, for using information gained from assessing pupils, for linking with parents and carers and for using specialists outside of education in helping pupils to develop. The commitment of the head of service to providing educational experiences that are relevant to each pupil is easily seen in the way that pupils’ needs are met through specifically tailored learning programmes. For example, pupils take GCSE examinations in subjects they are interested in, or have a particular talent for. One pupil last year gained a good GCSE grade in Latin, a very unusual subject for a pupil in a pupil referral service. Younger pupils stay with the service for variable periods of time to ensure that their return to mainstream schools has every chance for success. The attention given to closely matching the

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Commentary

needs of pupils to what they experience in the service is a basic element in it success. One result of this is the very high percentage of pupils in Years 1 to 6 who successfully return to mainstream schools, and the impressive percentage of pupils who leave Year 11 to enrol on college or training courses or enter full employment.

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Commentary

31. Over all the service, staff morale is very high. The quality of leadership and management of the subjects is very good. The teachers in charge of each centre meet the high standards set by the head of service. They manage their centres very well and ensure that pupils make very good gains from attending. The leaders of the hospital and home tuition services are equally effective in meeting the needs of their pupils. The service gained the prestigious Thornton’s Education Community Award in 2004 for meeting the needs of pupils whose education is disrupted because of medical conditions. Tuition, Medical, Behaviour and Support Service 11 32. Since reorganisation, the LEA has supported the development of the service very well by providing very good opportunities for staff to be effective in their work. For example, the accommodation at four of the six centres is new or has been recently refurbished. Each is an

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Commentary

excellent base from which to carry out the work of the service. The accommodation at one centre is satisfactory, but at the other centre it is not. The LEA knows this and plans to re-locate the centre into the town library building, which will be extended and re-furbished. The plans are delayed at this time and the work of the service at this centre is compromised. Five of the six centres have dial-up access to the internet, but no centre is connected to the LEA’s intranet. This is limiting the use of new technology in, for example, teaching at a distance, where a teacher located in one centre teaches pupils who are in other centres. Making use of the intranet would provide even more flexibility for matching what can be offered with pupils’ needs and capabilities. It would also increase the number of lessons that are taught by teachers with specialist knowledge or training in the subject, and because of this would allow more efficient use to be made of staff and resources.

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Commentary

33. The management group for the service has only recently been formed. It is chaired by a professional officer and made up of members who have good knowledge of the aims of the service. However, the role and responsibilities of the management group are not sufficiently detailed and there are currently no adequate procedures for checking the effectiveness of the service; they need to be quickly established. The chairperson of the management group has rightly identified the need to clearly identify its role and to initiate procedures that check the effectiveness of the service. Tuition, Medical, Behaviour and Support Service 12

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Pupils make very good progress overall. • The quality of teaching is very good. • Pupils in Years 10 and 11 have every opportunity to demonstrate the full extent of their learning by taking relevant nationally accredited awards. • Pupils make very good use of computers to present finished work. • The quality of leadership and management is very good.

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Commentary

34. Pupils make very good progress in English. When joining the service, most pupils in Years 1 to 9 read at a level well below that expected for their age. The curriculum focuses on literacy, and over the 16-week assessment period it is not unusual for some to make gains in reading equivalent to six reading months. If they remain in the service for a year, they often improve their reading by two reading years. All who leave the service at the end of Year 11 do so with some accreditation for their learning in English. Most gain a good grade on the full GCSE examination.

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Commentary

35. The quality of teaching and learning is very good in all sections of the service. Detailed planning that meets the needs of each pupil makes an important contribution to pupils’ very good progress. In part, this is because of the small numbers in each class. This means that teachers know their pupils very well, including their capabilities and their learning needs. They are good at telling pupils what they need to do to improve. The assessment procedures are very good and pupils are able to recognize the progress they are making. They like this and become motivated to work harder to continue to make progress. As a result, their attitudes to learning and to their behaviour are very good. Especially in Years 1 to 9, where extra help is needed, classroom assistants are very effective at advising, encouraging and supporting pupils.

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Commentary

36. Lessons for pupils in Years 10 and 11 are planned with a practical focus. For example, pupils learn to write letters of application for work experience, or put together the details of their education to date, their interests, and their achievements, in preparation for completing applications for work. The syllabus for each of the examinations for which pupils are prepared offers wide experiences of English. For those who take the GCSE examination this includes studying Shakespeare and other drama, and poetry, as well as learning to follow written instructions. They learn to write in a number of styles, including in the first person when they write about what they have seen or heard. Those who are prepared for other examinations, such as the ASDAN award, have less demanding tasks that do not require as much capability in the subject.

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Commentary

37. Computers are used well in drafting and redrafting work. Initially, pupils write their sentences in their exercise books by hand, make corrections and additions, and use word-processing to craft the finished work. In this way, they benefit from using the spell checker and their work is efficiently and neatly presented. Where work is written by hand, it is almost always neat and tidy.

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Commentary

38. Leadership and management are very good. The co-ordinator communicates very well with those in the other centres and with those who teach in the homes and hospitals. She visits each centre regularly and teaches in the centres when required. The primary focus of the English curriculum is to meet the needs of pupils whenever possible. For example, if a pupil is capable of taking the GCSE examination early in Year 10, extra tuition is provided. Most of the centres do not Tuition, Medical, Behaviour and Support Service 13 have libraries, but this disadvantage is overcome, in part, by transferring boxes of books to each centre so that pupils have at least a limited choice for research purposes and for recreational reading. Pupils who are taught at home and in the hospitals receive the same support from their teachers. At the centre for pupils in Years 1 to 6, the library holds a suitable selection of reading

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Commentary

books for all reading levels, and teachers are able to choose from a good number of appropriate reading schemes to help in teaching reading.

p.18

Language and literacy across the curriculum

39. Language and literacy are reinforced and extended in the lessons in the other subjects. Class sizes are much smaller than those in mainstream schools. Because of this, pupils have more opportunities to discuss topics to do with their learning and, therefore, more opportunities to develop their speaking and listening skills. In classrooms, lists of key words are displayed to help vocabulary and spelling in the topics being studied in the other subjects. Opportunities to reinforce reading and writing skills are routinely planned for, and pupils make good use of word-processing and publishing programmes to present their work. In art and design, particularly, good use is made of painting, drawing and design programs in preparing work to be examined.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Pupils make very good progress. • The very good teaching motivates pupils to do as well as they can. • The co-ordinator provides very good support for teachers who do not have specialist knowledge or training.

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Commentary

40. Pupils achieve very well over all parts of the service and make very good progress. During the 16-week assessment course, pupils in Years 1 to 9 make considerable progress in their knowledge and understanding of key mathematical concepts, more so than they did when they were in their other schools. For example, pupils in Years 4 to 6 gain a good understanding of basic fractions through finding different ways of dividing a square into two, four and eight pieces. Pupils in Years 7 to 9 apply their number skills and knowledge to measuring perimeter, area and volume, and learn more about two- and three-dimensional shapes, tessellation and symmetry. Pupils in Years 10 and 11 are prepared very well for their examinations, which include the full and entry-level GCSE, ASDAN silver and bronze awards and the National Skills Profile. All who left the service last year at the end of Year 11 gained some certification that accurately reflected the extent of their

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Commentary

learning in mathematics. When they left, all were capable of using their skills effectively in the tasks of daily living, in further training or in employment, and those who were strongest at mathematics achieved beyond their predicted grades on the GCSE examination.

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Commentary

41. Teaching is very good. It is characterised by very good planning, the good use of resources and the excellent relationships staff have with pupils. Planning documents emphasise the need to follow the programmes of study as they are taught in mainstream schools. This helps when pupils return to lessons in their other schools, because their teachers know what they have been taught and how well they have done. Learning objectives are made very clear and the very high expectations teachers have for learning helps to motivate pupils to work hard and be successful. Teachers and classroom assistants are very good at encouraging pupils, and routinely offer praise and support when they do well. They are equally good at helping those who are having difficulties, through careful explanation or the very good use of resources. Their very good knowledge of their Tuition, Medical, Behaviour and Support Service 14

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Commentary

pupils and their capabilities in mathematics help in planning relevant lessons that match very well with their learning needs. This is especially so for those who teach in the homes and hospitals, where the gains made by some pupils are very impressive.

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Commentary

42. The subject is led and managed very well by a teacher with specialist knowledge and training, who provides very good support for those who teach mathematics but are without specialist knowledge or training. The head of service also helps by ensuring that these teachers have many opportunities to take part in further training, including the ‘twilight session’ training on topics that are directly relevant because they have been chosen by the teachers.

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Mathematics across the curriculum

43. Pupils are given good opportunities to apply and use their mathematics skills in lessons in other subjects. Because classes are small, teachers and other staff quickly recognise pupils’ capabilities in mathematics and provide the right amount of help to complete a task that requires the use of mathematical skills. In many lessons, numeracy skills are used spontaneously, for example when graphs are used to show the findings of surveys in science and food technology, when the pupils are measuring wooden frames for holding pictures in design and technology, and in vocational courses when judging the correct amount of mix to build a wall to plan.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Pupils make very good progress despite the lack of any specialist rooms in any of the centres. • The very good teaching helps pupils to enjoy lessons in science and gives them as many opportunities as possible to take part in experiments. • The quality of leadership and management is very good and the co-ordinator has a clear vision for further developing science.

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Commentary

44. Pupils achieve very well in science at each of the centres and when they are taught science at home and at the hospitals. Pupils in Years 1 to 9 on the 16-week programme follow a scheme of work that is closely related to that which guides the learning of pupils in their other schools. Pupils in Years 10 and 11 follow the syllabus for examinations for the short-course GCSE and ASDAN modules. Given that they are taught in ordinary classrooms, rather than in the specialist laboratories used by teachers in mainstream secondary schools, they do particularly well. Pupils of all ages learn how to present the findings from their investigations, and the experience gives them a systematic approach to learning about methods, materials, predictions and outcomes.

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Commentary

45. Teaching is very good and pupils enjoy science. Teachers plan very well and pupils find lessons interesting because teachers frequently apply what is being taught to everyday situations. As a result, pupils learn very well and make very good gains. For example, pupils in Years 4 and 5 identified the parts of an insect, including learning how the proboscis when inserted into their skin produces the bites that many have had at one time or another. Pupils in Years 10 and 11 used photographs of the teacher’s own kitchen to identify the types of energy that could be used, as well as the appliances that used the energy, such as a cooker, a toaster and an extractor fan.

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Commentary

46. Science is very well led and managed. The co-ordinator has a very good grasp of how to take science forward and is already researching and planning new, accredited courses so that the extent of pupils’ learning can be better reflected in the certification they gain at the end of Year 11. Planning for science across the service is very good and computers are used effectively both by Tuition, Medical, Behaviour and Support Service 15 pupils and teachers. The absence of science laboratories is mostly, but not totally overcome, by the detailed planning and hard work of teachers. This is especially so for those who teach science in the homes and the hospitals and who, despite the difficulties, provide good opportunities for pupils to investigate and conduct experiments.

p.19

Main strengths and weaknesses

• Pupils make good progress and achieve well. • The quality of teaching is very good and well focused on matching pupils’ needs capabilities. • The co-ordinator provides very good leadership and management and ensures that pupils in Years 10 and 11 are able to take relevant nationally accredited awards. • Not being connected to the LEA’s intranet disadvantages teaching and learning, and the easy communication between centres and mainstream schools.

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Commentary

47. All pupils achieve very well. By the end of Year 11, many gain very good grades at entry level in GCSE examinations and the others successfully gain CLAIT and European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) certificates. This represents very good achievement, considering that many when they enter Year 10 have very little experience of using computers. Indeed, some do not know how to start a computer or open a program or file that they wish to use.

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Commentary

48. The very good quality of teaching is characterised by challenging tasks that enable pupils to make very good progress in their learning. For example, pupils in Year 10 and 11 make good use of spreadsheets and databases in their work and transfer these skills to projects in English, science and other subjects. The relationships between staff and pupils are excellent, and the teachers’ high expectations for learning and behaviour result in pupils behaving very well and working diligently for long periods of time. Pupils enjoy using computers and being active in their learning. They also enjoy using peripheral devices such as digital cameras, and they are competent and confident in using graphics and innovative text. They quickly develop very good attitudes to their learning.

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Commentary

49. The very good leadership has ensured that the curriculum continues to develop to meet the wide range of capabilities and learning needs of pupils. For pupils in Years 10 and 11 a syllabus has been chosen for the GCSE examination that works very well because pupils follow individual modules at their own pace.

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Commentary

50. Resources across the service are satisfactory. Not all centres have interactive whiteboards, and in those, there are fewer opportunities to learn how new technologies can help in presenting information. Five of the six centres have access to the internet through a dial-up service. However, no centre is connected to the LEA’s intranet, the lack of which limits the flexibility of teaching and learning and fails to give pupils equivalent opportunities to those available in pupils’ other schools.

p.20

Information and communication technology across the curriculum

51. Teachers and teaching assistants are beginning to make good use of computers and other equipment such as digital cameras to support teaching and learning in lessons in the other subjects. Work is drafted and redrafted in English, and graphics and digital photographs are used to present completed work in other subjects. The displays in each of the centres show the good use of word- processing and publishing programs to make poster presentations. In lessons in mathematics and science, especially, good use is made of spreadsheets and databases. Teachers Tuition, Medical, Behaviour and Support Service 16 use computers to prepare their lessons, including worksheets for pupils, and to record pupils’ progress. Pupils who are able to access the internet use it well to research topics in the subjects they are studying.

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technology, music, child development, physical education and outdoor education

52. Inspectors were unable to gather sufficient evidence in the time available to make a judgement on the provision in many of the subjects offered by the service in the centres, at home and in the hospitals. The additional subjects that are taught make an important contribution to creating specifically tailored learning programmes for pupils. Most are taught by staff of the service. When this is not possible, because of a lack of specialist training or knowledge, teachers with specialisms in the subject are bought in. This is a good procedure to ensure that pupils learn subjects that are important to them, as was the case with the pupils who, last year, sat the GCSE examination in Latin.

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technology, music, child development, physical education and outdoor education

53. Art and design is a subject chosen by many pupils in Years 10 and 11. Most gain very good grades at full and entry levels of the GCSE. Last year, the service gained the Gulbenkian Foundation award for excellence in the provision of art and design. In history, for example, pupils in Years 4 and 5 make good progress in improving their knowledge and understanding of the customs of the Romans and of how the Celtic tribes lived. In design and technology, pupils in Year 6 finished photo frames by applying glaze or paint. In food technology, pupils in Year 9 and 10 understand which foods are healthy and the methods of mass production used to prepare them, for example in making bread. In music, the youngest pupils play percussion instruments in time to a rhythm and, when listening to classical music, identify the emotions intended by the composer.

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technology, music, child development, physical education and outdoor education

54. The use of leisure and sports facilities local to each centre gives pupils good opportunities to take part in physical activities such as racquet sports, football and other competitive games, as well as a range of outdoor activities such as rock climbing, kayaking, orienteering and hill walking. Each of these provides meaningful physical experiences and very good opportunities for the development of personal and social skills.

p.21

VOCATIONAL COURSES

Provision in vocational courses is very good.

p.21

Main strengths and weaknesses

• Pupils have access to an excellent range of vocational courses. • Pupils make very good progress towards gaining vocational qualifications. • The quality of leadership and management of the vocational courses is very good.

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Commentary

55. The service offers an impressive range of vocational courses. Every effort is made to match pupils’ interests with an appropriate course, and this objective is substantially achieved. Pupils have the opportunity to gain accreditation, according to their ability, in a wide range of awards from CLAIT and the ECDL to National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs). If the training provider or college does not accredit a particular course, then the service ensures that in-house accreditation is made available through the ASDAN scheme. Courses are flexible in length and level and cover areas such as construction, engineering, horticulture, ICT and hairdressing. Tuition, Medical, Behaviour and Support Service 17 56. Pupils are motivated and achieve very well. Last year, one student gained the NVQ at Level 1 in hairdressing. Sixteen pupils attended a course on construction, which covered painting and

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Commentary

decorating, bricklaying, carpentry and joinery. This led to small number taking jobs in the industry. Last year a few pupils joined an engineering course which covered welding and motor vehicle maintenance. On the basis of their experience, five enrolled on to an extended course and gained a certificate in general welding. Currently, two pupils are pursuing a City and Guilds qualification in plumbing and welding.

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Commentary

57. Vocational courses and the work experience programme are very well managed by the co- ordinator. Pupils are able to gain work experience in many different industries. All pupils in Years 10 and 11 have the opportunity to take part in a rolling programme of work experience, based on flexible arrangements designed to suit pupils’ individual needs. The most recent placements have included schools, farms, stables and a veterinary practice. The excellent links with Connexions, which include a named adviser attached to each centre, realise many advantages for the older pupils, including speedy gains in their personal, social and emotional development because of excellent experiences in work placements. Some pupils gain permanent employment with the company they initially visited for work experience, and many pupils have realised which industry they would like to work in because of the work placements. The success of the vocational courses

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Commentary

is easily seen in the impressive number of pupils who take follow-on training courses or leave to go into full employment in industries they are familiar with because of their work experiences.

p.22

PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND HEALTH EDUCATION AND CITIZENSHIP

Provision for personal, social and health education (PSHE) and citizenship education is very good.

p.22

Main strengths and weaknesses

• Personal, social and health education (PSHE) and citizenship permeate the whole of the curriculum. • Pupils in Years 1 to 9 make very good progress in their personal and social development over the 16-week assessment programme. • The quality of teaching is very good, especially the teaching of citizenship. • The different elements of the subject are well co-ordinated. • Visitors to the service make a valuable contribution to the development of pupils’ personal and social skills. • Provision for sex education is too variable across the centres.

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Commentary

58. Provision for personal and social development is very well established within the curriculum. Very good provision is made for drugs awareness, citizenship and careers. Throughout the service, the management of pupils’ behaviour and the continuous challenge to unacceptable attitudes and values help pupils make significant progress in their personal development by raising their self- esteem and self-confidence. The difficulties pupils have in attending school are dealt with sensitively and effectively, initially in their homes or at the hospitals, then increasingly at the centres. Records show that many who have been out of school for some time are helped back into school, occasionally for the full duration of the week.

p.22

Commentary

59. Pupils in Years 1 to 9 on the 16-week assessment programme make very good progress in their personal and social development, especially in gaining better control of their behaviour. In addition, in the discrete lessons in PSHE, pupils in Years 1 to 6 gain a good basic understanding of the essentials for healthy living; they are aware of unhealthy foods and know about carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals. Those in Years 7 to 9 recognise foods with high sugar content and discuss how diet affects health and behaviour. Tuition, Medical, Behaviour and Support Service 18 60. The longer they are in the service, the greater the awareness they gain of themselves. This shows in the way they discuss their feelings and how they link these to emotions such as ‘empathy’, and personal qualities such as ‘I take criticism well or I motivate myself to do things I don’t like to do.’ They learn about citizenship, so that by the end of Year 11 most have a good knowledge of

p.22

Commentary

elections, political parties and the procedures and importance of voting. They know about savings and investments and the advantages and disadvantages of saving in particular ways, such as through Premium Bonds. They gain good insights into the value of different currencies and make thoughtful judgements when evaluating the merits of different charitable appeals. They know about the attributes and responsibilities of people in different jobs through their experiences in the community, and through involvement with other professionals who support their personal and social development and help them with career choices.

p.23

Commentary

61. In the lessons, the quality of teaching is very good. Lessons are well planned and structured and pupils are, most often, fully engaged because they are interested in the topics. Teachers use many teaching strategies, including discussion, group work, role-play and examples of real-life situations to meet the learning objectives, which are very clearly presented. Resources are used very well, including the internet, video-tapes and CD players. For example, they enable pupils to appreciate the reality of life in third-world countries, such as Uganda, and to avoid developing stereotypical views of people from other ethnic origins. Behaviour is very good, and when the occasional incident of inappropriate behaviour occurs it is managed very well, without detriment to the learning of others. Pupils work hard in their lessons and enjoy doing so because of their good attitudes to their learning.

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Commentary

62. Leadership and management are very good. Planning documents are very good and achieve the primary objective of meeting pupils’ particular personal, social and health needs, whether they are taught at the centres, at home or the hospitals. Pupils are, therefore, better prepared to cope with their difficulties the longer they are in the service. Connexions provide very effective support for pupils in learning about the world of work and in gaining further training or employment after they leave the service.

p.23

Commentary

63. The mentoring service that is being piloted in some centres to support pupils in out-of-centre activities provides very good help in extending pupils’ daily routines. In some, but not all, of the centres, computers are used very well to support the teaching of citizenship. Visitors with specialist knowledge make important contributions, for example in helping pupils to understand drug and alcohol misuse. The provision for sex education varies considerably over the six centres. In the best it is very good, but in some centres it is not as good. The plans already in hand to improve teaching sex education in these centres should help raise the standards quickly. Tuition, Medical, Behaviour and Support Service 19

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

The overall effectiveness of the school 2 How inclusive the school is 1 How the school’s effectiveness has changed since its last inspection 8 Value for money provided by the school 2

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

Overall standards achieved 2 Pupils’ achievement 2

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

Pupils’ attitudes, values and other personal qualities 2 Attendance 3 Attitudes 2 Behaviour, including the extent of exclusions 2 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 3

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

The quality of education provided by the school 2 The quality of teaching 2 How well pupils learn 2 The quality of assessment 2 How well the curriculum meets pupils’ needs 2 Enrichment of the curriculum, including out-of-school activities 2 Accommodation and resources 3 Pupils’ care, welfare, health and safety 2 Support, advice and guidance for pupils 1 How well the school seeks and acts on pupils’ views 3 The effectiveness of the school’s links with parents 1 The quality of the school’s links with the community 2 The school’s links with other schools and colleges 1

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

The leadership and management of the school 2 The governance of the school 4 The leadership of the headteacher 1 The leadership of other key staff 2 The effectiveness of management 2

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

Inspectors make judgements on a scale: excellent (grade 1); very good (2); good (3); satisfactory (4); unsatisfactory (5); poor (6); very poor (7).

p.24