The Linden Centre

123349 Unique Reference Number Telford and Wrekin LEA 281451 Inspection number 4 July 2006 to 4 July 2006 Inspection dates Patricia Pothecary AI Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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North Road School address Special Type of school Wellington Pupil referral unit School category Telford, Shropshire TF1 3ET 5 to 11 Age range of pupils 01952 260281 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01952 246565 Fax number 26 Number on roll Mr John Gilbert Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Ms Patricia Orton Headteacher 22 May 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 281451 4 July 2006 - 5 to 11 4 July 2006 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report 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.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by an Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

The Admaston Centre admits pupils from their local schools for four half-days each week, over a period of twelve weeks. They spend the rest of the time in their usual school. Pupils are registered at both the centre and the school they come from. The centre aims to re-integrate pupils back into full-time mainstream education and the centre’s staff work closely with the schools involved. A few pupils remain for longer, or occasionally full-time, until a permanent alternative placement can be found. There are three classes. Pupils, who are currently all boys, have emotional, social or behavioural difficulties. Very few pupils are from ethnic groups other than White British. Half of all pupils have free school meals. The centre has been part of a revised service since September 2005 when much shorter-term, part-time intervention was put in place. A new head of service and a new management committee are responsible

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Description of the school

for all pupil referral units (PRUs) in the local authority.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Admaston Centre, 4 July 2006 to 4 July 2006

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Grade: 2

Admaston Centre is a good pupil referral unit, where pupils are helped to overcome their behavioural, social and emotional difficulties well and begin to enjoy learning, often for the first time. It provides good value for money. This view is shared by the centre’s leadership. Parents think that their children ‘come a long way’ at Admaston. The majority of pupils settle quickly into the routine and soon begin to make good progress in their personal and emotional development. Good teaching means that pupils also make good progress in several subjects, particularly literacy, numeracy and science. Teaching and learning in information and communication technology (ICT) are satisfactory rather than good because resources are too limited. The rich curriculum meets the needs of pupils well during the four half-days when they attend. Good care and guidance ensures that pupils are helped to progress remarkably quickly, the majority returning successfully to their mainstream school

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Grade: 2

full-time. Good leadership and management have overseen several improvements to the way the service is run, resulting in successful intervention for increasing numbers of pupils. The system for monitoring pupils’ progress is recently developed but does not yet provide a sufficiently clear analysis of where further improvement is needed. There is also limited information collected on the longer-term success of the intervention. The centre has made several good improvements recently and has a good capacity to improve further.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Collect and monitor information on pupils’ progress, in a way that allows sharper analysis of strengths, weaknesses and trends in performance, for directing further improvements. • Improve the quality of resources and teaching in ICT so that pupils make more progress in this subject. • Monitor systematically how well pupils do on return to mainstream schools to gauge the longer-term effectiveness of the centre.

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Grade: 2

Pupils make good progress during their time at the centre. They usually have low attainment on entry but quickly begin to catch up, reaching broadly average standards. In 2005, before the re-organisation to shorter-term placements, all pupils by the end of Year 6 reached national averages or above. Pupils make good progress in English and mathematics, usually making about six months’ progress during their 12-week placement. For some, progress is outstanding, especially for pupils aged five to seven, with several in this group gaining up to a year in reading and mathematics. Pupils also do well in science. Their progress in ICT is satisfactory and the centre has appropriate plans to improve standards in this subject. Improved approaches to teaching writing 2 Inspection Report: Admaston Centre, 4 July 2006 to 4 July 2006 to boys have resulted in good progress recently. Pupils regularly achieve their individual

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Grade: 2

targets, which are carefully set and suitably challenging.

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Grade: 2

The good and sometimes very good progress pupils make in their personal, social and emotional development is the main reason why they begin to do well in their work. Pupils really enjoy their time at the centre, describing it as the ‘best place ever.’ Their attendance is much better than for pupil referral units generally and they take a very positive attitude to wanting to do well and achieve. Pupils’ behaviour is usually good and improves considerably as they begin to understand more about themselves and others. During assembly and in lessons, there is a calm and purposeful atmosphere. Bullying is rare. When pupils do lose control, they usually respond well to the support given by staff. The spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils is also good. As a result they begin to understand and respect the differences between people. In addition, because pupils are usually appreciating learning for the first time, they often show a

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Grade: 2

sense of wonder in lessons. Pupils have a sound awareness of what they need to do to keep healthy and safe. They drink water regularly and like eating fruit, but some do not engage sufficiently in sport or physical education. Pupils’ contribution to the centre community, through helping others and willingly doing chores, for example, is satisfactory given the short time that they attend. Pupils make some excellent progress in working collaboratively, which, alongside improved social and basic skills, prepares them well for their future life and work.

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Grade: 2

Teaching is good and leads to good learning in all three classes. In the youngest class for pupils aged five to seven, teaching is often excellent. The warm rapport with pupils and excellent collaborative working are particularly impressive in this class. Behaviour management is generally skilled and enables pupils to get on with their work with few interruptions. The quality of teaching has improved recently and all teachers now plan lessons very well, making it clear to pupils what they need to learn. This has led to faster rates of learning. Each lesson is based upon good assessment, to make sure that pupils of different abilities and those with learning difficulties have work to suit their needs. Teaching assistants show considerable skill in supporting pupils in their different groups. In a few lessons, work fails to engage pupils for long enough, because activities do not change frequently enough. Teachers are beginning to increase the range of

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Grade: 2

different strategies that they use for this reason. Most subjects are taught well and teachers have a good range of the necessary subject skills. Teaching in ICT, although 3 Inspection Report: Admaston Centre, 4 July 2006 to 4 July 2006 satisfactory, is hampered by a lack of the right resources and training to make it even more effective. The head of the centre has plans to improve this as a priority.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is good and its unique nature helps pupils considerably in overcoming their difficulties. Pupils receive only part of their curriculum at the centre, although the range of subjects is suitably broad. Careful liaison with schools and imaginative planning ensure that pupils build as well as they can on what has been taught before. All pupils are taught a programme of social and emotional skills as a priority alongside literacy and numeracy. This contributes well to helping them develop a deeper understanding of their behaviour. It also acts as an important first step in preparing pupils to meet employers’ needs in the future. The centre adds to the work of schools in promoting healthy living and takes considerable care to show pupils how to be safe. However, not enough attention has been paid to ensure that all pupils receive enough physical activity during the week. Despite the majority of pupils only attending

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Grade: 2

part-time, the centre offers a very good and rich range of regular trips and visits which bring learning alive. This is significant in helping to motivate pupils and encouraging positive attitudes to learning.

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Grade: 2

Good care, guidance and support ensure that the centre fulfils its primary purpose of helping pupils to calm their behaviour and begin to learn effectively. Child protection procedures and other safeguards are securely in place. A well- organised system helps pupils to learn how to behave more appropriately and deal with their feelings in a constructive way. A high staff presence and good relationships encourage pupils to work and play together harmoniously and to feel safe, without fear of bullying. The centre has a detailed system for setting targets so that pupils can be guided towards doing their best. This is monitored regularly and adapted so that individual pupils keep moving forward with sufficient challenge. Centre managers recognise that, although effective, this system is far too time consuming to be efficient and a simpler system is being considered as an alternative. The main objective in preparing pupils

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Grade: 2

for the next stage of their education is in helping them to return to full-time education. This has a high success rate and also reduces the incidence of exclusions in the mainstream.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good, overseeing a service which is effectively supporting increasing numbers of vulnerable pupils. The change to short-term, part-time placements of pupils means the centre’s staff work much more closely with schools, helping them meet the needs of these pupils. Although this system is still 4 Inspection Report: Admaston Centre, 4 July 2006 to 4 July 2006 developing, having run for less than a year, it is effective. Local schools are pleased with improvements in pupils’ behaviour and their good progress in literacy and numeracy. The centre’s managers, well supported by the local authority, have directed some important improvements, including more systematic assessment and target setting, better teaching and learning, higher-quality written work and a clear programme which is developing pupils’ social and emotional skills more effectively. Improving pupils’ opportunities for inclusion is a key strength of the centre and good links with other

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Grade: 2

agencies such as child psychotherapy services, as well as schools, support this work. Self-evaluation is improving and is currently satisfactory. The views of parents, pupils and schools are acted upon well. Monitoring to improve teaching is increasingly effective. This is shown in the faster progress of the pupils. However, the information on individual pupils’ academic progress, or personal and social development, is not collated and analysed thoroughly enough to give a clear overview of how well the centre is doing and what needs improving. With so many pupils arriving and leaving all the time, the system is not robust enough to enable trends to be monitored or show the centre’s longer-term effectiveness, when pupils return to their schools. This is clearly recognised and planned as a logical next step in the work of the centre. There is good capacity for further improvement. 5 Inspection Report: Admaston Centre, 4 July 2006 to 4 July 2006

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set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Admaston Centre, 4 July 2006 to 4 July 2006

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Overall

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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learners?

NA 2 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA NA The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well do learners achieve? NA 3 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 2 The behaviour of learners NA 2 The attendance of learners NA 2 How well learners enjoy their education NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 3 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 3 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 2 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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needs and interests of learners?

NA 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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needs and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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and supporting all learners?

NA 2 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 3 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 2 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 2 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy

Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are educated about sexual health

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe

Yes Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community

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The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being

Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams NA Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form NA Education for all learners aged 14–19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for being so helpful and welcoming to me when I visited Admaston; I enjoyed the time I spent with you very much and can see why you find the centre such a good place in which to learn. I also enjoyed meeting the staff and joining you for some of your lessons. Here are some of the centre’s strengths: the calm and happy atmosphere how much you learn and what good progress you make towards your targets the sensible way you behave, help others, and work so hard in lessons the interesting subjects and activities you undertake the way that staff really care for you and guide you in your work how you are helped to move on and enjoy learning more at school. What we have asked the centre to do to improve further: look closely at the progress you make to see where improvements can be made to help you even more check to see how well you do after you return full-time to school improve the computer resources at the centre.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

I wish you all the very best in the future.

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