New River College Secondary

100391 Unique Reference Number Islington LEA LEA 284269 Inspection number 23 January 2006 to 24 January 2006 Inspection dates Robert Ellis HMI Reporting inspector

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

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White Lion Centre School address Pupil referral unit Type of school White Lion Street Pupil referral unit School category Islington, London N1 9PW 14 to 16 Age range of pupils 020 7527 7011 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 020 7527 5027 Fax number 31 Number on roll Mrs Phillippa Stobbs Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Vivien Janes Headteacher 21 September 2004 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 284269 23 January 2006 - 14 to 16 24 January 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 one of Her Majesty's Inspectors (HMI).

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Description of the school

Project 16 is a pupil referral unit (PRU) that educates pupils aged 14 to 16 years who have complex needs and who have been excluded from mainstream schools. Most pupils are male and they come from a variety of social and economic backgrounds. Almost half the pupils are entitled to free school meals and around one in three come from ethnic minorities. The unit has experienced significant difficulty in the recruitment and retention of suitably qualified and experienced staff over the last three years.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Project 16, 23 January 2006 to 24 January 2006

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Grade: 4

When Project 16 was inspected in October 2004 it was deemed to have serious weaknesses. Progress in addressing those weaknesses has been too slow and in accordance with section 13(3) of the Education Act 2005, HMCI is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. The quality of teaching is satisfactory but its impact is often limited by the pupils' poor attendance and punctuality and low level disruptive behaviour. Systems and procedures to assess the pupils' achievements and to track their progress are underdeveloped. The curriculum is developing so that it is becoming more closely matched to the needs and interests of the pupils. Monitoring and self-evaluation are

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Grade: 4

not rigorous enough and do not accurately identify strengths and areas for development. The unit does not provide satisfactory value for money.

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What the school should do to improve further

* Improve leadership and management at all levels so that monitoring and evaluation of the work of the centre are more effective and systems and procedures are implemented rigorously and consistently.* Improve systems and procedures to assess the pupils' achievements and track their progress.* Continue to improve the pupils' attendance, punctuality and personal development.

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Grade: 4

The attainment of most pupils is well below the standards expected for their ages. In the 2005 GCSE examinations nearly three quarters achieved at least one GCSE but as most are only entered for two subjects, only one in seven achieved 3 or more A*-G grades.In lessons the progress that pupils make is too varied. Those pupils who attend regularly and have appropriate attitudes to their learning make good progress, while the majority who attend infrequently and are reluctant to engage with their learning do not make enough progress.The pupils' low attainment in speaking and listening, literacy and numeracy are additional barriers to learning.

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Grade: 3

Attendance and punctuality are unsatisfactory. Attendance has improved since the previous inspection and around one in three pupils have good or very good attendance. However, there remain too many pupils who have very poor attendance. Project 16 has been successful in reducing the number of exclusions and has eliminated the extreme, violent and aggressive behaviour reported by the last inspection. Despite this good progress there are too many instances of low level disruptive behaviour and 2 Inspection Report: Project 16, 23 January 2006 to 24 January 2006 poor attitudes to learning which slow the pace of lessons and which limit the pupils' progress. Punctuality is poor and some pupils who arrive in good time need considerable encouragement to get them into their lessons.Once pupils were prepared to participate in lessons, most enjoyed what they were doing. This was most marked when pupils were working one to one with an adult.Pupils have a good understanding about keeping

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Grade: 3

safe and about healthy eating, and they know the merits of exercise. There is good provision for their moral and social development but fewer opportunities for their spiritual and cultural development.The pupils all contribute to their personal learning plans which include negotiated behavioural targets and useful success criteria that they can use to judge if their targets have been achieved.Pupils make positive contributions to their own community and some make useful contributions at community meetings. Some have successfully participated in a gardening project and a Teen and Toddlers programme. Pupil representatives made a positive contribution to a behaviour review working party.The good multi-agency support that pupils receive at an individual level helps them to develop skills that will be useful in adult life and prepares them for employment.

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Grade: 3

The quality of teaching is satisfactory overall and has many good features. The teachers demonstrate considerable skill, care about their pupils and work hard to help them learn. In the most effective lessons the teachers conveyed a sense of excitement for the subject and used a range of interesting tasks and activities that were well matched to the pupils' needs and interests. The use of assessment to guide planning and track the pupils' progress is still at an early stage of development and although individual teachers have a good knowledge of their pupils' achievements, this has only recently started to be recorded on a central database. The pupils are often very dependent on guidance and support from adults but a few have the confidence to take responsibility for their own work. Responses to inappropriate behaviour were not consistent and it is not clear that staff share a common understanding of what the trigger points are

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Grade: 3

for using intervention. However, the management of more serious incidents was generally effective and limited the impact that very poor behaviour and attitudes had on other pupils. Too little reference is made to the pupils' individual targets and opportunities for the pupils to assess their own progress are sometimes missed.

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Grade: 3

The number of hours allocated to teaching is less than the recommended time for pupils of secondary school age and this time is further eroded by pupil lateness and time taken to deal with instances of unacceptable behaviour. Accommodation is satisfactory overall but there is no playground or outdoor space to enable pupils to engage in physical activities, although timetabled physical education lessons are 3 Inspection Report: Project 16, 23 January 2006 to 24 January 2006 provided at a local sports centre. The curriculum is now broader and provides pupils with more options to follow courses which develop skills for the workplace. Relationships have been developed with other schools, colleges and local businesses and this has enabled some pupils to follow accredited courses which the unit cannot offer on site. For example one pupil attends a local mainstream school for her GCSE science lessons. There is a good range of extension activities available to pupils and

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Grade: 3

the unit has good links with a local boat club and sports centre. The pupils benefit from advice and guidance from Connexions advisers and a number of pupils are involved with Positive Action for Young People projects and the Skill Force initiative. They also benefit from opportunities for two weeks of work experience. The unit has good ICT facilities but these are underused.

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Grade: 3

Most pupils have complex needs and a sensible multi-agency approach has been adopted to provide for their care, guidance and support. Project 16 was involved in the Multi-Agency Inclusion Project and this resulted in some pupils benefiting from intensive mentoring, advocacy and parental advice. Pupils are also able to refer to on-site clinical psychology and family therapy support. There are appropriate procedures for ensuring the pupils' safety and well-being. Student focus meetings provide a good opportunity for staff to share information and to plan appropriate intervention for individual pupils.Academic guidance is less well developed and the unit has only recently started to develop systems to track the pupils' progress. Many pupils arrive at the unit with poorly documented attainment levels because of their history of poor attendance and although some steps are taken to identify their levels of attainment, this does not

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Grade: 3

provide a secure base from which to track their progress.

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Grade: 4

The pace of improvement has not been quick enough and those responsible for the leadership and management of the unit have not responded with sufficient urgency to eradicate the serious weaknesses identified by the previous inspection.Monitoring is not sufficiently rigorous or frequent to enable managers to have a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of the unit or to measure the progress that it makes in relation to the targets in its action plan.Leaders have focussed too much on the care and welfare of pupils and not enough on raising standards or promoting personal development. The local authority has acted to put support in place and the monitoring and advisory group has been restructured so that it is more sharply focussed on monitoring and evaluating the work of the unit. However, these developments have had limited impact and this group is not monitoring or evaluating the work of the unit

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Grade: 4

as effectively as it might.The persons responsible for leading, managing or holding the unit to account for the standards it achieves are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement. 4 Inspection Report: Project 16, 23 January 2006 to 24 January 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. 5 Inspection Report: Project 16, 23 January 2006 to 24 January 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 No The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA No Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 4 How well do learners achieve? NA 4 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 4 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 4 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 3 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 4 The behaviour of learners NA 4 The attendance of learners NA 3 How well learners enjoy their education NA 3 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 3 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 3 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 4 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 4 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 3 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 3 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 4 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 Yes Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form Yes 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

As you know, I visited Project 16 to check on how well it was doing. Thank you very much for letting me observe your lessons. I was disappointed that some of you did not want to talk to me so a special thank you to those of you who did speak to me about your work. I am sorry to say that although there have been some improvements since the last inspection there are still too many things that are not working as well as they should.Your teachers and other adults work hard to help you learn and develop and they demonstrate considerable skill, good humour and patience. Some of you are making good progress, but there are too many who do not attend often enough or who make your teachers' work more difficult than it should be when you do.The people who lead and manage Project 16 do not have enough reliable information to know how well you are doing and I have asked them to keep better records of your achievements.I want to make sure that improvement happens quickly so I have decided

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

that Project 16 needs special measures to help it improve. This will mean that HMI will visit each term to check on the improvements and report on the successes and the things that still need to be done.I particularly liked looking at your art work and observing your preparation for the job interview role play.Thank you again for helping me with my work.

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