Queensmill School

100378 Unique Reference Number Hammersmith and Fulham Local Authority 285781 Inspection number 7 °8 March 2007 Inspection dates Judith Charlesworth Reporting inspector

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

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Clancarty Road School address Special Type of school Fulham Community special School category London SW6 3AA 3 °11 Age range of pupils 020 7384 2330 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 020 7384 2750 Fax number 54 Number on roll (school) Dr Maria Callias Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Judith Ragan Headteacher 15 October 2001 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 285781 7 °8 March 2007 3°11 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

Queensmill caters for children who have autistic spectrum disorders. Some have additional needs such as challenging behaviour, and various learning difficulties and medical conditions. All pupils have a statement of their special educational needs, and attainment on entry is well below average for their age. A few pupils join from mainstream classes where their social and emotional difficulties rather than learning difficulties have led to a breakdown in placement. Other pupils are severely affected by their autistic spectrum disorder, and also have learning difficulties of varying severity. Some of these pupils have attended mainstream nursery or school. Boys outnumber girls by eight to one, which reflects the national gender balance in children with autistic spectrum disorder. More than half the pupils are from minority ethnic heritages and one quarter has English as an additional language. In the last year, the school has been

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Description of the school

accredited by the National Autistic Society, and has gained Healthy Schools' status and the Investors in People award. The head teacher has been in post since September 2005.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Queensmill School, 7 °8 March 2007

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Grade: 1

Queensmill is an outstanding school and the quality of provision in both the Foundation Stage and Key Stages 1 and 2 is excellent. The school recognises that in order for pupils to learn, they must first gain an effective means of communication and overcome the difficulties and anxieties brought about by their autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). The achievement and personal development of pupils throughout the school is outstanding as a result. Queensmill was judged to be a good school in the previous inspection. Nevertheless, in the last five terms it has reviewed its provision extensively and taken a fresh approach, reflecting current best practice in working with pupils with ASD. Parents are overwhelmingly supportive. One parent of a new child wrote: 'He's such a happy little thing at home, much happier than he ever was...He is constantly singing and asking for cuddles and kisses which means so much to me.'

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Grade: 1

The leadership and management of the school are outstanding. Under the skilled direction of the head teacher, a strong, cohesive team of effective managers is moving the school forward and assuring the quality of its work. The leadership team is very reflective and constantly challenges itself as to how the school can improve further. Leadership is becoming increasingly extended, with every member of staff making a valuable contribution. Governance is good and considerable financial investment has been wisely made in three particular aspects to improve the school's practice. Firstly, extensive training has taken place so that all staff understand the difficulties faced by pupils with ASD, and have the skills to support their learning and personal development. A robust induction process for new staff and on-going training for all ensures that staff skills are maintained. Secondly, a picture and symbol-based

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Grade: 1

communication system has been introduced to help pupils communicate, understand and structure their world more effectively. This also ensures that pupils with different home languages have equal opportunities for communicating and learning. Lastly, the school has been re-furbished in a manner that better suits the needs of these particular pupils. All classrooms are set up in a similar way, with different areas for differing purposes, and with a minimum of visual distraction. Nevertheless, each one contains attractive displays of pupils' work and has its own character. The quality of teaching and the team work between teachers, support staff and speech and language therapists are outstanding. There is the highest possible level of commitment to excellence by all staff. They undertake training and courses to gain additional qualifications willingly and in their own time, and excellent relationships underpin pupils' learning and development. In all lessons and school activities, pupils'

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Grade: 1

personal development, communication skills and academic learning are given equal importance. As far as they are able to, pupils make safe and healthy choices and become increasingly well equipped to contribute to the school and wider communities. Pupils' enjoyment of school is reflected in their good attendance, outstanding behaviour, and application in class. Teaching is underpinned by a good curriculum, although documentation is often less clear about its educational value than its strength in supporting pupils' ASD. Enrichment is limited. The standards pupils attain are, 2 Inspection Report: Queensmill School, 7 °8 March 2007 understandably, low. However a wide range of data collected over the past two years shows that pupils' achievement is outstanding.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Make sure that curriculum documentation fully reflects the high quality provision for learning in subjects, and look to extending enrichment activities as soon as it is practicable.

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Grade: 1

Pupils join the school in all age groups, and their skills on entry are generally lower than those typically found for their age. Queensmill collects a range of information about pupils' attainment and progress. Analysis using national benchmarked information shows that whilst standards are lower than expected for their age, pupils make excellent progress. Progress ranges from four levels in a year to progress within one level in a year, but this nevertheless represents excellent achievement for each individual. Analysis of data also shows no difference in the progress made by the different groups of pupils in the school.

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Grade: 1

The anxieties and behaviours that pupils have on entry diminish quickly with the school's expert support. They come to understand what is expected of them, learn the benefits of effective communication and manage themselves better, for example requesting time away from an activity instead of resorting to more anti-social behaviours. Pupils demonstrate that they make healthy and safe choices, for example by choosing active leisure activities and remembering that they can say no to unwelcome attention. This is a great achievement for them. Behaviour is excellent and the decrease in pupils' challenging behaviours over time is outstanding. Pupils become increasingly independent; they learn to follow their daily schedules without prompting and carry out what they have learned at school within their home. One boy, for example, has frequently made a fruit salad for the family meal since learning how to make one

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Grade: 1

at school. As they grow in self-confidence the pupils look on the demands made of them as positive rather than negative challenges. These developing skills equip them very well for taking their place in society, and for some, for future economic well-being. The pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is excellent overall, although they find empathy and understanding other people's lives and points of view particularly difficult. 3 Inspection Report: Queensmill School, 7 °8 March 2007

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Grade: 1

The school's regular observations of teaching have found it to be consistently good or outstanding, and the inspection has confirmed this. Pupils make outstanding progress in lessons and over time. Staff have a very detailed knowledge of each pupil so that their personal, communication and academic needs are consistently addressed. They are acutely aware of individuals' needs and fine-tune what they do to keep pupils calm and working, for example offering ear defenders when pupils appear overwhelmed by sensory input. Very good assessment underpins this. Staff are excellent role models, presenting a deliberate, low key personality in order not to over-stimulate pupils. As a result, pupils' behaviour, compliance and application are outstanding. Staff use the interactive white boards and the communication system exceptionally well. Their response to pupils' communication through picture exchange is immediate and

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Grade: 1

underpins their excellent progress in communicating and learning. Where appropriate, symbols are replaced by words, and pupils learn to organise themselves and record work through traditional reading and writing.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is good, very well resourced and supports pupils' achievement very effectively. At both the Foundation Stage and in Key Stages 1 and 2 it covers all the required elements and is very well planned. An appropriate emphasis is given to literacy, numeracy and pupils' personal development. A range of learning targets is given throughout subject planning, and those suitable for each individual are identified. However, whilst the curriculum is an excellent vehicle for managing and supporting pupils' ASD, policies and associated documentation often appear to give this more importance than academic learning. Clubs for pupils of mixed ages are arranged for Friday afternoons, but as yet there are no such activities at either end of the school day. This is due to transport difficulties, the pupils' particular problems, and the lack of suitable facilities as the building is far from ideal as a school for autistic pupils.

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Grade: 2

Similarly, although the school enriches the curriculum well by effective use of resources and visits with school staff, the range of visitors and places that pupils feel comfortable enough to visit are limited by their particular needs.

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Grade: 1

This area of the school's work is excellent. Individual education plans address pupils' ASD needs effectively throughout the day. Very good curriculum planning provides academic targets for each pupil which are achieved through the high quality teaching and support. Pupils' own interests and opinions are taken into account when planning work and activities. As a result of this effective personal and academic support and 4 Inspection Report: Queensmill School, 7 °8 March 2007 guidance, pupils learn to communicate, lose their anxieties, enjoy school and achieve extremely well. Procedures to safeguard pupils and help them stay safe and healthy are robust. All the relevant checks on adults' suitability to work with children are carried out and the information is currently being compiled into a single record as required. Very good support is offered to parents through training, social occasions and help in managing their children. They are kept very well informed about school

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Grade: 1

activities and their children's achievements by a range of means, and so can support their children's learning effectively. The school has excellent working relationships with the speech and language therapists who work alongside class staff and provide valuable information and support for learning. A new occupational therapy service is providing very helpful advice about pupils' sensory needs which is being incorporated effectively into classroom practice.

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Grade: 1

The leadership and management of the school are outstanding and focused firmly on helping pupils manage their ASD so that they achieve well and take their place in society. The staff form a close-knit team with the pupils' interests at the heart of all they do. They take joy in every little success, and spend much of their own time making equipment and refining their practice to help pupils further. Excellent management decisions support this ethos. For example, there has been a heavy investment in training and some higher level teaching assistants now carry on class management and teaching in the absence of the teacher. This strategy minimises disruption to pupils. A new outreach service to local schools is proving to be very well managed, effective and sought after. Self-evaluation is extensive and very well founded, although it is not accurately reflected in the school self-evaluation form, which is too modest. However,

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Grade: 1

the school improvement plan is thorough and gives a clear indication of the depth and scope of the plans for continued improvement. The governors' understanding of the school is improving well, and they now provide a good steer and professional challenge. Finances are very well used, as exemplified by the recent developments introduced by the new head teacher. The school is well known as a model of good practice, and the head teacher and staff are increasingly influential in the local and wider communities. Overall, the clarity of direction the school is taking, together with its outstanding quality and methodology indicates excellent capacity for further improvement. 5 Inspection Report: Queensmill School, 7 °8 March 2007 .

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Grade: 1

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Queensmill School, 7 °8 March 2007

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Inspection judgements

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

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 1 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 1 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 1 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

1 How well do learners achieve? 4 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 1 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The behaviour of learners 2 The attendance of learners 1 How well learners enjoy their education 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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and interests of learners?

1 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 7 Inspection Report: Queensmill School, 7 °8 March 2007

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities No Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 8 Inspection Report: Queensmill School, 7 °8 March 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for letting me come into your lessons when I visited your school last week to see how it was working and how well you were all doing. I was very pleased with what I found. The staff think that Queensmill is a good school, but I think it is better than that. I think it's excellent and your parents do too. I found that the staff work very hard to help you stay healthy and safe, enjoy your work and prepare you for your adult lives. You make excellent progress in learning to manage your difficulties, and I think you should be very proud of yourselves. I know some of you find things difficult at times, but you were really very calm and interested in your work while I was in school. Your relationships with the staff are excellent, and I really enjoyed the conversation two of you had with your speech therapist where you discussed where you all went shopping for your clothes. The head teacher, staff and governors run your school really well. They are always looking for

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

ways to make it better and to help you achieve even more. I particularly liked two recent school developments - the picture and symbol exchange system and the nice, blue and light wood furniture and decoration in your classrooms. I think both help you to stay calm and confident and learn well. The teaching is outstanding and all the staff work very well together to help you. I noticed how much you enjoyed it when you used the interactive white boards. The staff give you an interesting range of things to do, although I feel that they should be prouder of this than their written documentation suggests. I also think that it would be good if you had some after school activities, although I understand that it will be difficult to provide these until the school has moved to a new building. The school has some very good systems to help you learn, and the staff use all the information they collect about your learning to help you achieve

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

very effectively. In all, I think that you are fortunate to attend Queensmill school, and I know your parents do too. I wish you all the best for your futures. Yours sincerely Judith CharlesworthLead Inspector 9 Inspection Report: Queensmill School, 7 °8 March 2007

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