Beormund Primary School

Inspection Report Beormund Primary School

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100879 Unique Reference Number Southwark Local Authority 285907 Inspection number 19 January 2007 Inspection date 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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Crosby Row School address Special Type of school Long Lane Community special School category London SE1 3PS 5 °11 Age range of pupils 02075259027 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 02075259026 Fax number 25 Number on roll (school) Mr Martin Brecknell Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Ms Sharon Gray Headteacher 28 February 2006 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection date Age group 285907 19 January 2007 5 °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

Beormund caters for up to 35 pupils aged 5 - 11 with severe social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) and a wide range of additional needs such as language disorder, learning difficulties and autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). Three quarters of the pupils are boys. All pupils have a statement of their special educational needs and have not managed to maintain a place in mainstream school because of their difficulties. Attainment on entry is below average for their age. More than half the pupils are from minority ethnic heritages but none have English as an additional language. The school offers extensive extended school activities to pupils and their parents, and has forged a number of partnerships to benefit the pupils and school community as a whole. The school's most recent national award is the Basic Skills Quality Mark in November 2006.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Beormund Primary School, 19 January 2007

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Grade: 1

Beormund is an outstanding school. It combines high quality education with strongly nurturing support for pupils' social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. As a result, pupils' academic achievement and personal development are excellent. By the time they leave Beormund, four out of five pupils move successfully into mainstream secondary school and pupils' results in the national tests for 11 year olds are broadly average. National data for 2005/6 placed Beormund at the top of the list of the 100 schools in the country where pupils achieve exceptionally well. This success equips the pupils very well for continuing their education, securing future economic well-being and taking their place in society. Beormund's success derives from outstanding leadership and management. This stems from the head teacher and leadership team, but is distributed throughout the school so that every member of staff, including the learning mentors (teaching assistants)

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Grade: 1

makes a significant contribution to the school's high quality work. Staff continually examine and fine-tune the provision to help pupils achieve even better, even though the quality of teaching, curriculum and care, guidance and support are all outstanding. Currently underway, for example, is the design of a new curriculum model to help pupils make better cross curricular links. School improvement is underpinned by long-established, rigorous monitoring, evaluation and development processes. Some of these are facilitated by external agencies and the views of all the school's stakeholders including pupils, parents, partners and associated professionals are taken into account. The large, colourful schematic 'visions for tomorrow' arising from one of these processes forms the basis of each year's more traditional school improvement plan. The pupils themselves can explain the process and their hopes for the school very effectively. In doing this, during

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Grade: 1

a special assembly for the local member of Parliament that took place during the inspection, one boy explained 'We want to make the school better for other people......and to improve our learning.' The school gives outstanding support to pupils and their parents. The value placed on pupils is evident in the breadth of additional activities provided, the excellent, warm relationships with staff and the rich, celebratory environment. Pupils clearly enjoy school very much. Behaviour is excellent, attendance is good and exclusions are very low. High quality displays of pupils' work, achievements and activities line the walls and hang from the ceilings. The school gives pupils opportunities few would have otherwise; for example, small groups are shortly going scuba diving in Egypt and skiing in Switzerland. Beormund has had a family liaison worker for several years and inspection questionnaires show that parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the

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Grade: 1

school. Beormund has a wide range of very beneficial partnerships, some of which result in extra funding for the school. All partnerships help extend its provision. Pupils' individual needs are met by a number of therapies, such as art, music and reflexology, and staff have also have access to this support if they wish. Partnerships with external groups 2 Inspection Report: Beormund Primary School, 19 January 2007 support the school's extensive provision for keeping pupils healthy and safe. The partnership with a high profile, commercial company has brought many benefits ranging from an entirely new information communication technology system with ongoing technical support to regular classroom volunteers.

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What the school should do to improve further

Although the school has no major issues for improvement, they have already identified and planned for a number of further developments. They should concentrate on implementing their new systems for baseline assessment and tracking pupils' progress as their next steps.

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Grade: 1

Pupils' attainment on entry is generally below average due to periods of time spent out of mainstream school and the impact of their difficulties on learning. Beormund's first priority is to support pupils to become open to learning, and then to fill in gaps in their knowledge and understanding to form the basis of new, more effective learning. The school is highly successful in this. Pupils' standards improve to become broadly average by the time they move on, with a small number gaining levels above expectations for their age, particularly in science. This is outstanding achievement. The school is rigorous in analysing pupils' performance data to identify individuals needing particular support and any differences in the rates of progress of various groups. This resulted, for example, in a new class with a different approach to teaching being formed for pupils with ASD and communication difficulties. Pupils make excellent

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Grade: 1

progress towards the targets set for them in their individual education plans (IEPs) and in the smaller targets set weekly.

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Grade: 1

Pupils benefit greatly from the family atmosphere of the school, and look forward to each day. Behaviour is excellent, with pupils showing a real depth of understanding about their own difficulties and how to manage them. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. Pupils respond exceptionally well to the school's emphasis on making a contribution to the school and wider communities, and to the many curricular and extra-curricular opportunities for extending their social and cultural development. The school council is active and is given high status. Pupils are learning to make safe and healthy choices although their particular circumstances and age do not always allow these choices to be made out of school. Pupils' spiritual development is clearly evident as they calm down, learn to empathise with the feelings and circumstances of others and take pride in their work. One pupil, a relative newcomer

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Grade: 1

to the school, announced 'I've got 100 percent twice on the computer now!' as he headed off enthusiastically for another go. Pupils support one another in various ways, including training for peer massage and play facilitation. They understand and 3 Inspection Report: Beormund Primary School, 19 January 2007 appreciate the purpose of the reward and sanction systems and clearly know right from wrong in the school and wider contexts. Survey results show that pupils feel safe and secure. A small number said there was occasionally some name calling, but were pleased to say they were not bullied as they had been in their previous schools.

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Grade: 1

Teaching is outstanding and the contribution made by the learning mentors is excellent. Central to the most effective teaching is the consistent, effective support for pupils' emotional and behavioural difficulties and work sharply focused on meeting pupils' individual needs. Learning the basic skills of English and mathematics is secured by an excellent system of target setting which supports the achievement of the targets set on pupils' individual education plans. In other lessons, clear learning objectives remind pupils what they are learning and whether they have achieved it. The pace of lessons is brisk, with a range of different activities to keep pupils' interest although very occasionally, the pace is too fast and staff do not check pupils' understanding sufficiently often. The interactive white boards are used very effectively to make lessons interesting and involve pupils to the full. Staff adapt their lessons to suit pupils'

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Grade: 1

particular learning styles and make links across subjects, for example asking pupils to use colour to reflect their emotions. Learning is outstanding as a result of this high quality teaching.

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Grade: 1

A high quality curriculum underpins the outstanding teaching and learning. Nevertheless, the school is currently refining it further to help pupils use their developing knowledge and skills even more effectively. All subjects of the National Curriculum are included, with an appropriate emphasis on English, mathematics and personal, social and health education. Support for pupils' personal development is very successfully threaded throughout the curriculum and contexts for learning are adapted to suit different groups' needs. For example, the youngest pupils' classroom is set up for role-play to support their stage of development and the girls have their own 'girls' corner' and girl-oriented extra-curricular activities to promote their self-esteem, confidence and academic achievement. Planning is very thorough with clear objectives for all activities, and detailed records and evaluations are kept. A rich

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Grade: 1

wealth of extra-curricular activities is provided, often in conjunction with one of the school's numerous partners, to enhance pupils' learning and well-being and widen their horizons. These include residential journeys, national competitions and local community events. 4 Inspection Report: Beormund Primary School, 19 January 2007

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Grade: 1

This area of the school's work is excellent and underpins the pupils' outstanding academic achievement and personal development. All aspects of pupils' personal and academic development are assessed, recorded and tracked. The individual plans set as a result effectively ensure their progress. Nevertheless, the school has developed two new systems to be implemented later this year to refine this process further. These are a new, extensive baseline assessment of pupils' literacy and numeracy skills and a computerised system to support the tracking and analysis of pupils' progress. The care and support given to pupils is outstanding. The staff give praise and warnings in line with school policies and show genuinely deep concern for pupils' welfare. Comprehensive arrangements are in place for safeguarding pupils, but although staff credentials are fully checked as required, the format for keeping the records does not

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Grade: 1

meet the latest guidelines. Beormund is sharply focused on helping pupils enjoy and achieve in their work, and through the education, support and guidance given, to make the right choices for leading safe, healthy and successful adult lives within their own communities. The school sees pupils as an integral part of their families, and so works in close partnership with parents and a number of agencies and therapists to support the whole family and meet their complex needs.

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Grade: 1

Leadership and management are exceptionally strong at Beormund. This has led to continual school improvement over the past six years and has been recognised by a number of external agencies and awards. The head teacher is currently seconded part-time to a new government project providing advice for similar schools in challenging circumstances, and other members of the leadership team play support roles within the Local Authority. The school has a culture of inclusion, learning and support for all, pupils, parents and staff, and this forms the core of its work. The drive for excellence is reflected evenly throughout the school and pupils' views, opinions and status are taken seriously. The budget bid from the school council, for example, is considered alongside those of staff subject leaders. Governance is good and meets statutory requirements although it tends to support rather than lead strategic developments. Nevertheless, the school's capacity for further improvement is excellent.

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Grade: 1

Every aspect of the school is rigorously monitored and evaluated. This includes, for example, the effectiveness of its partnerships. This practice ensures the high quality systems are maintained, processes are developed and pupils' achievement continues to be excellent. 5 Inspection Report: Beormund Primary School, 19 January 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: Beormund Primary School, 19 January 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 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? 3 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 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 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: Beormund Primary School, 19 January 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: Beormund Primary School, 19 January 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, assembly and council meeting when I visited your school last Friday. I came to Beormund to see how it was working and how well you were all doing, and I was very pleased with what I found. The staff think that Beormund is a good school, but I think it is better than that. I think it is excellent, and I know that most of you do too. I think that Ms Gray and the staff all work very hard to make coming to school really enjoyable for you. They are always looking for ways to make the school even better and to help you achieve even more. Just looking at all the lovely displays and the way that you look after them and the school's equipment tells me how much you enjoy being at Beormund. The staff give you really interesting things to do and the teaching is excellent. You work very well in lessons, and are making exceptionally good progress. I was very impressed with the way that the staff

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

involve you in planning for the school's development, and how well you could explain the latest PATH picture. That certainly makes Beormund a very special place. I was also impressed by the relationships you have with one another and with the staff. I think that is one of the things that makes the school such a happy place to be in. I know that the staff help you when you feel troubled, and give you guidance and support. They do this really well. In all, your school is outstanding in nearly every way and is preparing you very well for when the time comes for you to move on from Beormund. When you do go to your next school, work hard and try to choose safe and healthy options, as you do when you are in Beormund. Doing so will give you every chance of success in your adult lives. With all good wishes for the future Yours sincerely Judith Charlesworth Lead Inspector 9 Inspection Report: Beormund Primary School, 19 January 2007

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