Chadsgrove School

Inspection Report Chadsgrove School and Specialist Sports College

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117062 Unique Reference Number Worcestershire Local Authority 290704 Inspection number 28 February 2007 Inspection date Frank Price 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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Meadow Road School address Special Type of school Catshill Community School category Bromsgrove B61 0JL 2 °19 Age range of pupils 01527 871511 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01527 579341 Fax number 121 Number on roll (school) 18 Number on roll (6th form) S Bushby Chair The governing body Appropriate authority R Aust Headteacher 19 November 2001 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection date Age group 290704 28 February 2007 2 °19 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 two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

The school caters for children and students with a wide variety of learning needs arising from their physical disabilities. These range from profound and multiple learning difficulties to mild/moderate learning difficulties. Nearly all pupils have a statement of special educational need. There are a small number of pupils who are in public care. A very small number of pupils are from ethnic minority backgrounds. The school was designated as a specialist sports college in September 2005. It also manages an extensive outreach service for over 280 pupils with physical disabilities in more than 100 different mainstream schools.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Chadsgrove School and Specialist Sports College, 28 February 2007

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Grade: 1

Chadsgrove School is an outstanding school. The school is a happy, vibrant place where there is a 'real buzz' in the atmosphere. Pupils are confident, secure and challenged to achieve at the highest levels. The superb teamwork is a strength of the school; teaching staff, assistants and therapists work well together. This enables pupils to overcome barriers to learning caused by their physical disabilities, so that they can achieve to their maximum potential. Pupils look forward to their lessons with great anticipation. One pupil said, 'lessons are never boring', whilst another stated, 'the week goes by so quickly'. This is because excellent teaching ensures lessons are taught with energy and enthusiasm, resulting in pupils being enthralled in learning. Activities are adapted superbly so that all pupils experience success. The excellent curriculum makes an outstanding contribution to pupils' progress.

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Grade: 1

Although pupils' attainment is exceptionally low, due to the nature of their learning difficulties, their achievement and progress are excellent. Children in the Foundation Stage make an excellent start and this is built on consistently throughout the school. As a result, by the time pupils leave at 19, they are able to achieve extremely well in a range of subjects that are appropriate to their levels of ability. The procedures to support pupils' care, guidance and support are excellent and help them to make outstanding progress in their personal development. The assessment of the progress made by pupils is developing strongly, but the school recognises that this is not yet sharp enough to always ensure consistent and objective judgements by teachers. The head teacher provides inspirational leadership and is continually looking at ways of improving the school. The acquisition of sports college status for example has had

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Grade: 1

a very positive impact both on pupils' achievement in sport and also in developing their personal and independence skills. As a result pupils are able to develop more active lifestyles through a wealth of imaginative opportunities such as skiing or rock climbing. The positive effects are also seen in lessons. For example one parent noted that the range of stimulating activities had 'switched on' his son to learning in lessons. Leadership and management are excellent and have enabled the school to continually build upon its strengths. Good work has been done in looking at the progress of different groups of pupils. However, this has not included how well the different types of special needs within the school achieve, or the use of nationally available data to compare how well pupils achieve in similar schools, in order to refine its self-evaluation even further.

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Grade: 1

Provision for students in the sixth form is excellent. The curriculum offered to students is very appropriate and prepares them extremely well for adult life. They are given a very good range of subjects to follow and students of all abilities can gain external accreditation in academic and vocational courses. The most able students achieve entry-level certificates with many gaining the highest grade. Other students gain 2 Inspection Report: Chadsgrove School and Specialist Sports College, 28 February 2007 bronze level awards in the Youth Award Scheme. Students' independence and readiness for the adult world are promoted very effectively through very good work experience and college placements.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Sharpen the school's processes for measuring the accuracy of pupils' progress. • Make use of nationally available information to refine the use and analysis of progress made by pupils with different types of special educational need.

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Grade for sixth form: 1

Standards are exceptionally low, when compared to national averages. However, because of the excellent curriculum and teaching, pupils make outstanding progress. In the Foundation Stage, from low starting points pupils make very good progress in developing their communication, numeracy and literacy skills. As they move through the school pupils make exceptional progress in mathematics, personal and social development, information and communication technology (ICT), music and art and design. Excellent progress in physical education is reflected in some pupils' participation in regional and national para-olympic squads. Progress is good in English and by the end of Key Stage 4, pupils achieve very well in a range of national qualifications. Staff are skilled in overcoming barriers to learning so that all pupils, regardless of their special needs, achieve equally well. The majority of pupils achieve the challenging

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Grade for sixth form: 1

targets they are set and continue to improve their numeracy and literacy skills. Where pupils do not achieve their targets, this is due in part to prolonged absences and sometimes to the lack of accuracy in initial target setting.

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Grade for sixth form: 1

Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is excellent overall. They have exceptionally good relationships with staff, which promotes their positive attitudes to learning and to each other. Pupils demonstrate genuine care and affection for everyone. Because of this they play well together, are willing to help each other and their behaviour is excellent. Pupils feel very safe and reported no evidence of any bullying. They clearly enjoy school and their eager participation in after-school activities indicates how much pleasure they derive from the plentiful opportunities on offer to them. It is also reflected in their good attendance overall. Pupils make the most of the opportunities to keep fit, but the range of food at lunchtime is limited and does not always enable pupils to make healthy choices. Their contribution to the community is outstanding and they participate in local events,

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Grade for sixth form: 1

such as sports, music and dance festivals. Pupils regularly raise funds for others and 3 Inspection Report: Chadsgrove School and Specialist Sports College, 28 February 2007 have collected money for equipment for schools in Romania and Sri Lanka. However, their opportunities to develop awareness of multicultural Britain although satisfactory, are not as strongly promoted. Pupils are given a voice and the school council is becoming a valuable means of sharing their views to make further improvements. Pupils are encouraged to take on responsibilities and this was evident when a pupil said grace at lunchtime by using her voice box linked up to a microphone so everyone could hear. Pupils are exceptionally well prepared for the future through the very good range of appropriate courses, careers guidance and in the way their independence is promoted at every opportunity.

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Grade for sixth form: 1

Pupils benefit from excellent teaching. Planning is very thorough, and as a result the wide range of special needs is met well in each class. Teachers have very strong subject knowledge. This was evident in a music lesson where inspirational teaching enabled pupils with the most severe learning difficulties to respond by beating a drum or humming along to a familiar song. Teachers have appropriately high expectations and pupils respond well to these. However, although most teachers ensure that the learning objectives are clear to pupils, such as setting the youngest pupils targets at the start of each lesson, this is not yet consistent across the school. A strong feature of teaching is the excellent variety of multi-sensory experiences used, such as the sensory room, soft play areas and trampoline. These approaches make learning stimulating, enjoyable and secure a high level of participation from pupils. Alternative means to access

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Grade for sixth form: 1

learning, such as signing, symbols and switches are used very well. There are a limited number of interactive whiteboards in the school, which restricts teachers' ability to teach even more stimulating lessons.

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Grade for sixth form: 1

The outstanding curriculum does much to promote pupils' excellent progress. It is very effective in meeting the wide range of needs and abilities of pupils. A key strength is the way in which pupils are grouped to ensure that they have full access to all the opportunities on offer. The Foundation Stage provides very high quality opportunities for learning and assessing their needs. The 14-19 curriculum is excellent in providing very good work opportunities, accreditation and college links. An indication of the strength of creativity and sport in the curriculum has been the achievement of both gold Artsmark and Sportsmark awards. Enrichment of the curriculum is a major strength of the school. As one parent said, 'Children are given opportunities to participate in all types of activities.' There are 4 Inspection Report: Chadsgrove School and Specialist Sports College, 28 February 2007 numerous extra-curricular activities on offer, providing an impressive array of

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Grade for sixth form: 1

experiences. Some pupils have benefited from trips abroad, with two groups of wheelchair users visiting Tenerife. The specialist sports college status has led to many exciting initiatives for pupils, and they have benefited from additional opportunities in and out of school hours. Pupils are keen to participate in these exciting activities.

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Grade for sixth form: 1

Parents acknowledge the high level of care the school provides. The excellent partnership with all the different agencies enables pupils with very complex medical needs to attend school so that they can continue their learning. Staff are very well trained and as a result there is a very good level of support in classrooms, which ensures that individual pupils' needs are very well met. Arrangements for ensuring that pupils are safe and secure are effective. Pupils' academic guidance is good. New assessment procedures have recently been introduced and are yet to be fully embedded in practice. Pupils generally know their own targets and what they need to do to improve.

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Grade for sixth form: 1

The head teacher is very well supported by an able and committed senior management team and as a result the school has an excellent capacity to improve. The sports college initiative has been managed very successfully and pupils are directly benefiting from improved facilities, activities and increased opportunities. Challenging whole school targets connected with this initiative have been set and incorporated into the comprehensive school development plan. The school is also the 'hub' for the North Worcestershire School Sport Partnership, which promotes local and countywide involvement for physical education and sports activities in mainstream schools. The senior management team have effectively analysed pupils' progress to determine how well they do and used this to make improvements. For example, when results in English showed a slight decrease, changes were implemented so that more time was devoted to reading and this resulted in an improvement in standards the following

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Grade for sixth form: 1

year. However, national comparative information is not used well enough and analysis of information does not include types of disability, to provide even greater rigour in ensuring maximum progress by pupils and would also give the school a basis to be able to judge its effectiveness against other schools. Although the school has a good understanding of it strengths and areas for development, it has been too modest in judging how effective it really is. The governing body is supportive and committed to the school. Governors take an active role in the life of the school, although monitoring of lessons is not systematic enough. 5 Inspection Report: Chadsgrove School and Specialist Sports College, 28 February 2007 The school manages an outreach team, which promotes inclusion for pupils in mainstream schools and also provides advice and support for pupils who transfer to Chadsgrove from mainstream schools. This service is very successful and extremely

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Grade for sixth form: 1

well managed by the head teacher. 6 Inspection Report: Chadsgrove School and Specialist Sports College, 28 February 2007 .

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Grade for sixth form: 1

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 7 Inspection Report: Chadsgrove School and Specialist Sports College, 28 February 2007

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Inspection judgements

16-19 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

1 1 How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? 1 1 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 1 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 2 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 1 1 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

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

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Achievement and standards

1 1 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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well-being of the learners?

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 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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range of needs and interests of learners?

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

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range of 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 to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 8 Inspection Report: Chadsgrove School and Specialist Sports College, 28 February 2007

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achievement 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 Yes Yes 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? 9 Inspection Report: Chadsgrove School and Specialist Sports College, 28 February 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

We enjoyed visiting your school recently. Thank you for making us feel welcome and talking to us. We think your school is excellent. You are all making excellent progress and you work very hard. It was obvious to us how much you thoroughly enjoyed school. You have a fantastic amount of experiences you can take part in, and these help to keep you fit and active. You are well looked after by your staff and you are able to develop your independence skills very well. Teaching is excellent and you are taught in interesting and creative ways, which help many of you to take a real interest in lessons. You are given a good range of subjects to follow from the early years right through to the post-16 department. Your head teacher and senior members of the school lead your school very well indeed. They make sure that you have the best equipment and opportunities so that school is as good as it can be. To make your school even

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

better we have suggested just two things. The first is that staff get even better at measuring how well you are doing. The second thing is the school could make better use of information about how well everyone is doing and use this to compare how well you do with pupils in similar schools across the country. 10 Inspection Report: Chadsgrove School and Specialist Sports College, 28 February 2007

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