Ashley College

Inspection Report Brent Education Tuition Service

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134846 Unique Reference Number Brent Local Authority 294182 Inspection number 27 °28 November 2006 Inspection dates Mike Smith 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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Centre for Staff Development School address Pupil referral unit Type of school

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Brentfield Road Pupil referral unit School category Brent NW10 8HE 5 °16 Age range of pupils 020 8937 3330 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 020 8937 3332 Fax number 57 Number on roll (school) Mr John Dowling Headteacher The local authority Appropriate authority Not previously inspected Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 294182 27 °28 November 2006 5°16 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 service supports a wide range of students who are referred for a variety of medical, social, behavioural and attendance reasons. Numbers on roll vary enormously and students may be with the service for a few weeks or for some years. The service operates on three sites. Students come from a wide range of social and economic backgrounds. Approximately 75% come from a range of minority ethnic backgrounds, a significant group being Black Caribbean. A small number of students are looked after. One student is at an early stage of English language acquisition. Attainment on entry varies, with many students performing below their peers, usually due to long-term absence from school or recognised learning difficulties. Around a third of students have statements of special educational needs for behavioural and/or learning difficulties.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Brent Education Tuition Service, 27 °28 November 2006

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Grade: 2

Brent Tuition Service effectively meets the individual needs of the different groups of students in its care. Parents and carers, students and the inspector agree that the overall effectiveness is good. Through its effective self-evaluation the service is continually developing the quality of its provision. The best interests of the learners are at the heart of all decisions. The headteacher is clearly focused on achievement and effectively has his finger on all operations across this complex organisation. Together with the well-organised deputy headteacher and the recently developed senior management team, improvements and policies are being put into practice and are working well. The hospital based education and primary provision are very well managed. These students receive very good support in their personal and academic development. Students who are tutored at home have their needs effectively met.

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Grade: 2

Every effort is made to ensure their learning and progress continues with minimal interruption. Teamwork across the service is excellent and ensures the effective management and care of all the students. Relationships between staff and students are excellent. Staff are committed to supporting students' personal development and welfare. There is a strong emphasis on ensuring that students take responsibility for their own learning and behaviour, which is generally good. Students are treated with respect, their opinions are valued and they gain in confidence and self-esteem. An ex-student wrote, 'Thank you so much for everything you have done for me, I do not think any of it would have been possible without you. Your service is amazing and I feel privileged to have been part of it. I cannot thank you enough'. There is a well run school council and elected students maturely discuss and submit their views through their representative who

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Grade: 2

attends service staff meetings. Standards are below the national average but students' progress and achievements are good and many achieve notable successes in their personal development and GCSE passes. They make good progress as a result of the good quality teaching, support and care they receive. Students' personal development and well-being are good and they enjoy their learning. Attendance overall is inadequate, although a significant number of students across the service improve their attendance and punctuality which represents good personal progress. However, for a small number of students in years 10 and 11 their attendance and/or punctuality is unsatisfactory. The service is well aware of this and has recently implemented a range of incentive strategies that are beginning to have a positive effect on individual performances. Some good use of assessment information leads to the setting of challenging targets which most students

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Grade: 2

achieve. The service recognises that assessment and recording procedures are currently inconsistent and that assessment information is not always used sufficiently well in planning lessons. The curriculum meets the needs and interests of the students and good use is made of community providers and external visits to support other activities. There is a positive emphasis on personal, social, health and citizenship education (PSHCE) and there are very good opportunities for work related learning for older students. The development 2 Inspection Report: Brent Education Tuition Service, 27 °28 November 2006 of allotment garden activities has greatly added to the learning and personal development opportunities available to students and reinforces their appreciation of healthy lifestyles. A particular strength of the service is their excellent support and guidance for the reintegration of younger students into mainstream schools and for

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Grade: 2

older students into the world of work or further study. Parents are extremely positive about the service and are very grateful for the support and communication they receive. A parent remarked, 'Without the support of this service and the quality of teaching and support, my daughter would most definitely not have completed her education'. Leadership and management have a positive impact across the service provision which is leading to a greater range of learning opportunities for students and the capacity to improve even further is good.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Ensure that assessment is used to plan work which matches students' needs more closely. • Ensure teachers achieve consistency in how they record students' attainments, in order to track their progress more clearly. • Improve attendance and punctuality, particularly among older students.

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Grade: 2

Standards vary greatly, but are generally below average. Given their starting points and abilities, students overall, make good progress. Some individual students make outstanding progress in their personal development as well as in their academic achievements. A GCSE moderator commented after giving students an A* for speaking and listening, 'Students would never have received such grades if they were in mainstream education'. In 2005/6 students entered for GCSE examinations gained a range of passes in the range A*-G with 80% achieving grade C plus in English. This represents very good progress when considering their various barriers to learning, and the short period of time they have to study before taking the examinations. They achieve well as a result of their hard work and the teaching and support they receive. Primary pupils make good progress in English, mathematics and science and their personal development. Students in hospital maintain their levels of progress due to

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Grade: 2

the effective teaching support they receive which ensures their work is pitched at the right level and is challenging. There is no difference in the achievement or rates of progress of different ethnic groups, although a number of older students in particular underachieve because of their poor attendance. Parents are very pleased with the progress their children make. One parent wrote, 'Apart from the excellent academic achievement, my daughter's confidence and self-esteem has increased 100%. She is now studying at college and it is all due to the excellent tuition and guidance given by staff at the service'. 3 Inspection Report: Brent Education Tuition Service, 27 °28 November 2006

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Grade: 2

The personal development and well-being of all students are good. They understand the importance of leading healthy life styles and adopting safe practices. Students feel safe and secure in their learning, which they enjoy and they appreciate being treated with respect and trust adults. While attendance is below average, when considering their previous record, some students make excellent improvement in their attendance and punctuality. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Students work together well and respect and support one another. They appreciate and consider the needs of others. Behaviour is good and students are confident to express their moods knowing they will be met with understanding from other students and adults. Students have a good sense of community and greatly benefit from the opportunities they are given for working outside of the service. They gain confidence

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Grade: 2

and learn vital skills that very effectively prepare them for further study or for when they enter the world of work. A parent wrote to say, 'Due to the support of staff, my son has made very good progress and his attitude at home has changed for the better'.

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Grade: 2

Across the service teaching and learning are good and as a result students make good progress. The quality of teaching and learning is monitored and accurate judgements are made with support given for improvements. Students are motivated with challenging activities that have meaning for them and that prepare them for their next stage of learning or employment. There is a positive ethos of reward and celebration. Learning is made relevant and ongoing feedback and support in lessons makes it clear to students how they might improve. Learning targets are well matched to individual needs and all staff help ensure that students' personal development needs are fully met so they can get the best out of their learning opportunities. Across the service the monitoring and assessment of students' learning is too variable. In some instances it is not used to guide staff on planning lessons and there are weaknesses in recording students'

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Grade: 2

progress. This has been identified through the monitoring of lessons and an agreed policy and improvement strategies have been put in place.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is good and clearly focuses on the needs of students. Across the service individual needs are considered and an appropriate curriculum 'package' is agreed and implemented. Reintegration into mainstream schooling for primary pupils is well supported and there are many success stories. Students, whose needs are more long-term, benefit from a range of good opportunities including, taking some GCSE subjects and vocational courses. The curriculum is well supported by a wide range of 4 Inspection Report: Brent Education Tuition Service, 27 °28 November 2006 providers, and external visits to sports centres, museums and residential trips which enhance students' learning. A good range of additional 'real life' experiences are offered including work-related learning and enterprise projects which effectively support students' personal, social and emotional development.

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Grade: 2

The care, guidance and support of students are good. There is sensitive and effective provision for students' care and support which means they are confident that their personal development needs are met. One parent wrote, 'I am very impressed with the working relationship established by tutors working with my son'. The service works well with the external support agencies to ensure that students' specific and personal needs are well met. Communication with parents is excellent. Students are confident that they are learning in a caring and positive environment where they are well informed of their options and supported to make decisions for themselves. In lessons it is made clear to students how they might improve their knowledge and understanding and their future options are made clear to them. There are good systems in place to minimise risk and ensure students' are safe and well looked after. Child protection procedures

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Grade: 2

are in place and clearly understood by staff.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good. It ensures that across the service students' academic and personal development are kept in the forefront of all decision making. The headteacher treats students with respect, and motivates them to have confidence and to believe that they can succeed. Home tutoring, hospital education, primary and secondary unit provision are carefully monitored and the recently formed senior management team are clear as to their roles and responsibilities. Clearly focused teamwork ensures the good quality care and personal development of all students. Performance management is in place for all staff and there are appropriate opportunities for professional development. Improvement strategies emanate from good self-evaluation which involves all staff and members of the management committee and consequently everyone feels they have a part to play in whole school development. The multi-disciplinary management committee fulfil their monitoring

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Grade: 2

role by scrutinising detailed reports and discussing proposed developments. There has been additional monitoring and support for the strategic management of the service from local authority officers on the committee which has helped guide overall improvements. The committee's own self-evaluation identified the need to improve the 'hands on' monitoring and awareness of the different aspects of the service, and visiting schedules are being considered. Overall, the service knows its strengths and weaknesses and how it can improve further. 5 Inspection Report: Brent Education Tuition Service, 27 °28 November 2006 .

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Grade: 2

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Brent Education Tuition Service, 27 °28 November 2006

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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? 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

2 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 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The behaviour of learners 4 The attendance of learners 2 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 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?

2 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: Brent Education Tuition Service, 27 °28 November 2006

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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 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? 8 Inspection Report: Brent Education Tuition Service, 27 °28 November 2006

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for making my visit such a pleasant one and for being so friendly, and special thanks to the school council for honestly and maturely telling me about your work and experiences. I agree with you and your parent and carers, that the service is supporting your needs well and enables you to continue with your education. I particularly liked the fact:- • all staff care and support you very well; they listen and treat you with respect • your excellent relationships mean that you are friendly and get on with everybody • you know how to be safe and healthy and you enjoy your work-related opportunities • you like your lessons and gain confidence from your successes • you learn important skills that prepare you for the next stage of education or for work and this is a strength of the support and guidance you receive from the service • the curriculum meets your academic and personal needs and you are taught well

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

• your parents/carers really appreciate the opportunities you have to improve • your headteacher and all staff are aware of how to improve your opportunities There are a few things the service knows it can improve upon; • by ensuring teachers use the assessment of your understanding in lessons to plan future work which matches your needs more closely. • by ensuring teachers record your progress more consistently so they can clearly tell you how well you are doing Although many of you significantly improve your attendance, overall, attendance for a number of students in Years 10 and 11 is poor. You can help yourselves, by attending more often and improving your punctuality. Once again, thank you for letting me see you at work. I wish you every success. Yours sincerely Mike Smith Lead Inspector 9 Inspection Report: Brent Education Tuition Service, 27 °28 November 2006

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