Manor House School

Age group Published Reference no. Hillcrest School at Slinfold

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Independent Special School

DfES Registration Number 938/6255 Unique Reference Number 131139 Inspection number 296825 Inspection dates 9-10 January 2007 Reporting inspector Heather Yaxley HMI

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Independent Special School

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 162A of the Education Act 2002 (as amended by schedule 8 of the Education Act 2005).

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Independent Special School

12-15 02 February 2007 296825 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Independent Special School

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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Purpose and scope of the inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under section 162A of the Education Act 2002, as amended by schedule 8 of the Education Act 2005, in order to advise the Secretary of State for Education and Skills about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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Information about the school

Hillcrest School at Slinfold opened in 1996 and this is the first inspection of the school since it gained final registration in April 2004. The school is purpose-built and registered to take 20 boys between the ages of 11 and 16; it is one of six schools owned by Hillcrest Care Limited whose prime function is to provide residential care. Sixteen boys attend the school and all are resident at the children’s home on the same site. All students are placed at the home by their local authorities due to breakdown in previous residential and educational settings. Almost all students have long histories of violent and criminal behaviour. The school’s vision is to give students the opportunity to gain a range of knowledge, skills and qualifications which will enable and support their transition to adult life, and integration into the community through an ethos of mutual respect, trust and high expectations.

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Evaluation of the school

The school provides a satisfactory standard of education, which enables students to make progress in their learning and develop good inter-personal skills. There is a very good ethos for learning which is based on mutual respect and high expectations on students to be actively engaged in school life. New students are helped to settle quickly. Many of these have had negative experiences of schools in the past. This is achieved because there are clear systems to manage behaviour. Staff are highly skilled and there are close, supportive relationships between the school and care staff in the home. The head of education is a strong leader who has a clear commitment to improving the provision. There is still much to be done to ensure that all students are as well prepared as they should be for further education and employment. There are particular weaknesses in the curriculum for older students. In general

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Evaluation of the school

curriculum development is too slow. The company does not always share the schools’ urgency for developing educational provision.

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Quality of education

Overall the curriculum is satisfactory but inadequate for older students. Recent revisions to curriculum policies and schemes of work help teachers to plan lessons which build upon previous learning and match activities with students’ individual needs and educational targets. The arrangement of the weekly timetable provides good opportunities for students to learn in pairs, small groups and individually. This maximises their attention and motivation. It also increases the range of subjects that can be taught within a safe environment, such as art, food technology and physical education (PE). In addition to the English lessons all students have individual tuition in basic literacy. This improves students’ self-confidence as well as their reading, writing and spelling. The school provides an extensive range of educational trips and some after- school clubs. These provide particularly good opportunities for extending

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Quality of education

physical development and personal skills. Some of these are arranged jointly with the home.

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Quality of education

Most subjects of the National Curriculum are taught. There is no provision for learning a modern foreign language and although plans are in place to develop facilities for design and technology (DT) the current provision is limited. Religious education is not taught. Opportunities to develop skills through a planned personal, social and health education (PSHE) programme are too limited. There is no specialist teacher for this subject and it is not given a high priority within the whole curriculum. Specialist input by health professionals is planned in order to develop students’ awareness of sexual health and misuse of drugs. The present provision is insufficient to effectively meet the needs of the students. The recent development of the information and communication technology (ICT) curriculum is a strength of the school. However, more needs to be done to maintain this momentum and use the technology to support all

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Quality of education

opportunities for learning and accreditation.

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Quality of education

Older students study for GCSEs in English, mathematics and science. There are additional opportunities for students to gain nationally recognised accreditation through the Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network (ASDAN) programmes and GCSE Entry Level examinations. Opportunities for practical and vocational aspects of the curriculum in the school, as well as college and work placements, are limited and slow to develop. Students who may benefit from college courses often require adult support because of their social and personal needs. This high level of supervision by school staff is not always possible. Consequently students are not able to gain the skills and qualifications they need and are interested in. This experience of higher education is not always positive. Few students choose to continue their education after they leave the school.

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Quality of education

The quality of teaching is satisfactory. Students enjoy learning and make satisfactory progress. Teachers and learning assistants foster good relationships both with and between the students. Staff use good, low-key strategies for encouraging acceptable behaviour. These maintain a strong focus on learning. Some teaching is good and encourages students to become confident and independent learners. The best lessons focus on what the students are expected to learn and are pitched at the right level for their abilities. Students make most progress in those lessons that provide practical activities. These enable them to become engrossed in their work and sustain concentration. Some teaching does not reflect this best practice. Where this is the case, students become bored and voice their disaffection with any activities that are not practical, relevant or challenging. Feedback to students on their progress in

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Quality of education

lessons and the quality of marking are inconsistent. This is not always helpful to students in informing them about what they need to do to improve their work. Similarly, individual targets for improvement are not linked sufficiently to learning.

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Quality of education

The procedures for setting and completing homework are well established between teachers and care staff, providing a useful link between home and school. However, the purpose of homework is not always well understood and needs to be clarified. In addition to this, students do not have sufficient opportunities to extend individual studies beyond the school day.

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Quality of education

The school has appropriately identified assessment as an area for development. Although there is an adequate framework in place for assessing students’ achievements at key points in the year, the information obtained is not used effectively to track and measure progress over time. The use of targets to predict expected progress is not developed well.

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Quality of education

All students leave the school with some nationally recognised qualifications. Although standards are low, this represents satisfactory progress in their academic achievements. There is limited success in encouraging students to continue their education after they leave.

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pupils

The school makes satisfactory provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. There are good aspects within this. Students behave well in lessons, attendance is good and education is valued and enjoyed. Students become self-confident and show their skills as independent learners. Specialist equipment is used safely and there is a high level of respect between staff and students. This is as a result of good relationships with staff who are highly skilled in effectively managing students’ complex social needs.

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pupils

Students have a keen sense of right and wrong. However, they do not always make the right choices. For example, there are occasions when students leave the site without permission, but they are able to accept the consequences of their actions. Incidents of inappropriate behaviour which require restraint occur rarely. These are resolved quickly because students want to return to lessons. There is a good level of consistency between education and care staff. Students make insufficient progress in their cultural awareness and development of responsibilities as citizens. There is insufficient emphasis on these aspects within the curriculum.

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pupils

Although the school works well in partnership with the Connexions Service students do not always feel well prepared for the future. This is because of limitations within the curriculum for older students, compounded by difficulties relating to care plans for students on leaving the home.

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Welfare, health and safety of the pupils

Provision for the welfare, heath and safety is satisfactory. Appropriate policies are in place to support this and these are implemented effectively. Staff know students well and the consistent ways in which they manage difficult behaviours reduces conflict. Students are supported to manage their own behaviour and maintain a focus on learning.

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Welfare, health and safety of the pupils

The emphasis given to PE, together with weekly food technology lessons encourages students to consider how to be healthy. Many are keen to participate in after school clubs and other social activities. These improve physical skills and fitness in sports such as judo, football and skiing. Provision for sex education and drug awareness is not well developed. Some students smoke but this is discouraged during school hours.

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Welfare, health and safety of the pupils

The school does not meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act (2002) because there is no audit or planning in place to improve accessibility.

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Suitability of the proprietor and staff

A full range of required checks are carried out and recorded to ensure the suitability of staff to work within the school.

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School’s premises and accommodation

The purpose-built premises are of a satisfactory standard. The sizes of classrooms are appropriate to teach most of the curriculum. The gymnasium is very well equipped and makes a positive contribution to the motivation and physical skills acquired by students. The ICT suite is equipped well to support the curriculum. There is an interactive whiteboard in one of the classrooms and there are plans to install two others. Plans are also in place to extend the accommodation for art and DT, which currently share a demountable classroom. There is no specialist accommodation for science and this limits the range of practical opportunities required for the full science curriculum.

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Provision of information for parents, carers and others

The company provides some useful information about the school in its brochure for those interested in placing students within their residential care provision. The school supplements this with a leaflet for students and carers when they visit the school prior to admission. The company does not send financial details to local authorities. The fees for educational provision are included within the total amount for each student’s placement.

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Procedures for handling complaints

Procedures for handling complaints are very clearly set out in accordance with company policy.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

The school meets all of the Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2003 as amended January 2005, with the exception of those listed below.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

The school does not meet all requirements in respect of the curriculum (standard 1) and must:

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 provide personal, social and health education which reflects its aims and ethos (paragraph 1(2)(f))

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 ensure adequate preparation of pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life (paragraph 1(2)(j))

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 improve the school’s assessment framework to assess pupils' work regularly and thoroughly and use the information to plan teaching so that pupils can make progress (paragraph 1(3)(g)).

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

The school does not meet all requirements in respect of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development (standard 2) and must:

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 provide pupils with a broad general knowledge of public institutions and services in England (paragraph 2(d))

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 assist pupils to acquire an appreciation of and respect for their own and other cultures, in a way that promotes tolerance and harmony between different cultural traditions (paragraph 2(e)). The school does not meet all requirements in respect of the provision of information for parents, carers and others (standard 6) and must:

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 provide an annual account of income received and expenditure incurred by the school in respect of that pupil submitted to the local authority and on request to the Secretary of State (paragraph (6)(7)).

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

In order to comply with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 2002 the school should devise a three-year accessibility plan.

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What the school could do to improve further

While not required by the regulations, the school might wish to consider the following point for development:

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What the school could do to improve further

 improve the ways in which homework supports students’ progress and interests.

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School details

Name of school Hillcrest School at Slinfold DfES number 938/6255 Unique reference number 131139 Type of school Special Status Independent Date school opened 1996 Age range of pupils 11-16 Gender of pupils Male Number on roll (full-time pupils ) Boys: 16 Girls: 0 Total: 16 Number of boarders Boys: 16 Girls: 0 Total: 16 Number of pupils with a statement of special educational need Boys: 14 Girls: 0 Total: 14 Number of pupils who are looked after Boys: 16 Girls: 0 Total: 16 Annual fees (boarders) £175,984 Address of school Stane Street Slinfold Horsham West Sussex RH13 0RA Telephone number 01403790939 Fax number 01403790954 Email address nikki.forsyth@hillcrestcare.co.uk Headteacher Miss Nikki Forsyth Proprietor Hillcrest Care Limited Reporting inspector Heather Yaxley HMI Dates of inspection 9-10 January 2007

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