Chapel Green School

121260 Unique Reference Number NORFOLK LA Local Authority 313926 Inspection number 9 °10 October 2007 Inspection dates Kathryn Burdis HMI 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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Special Type of school Community special School category 3 °19 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 63 School 10 6th form The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Anne Landamore Chair Mr John Kirk (Acting) Headteacher 15 September 2003 Date of previous school inspection Chapel Road School address Attleborough Norfolk NR17 2DS 01953 453116 Telephone number 01953 455931 Fax number

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3-19 Age group 9 °10 October 2007 Inspection dates 313926 Inspection number .

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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 one of Her Majesty's Inspectors and an Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

All the pupils attending Chapel Road School have a statement of special educational need. Most have severe and profound learning difficulties or autistic spectrum disorders. They travel long distances each day to attend. The school teaches all six phases, including the Foundation Stage and Post 16. Overall, pupils come from homes where the social and economic circumstances are average. Very few are from minority ethnic groups. The school offers an inclusion and outreach model for both primary and secondary schools providing opportunities for some of the pupils to attend mainstream schools.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 12 Inspection Report: Chapel Road School, 9 °10 October 2007

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Grade: 1

Chapel Road School is an outstanding school. Its strengths lie in co-ordinated teamwork and a shared aspiration to help pupils achieve as much as they can. This leads to good and sometimes very good progress in both academic and personal development and achievement is good. Social skills and behaviour improve very well through consistent reinforcement by skilled and well trained staff. The acting headteacher is providing good leadership and is supported well by a strong staff team. The views of parents, pupils and the wider community are used very effectively to analyse the school's strengths and to identify what needs to be done to improve further. Well qualified and confident staff provide calm, safe and structured teaching environments where the learning, health and emotional needs of individual pupils are met. Teaching is very good and learning is fun. Symbols and pictures are used very well to support

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Grade: 1

learning but signing is not used consistently. Occasionally this limits some pupils' access to the curriculum and involvement at social times. A broad and balanced curriculum is skilfully modified and adapted to meet assessed learning needs. Sensory resources and information and communication technology (ICT) are used well to promote learning. Limitations to the curriculum caused by the building are addressed creatively and flexibly. Pupils benefit from lessons in local mainstream schools for specialist subjects such as science and design and technology although travelling reduces the amount of curriculum time. This arrangement provides additional opportunities for personal development and involvement in the wider community. Pupils are encouraged to adopt healthy lifestyles and there are many examples of sport and leisure activity. Not all opportunities to promote healthy eating are taken, for example, by providing fruit at

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Grade: 1

break times. Staff are rigorous in their assessments for keeping pupils safe on the many off-site visits. They challenge pupils appropriately to adopt safe practices at times such as crossing the road and using knives when cooking. Personal development is extended through the many opportunities pupils are given to take responsibility within their class or as members of the school council. The school is highly regarded for its inclusion and outreach work, making a positive contribution to the wider education community by modelling and sharing its expertise. The school promotes a wide range of initiatives to enhance the education of pupils, constantly looking for innovation and best practice. It is rightly highly regarded by parents, the community, and the local authority. In view of the quality of provision and outcomes, the school gives good value for money.

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Grade: 2

Students make good progress post 16. There have been significant improvements since the last inspection and the leadership and provision is now good. The curriculum provides a good range of real and relevant opportunities for students to experience work-based learning, enterprise schemes and make a positive contribution to their school and wider community. Most students achieve good standards of independence and personal conduct by nineteen. Students are leaving school with four or five accredited modules and have post-school placements, usually at local colleges. 4 of 12 Inspection Report: Chapel Road School, 9 °10 October 2007

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Grade: 1

The Foundation Stage of the school is outstanding. The school provides an assessment unit and some pupils are on dual placements. Rigorous assessment means that the school is well placed to provide the correct level of support and specialist resources so that pupils progress. Teaching is outstanding as the staff team provides very enjoyable learning experiences with a warmth and responsiveness that nurture learning and ensure good and sometimes very good progress. Management of the Foundation Stage is very effective.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Promote and monitor the consistent use of signing across all aspects of the school's work.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Promote pupils' awareness of healthy eating by providing healthy choices at snack times.

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Grade for sixth form: 2

The impact of very good teaching, support and guidance makes sure that children with a wide range of ages and learning needs usually make very good progress in both their personal development and academic achievements. Assessment information is used very well to set realistic and meaningful targets for individuals and challenging targets for the whole school. Very good systems for checking how well pupils are doing and careful planning to help them meet their targets lead to good progress over time. Detailed analysis undertaken by the school of how well pupils do and comparing this information with data from similar schools illustrates that for pupils of all abilities achievement is good overall. Achievement is very good in language and communication, mathematics, and personal, social and health education (PSHE). All pupils, including those with the most complex needs are actively engaged in lessons, experience the

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Grade for sixth form: 2

full curriculum and enjoy learning. Consistent use of pictures and symbols help the majority of pupils with communication difficulties to understand what they are being asked to do and this helps them to gain new knowledge and skills. However, signing is not used consistently in classrooms and social areas, limiting opportunities for very good progress for some pupils. The good arrangements for supporting pupils with more challenging behaviour helps them to participate fully in class activities and most make very good progress in developing social and learning skills.

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Grade for sixth form: 2

Pupils make very good progress in their personal development. The school makes sure that pupils enjoy being at the school, that they develop well and that they are well prepared for the next stage of their lives by promoting independence and confidence within their school and local community. The total communication approach throughout the school leads to real improvements in social and communication skills, helping to prepare pupils well for transition into mainstream schooling when appropriate and for life after school. Pupils are encouraged to talk and think about healthy lifestyles and keeping themselves safe. They use their knowledge in real situations, for example in keeping safe on the roads during their regular activities in the 5 of 12 Inspection Report: Chapel Road School, 9 °10 October 2007 community. Not all opportunities are taken to reinforce healthy eating, as no healthy alternative

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Grade for sixth form: 2

to the biscuits brought in from home is offered at snack time. Pupils make excellent progress socially, emotionally, spiritually and morally. They learn to understand other pupils' difficulties and needs and foster close friendly relationships which help pupils to consider others and understand their own importance in the lives of other people. Pupils are usually very well behaved and frequently able to relate to others, although occasionally older pupils are unable to use the strategies they have been taught to moderate their behaviour. Pupils are encouraged to take responsibility and relish opportunities to take part in activities in their local community. Older students are actively involved in contributing to the school community, helping younger pupils and contributing to the school council. They develop a good awareness of the world beyond school.

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Grade for sixth form: 1

The quality of teaching is outstanding overall. Teaching is consistently good in all classes and often outstanding. Relationships between staff are excellent and it is this strong team approach that ensures that the needs of all pupils are met. The success of the teaching lies in the commitment of each class team to provide enjoyable, interesting and ability related activities. Pupils thrive within calm, well-organised and purposeful learning environments. The smallest change in a pupils' response to the learning activity is spotted and a member of the team intervenes quickly to support learning or maintain good behaviour. Day-to-day assessment of pupils' progress is good and used well to plan future activities. As a result, pupils with a wide range of needs make very good progress and achieve the best that they can. Good use is made of sensory materials, photographs and ICT to engage pupils in learning and to remind them of

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Grade for sixth form: 1

what they have done. Pupils respond with engagement and enjoyment. Experienced and well trained staff have the knowledge and confidence in the best approaches to use to support different learning needs, such as those with communication difficulties, challenging behaviour or those more complex medical needs. Signs, symbols and visual prompts are used very well, but there is inconsistency in the use of signing, reducing access for some pupils.

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Grade for sixth form: 2

The curriculum makes a good contribution to the school's success. It is planned and monitored in a way that meet the ages, interests and needs of all pupils in the school and gives them access to a broad range of enjoyable and meaningful learning experiences. The skilful modification and adaptation of the curriculum help individual pupils achieve personal and learning goals within their class group. The curriculum is limited by the accommodation, as there are no specialist facilities. The school finds creative solutions including lessons for science and design and technology at local mainstream schools. These arrangements provide opportunities for social inclusion and extending pupils' independence skills but reduce the amount of available curriculum time. Provision is especially good for literacy, communication, and speaking and listening, as effective strategies are in place to use pictures, symbols and ICT

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Grade for sixth form: 2

to support access to the curriculum. Signing is not consistently used across all aspects of the 6 of 12 Inspection Report: Chapel Road School, 9 °10 October 2007 curriculum reducing access for some pupils. The promotion of healthy lifestyles is integral to the curriculum, with a good range of physical activities. The on-site hydrotherapy pool and supervised play activities at break and lunch times provide enjoyable physical and recreational activities. A wide range of relevant off-site visits promotes pupils' personal development and awareness of the world of work. Pupils take a delight in being offered opportunities to take responsibility and are encouraged and supported to carry out many tasks which contribute to their school and wider community.

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Grade for sixth form: 1

A parent accurately summed up the outstanding care, guidance and support when she wrote, 'the staff offer an excellent balance between the care needed when dealing with a disabled child combined with a structured, learning environment to bring out the best in children.' The monitoring and collation of pupils' personal and academic progress are very good. Each pupil has a meticulously detailed historical record of their progress throughout the school, complete with their own accounts of their progress, and individualised progress targets, which are regularly reviewed and adjusted. Pupils' health and safety is prioritised and good risk assessments are undertaken in all aspects of the school's work. Relevant and regularly updated training gives all staff confidence to manage pupils' medical and behavioural needs consistently and effectively. The staff are very good at anticipating when a pupil may need additional support and intervene

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Grade for sixth form: 1

calmly and swiftly to meet their needs. This leads to individual pupils having their needs met in a dignified way, usually within the classroom setting, without others in the group being disturbed. Improvements to the provision post 16 since the last inspection including practical, work-based experiences, college links and independence and life skills accredited courses result in good arrangements to help students understand the options available to them when they leave school. Parents feel strongly that their children are safe and well cared for in school.

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Grade for sixth form: 2

Leadership and management are outstanding. They are as good as they are because management is cohesive, well organised, and clearly focused on providing every opportunity for pupils to achieve the very best they can. Leadership overall across all aspects of the school's work is outstanding with all staff sharing a common vision of the direction and purpose of the school. The school credits the leadership provided by the substantive headteacher with developing the strong leadership team that enables the school to continue to perform at a high standard during her secondment. In her absence the acting headteacher provides good leadership and is strongly supported by his staff. The capacity for further improvement is good. Governors provide an exceptional contribution to the school, being fully engaged in school life and offering an appropriate balance of challenge and support. Very good approaches for evaluating the work

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Grade for sixth form: 2

of the school include canvassing the views of parents, pupils and members of the wider community. The self-evaluation provides a comprehensive overview and offers an accurate, if modest assessment of the school's work. Ever seeking to improve, the school development plan identifies the appropriate actions for further developments. Monitoring of progress is tight, 7 of 12 Inspection Report: Chapel Road School, 9 °10 October 2007 with an excellent system of targeting and tracking pupil progress. Leaders and managers make very effective use of this data to identify challenging individual and whole school targets designed to raise standards. 8 of 12 Inspection Report: Chapel Road School, 9 °10 October 2007 .

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Grade for sixth form: 2

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 9 of 12 Inspection Report: Chapel Road School, 9 °10 October 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

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

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Achievement and standards

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

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well-being of the learners?

2 1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 1 How well learners enjoy their education 3 3 The attendance of learners 2 1 The behaviour of learners 1 1 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community 2 2 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. 10 of 12 Inspection Report: Chapel Road School, 9 °10 October 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 leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 2 1 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 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? 11 of 12 Inspection Report: Chapel Road School, 9 °10 October 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

11 October 2007 Dear Children and Students Inspection of Chapel Road School, Attleborough, Norfolk NR17 2DS How nice it was to meet you all. Thank you for making us feel so welcome in your school. As you know, Mr Anthony and I came to find out how well you are doing at school. We certainly enjoyed our visit and learned a lot. You go to a very good school and you make good progress in everything you do. Here are some of the things we liked.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You make excellent progress in your personal development and your behaviour is usually very good. ■ All the adults in your school work really hard to make sure you can achieve as well as you possibly can. ■ All your lessons are fun and you do many things that help you develop the social skills you will need when you leave school. We think there are two things that would make your school even better.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You should have a choice of a healthy snack, like fruit, at break times.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ All the adults and children should learn to sign so that all children can join in lesson and social activities. I would like to wish you lots of success for all that you do in the future. Yours sincerely Kathryn Burdis HMI 12 of 12 Inspection Report: Chapel Road School, 9 °10 October 2007

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