Granta School

134937 Unique Reference Number CAMBRIDGESHIRE LA Local Authority 316295 Inspection number 20 °21 November 2007 Inspection dates Margaret Goodchild 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 2 °19 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 103 School 9 6th form The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Lee Ginger Chair Mrs Lucie Calow Headteacher Not previously inspected Date of previous school inspection Cambridge Road School address Linton Cambridgeshire CB21 4NN 01223 896890 Telephone number 01223 896891 Fax number

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2-19 Age group 20 °21 November 2007 Inspection dates 316295 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 two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This is an all-age area special school for pupils with complex needs, including profound and multiple learning difficulties and autistic spectrum disorders. Although attainment on entry is well below average, as a result of pupils' learning difficulties and disabilities, there is a fairly wide ability spread. The school opened in September 2006 as one of two new special schools in Cambridgeshire to which pupils transferred following the closure of four previous schools. The Granta School opened with 78 pupils, has quickly increased to 103 and is expected to expand to take 150. Many staff transferred from the four schools that closed and the school has recruited some additional teachers, and is still recruiting, to fill particular posts and in response to the growing pupil numbers.

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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: Granta School, 20 °21 November 2007

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Grade: 3

This is already a satisfactory school with some good features, which has come a long way in the short time since it opened just over a year ago. The headteacher has quickly gained the confidence of staff and parents. She been very successful in bringing together into a seamless whole the large number of staff and pupils who came from the four schools that closed. She has strengthened the staff team in response to growing numbers of pupils and is clearly bringing out the best in her staff. This is a significant achievement and there is a strong sense of energy and passion amongst managers in key positions. A great deal of development has taken place in just over a year since the school opened, much of this against a backdrop of initial difficulties with the accommodation. Leadership and management are good overall and the headteacher is supported well by other staff with management responsibilities. The school has received

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Grade: 3

outstanding support and challenge from the governing body. Senior staff have necessarily focused on putting in place an education that is at least satisfactory but which they recognise needs to be refined. Improving provision further is largely a matter of time. A parent accurately captures the situation, saying 'I am sure there is more to do, but feel confident that the management team have their focus on achieving excellence'. Through working closely with a multi-professional team, including a range of therapists, the school has been effective in assessing how much support pupils require to meet their personal and care needs. It is meeting these needs well. Pupils make good progress in their personal development and feel safe and happy. Managers are aware that the school needs to increase the accuracy of its assessment of pupils' existing skills, knowledge and understanding to inform target setting, lesson planning and form a basis for measuring and tracking their progress. This

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Grade: 3

is the most important challenge that faces the school and it is necessary to the further improvement of teaching, which is currently satisfactory, and to raising achievement. Standards are well below average as a result of pupils' learning difficulties and disabilities, but their achievement is satisfactory overall and good in the Foundation Stage. The arrangement of pupils into 'access groups', according to their preferred style of learning, has been a good initial move and enabled the school to cope with the staggered arrival of a large number of pupils, until staff find out more about exactly what they can already do. Managers are carefully reflecting on how to adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of the full range of pupils more fully. The school has already developed some good links with other educational establishments, most notably with Linton Village College with which it shares a campus, and is increasingly making use of the community to enrich pupils' learning.

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Grade: 3

Senior staff have begun to evaluate the school's effectiveness and managers have undertaken some useful audits into aspects of provision. There is, as yet, no coherent system in place for monitoring all aspects of the school's work and for analysing findings to form a meaningful evaluation of its effectiveness. There is, nevertheless, a clear sense of shared direction and the school is well placed to improve further. It is already providing satisfactory value for money.

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Grade: 3

The school provides satisfactorily for students at post-16. It pays careful attention to developing their skills of self-reliance to equip them as far as possible to manage their lives independently. Students make satisfactory progress in response to a satisfactory range of learning experiences. 4 of 12 Inspection Report: Granta School, 20 °21 November 2007 The curriculum follows the 'Moving On' accredited course and is constantly under review to ensure flexibility in meeting the individual needs of all students. The close link with Linton Village College provides good opportunities for individual students to follow a small number of GCSE courses and to participate in a range of activities. Students also benefit from their visits to Cambridge Regional College and to Snakehall Farm, where they take part in multi-skills and art courses and mix with students from other special schools. Opportunities for students

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Grade: 3

to take part in work experience are well organised and the school works closely with Connexions in providing good care for students. The school is planning to extend the range of courses on offer and provision is developing well as a result of good leadership.

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Grade: 2

The school provides well for children in the Foundation Stage. Children are making good progress in response to good teaching. Sessions are planned very thoroughly to meet individual needs, especially in personal, social and emotional development and communication, language and literacy. Planning is informed by good assessment procedures, which involve therapists and other agencies when children join the school and by ongoing recording of their progress towards the Early Learning Goals. Parents are kept well informed through detailed entries in home-school diaries, though they are not yet being involved as much as they could be in their children's learning. The school has begun to make use of the community to extend the range of learning opportunities provided, for example, through trips to the park and the shops. Teamwork between the staff is good and the coordinator has a thorough knowledge of the needs of this age group.

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Grade: 2

She provides good leadership and management, based on high expectations and clear vision.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Establish a comprehensive system for assessing and recording pupils' attainment and use the resulting information in setting individual targets, planning lessons, and tracking pupils' progress. ■ Develop a system for evaluating the school's effectiveness and build into this procedures for analysing the findings of monitoring undertaken by managers at all levels. A small proportion of the schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory but which have areas of underperformance will receive a monitoring visit by an OFSTED inspector before their next section 5 inspection.

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Grade for sixth form: 3

Achievement is satisfactory overall and pupils make good progress towards the targets in their individual education plans. Some parents say that they have seen marked improvement in their children's progress since moving to the school, whereas a few feel that their children are not being challenged enough. Inspection findings support both these views because there is variation in the amount of progress pupils make. There are instances of pupils exceeding previous expectations of their capabilities, for instance, where they are studying for GCSE in design and technology and science at the adjoining secondary school, and in physical education. In addition, pupils make good progress in some lessons where teachers' expectations are high and tasks and approaches matched well to the needs of different groups. This is not always the case, 5 of 12 Inspection Report: Granta School, 20 °21 November 2007 however, and the school is working to improve on the satisfactory progress pupils make in

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Grade for sixth form: 3

literacy and numeracy and to extend the range of courses available for older pupils. At present, those at Key Stage 4 and post-16 are making satisfactory progress on accredited courses, such as ASDAN (Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network) Transition Challenge or the Bronze Award, and some are gaining additional vocational skills.

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Grade for sixth form: 2

Personal development and well-being are good. Pupils develop a strong sense of trust and enjoy school because they feel safe and well cared for. They have very good relationships with their teachers and support assistants. Personal, social and health education has a strongly positive influence on pupils' social and moral understanding and contributes well to their good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Attendance is good. Through opportunities for regular sports and encouragement for healthy choices, pupils make good progress in developing an awareness of a healthy lifestyle. Behaviour is good and there is an orderly and happy atmosphere in the school. Pupils are generally interested and cooperative during lessons and, with the encouragement of staff, are keen to take part in all the activities provided for them. They respond well to opportunities to take responsibility as members of the school council

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Grade for sixth form: 2

and contribute to the community by helping to raise funds to support charities. Pupils are gaining confidence in sharing their views and ideas and this has resulted, for instance, in improvements to the quality of the outside play resources. The promotion of pupils' future economic well-being is satisfactory owing to the progress they are making in developing basic skills.

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Grade for sixth form: 3

The quality of teaching is satisfactory and improving. There is a fair amount of good teaching but there are also inconsistencies that result from bringing together a large group of staff from four schools, which all had different expectations. At times expectations are not as high as they could be, especially for more able pupils in mixed ability groups, and lessons sometimes lack pace. The appointment of a number of subject specialist teachers is helping to improve the quality of teaching. Teachers often use interactive whiteboards well and they match resources effectively to the preferred learning style of the pupils. The use of teaching assistants, and the impact they make on pupils' progress, is not yet as well developed as it could be. The school has, rightly, identified this as a development priority. Individual education plans are satisfactory, based mainly on the objectives identified at annual reviews. Otherwise, the school is at an early

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Grade for sixth form: 3

stage in arriving at a thorough assessment of pupils' academic attainment and, therefore being able to identify how best to help them to make the next steps in their learning. 6 of 12 Inspection Report: Granta School, 20 °21 November 2007

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Grade for sixth form: 3

The school has put a satisfactory curriculum in place but managers are aware that there is more work to be done to match opportunities fully to pupils' needs. The way the curriculum is currently organised is effectively tiding the school over, as it adjusts and gradually moulds provision to meet the particular needs of different groups of pupils. An example of this is the way pupils are organised into access groups according to their preferred learning style - visual, sensory, exploratory and formal. This was done in response to the need to accommodate all the different pupils from different schools, who arrived all at once with vastly different experiences and needs. This was a good idea as an initial response to the challenge the school faced. The school is increasingly using the community to enrich learning opportunities and, rightly, looking to extend the range of accredited courses and work-related learning opportunities for older pupils.

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Grade for sixth form: 3

The physical education curriculum is already a strength, with many pupils taking part in regular sports including a sports festival and tournaments with other schools. There is a good range of enrichment activities, particularly in drama, music and sport.

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Grade for sixth form: 2

Care, guidance and support are good. There are clear procedures for child protection, risk assessments and for medical and emergency aid, with regular training for staff. Pupils are kept safe and the quality of care is high. The school is a safe and happy environment that instils in pupils a sense of security and gives them the confidence to learn. Procedures for managing behaviour are good, including that of pupils with autistic spectrum disorders. Working relationships are well established with a range of therapists, other professionals and agencies who visit the school regularly. Pupils' personal and care needs are assessed thoroughly with input from the multi-professional team, including therapists and the school nurse. Parents and carers are involved fully in the review of their child's progress and individual education plans provide a satisfactory foundation to support pupils' overall progress. The school is at an early

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Grade for sixth form: 2

stage, however, in establishing a system for tracking pupils' academic progress.

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Grade for sixth form: 2

Senior leaders have been successful in sharing their vision for the school and are systematically raising the expectations of the whole staff so that there is a shared sense of purpose. Managers are very reflective practitioners and prepared to be innovative in their quest to develop Granta into an outstanding school. They are committed to finding the best solutions to meet the needs of all the pupils and are prioritising well. There is a surprising sense of coherence in the school, given that it has only been open just a year, and staff morale is high. A good range of specialist knowledge is evident amongst managers leading development, for instance to extend provision for pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties and autistic spectrum disorders. 7 of 12 Inspection Report: Granta School, 20 °21 November 2007 Subject coordinators have begun to take responsibility effectively and identified necessary

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Grade for sixth form: 2

developments. However, the role of key stage coordinators is less clearly established. The school does not yet have sufficient data for this to form the backbone of its self-evaluation and, though some valuable monitoring is already taking place, has not yet found a way of bringing the findings of this together. Governors have been very actively involved in resolving initial problems with the accommodation. They regularly visit the school and produce perceptive reports that help to inform decision-making and shape school development. 8 of 12 Inspection Report: Granta School, 20 °21 November 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: Granta School, 20 °21 November 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

3 3 How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? NA NA Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection 2 2 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2 The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 2 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

3 3 How well do learners achieve? 4 4 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

3 3 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 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The attendance of learners 2 The behaviour of learners 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?

2 2 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: Granta School, 20 °21 November 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 3 3 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: Granta School, 20 °21 November 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

22 November 2007 Dear Pupils Inspection of Granta School, Linton, CB21 4NN Thank you for making us welcome when we visited your school. We enjoyed our visit very much, and now I am writing to tell you about what we found. Granta School is already a satisfactory school with some good features, and it has come a long way in the short time since it opened just over a year ago. The headteacher has quickly made everybody feel confident so that the school feels like one big happy family. We could see that you are happy and that you trust the people who work with you. The school cares for you well and it is helping you to make good progress in learning to get on with one another and in gaining independence. Most of you are making satisfactory progress with your work, although you make good progress in some lessons. Those of you who have some of your lessons at Linton Village College are doing well with your GCSE work. Those of you in Early Years are also making

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

good progress. The school is getting better all the time and the headteacher and other people who manage it are really keen to make it as good as it can possibly be for you. We have asked them to do this by making sure that:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ they find out all about what you can already do so that they know what to teach you next

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ they find a way of checking what is working best in the school and how it could be improved.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

You can help them by working hard and by enjoying all the wonderful facilities available to you in this brand new school. Best wishes Margaret Goodchild Lead inspector 12 of 12 Inspection Report: Granta School, 20 °21 November 2007

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