Setting

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 404040 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Ms Chantrey Headteacher New Summerseat House Summerseat Lane Ramsbottom Bury Lancashire BL0 9UD

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provision for pupils from day 6 of exclusion

Thank you for your hospitality and co-operation, and that of your staff, during my visit on Tuesday 01 July 2008 to look at your work in providing for pupils from day 6 of their permanent exclusion.

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provision for pupils from day 6 of exclusion

The visit provided valuable information which will contribute to our national evaluation and reporting. Published reports are likely to list the names of the contributing institutions but individual institutions will not be identified in the main text. All feedback letters will be published on the Ofsted website at the end of each half-term.

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provision for pupils from day 6 of exclusion

The evidence used to inform the judgements made included interviews with yourself and the teacher responsible for delivering the day 6 provision, scrutiny of relevant documentation, a phone call to a parent and the observation of one lesson.

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provision for pupils from day 6 of exclusion

The overall effectiveness of the day 6 provision was judged to be good.

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Achievement and standards

The overall achievement of the pupils in the day 6 provision is good. It is commendable that 59 of the 68 pupils who have been placed in the day 6 provision since last September have been re-integrated into other schools. The length of time pupils stay in the day 6 provision ranges from 17 days to a little over four months. The achievement of the two pupils in the lesson observed was good. Because of scant information arriving with pupils generally the centre makes initial assessments of each pupil which informs their half-termly plans. Objectively are sensibly set and evaluated with the pupils on a weekly basis. These indicate that good progress is being made.

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Quality of teaching and learning of aspect

The quality of teaching observed was good. The pupils were engaged and co- operated well with each other. They had positive relationships with staff. The pupils made notably better progress when they were engaged in the practical activity; recording dice throws when determining probability. They were least engaged when they were required to complete a worksheet. The teacher’s questioning effectively challenged the pupils’ thinking.

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Quality of the curriculum

The quality of the curriculum is good. The curriculum is matched well to pupils needs to provide as much continuity in learning as possible. At Key Stage 3 the centre provides the full National Curriculum so that pupils can maintain their education in readiness for re-integration to mainstream school. At Key Stage 4 the centre does it best to ensure that pupils who are undertaking examination courses can complete these despite being permanently excluded. This is praise-worthy as the centre reports that many pupils arrive with little or no information from their mainstream schools.

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Leadership and management of aspect

The leadership and management of the day 6 provision is good. Clearly distinct provision is in place and a good start has been made in housing the day 6 provision in the existing the pupil referral unit. The provision was initially designed to accommodate eight pupils but has educated up to 17 pupils at one time. This expansion has been managed well. Initial difficulties which saw some pupils failing to attend the provision have largely been overcome. The head of centre knows the strengths and weaknesses of the provision and there are very promising plans to build on this first model of provision including a more definitive assessment period and making plans for re-integration more formal from the outset.

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Leadership and management of aspect

There are hindrances, some of which are outside of the control of the centre, which mean that the provision is not yet as successful as it could be. The centre reports that virtually no information or work arrives with pupils and therefore there is inevitable discontinuity of education. The centre also reports that there have been delays in pupils commencing their re-integration programmes despite the centre confirming that pupils are ready to re- integrate and in some cases this having been agreed with schools. These are issues for the local authority to tackle. The reports of the head of centre to the management committee could be improved by presenting information which shows the success of the provision other than at an individual pupil level. Re-integration rates and how these are being sustained and overall improvements in attendance are examples of what might be included in the reports.

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Inclusion

Provision is very much tailored to individuals and as such the needs of pupils are generally well met. Staff know the pupils well. The one parent interviewed was very positive about the quality of provision for his son. He described this as ‘tailor-made’ and noted how successful it had been in giving his son a fresh start.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

 working with the local authority so that it is in a position to challenge schools who do not send assessment information to the centre when pupils are excluded and to ensure there are no delays in re-integrating pupils into mainstream schools;  providing more information to the management committee about the overall success of the day 6 provision.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

I hope these observations are useful as you continue to develop the day 6 provision in the centre.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

As I explained in my previous letter, a copy of this letter will be sent to your local authority and will be published on the Ofsted website. It will also be available to the team for your next institutional inspection.

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