Esland Bedford School

Oracle Independent school inspection report

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DCSF registration number 822/6013 Unique Reference Number (URN) 135987 Inspection number 353845 Inspection dates 25–26 May 2010 Reporting inspector Heather Yaxley HMI

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Published: 17.06.10 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 08456 404040, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way.

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T: 08456 404040 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk No. 090070 Independent school inspection report

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Purpose and scope of the inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Section 162A 1 of the Education Act 2002, as amended by schedule 8 of the Education Act 2005 2 , the purpose of which is to advise the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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Information about the school

This is the first inspection of the school since it opened in September 2009. The proprietor is the chief executive officer of Oraclecare, the parent company, and Oracle is one of the company’s two schools, both with the same name. The headteacher leads both schools. In addition to providing education for students who reside in the company’s children’s homes, the school has a limited number of places for other students. The company’s children’s homes are registered and inspected separately by Ofsted. Registered to accommodate a total of eight students between the ages of eight and 16 years, there are currently seven students on roll, aged 13 to 16 years, including one student who attends part-time. Most students are looked after by their local authority and all have learning needs associated with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. All but one student have a statement of special educational needs. Some students have input from youth offending teams.

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Information about the school

The aim of Oracle School is to provide an integrated approach to addressing the needs of the young people, in order to stabilise their behaviour, so that they can access education, deal with issues from the past and develop skills that will help them to function successfully in a variety of social environments . All students resident at the children’s homes have regular therapy sessions at school with resident therapists.

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Evaluation of the school

In the short amount of time that Oracle School has been in existence, it has successfully established a satisfactory standard of education and care for its students. It is early days for the full effectiveness of its work to be realised. Nevertheless, pastoral support is particularly strong, already making a significant contribution to students’ good personal development, particularly their engagement with learning. Of the parents, carers, pupils and local authorities that responded to the pre-inspection questionnaire, all were positive about their experiences of the school. The staff have focused on the right things, they know what they need to do next and suitable plans are in place for the improvements to continue. Most of the required safeguarding requirements are met but the single central record of checks

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Evaluation of the school

1 www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2002/ukpga_20020032_en_14#pt10-ch1-pb4-l1g162 2 www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts2005/ukpga_20050018_en_15#sch8 Independent school inspection report on staff does not fully meet the government’s requirements. An additional regulation is not met and this relates to the provision of careers education.

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Quality of education

At this point in time the quality of education is satisfactory because that is where the school is at in terms of curriculum development and the effectiveness of its assessment arrangements. The curriculum is satisfactory. It is designed around addressing students’ particular needs, especially on changing their behaviour within a holistic package based on care, education and therapy. This works well. Areas given the greatest priority over the past year are bedding down and provide a firm foundation from which to develop other aspects. For example, the curriculum gives high importance to literacy and numeracy, and teaching strategies emphasise enjoyment and good attitudes to work and to one another. As a result, students have made good progress in their personal development and satisfactory progress in their academic studies this year. The way that the curriculum has successfully established a strong learning culture is particularly impressive; it is very effective in

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Quality of education

re-engaging students in education. This is no mean feat given students past understanding of what education can offer them. The next phase of curriculum development is being planned and includes more vocational subjects and accredited courses, a programme for careers education and more opportunities to develop students’ skills within the local community.

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Quality of education

Teachers have developed schemes of work for each subject as the year has progressed, within a broad curricular framework that reflects the school’s aims. There are two classes, one for each of Key Stages 3 and 4 and most subjects are taught discretely in each class. A particular strength of the curriculum lies in the weekly opportunities for students to learn together as a bigger group, such as for drama, German and physical education. This sensibly expands opportunities for team work and cooperation. An overall outline of how students will progress systematically within and across each key stage is not yet in place for all subjects.

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Quality of education

A policy and programme for personal, social and health education are in place but they do not do justice to the good quality opportunities provided across other subjects during the school day. Similarly, ASDAN (Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network) is taught as a separate subject and does not make use of the learning that could be accredited to the units from other work during the week. A good use of curricular time, however, is for a reflection period at the end of each day, when students spend time individually with their key staff. This not only encourages students’ responsibility and a critical awareness of how their behaviour affects their learning, but also ensures that each day ends on a positive note.

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Quality of education

Satisfactory teaching and assessment reflects strengths in teaching and relative weaknesses in assessment. The two teachers teach the full range of subjects. Their subject knowledge is good because they base their work on schemes that provide them with an appropriate range of learning objectives, which in turn, provide the Independent school inspection report explicit focus for students’ attention in each lesson. Management of behaviour is good in lessons and any disruption does not detract from the importance of learning because time lost is made up and there are high expectations on students to participate and display good attitudes to work. This works well because teachers, in tandem with support staff, use the agreed management and reward systems with consistency and fairness. It is no surprise then that relationships with staff and between students are good. The presentation of students’ work is not always as

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Quality of education

good as it could be and does not represent the good learning that often takes place. This is because support for students to demonstrate independently what they have learned is not well developed in lessons. This also means that some students are too dependent on support from other adults, when they would not need to be if they had more help with organising their work as the lesson progressed.

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Quality of education

The staff are aware of developments needed in relation to assessment. The issues are two-fold. Firstly, although teachers assess what students can do and adapt their lesson plans accordingly, opportunities for students to be more involved in assessing their own work are often missed. This includes a lack of explicit reference to individual targets when discussing with students how well they have done and a lack of clarity about why they have earned their tokens and credits. This applies also to the quality of written feedback in marking of students’ work. Secondly, teachers and support staff have a wealth of information about how well students are doing from end of unit assessments, assessment weeks, token charts and targets on IEPs (individual education plans) and PEPs (personal education plans). However, they do not yet make best use of this information to target and track the amount of progress made over time.

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the pupils

Students make good gains in their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. This happens because, firstly, pastoral support is a strong feature of the provision, exemplified by the way that care, education and therapy work seamlessly together. Students develop respectful and trusting relationships with staff and with one another. Even when things go wrong, students are able to accept responsibility; they are prepared to work through problems and make a new start as soon as they can and most are able to reflect on their behaviour at the end of each day. But more than this, at the same time as addressing and confronting significant personal issues relating to extreme trauma from the past, students still focus on learning; their attendance is well above national averages for mainstream schools and their behaviour is good. Secondly, the curriculum provides a range of good opportunities to develop students’ social skills, their understanding of the workings of government

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the pupils

and of cultural difference. Students show pleasure and pride in their art and drama work. They also enjoy the acknowledgement that they get for doing well through collecting and exchanging tokens and credits. Independent school inspection report

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Welfare, health and safety of the pupils

This aspect of the school’s work is only satisfactory because the single central record of checks on staff does not fully meet the government’s requirements. Conversely, procedures and practices for other aspects of welfare, health and safety are particularly robust. For example, a range of policies to support all aspects of students’ well-being are well appointed to address their particular needs. Particular emphasis is quite rightly given to assessing risk. The impact of this is a sensible, yet robust, planned approach to supervision by staff, successfully broadening students’ access to academic and social opportunities. Equally strong is the commitment of the whole staff team to consistent application of agreed policies and practices for managing students’ behaviour, the application of rewards and sanctions, and record- keeping. The school’s three-year disability equality scheme and accessibility plan fully

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Welfare, health and safety of the pupils

meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act.

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Welfare, health and safety of the pupils

Students show a growing awareness of their own health and safety, as well as developing personal responsibility for, and an understanding of how their behaviour impacts on the well-being of others. The outdoor activities programme every Thursday provides students with good, carefully supervised opportunities for exercise and enjoyment within the community.

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Suitability of the proprietor and staff

The recruitment policy and procedures are thorough and rigorously adhered to, and staff files extremely well organised. All of the required checks have been carried out prior to the employment of staff. The record of these checks exists on several different lists, which although kept methodically, are not kept in accordance with the government requirement for a single central record of those checks.

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School’s premises and accommodation

The school operates from the ground floor of a two-storey building within parkland managed by English Heritage. The accommodation and resources are of a high quality and successfully contribute to an environment where learning is highly valued. Classrooms provide ample space for teaching students in small groups. As yet there are no specialist rooms for practical aspects of science and technology but there are plans to address this in the future. The student common room and small dining area provide well for relaxation at break times. There are no facilities for indoor physical education but students make good use of the surrounding fields at break times and for adventurous activities within the locality each week.

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Provision of information for parents, carers and others

Parents, carers and local authorities have access to a range of information about the school through the website, the prospectus and a full range of policies. Teachers are currently formulating the first annual reports for families about their children’s progress. Similarly, the first set of financial accounts in respect of income received Independent school inspection report and expenditure incurred will be sent to the respective local authorities later this term.

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Procedures for handling complaints

The school has a suitably detailed complaints policy and one formal complaint has been addressed through the procedure this year. There is also a very helpful student version of the policy.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

The school meets all of the Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2003 as amended (‘the Regulations’), with the exception of those listed below. 3

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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 a planned programme for careers guidance (paragraph 1(2)(g)).

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

The school does not meet all requirements in respect of suitability of proprietor and staff (standard 4) and must:

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 ensure that the required checks on the suitability of staff and others are collated into a single central record that fully meets the government requirements (paragraphs 4C (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9)).

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What the school could do to improve further

While not required by regulations, the school might wish to consider the following points for development.

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What the school could do to improve further

 Establish a monitoring cycle that pulls together all aspects of assessment currently undertaken more consistently, so that academic and personal development can be targeted and tracked more thoroughly.  Maximise opportunities in lessons for students to be more involved in setting and reviewing their personal targets and the lesson objectives.

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What the school could do to improve further

3 www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2003/20031910.htm Independent school inspection report Inspection judgement recording form outstanding good satisfactory inadequate

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What the school could do to improve further

How well the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of pupils 

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What the school could do to improve further

How effective teaching and assessment are in meeting the full range of pupils’ needs 

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What the school could do to improve further

How well pupils make progress in their learning 

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What the school could do to improve further

Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

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What the school could do to improve further

Quality of provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 

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What the school could do to improve further

The overall welfare, health and safety of pupils  Independent school inspection report

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School details

Name of school Oracle School DCSF number 822/6013 Unique reference number (URN) 135987 Type of school Independent Status Independent special school for students with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties Date school opened 3 September 2009 Age range of pupils 10–16 years Gender of pupils Mixed Number on roll (full-time pupils) Boys: 4 Girls: 2 Total: 6 Number on roll (part-time pupils) Boys: 1 Girls: 0 Total: 1 Number of pupils with a statement of special educational need Boys: 5 Girls: 1 Total: 6

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School details

Number of pupils who are looked after Boys: 5 Girls: 2 Total: 7 Annual fees (day pupils) £65,485.29 Address of school Unit 54 Wrest Park Silsoe Bedford Bedfordshire MK45 4HS Telephone number 01525 860319 Fax number 01525 860407 Email address info@oraclecare.com Headteacher Steven Bromley Proprietor Stephen Grey Reporting inspector Heather Yaxley HMI Dates of inspection 25–26 May 2010

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