Ofsted report - Isle of Wight Council Clatterford Tuition Centre

School report

Clatterford Tuition Centre The Island Learning Centre, Berry Hill Road, Lake, Isle of Wight, PO36 9LH

Inspection dates 30 April–1 May 2014

Overall effectiveness Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3

This inspection: Inadequate 4

Achievement of pupils Inadequate 4

Quality of teaching Inadequate 4

Behaviour and safety of pupils Inadequate 4

Leadership and management Inadequate 4

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires special measures.

Achievement is inadequate. Students do not make enough progress in their learning and their literacy and numeracy skills are not developed well enough.

Students’ progress is particularly poor in English, mathematics and science.

Teachers often lack the necessary subject knowledge. Expectations are too low because teachers do not take account in their planning of what students have already achieved.

Teachers are sometimes unclear about what they want students to learn. As a result, students sometimes become confused or miss the point. Marking does not help students sufficiently to improve their work. Teaching assistants are not used effectively to promote learning.

Behaviour and safety overall are inadequate as attendance remains exceptionally low. It has not improved since the previous inspection. Students’ attendance seldom improves while they are on roll at the centre.

Students sometimes lose focus on their work because staff do not consistently follow the behaviour policy.

Leadership and management are inadequate because some key leaders, including those responsible for subjects, do not know the centre well enough. They do not have a clear vision of its core purpose.

Leaders have an inaccurate picture of the quality of teaching and the progress of different groups of students. As a result, they are uncertain about what to do to improve.

The checks on standards and progress by the management committee over recent months have not had sufficient impact.

Work is needed to ensure all parts of the site are fully safe. The child protection policy has not yet been agreed by the management committee.

The school has the following strengths

Teachers develop positive relationships with students.

Students report that they feel safe in the centre.

Inspection report: Clatterford Tuition Centre, 30 April – 1 May 2014 2 of 10

Information about this inspection

The inspector observed six lessons jointly with senior leaders.

The inspector observed students around the school site and held meetings with students, members of the staff, members of the management committee and senior leaders from local mainstream schools, some of whose students and ex-students attend the centre.

A work scrutiny took place on the second day of the inspection, where the inspector, jointly with the interim headteacher, looked at a range of students’ work.

The inspector looked at a range of documentation, including records of visits by the Leadership and Learning Partner representing the local authority, management committee minutes, policies and data sheets.

Too few parents and carers responded in order to generate an online profile of parents’ views on the Ofsted website. However, the inspector took account of the school’s own parental surveys.

The 12 staff responses to the Ofsted inspection questionnaire for school staff were taken into account.

Inspection team

Steve Williams, Lead inspector Additional Inspector


Full report

In accordance with the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

The school should not seek to appoint newly qualified teachers.

Information about this school

The Clatterford Tuition Centre is a small pupil referral unit for students aged 11–16 who are unable to attend mainstream secondary schools for various reasons. Students are referred to Clatterford either because they have been permanently excluded from a mainstream school or because it is believed that they would benefit from a period of at least six weeks in the centre. Some students attend full time while others attend on a part-time basis.

The centre moved into new premises at the Island Learning Centre in Lake just over a week before the inspection. The site is shared with Thompson House Tuition Service which has the same headteacher and management committee but the two schools exist as separate entities.

There are 20 students on roll, three quarters of whom are boys. All students have special educational needs and one has a statement of special educational needs. Just under half of the students are eligible for the additional funding known as the pupil premium. This funding is provided to support looked after children and those known to be eligible for free school meals.

Very few Year 7 students currently attending the centre are eligible for Year 7 catch-up funding. This funding is for students who did not achieve the expected Level 4 in reading or mathematics at the end of Key Stage 2.

It is planned that the new interim headteacher will remain in post until the end of the current academic year.

What does the school need to do to improve further?

Improve the quality of teaching so that it is typically good by ensuring that teachers:

have a thorough understanding of the subjects they teach

have high expectations of all their students, based on clear and accurate assessment information and challenging educational targets

plan their lessons carefully, and convey clearly to students what they want them to learn

provide detailed feedback to students on their work in their marking so that they know precisely what to do to improve

make better use of teaching assistants to promote learning.

Raise achievement so that it is at least good by:

improving students' progress in English, mathematics and science

developing students’ literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills, including in practical subjects.

Improve the overall behaviour and safety of students by:

making sure that attendance is carefully checked

responding rapidly in cases where students are absent from school


working more closely with parents and carers to make sure students who are persistently absent attend more regularly

ensuring that staff follow the centre’s behaviour policy consistently so that students are always able to concentrate on their learning

ensuring that the management committee ratify the child protection policy as soon as possible

ensure that the new site is fully safe.

Improve the quality and impact of leadership and management by:

developing, in partnership with mainstream secondary schools, a clearer vision of the core purpose of the unit, with clear guidance for referral and for moving students on

developing a better checking system that enables teachers to have an accurate understanding of students’ starting points and the progress that individuals and groups are making, particularly those eligible for pupil premium funding

ensuring leaders and managers make effective checks on students' progress and the quality of teaching using the information gathered to plan improvements to teaching and learning

making sure that those responsible for subjects contribute fully to raising standards

making sure that the management committee holds the centre’s leaders to account more rigorously.

An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

An external review of the centre’s use of pupil premium funding should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.


Inspection judgements

The achievement of pupils is inadequate

Too many students make inadequate progress. Some students who attend infrequently or who do not engage with home tutors barely make any progress at all. Progress is inadequate in the core subjects of English, mathematics and science.

When students join Clatterford, their attainment is often below average. It typically remains below average when they leave. The centre’s expectations in terms of rates of progress are not sufficiently ambitious or challenging.

The centre is successful in enabling students to demonstrate a greater readiness to learn when they move back to a mainstream school or into further education or training. However, while at the centre, they do not make enough progress in their learning, which means that they are not catching up with their peers.

Students’ literacy and numeracy skills are too low and this holds back their learning in other subjects. For example, one Year 7 student was unable to make enough progress in a 'topic' lesson because of his low reading age and his limited understanding of the sounds that letters make.

Those who remain at Clatterford to the end of Key Stage 4 achieve some vocational qualifications which can help them, for example to move on to college. Many Year 11 students progress into further education or training. However most, including those who attend off-site alternative provision for part of their week, secure very few qualifications. Last year, only one Year 11 student gained any GCSE accreditation, with a grade C pass in mathematics. More-able students do not achieve sufficiently high standards. Lower-attaining students, including the very few eligible for the Year 7 catch-up funding, do not make sufficient progress.

Since the last inspection, senior leaders have introduced a system of online assessment for students joining the centre, and ongoing half-termly reviews of their progress. These show that only a very small number of students re-engage with learning and make reasonable progress.

The centre does not analyse in detail the progress of different groups of students and this means that it is difficult to ensure that particularly disadvantaged groups of students make sufficiently rapid progress. Despite additional targeted support for those students who are eligible for pupil premium funding, they too do not make enough progress.

The quality of teaching is inadequate

The folders of work and teachers’ records show that too many students are making inadequate progress over time because expectations are too low and work is not challenging enough. Students are generally compliant, but teachers do not always engage their interest and give them enough work to do.

Students are often working at levels below their capabilities and in many subjects they are provided with too few opportunities to produce extended pieces of writing. This means that students are not stretched academically and do not have enough opportunities to develop important literacy skills.

Teachers are often teaching outside their own area of subject expertise. They do not have enough depth of knowledge about what their students can and cannot do. As a result, teaching is sometimes superficial.

Teachers fail to ensure that additional adults are deployed effectively. As a result, these additional adults have too little impact on students’ learning.

While teachers’ marking shows in detail where they have gone wrong, teachers rarely give enough guidance to students on how to improve their work.

Teachers make a significant contribution to promoting students’ personal, social and emotional development, and the readiness of some to engage in learning. However, this is not always accompanied by teachers ensuring basic literacy and numeracy skills are developed sufficiently


well. This is particularly so for those who are working well below their expected levels in these areas.

In practical subjects, engaging activities, and well-planned and appropriately targeted tasks, are often successful in developing students’ practical skills. In one art lesson observed, a Year 10 student was developing a stencil for some batik work and became highly engrossed in the task, taking considerable care in the process and developing her own ideas. In a food lesson, a Year 7 student was identifying and carefully selecting different herbs to use in herb and garlic bread, which he was keen to taste once it had been baked. However, in practical work, there are too few opportunities for students to develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of the subject.

The behaviour and safety of pupils are inadequate

Behaviour and safety overall are inadequate because attendance is consistently low and shows little signs of improvement. Attendance was identified as a key issue for the centre to address in the previous inspection report, but progress has not been made in this area. Over three quarters of students are absent on average for more than one day per week.

The behaviour of students requires improvement. The centre’s behaviour policy is not always consistently followed. In some lessons students become distracted from their work because they are not prevented from doing so. Incidents of inappropriate behaviour are carefully recorded and, when the policy is followed, usually well managed.

Students feel safe in school, bullying is rare and there are very few fixed-term exclusions. The rewards system has a positive impact on students’ behaviour and their focus on learning in lessons.

Students are aware of different types of bullying. There have been no incidents of racist behaviour during the current academic year and no homophobic incidents have been recorded. However, students believe that a gay student would be likely to be teased by others. Students are aware of e-safety issues.

Students have only recently moved into the new site and they are treating it with respect. They do not cause damage even if they become angry or frustrated, and they do not drop litter.

The school’s work to keep students safe and secure requires improvement. Although the centre is compliant with health and safety requirements in all major respects, work is needed to make the site fully safe by modifying access to the wooded area. Currently, an appropriate risk assessment has been carried out on the area in question and students are supervised well at all times.

Appropriate child protection procedures are in place, but the new management committee, which began its work at the beginning of the academic year, has not approved the child protection policy and this is now overdue.

The leadership and management are inadequate

Leaders and managers have been ineffective in ensuring students make adequate progress. Their understanding of the quality of teaching and its impact on learning is weak. Consequently, teachers have not been challenged sufficiently to ensure students make the progress of which they are capable.

Senior leaders do not have a clear and consistent vision for the centre and, while local schools appreciate the support and expertise they receive from Clatterford Tuition Centre, the precise purpose of the centre in the context of secondary education provision on the island is unclear.

Senior leaders are effective in keeping track of improvements in students’ behaviour. However, they have failed to address sufficiently the poor attendance and its impact on students’ achievement.

Senior leaders have failed to track students’ academic progress sufficiently closely. As a result, teachers have not been kept up to date with the learning needs of the students. Aspirations for


the progress that students should be making are too low. Middle leaders and those in charge of subjects are not rigorous enough in monitoring students’ progress and in ensuring they make sufficient progress.

Performance management is in place and appropriate procedures are being followed, with the current round being mid-cycle. However, to date, the management committee has not yet been involved in the process of performance management.

Responsibility for school improvement has now been transferred to Hampshire County Council and, during the current academic year, senior officers of the council have provided both challenge and support. The Leadership and Learning Partner from Hampshire County Council has helped the centre to secure a more realistic view of the quality of teaching and the progress that students make. This has had some impact on the work of senior leaders but middle managers remain ill-equipped to make the necessary improvements. .

The centre’s view of how well it is doing is not accurate and does not identify all the relevant issues for improvement.

Although the curriculum is tailored to meet the individual social, behavioural and emotional needs of each student, it does not help the students to develop their literacy and numeracy skills sufficiently. It does not give them the opportunity to explore enough of a wide variety of learning opportunities, including those that will contribute to their moral, cultural and spiritual development.

The governance of the school:

The recently reconstituted management committee has begun to operate more efficiently and now provides a significant level of challenge to senior leaders. However, the improved professionalism and vigilance have not begun to have an impact on standards of achievement.

The Chair of the Management Committee knows the centre well. Members of the committee have specific areas of responsibility and they take their responsibilities seriously, but, at present, they visit too infrequently. Local secondary schools are well represented on the management committee.

The management committee meets most of its statutory requirements, but it has not yet approved all statutory policies and it is not yet engaged in rigorous monitoring of the centre’s budget. The management committee has not discussed the performance management of teachers employed at the centre and, although it has discussed both the progress of students and the centre’s checks on the quality of teaching, it has not been active in checking on the progress of disadvantaged students and the impact of pupil premium funding.


What inspection judgements mean

School

Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment.

Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment.

Grade 3 Requires improvement

A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection.

Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

A school that requires special measures is one where the school is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.


School details

Unique reference number 133745

Local authority Isle of Wight

Inspection number 431023

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

Type of school Pupil referral unit

School category Pupil referral unit

Age range of pupils 11–16

Gender of pupils Mixed

Number of pupils on the school roll 20

Appropriate authority The local authority

Chair Grainne Andrews

Headteacher Sue Walker

Date of previous school inspection 26–27 June 2012

Telephone number 01983 823494

Fax number 01983 823494

Email address [email protected]

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Documents

Ofsted report - Isle of Wight Council Clatterford Tuition Centre