Keyham Lodge School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Governors and senior leaders should take action to further improve the attendance of pupils.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• Inspirational leadership from the executive headteacher and director of schools results in a school which is never permitted to stand still. The drive for constant improvement is evident in all of the school’s work. When an inspector asked a pupil about the best aspects of the school, they replied, ‘It’s difficult to pin down the best bits as there are a lot’; inspectors agree.
• Leaders have ensured that there are highly positive relationships between staff and pupils. This results in pupils becoming confident, independent learners. The culture of this school is highly positive.
• Leaders prioritise the training of staff. Weekly staff development sessions lead to better teaching and pupils making increased progress.
• Senior leaders make sure that all staff are held to account for the work that they do. The checks leaders make on the quality of teaching and the progress pupils make are of an excellent quality. These checks are always focused on making sure the quality of education pupils receive is continually improving. Senior leaders ensure that the spending of pupil premium, sport and catch-up funding is well planned and results in pupils making better progress; and they do.
• Despite most pupils being White British boys, leaders have instilled a culture and ethos that results in a lack of discriminatory behaviour towards others. A wide-ranging curriculum ensures that pupils are taught about what it means to be a responsible citizen in a democracy.
• Since September 2016, senior leaders have further improved the quality of education provided to pupils. They have increased the number of great teachers they employ, provided frequent opportunities for staff to learn from each other and increased the amount of time leaders spend supporting staff.
• Senior leaders create a positive culture for pupils by inspiring the school community. The staff team and parents are very positive about the school. One member of staff commented that their move to teach at Keyham Lodge had ‘rejuvenated my passion for teaching and restored my faith in the education system’. In a letter to the executive headteacher, one parent commented, ‘I say thank-you for providing my son with all the tools and skills he needs to be a caring, humble, kind and educated young person, which is the young man I see before me today.’ These comments were typical of those encountered by inspectors throughout the inspection.
• Pupils receive a high-quality education because leaders ensure that pupils are at the heart of all decisions taken about the school. The executive headteacher describes his role as very simple; making what is best for the pupils a reality.
• The curriculum makes sure that pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. Rather than restrict pupils’ use of the latest technologies, the staff support pupils to learn how to use them responsibly. When pupils make poor choices in school they are taught about the impact of these choices in adult life. The staff turn every opportunity into a chance to learn.
• Pupils experience a wide range of activities throughout the school day and beyond. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is enhanced through their engagement in exciting tasks, such as the Keyham Lodge film festival and regular opportunities to participate in skiing lessons. Plenty of focus is given to developing pupils’ abilities to behave appropriately in a wide range of social situations. As a result, pupils flourish.
• The leadership of subject areas is a strength. Pupils benefit from a powerful curriculum because senior leaders have employed a highly competent team of staff. Subject leaders ensure that teaching is effective and that there are great resources for pupils to use. The executive headteacher is aware that the curriculum should be enhanced further by providing better opportunities for pupils to develop their skills and knowledge in modern foreign languages.

Governance of the school

• Governors bring a wide range of appropriate experience to their role, which enables them to hold the executive headteacher to account for the progress pupils make. They demonstrate a strong moral purpose in all they do. The governing board demonstrates confident leadership which ‘sets the tone’ from the top. The school continues to improve because governors are well trained to fulfil their role, they ask challenging questions of senior leaders and expect action.
• The governing board are well led by an extremely effective chairperson. Despite the executive headteacher being very experienced and a national leader of education (NLE), the chairperson makes sure that the school maintains its focus on improving outcomes for pupils. The board ensures that the financial resources of the school are well spent.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders prioritise the safety of pupils. Robust procedures are in place to complete the necessary checks on staff when they start work at the school. When staff begin their work, and throughout their time at the school, they receive regular training in how to keep pupils safe. As a result, staff are quick to spot any signs of concern.
• The senior leader responsible for ensuring that procedures to safeguard pupils are in place is highly skilled at her job. She demonstrates fierce tenacity when following up any concerns about a pupil.
• Policies and procedures are in place and reflect the latest national guidance. Most of the senior leaders have received a high level of training regarding the safety of pupils. They have ensured that the staff team have completed appropriate training in the management of challenging behaviour.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• Teachers are effective in the use of information about pupils’ previous educational experiences to plan the next steps of their learning. As a result, pupils often make considerable gains in their ability to read and write soon after starting at the school.
• Teachers plan programmes of work which take into account pupils’ abilities. All pupils are challenged and supported to make great progress. While planning their lessons, teachers identify those pupils who require additional support with their learning. This attention to detail means that pupils receive the right support at the right time.
• The planning undertaken by teachers is supported by accurate assessment of pupils’ prior achievements. Leaders have ensured that the checks teachers make on the attainment of pupils is precise by making effective links with other mainstream and special schools.
• Teachers regularly check the progress that pupils in their classes make. Within lessons, teachers are highly skilled at ensuring that pupils receive the challenge they need in order to make progress. The skilful questioning of a teacher within a lesson about electronic communications resulted in pupils drawing upon their learning in science. As a result, the teacher was able to extend all pupils’ learning in the group by engaging the pupils in a meaningful discussion about key facts from their other courses.
• Teachers and support staff make the most of all the space throughout school to deliver productive lessons. Leaders have given careful consideration to the design of the school to promote pupil progress. Specialist teaching rooms are well resourced and contain displays which immerse pupils in the subject.
• Support staff develop excellent relationships with pupils and play an important role in supporting the progress all pupils make. These key staff are deployed well to support the academic and personal progress of pupils.
• Teachers are well qualified in their subjects and use their knowledge to plan interesting opportunities for pupils to learn. The evident enthusiasm teachers have for their subject areas means that pupils benefit from teaching which is exciting; for example, the well thought out use of texts in English results in high levels of pupil engagement.
• Pupils are given frequent opportunities to write across the curriculum. Teachers and support staff are effective at encouraging pupils to develop these skills. As a result, pupils make significant gains in this area of their development during their time at the school.
• Teachers deliver lively and engaging lessons which pupils enjoy. Younger pupils in a rugby lesson were observed to be thriving when challenged to improve their tackling skills. Pupils were clearly delighted to receive the positive feedback from staff as they successfully improved their technique.
• The individual needs of each pupil are well known to the staff team. Due to this excellent understanding of the pupils’ personalities, staff dramatically develop the resilience of pupils to cope positively with failure, by challenging them at the appropriate times. This helps to prepare pupils for their future lives.
• Teachers and support staff have very high expectations of pupil behaviour, so that no time is wasted. When any pupil behaviour falls below that expected of them, the staff team are exceptionally effective at ensuring that the negative behaviour of a minority does not slow the learning of other pupils.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• The recently adapted curriculum for older pupils equips them well for life after school. Pupils are taught the necessary skills to be effective learners at college and diligent employees at work, including how to keep themselves safe in the community.
• The school’s open culture means that the well-being of pupils is regularly discussed by the staff team. Any concerns about pupils both in and out of school are swiftly addressed. The staff team demonstrate high levels of commitment by supporting vulnerable pupils to stay safe throughout holiday periods.
• Activities provided before and after school are cleverly linked to priorities for pupils’ personal development. Pupils are given opportunities to develop their teamwork and independence skills in a variety of settings, such as through water sports activities. As a result, pupils’ gains in their personal development are significant.  Pupils speak positively about the school due to the high levels of care and attention they receive both in and out of lessons. An example is how the pupils flourish in the vibrant art room, which is a haven of purposeful activity.
• Pupils who access alternative provision for part of their week behave well and are kept safe due to effective systems imparted by the school. These pupils develop their inter-personal skills and are increasingly well prepared for the next stage of their lives as a result of learning to behave appropriately in a different environment.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding because pupils demonstrate sustained improvements to their previously challenging behaviours. Pupils trust the staff and say they know who to talk to if they have a problem. Many pupils credit members of staff with helping them to improve their behaviour at school.
• Most pupils have positive attitudes to their learning. The systems to reward pupils who demonstrate a genuine desire to improve their work are effective. At the end of each lesson, pupils are given feedback as to how well they have worked. Inspectors observed mature discussion between staff and pupils about how well pupils have done and how they might make improvements next lesson.
• Pupils are proud of their school and their improved behaviour. They show respect for the school environment and the resources within it. Pupils were keen to tell inspectors about the improvements they had made to their behaviour since attending their previous schools.
• The overall attendance of pupils is of concern to governors and senior leaders. Despite a plethora of strategies used to promote the attendance of pupils, the overall average attendance of pupils is below that found in most schools. The longer pupils spend at the school, the better their attendance is. This aspect of the school’s work remains a key priority for leaders.

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• Well-planned careers information, advice and guidance results in the overwhelming majority of pupils progressing to positive post-school destinations. The school has a brilliant track record of preparing pupils well for the next stage of education, employment or training. The school is increasingly successful in enabling pupils to access paid employment. The leaders and staff team continue to support pupils once they have left school; such is their desire to ensure that pupils have rewarding lives.
• Published information about the progress pupils make does not accurately reflect the work of the school. Very small numbers of pupils in year groups, pupil’s poor attendance at their previous schools and the associated learning difficulties of some pupils makes the age grouping of progress information unreliable.
• Pupils at the early stages of their academic development make quick progress in mathematics and English due to the close attention paid by staff to developing these important skills.
• Pupils have the opportunity to gain skills and qualifications to assist their future career and education choices, including those pupils who access alternative provision. Evidence in pupils’ books and work folders indicates that pupils make rapid progress across the curriculum.
• The most able pupils are supported to make excellent progress. Due to teachers adapting the curriculum to meet the needs of all pupils, the most able are given work which stretches their abilities and develops their skills and knowledge effectively. This includes the most able disadvantaged pupils.
• From a range of starting points, pupils make outstanding progress across a range of subjects, including mathematics and English. There is no overall discrepancy in the progress made by pupils of different gender or background. Due to well-targeted support, the majority of pupils who access the additional pupil premium funding make the same or better progress as other pupils across a wide range of subjects.
• Pupils of all abilities read widely and well and make good use of a well-stocked school library. As pupils progress through the school they read with increasing confidence and accuracy.
• Pupils make excellent progress towards the outcomes specified in their education, health and care plans. These targets are closely tracked and this information demonstrates great progress towards these priority areas.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 131187 Leicester 10023325 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Special School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Community special 9 to 16 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 91 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Executive Headteacher

Director of schools Telephone number Website Email address Pauline Bates Chris Bruce

Mark Oldman 01162 416852 www.keyhamlodgeschool.co.uk office@keyhamlodge.leicester.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 21 January 2014

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school is part of the Keyham Lodge and Millgate School federation. The two schools share a governing board, an executive headteacher and a director of schools.
• The governing board manages boarding provision based at Millgate school.
• The school currently uses two alternative providers for a small number of pupils; Trans4m and Pedestrian.
• The executive headteacher is a national leader of education (NLE) and the director of schools is a specialist leader of education (SLE). There is one other SLE on the staff team.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors visited lessons throughout the inspection. All of these observations were conducted jointly with senior leaders.
• The inspectors spoke with pupils throughout the inspection. This included on arrival at school, during lessons and at lunchtimes.
• The inspectors looked at a range of pupils’ work from across the curriculum to determine the progress pupils are making.
• The inspectors held discussions with all of the senior leaders about different aspects of the school. Inspectors also met with representatives of the teaching staff and separately with representatives of the support staff.
• One inspector met with three members of the governing board. A discussion was also held with a senior representative from Leicester local authority.
• The inspectors scrutinised a range of documents, including plans for further improvement of the school, the management of staff performance, records relating to the behaviour of pupils and how they are kept safe, information about pupils’ progress and information about leaders’ views about the quality of teaching.
• Inspectors took account of completed parental questionnaires distributed by school leaders during the last 12 months. There were insufficient responses to Ofsted’s online parental questionnaire, Parent View, for this to be used during the inspection.
• Inspectors analysed 38 responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire.

Inspection team

Phil Harrison, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Karen Lewis

Ofsted Inspector