Mayesbrook Park School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching and learning by making sure that questioning and feedback in lessons help pupils to learn in greater depth and make better progress.
• Review how pupils are prepared academically for the move to further education or a sixth-form placement so that they are better able to work more independently.
• Further develop the work on improving attendance, particularly in relation to reducing persistent absence.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The executive headteacher and senior leaders strongly promote a culture of high expectations and success. They have identified key priorities for action which will help them to build securely on what has already been achieved.
• Staff at all levels are very supportive of the ethos of the school and the vision for the future. The recently created middle leadership team is starting to contribute strongly to improving the quality of education. Middle leaders work with subject teachers in English, mathematics, science, humanities, the arts and physical education to develop their teaching skills and make sure that the curriculum meets pupils’ needs.
• A rigorous review in response to the outcome of the previous inspection has resulted in a more effective management structure and a curriculum tailored on each site to the needs of the different types of pupil.
• The senior leadership team has worked hard to establish a high degree of consistency across the three sites in relation to expectations for behaviour, attendance and attitudes. Communication is good and staff, pupils and parents are clear about expectations and about the support and guidance which is available to help pupils.
• Senior and middle leaders regularly review the quality of teaching and the impact of pastoral support. They use the information to plan a very effective programme of staff development. This ensures that staff have the skills they need to enable their pupils to make good progress.
• The curriculum is very relevant and responsive to pupils’ needs; for example, pupils in key stage 3 who are at risk of permanent exclusion follow a six-week programme on the Seabrook Campus. This is designed to help them develop the skills and resilience needed to succeed in a mainstream school. It is proving to be highly effective in enabling pupils to make a successful return to their school.
• At the Mayesbrook Park campus, wherever possible, pupils are encouraged to return to school in Year 11, to take their GCSE examinations, and an increasing number successfully make this transition. Other Year 11 pupils may move to a full-time placement at college to take a wider range of GCSE subjects or vocational courses in the construction trades, hair and beauty and childcare. These courses enable them to go on to full apprenticeships and higher-level qualifications when they reach school leaving age.
• The curriculum on the Erkenwald campus enables pupils to gain good GCSE results in subjects which will enable them to go on to higher-level courses. Where the campus is not able to offer a particular subject, the school makes every effort to try to arrange for tuition by a subject specialist from the Mayesbrook Park campus.
• The head of the Erkenwald campus is responsible for managing the home tuition service for pupils who are too ill to attend school. The provision is well managed and meets pupils’ needs well through good liaison between tutors, the school and, not least, the pupils and families. This helps pupils to keep up as far as possible with their peer group.
• On all three campuses, staff plan carefully to ensure that pupils are taught about British values and that their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted. Staff review regularly the contribution that pupils’ individual subjects make and include a good range of opportunities for extension and enrichment activities. These regularly include visits to places of interest in and around London as well as the Duke of Edinburgh Award and training as sports ambassadors working with younger children.
• Pupils have access to good-quality careers guidance and individual support with applications and interviews, which enables all of them to move on to college, a school sixth form or an apprenticeship. Most pupils manage this well but in each year, for a few pupils the placement is not successful.

Governance of the school

• The management committee provides very effective support and challenge. The strong partnership between its members and the senior leadership team, as well as good support from external advisers and the local authority, has helped the school to make rapid progress. Committee members visit the three campuses regularly and talk to staff and pupils as well as observing activities. They use their expertise well and expect leaders to set priorities which will be challenging and will help the school to continue to improve rapidly. Governors have had appropriate training in safeguarding and make sure that pupils’ welfare and safety have a high priority.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Staff on each campus promote a culture of safety which helps pupils to learn to take more responsibility for their own safety and welfare.
• The school website gives staff and parents detailed information, including on how to report any concerns. The safeguarding policy has been updated this term to take account of the very latest government guidance.
• Training for staff is thorough and all staff have regular updates on safeguarding and child protection procedures. Staff know how to spot issues which might be significant and what to do if they are concerned about any pupil’s safety and well-being.
• The school carries out the required pre-employment checks on its staff. Records are kept securely. The family support teams work very closely with the school’s senior staff and with other professionals and agencies, including the local authority, to help keep pupils safe.
• Health and safety checks and risk assessments ensure that pupils are kept safe in school and on visits. School staff ensure that safeguarding requirements are fully met when pupils are taking courses at the local college.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching is typically good. Teachers know their pupils and their needs very well and use different approaches to help everyone make good progress. Teamwork is very evident. Staff work together to help pupils learn new skills as well as consolidating what they already know and can do.
• Staff manage pupils’ behaviour very well. They make routines very clear and, on all campuses, staff are very consistent in their expectations and approach.
• Teachers consistently use the school policies on assessment and in recording pupils’ progress. They check on and record pupils’ progress in detail. They use the information to identify what pupils need to do to improve on what they already know or their next steps in learning.
• Pupils generally receive good feedback which enables them to make better progress and achieve more but this is not wholly consistent in all classes. At times, the feedback is encouraging but not as precise in giving advice as the school policy suggests it should be.
• In English lessons and in all other subjects, teachers make sure that pupils develop their literacy skills as much as possible. Mathematics lessons are carefully planned to ensure that pupils understand concepts and are able to apply them. In science, practical work encourages pupils to ask questions and test out scientific ideas.
• In the best teaching, staff use questions and also respond to pupils’ own questions to extend their knowledge and understanding. For example, in English, pupils were encouraged to ask questions which were then used to extend and deepen their understanding of how the use of language changes.
• Teachers take every opportunity to develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding of what it means to be a good citizen. A thoughtful assembly on the centenary of the end of the First World War gave an opportunity to explore ideas of citizenship. Subject planning identifies many opportunities to include work on democracy, tolerance of others and the rule of law. Teachers use a range of visits and visitors as well as the choice of topics to widen further pupils’ knowledge and understanding.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• On all three campuses, relationships between staff and pupils are good. Pupils develop positive attitudes and show respect for staff. As a result, pupils start to make better progress in both their academic and personal development.
• The transitions from pupils’ mainstream schools, or from home, are managed very carefully so that pupils know what to expect and can settle quickly and confidently. Access to good personal and careers guidance helps to raise pupils’ aspirations for what they can achieve. Guidance includes preparation for university courses as well as for further education and apprenticeships.
• The family support teams are very highly regarded by pupils and their families. Pupils’ welfare is taken very seriously and pupils are confident that when they need guidance, there will be staff who will help and support them.
• The strong emphasis on promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development helps them to become more mature and better able to take responsibility for their own actions. This enables many of them to return successfully to mainstream schools. Older pupils have opportunities to take responsibility, for example as sports ambassadors.
• Pupils say they feel safe in school and are helped to stay safe outside the school. The staff work hard to make sure that pupils understand the issues which might affect them, for example knife crime and issues around the use of social media as well as radicalisation and extremism.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils learn to take responsibility for their own conduct and to understand that actions have consequences which can be positive as well as negative.
• The school campuses are orderly, and behaviour in lessons is good so that pupils are able to get on with their work. If there is any poor behaviour, pupils are quickly removed and issues are dealt with elsewhere, so that the education of others is not disrupted.
• School staff monitor attendance closely and are quick to check on absence. As a result of this and a curriculum which meets their needs, most pupils start to attend much more regularly, particularly at Erkenwald. Pupils there often have very poor attendance records because of illness, but their attendance improves rapidly because of the quality of support and teaching they receive. On each campus, however, there are still a number of pupils whose attendance is erratic at best and sometimes poor. They do not make as much progress as they could.
• Pupils get on well with each other and there are very few reported incidents of bullying. Pupils are confident that any issues would be dealt with. They know about cyber bullying and have clear guidance on the safe use of the internet and social media.
• School records indicate that behaviour has improved. Leaders believe this is because of the changes to the curriculum and the structure of the school, as well as the implementation of better strategies for managing behaviour.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils’ starting points are often below those typical for their age, mainly because they have missed school. The staff work hard to help them to catch up with their peer group.
• Pupils make good progress overall, even though for some this is still affected by attendance. The majority who do attend regularly make good progress in all areas. They develop good personal and social skills, and the range of activities available encourages pupils to make good choices.
• Pupils make good progress academically, particularly in improving their literacy and numeracy skills. Pupils in key stage 3 are able to cope with the curriculum when they return to mainstream schools. In key stage 4, examination results vary from year to year because of differences in the cohort but recent trends have been upwards. More pupils are gaining recognised qualifications at GCSE or in vocational subjects. The standard of work in art is particularly high.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported and also make good progress. Their individual needs are carefully assessed and a suitable programme put in place. Similarly, pupils entitled to additional support from the pupil premium make good progress, as do the relatively few pupils who have English an additional language.
• All pupils in key stage 4 are able to move on to education or training. The school works hard to prepare pupils for the transition but a number of them find it difficult to use their knowledge, skills and understanding in their new surroundings.

School details

Unique reference number 132816 Local authority Barking and Dagenham Inspection number 10053231 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Alternative provision School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Pupil referral unit 5 to 16 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 176 Appropriate authority Chair Governing body Robert Turner Executive headteacher Annie Blackmore Telephone number 020 8270 6000 Website Email address www.mayesbrookparkschool.org.uk office@tuition-c.bardaglea.org.uk Date of previous inspection 29–30 June 2016

Information about this school

• Since the previous inspection, the tuition service has gone through a major restructuring and is now established as Mayesbrook Park School. The senior leadership team has gone through a period of considerable change. Heads of the Erkenwald and Seabrook campuses are recent appointments, as is the deputy headteacher of the Mayesbrook Park campus.
• The school provides a range of alternative education for pupils who are unable to attend a mainstream secondary school or who require home tuition for medical reasons. It consists of three campuses located in the borough. Each part of the provision is led by a headteacher or a head of campus under the overall direction of the executive headteacher.
• The Mayesbrook Park campus is a pupil referral unit which provides full-time education for up to 70 pupils who have been permanently excluded in key stages 3 and 4 and pupils who have been excluded on a fixed-term basis for more than six days.
• The Erkenwald campus is specialist provision for up to 30 pupils aged 11 to 16 who have experienced significant difficulties in attending a mainstream school and require a more nurturing setting because of their diverse medical and social needs. The head of this campus manages the home tuition service for pupils aged 5 to 16 who are too ill to attend school.
• The Seabrook campus makes short-term provision for pupils in key stage 3 who are at risk of permanent exclusion from their mainstream school. They follow a six-week programme at Seabrook and are then supported to return to school.
• In addition, the school commissions alternative provision for key stage 4 pupils from Barking and Dagenham College which enables pupils to follow a range of GCSE and vocational courses.
• The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium is above average.
• Just over half the pupils are White British, with other pupils coming from a variety of ethnic groups. This reflects the ethnic composition of the borough. A few pupils speak English as an additional language but none are at an early stage of learning English. Most pupils have special educational needs and/or disabilities and a small number have an education, health and care plan.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited 18 part-lessons across all three campuses, many jointly with a member of the senior leadership team. They also visited the breakfast club and the provision at Barking and Dagenham College.
• Inspectors held meetings with the headteachers of each campus, the executive headteacher, other senior staff and middle leaders, a range of staff, including support staff, groups of pupils, and the governing body, including the chair and vice chair.
• Telephone discussions were held with parents and a local secondary headteacher.
• Inspectors also had a telephone conversation with a representative from the local authority and with an independent school improvement partner.
• Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of documentation, including: records of management committee meetings; pupils’ work; assessment information; the school self-evaluation and improvement plans and records relating to the quality of teaching. They also reviewed records relating to pupils’ behaviour and attendance, and checked the school’s records relating to safeguarding.
• Too few responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, were available for inspectors to take account of.

Inspection team

Grace Marriott, lead inspector Rani Karim Charlotte Millward

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector