Pavilion Study Centre Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment to accelerate pupils’ progress and raise attainment by:
  • coordinating resourceful activities to secure pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding in science
  • embedding strategies for extending pupils’ writing skills across the curriculum.
• Improve the punctuality rates of all pupils by:
  • ensuring that information on pupils’ punctuality is efficiently gathered and analysed
  • refining leaders’ approaches so that pupils are on time for school.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher, supported effectively by senior leaders and a management committee, offers pupils a ‘second’ chance at their education. Together, leaders are relentless in their pursuit for pupils to improve their life chances.
• Leaders have effectively established a culture of high expectations. Shared by all, the school’s ethos – ‘to engage, enrich, enthuse and enjoy’ – contributes well to pupils’ achievements and the performance of staff.
• Leaders support staff professional development effectively. Leaders and the management committee review the performance of teachers and teaching assistants regularly. Appropriate monitoring activities inform teachers how to improve their practice.
• Staff morale is high. Staff across the five provisions feel part of a clear accountable structure that focuses on their well-being. Teamwork among staff contributes to pupils’ good attitudes and behaviour.
• Leaders ensure that effective partnerships with other schools are used well. A high proportion of pupils thrive because of good-quality teaching, learning and assessment at the school. The school is an effective resource within the local authority because many pupils return to mainstream schools. Headteachers of local schools and members of the management committee agree that the provision is strong.
• The broad and balanced curriculum is aspirational and carefully designed to meet pupils’ individual needs and interests. Learning through projects provides opportunities for pupils to showcase their creative skills. This prepares them well for mainstream education because they learn a range of subjects, including art, humanities, horticulture and food technology.
• The creative curriculum is flexible and enriched by extra activities. For instance, mentoring programmes in boxing and organised visits to places of interest support pupils’ personal development. Leaders ensure that all pupils have opportunities to take part in extra-curricular activities. They ensure that pupils have free access to these activities.
• Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. British values are promoted through assemblies, discussions and teaching. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strong because it raises pupils’ self-esteem. For example, pupils are confident in returning to their previous school or joining a new one after they leave this provision.
• Special educational needs funding is used effectively to support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. The pupils make good progress with their learning and personal development. Similarly, the pupil premium funding supports eligible pupils well. Disadvantaged pupils make good progress from their starting points.
• The local authority provides effective support, including conducting reviews and training.
• At the start of the inspection, the school’s website did not comply with Department for Education guidance on what maintained schools should publish. The website is now compliant. During the inspection, leaders ensured that missing information was updated.
• Self-evaluation, including leaders’ monitoring of teaching, is accurate and detailed. Leaders and managers know the strengths and weaknesses of their areas of responsibility. Leaders’ actions to encourage pupils to be punctual have not secured substantial improvements. Likewise, leaders acknowledge that there is still work to be done to improve pupils’ writing skills across the curriculum and that outcomes in science are not sufficiently high.

Governance of the school

• Governance is effective. The management committee includes representation from secondary school headteachers. Their place on the committee helps strengthen governance. School leaders receive appropriate support and challenge from the management committee so that pupils receive a good quality of education.
• Members of the management committee share school leaders’ vision for the school to help pupils to get back on track with their education. Members appreciate the work of the provision, particularly for providing pupils with respite care. This enables the majority of pupils to successfully transfer into mainstream education.
• Financial management is effective. Members know how the pupil premium grant is used. They check that disadvantaged pupils do not miss out on opportunities they would not have otherwise received.
• Detailed headteacher’s reports effectively inform the management committee about the quality of education provided. Members check the information given to them by asking questions of school leaders. Pupils’ punctuality is poor. Eradicating this has been slow, despite school leaders’ efforts to improve it.
• The management committee has a good understanding of its statutory duties, including those related to safeguarding.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Promoting pupils’ safety and well-being are very much at the heart of the school’s work. The curriculum supports pupils to deal with the risks they face in their everyday lives. This helps to build their resilience and self-esteem.
• Leaders have ensured that robust procedures for keeping children safe are in place across the provision. Checks made for recruiting staff meet statutory requirements. Staff are aware of safeguarding issues through, for example, relevant training and weekly ‘micro-sessions’. Staff know how to report potential risks, including those related to child sexual exploitation and radicalisation.
• Leaders and staff know the challenges in the local community that can affect pupils’ lives. Strong partnerships exist with parents, carers and many agencies to ensure pupils’ welfare. Leaders check pupils’ attendance and ensure that referrals to appropriate agencies are timely.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Respectful relationships between staff and pupils underpin good teaching, learning and assessment. Praise and supportive questioning techniques promote an uplifting learning atmosphere for pupils across each setting within the provision. Pupils make good gains in their knowledge, understanding and skills, often for the first time.
• Staff have high expectations for what pupils can achieve. Teachers’ subject expertise prepares pupils for GCSE and other accredited qualifications. Most pupils make good progress, particularly in English and mathematics. Many pupils told inspectors how their teachers had helped them to improve.
• Teaching is well planned. Teachers, including home tutors, use their understanding of pupils’ needs and interests to organise engaging activities. Eye-catching displays at the Meadway site and the ‘discovery’ classroom at the hospital celebrate pupils’ work very effectively.
• Teaching assistants support pupils’ learning and behaviour effectively. Pupils receive opportunities to develop their abilities through the specific help they receive. Many pupils, including the most able, gain the confidence to attempt new and challenging tasks.
• Leaders and teachers use assessment information effectively to check how well pupils are doing with their learning. Assessing pupils when they join the school helps leaders to establish pupils’ starting points. Staff adapt their teaching and activities to match each pupil’s level of understanding.
• Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the hospital provision. As far as possible, their children are able to keep up with their learning. Parents expressed their appreciation for the outreach service for providing good-quality teaching. Most pupils who spoke with inspectors, and those who responded to the Ofsted survey, also agreed with these views.
• Resourceful and interesting tasks capture pupils’ imaginations. Learning engages even the most previously reluctant learners so that they can enjoy their education. Some pupils’ science books show that strategies and resources used to secure pupils’ scientific knowledge, understanding and skills have not been effective over time.
• Generally, the teaching of reading, writing and numeracy skills is good. Pupils are not routinely encouraged to further develop and extend their writing skills across the curriculum. Consequently, some pupils’ progress in some subjects is not rapid enough.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Leaders’ expectations for pupils to become self-assured learners are high. The school is a purposeful learning environment where pupils settle quickly into the well-established routines. Positive relationships help pupils to gain the confidence to believe that they can be successful.
• Pupils receive effective support to manage their physical, social and emotional needs. Leaders have developed strong links with other schools and agencies for this. Pupils have access to in-house counsellors and therapy sessions, such as in art and with horses, to enhance their well-being.
• Pupils learn effectively about the possible challenges they might experience in their lives. Well-planned activities highlight the dangers of knife crime and drugs and the risks associated with gangs and radicalisation. The school promotes healthy lifestyles. For instance, a group of pupils made nutritious shakes during lunch. These activities help pupils make healthy choices and understand the importance of eating and drinking healthily.
• Pupils say that they feel safe at school because of the care they receive from their teachers. Pupils expressed their knowledge of e-safety, the different types of bullying and what they would do to seek help if needed. On the occasions when disagreements do occur, restorative approaches resolve conflicts well.
• Pupils receive effective and impartial careers guidance. This information helps pupils prepare for life after leaving the school. Most pupils in key stage 4 gain valuable work experience so that they have an insight into potential careers.
• Pupils value their education. Most pupils take pride in their work. Across all sites and within the outreach service, pupils’ books are well presented. A minority of pupils do not meet the school’s expected uniform standards.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Given pupils’ previous difficulties, many develop self-discipline and improved attitudes towards school life because of the encouragement they receive. These improved attitudes and better behaviour help pupils to transfer back to mainstream school quickly. Many pupils enjoy their time at the school and some are unwilling to leave.
• Pupils’ behaviour during their lessons is good. Relevant teaching activities and captivating learning environments inspire pupils to learn. Interruptions to learning are minimal. However, when they do occur, pupils report that these are dealt with quickly by staff.
• Pupils’ conduct outside lessons is positive and orderly. During break and lunchtime, pupils are well supervised. Pupils are respectful to adults and each other because they value the high standards set. Pupils work hard to gain rewards for achieving the goals set by staff.
• Overall attendance is rising. The attendance of most pupils shows improvement from their previous school due to the strenuous efforts of all staff. Although improving, a few pupils who were previously persistently absent find maintaining a full attendance record a challenge.
• Punctuality across the three sites is improving but remains low. Leaders track pupils’ punctuality and attendance closely. Despite strategies to improve this aspect of the school’s work, some pupils are still late to school.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Almost all pupils join the school with gaps in their education and often low starting points. Good teaching and support ensure that most pupils regain their capacity to learn and achieve.
• Throughout the provision, pupils’ progress from their starting points is good. Effective teaching develops pupils’ knowledge in a range of subjects, including English, mathematics and art. The school’s information and scrutiny of pupils’ work confirmed this.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, including those who have medical or physical health needs, receive specialist support. These pupils have access to the outreach and hospital service and make good progress.
• The school’s use of pupil premium funding is effective. Disadvantaged pupils, including most-able disadvantaged pupils, make equally good progress from their starting points. The support they receive, including mentoring and breakfast clubs, contributes to this.
• Standards reached in English and mathematics, including for the most able, are rising. Pupils make gains in basic key skills as demonstrated by level 1 and 2 functional skills qualifications and GCSEs at grade 4 and above, in English and mathematics. Pupils try their best and celebrate both their academic and personal achievements.
• The school prepares pupils for the next stage of their lives. A high proportion of pupils with improved attitudes are successfully reintegrated into mainstream schools to resume their education. Rising attainment enables many key stage 4 pupils to secure college places, training or employment. This is further helped by effective careers guidance enriched with work experience.
• Comparisons cannot be made with results nationally because there are no published results for this school. Additionally, pupils join the school at various times.
• Despite pupils’ outcomes rising, smaller proportions of pupils achieve well in science. For some pupils, including the most able, the lack of extended writing skills limits their performance across a range of subjects.

16 to 19 study programmes Good

• There is currently a very small number of students on roll in the sixth form. Individualised learning programmes, including the development of basic skills, match the needs and interests of each student.
• The 16 to 19 study programmes model the same expectations that leaders have for the rest of the school. Students have access to effective careers guidance and work experience placements to support their next steps into adult life.
• This report is unable to include information on the progress and behaviour of sixth-form students, as this would identify them individually.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 101255 Barnet 10036359 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Pupil referral unit School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Gender of pupils in 16 to 19 study programmes Maintained 5 to 18 Mixed Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 136 Of which, number on roll in 16 to 19 study programmes 1 Appropriate authority Management Committee Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Brian Salinger Joanne Kelly 020 8446 1533 www.pavilion.barnet.sch.uk office@pavilion.barnet.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 21–22 May 2014

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• Pavilion Study Centre is a pupil referral unit catering for pupils who are unable to access mainstream secondary schools for a variety of reasons. Often, pupils have been or are at risk of permanent exclusion before joining the school.
• The school consists of five provisions. There are four educational sites based at Whetstone, Meadway, Church Farm and a classroom at Barnet General Hospital. An outreach service provides support for pupils in their homes who are too ill to attend school.
• The discovery classroom at Barnet General Hospital provides access to education for all children admitted to the paediatric ward. Pupils stay for different lengths of time, ranging from a few days to extended periods.
• There is no variation in the outcomes and effectiveness between different sites. Teaching aims to meet pupils’ individual needs, which differ across the provision.
• Approximately one third of pupils are on dual registration with a mainstream school.
• There are significantly more boys than girls.
• All pupils have identified social, emotional, behavioural or medical needs. A small number on roll have a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan.
• The proportion of pupils who are eligible for additional pupil premium funding is above average.
• This school does not receive the Year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up premium or the physical education and sport premium for primary schools.
• The school is not part of an academy trust.
• Currently, there are no pupils attending alternative provisions. Very few pupils attended the two alternative provisions during the previous academic year, Targeted Youth Support, Barnet and Focus Training.
• Daily breakfast is offered to pupils at most of the sites.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching and learning in 11 parts of lessons, across the four sites of the provision, all jointly with senior leaders.
• Inspectors conducted work scrutiny, examined school information and spoke to parents to gather evidence about the school’s outreach service.
• Meetings were conducted with senior leaders, teachers, teaching assistants, two members of the management committee and a representative from the local authority. A telephone conversation was held with a further member of the management committee.
• Inspectors met groups of pupils, spoke to others informally and examined their books in a wide range of subjects.
• Inspectors examined a range of documentation provided by the school, including the school’s self-evaluation. Records relating to attendance, punctuality, behaviour and safeguarding were also considered.
• Inspectors considered the 11 responses to the Ofsted online pupil survey.
• Inspectors considered the findings from a recent parental survey conducted by the school. They also spoke to parents to hear their views of the school.
• There were too few responses to Ofsted’s free-text service and to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View.
• There were no responses to the Ofsted online staff questionnaire.

Inspection team

Rosemarie McCarthy, lead inspector Joan Deslandes

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector