Silverdale School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of leadership and management by:
  • developing middle leaders’ skills further to enable them to play a full part in the school’s monitoring and evaluation arrangements, and so sharpen their practice in developing the skills of staff in their teams
  • ensuring that succinct evaluation of middle leaders’ work enables senior leaders and governors to challenge them, when they review progress towards quantifiable targets in the school’s development plan.
• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by:
  • using pupils’ responses during lessons to reshape learning activities, challenging them to move on quickly as soon as they are ready
  • providing more frequent opportunities for pupils to write longer passages in a range of subjects, and so help them practise, consolidate and extend their skills.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Staff mirror the values and high aspirations of the headteacher, senior staff and governors of the school. They strive to promote pupils’ personal development and achievement successfully. As a result, pupils respond well, showing positive attitudes to learning, growing in self-confidence and improving their social skills.
• Senior leaders and governors know the school’s strengths and areas for development well. They use the information they gather about the school’s performance to bring about changes in the curriculum to meet pupils’ needs and to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Staff value their professional development and understand how it sustains school improvement.
• Senior leaders ensure that the personal, health, social and economic (PHSE) programme is matched closely to pupils’ needs. Skilfully delivered, it enables pupils to develop the skills, knowledge and attributes they need and that prepare them very well as young adults living in modern Britain.
• Leaders have invested in innovative changes in the curriculum that respond effectively to the social and emotional needs of pupils. The new programme focuses on developing positive attitudes towards others, pupils’ self-awareness and resilience. It complements the outdoor curriculum, which encompasses the use of forest school learning.
• Leaders use additional funding for promoting physical education and sport effectively to provide a wide range of activities that promote both physical health and opportunities for pupils to practise inter-personal skills in a range of different contexts.
• Senior leaders have established a well-considered schedule for checks on pupils’ personal development and achievement. Their checks lead to a well-managed range of additional support for pupils to help them develop personal skills, learn and make progress.
• Senior leaders keep a close eye on how well teaching, learning and assessment help pupils to make progress. They make sure that advice to staff and professional development support staff to improve their practices.
• The headteacher has recently established a middle leadership team. However, at this stage, it does not play a full part in monitoring and evaluating the school’s performance. In some cases, practice is not yet fully developed. This limits the impact that middle leaders currently have on improving the work of their team members and their contribution towards achieving the school’s development priorities.
• Leaders and staff have an unerring focus on safeguarding pupils. Leaders ensure that all staff are trained well to recognise the signs of abuse and neglect and know what to do if they have a concern. As a consequence, staff are vigilant and work with a range of agencies and teams effectively to secure early support and intervention when they are needed.
• External support to the school by the local authority has been effective in supporting and challenging the school to meet the changing needs of its pupils. The school values the complementary support and challenge it receives in monitoring and evaluating its performance.

Governance of the school

• Governors set a clear strategic direction for the school. They work closely with the headteacher and staff to promote pupils’ personal development and achievement.
• Governors ensure sure that their spending plans for additional funding, to improve disadvantaged pupils’ progress and improve pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills, are focused on pupils’ needs. Governors check carefully that their plans lead to tangible improvements in pupils’ well-being and achievement.
• Governors check closely how well pupils make progress in core subjects in particular. They consistently challenge school leaders to improve achievement. Their checks and evaluation of pupils’ progress across the wider range of subjects are not yet as precise. Senior leaders and governors recognise this and are developing the school’s assessment process further to address this area of work.
• Governors scrutinise information about the school’s performance and use their skills to challenge leaders.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Governors make sure that pre-employment checks are carried out thoroughly, ensuring that only suitable adults work with pupils. Governors make sure that the designated safeguarding lead and deputies have up-to-date training for their roles and have the time to exercise their duties fully.
• Through the curriculum, leaders make sure that pupils have frequent opportunities to learn about their own well-being and safety and how to manage risks. This helps to keep them safe and well.
• Well-trained, vigilant and caring staff ensure that all concerns are raised appropriately and quickly to secure appropriate help for pupils when they need it. Staff build strong relationships with pupils. As a result, pupils are confident that they can raise any concerns with staff.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers use their detailed knowledge of pupils’ learning needs to plan activities that interest and engage pupils. Teachers know pupils’ starting points and barriers to learning. They plan the use of resources carefully, including classroom assistants. As a consequence, pupils focus on their activities and apply themselves to their learning.
• Teachers check pupils’ learning during lessons. Teachers check and record pupils’ progress over time regularly and amend their planning as needed. Teachers use their good subject knowledge and checks on progress with leaders to arrange additional learning opportunities. These help pupils who are at risk of falling behind to get back on track. As a result, pupils improve their learning.
• Teachers and classroom staff are adept at using their questioning to identify where pupils are struggling and to provide them with help and further explanation. Teachers make use of pupils’ responses to correct any misunderstanding or mistakes. However, teachers make less effective use of questioning to identify when and how they can move pupils’ learning forward more quickly, as soon pupils are ready for this.
• Teachers build positive relationships and have clear high expectations of pupils’ conduct. As a result, time in lessons is not wasted. Pupils very largely respond promptly to instructions from staff members. As they settle into school, pupils establish routines for learning and demonstrate increasingly positive attitudes. Pupils said that they like their lessons and enjoy learning in a wide range of areas. Some enjoy their art work most, others mathematics or the outdoor curriculum and forest school.
• Staff help pupils to develop their reading skills effectively, including through the use of the phonics scheme. As a result, pupils develop basic reading skills that help them to access other areas of their learning. The skills they acquire contribute to their preparation for adult life.
• Work in pupils’ books shows the wide range of topics they cover that engage pupils. Teachers use pupils’ ideas well to personalise and consolidate learning, and they give pupils useful written and verbal feedback.
• Information about children’s work in the early years, in previous years, reveals that teachers provide a breadth of learning that supports pupils’ progress well in communication, language and numeracy. Records of achievement show that children are supported effectively to develop the personal skills that prepare them well for learning in key stage 1.
• Over time, staff have worked with senior staff to improve progress in writing with success. However, teachers miss opportunities to enable pupils to practise and consolidate their writing skills across a wider range of subjects and use them to demonstrate their understanding of important concepts.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• The care and guidance that staff provide enable pupils to establish routines, develop very positive attitudes to learning and build their self-confidence as learners. In short, almost all pupils begin to flourish after a period of settling in. As a consequence, pupils develop their social skills and make positive strides forward in their learning. They grow in self-esteem and begin to look forward to the future positively.
• The interactions with pupils, expertly balancing academic achievement and personal development, help them to understand rapidly the importance of their education. Pupils said that they value their experiences at school, and know that school helps them prepare for their future education and training and for adult life.
• Pupils learn about and understand the harm that bullying causes. They know that it is wrong and that they each have a part to play in preventing it. They know that bullying does happen occasionally, but are certain that they can always turn to a trusted member of staff to get help. Pupils are confident that issues will be dealt with effectively.
• Pupils extend their understanding about bullying in school to include prejudice-based bullying. Staff ensure that pupils know about the need to show respect for others, whatever their different cultural backgrounds, religious beliefs or personal relationships, including same-sex relationships.
• Pupils learn about the dangers of extremism, as well as about the rule of law and democracy. They demonstrate a mature response to these areas, in what they say and how they interact with each other and adults. Their readiness to engage with others openly prepares them well for life in modern Britain and contributes to the work of the school to promote equality and diversity.
• Pupils develop a strong understanding of how to keep themselves healthy. The well-considered PHSE programme, alongside the outdoor education curriculum, develops pupils’ understanding of the importance of making choices that support their health. Together, these areas provide practical opportunities for pupils to develop an appreciation of the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.
• The additional benefit of the recently introduced programme to build pupils’ emotional well-being and resilience presents an emerging picture of success. The programme complements the effective work of the existing curriculum and access to a range of additional support that also promotes pupils’ emotional well-being and helps keep them well.
• Pupils learn about the advantages and risks associated with the use of digital technologies, especially social networking sites. This helps to keep them safe.
• The school’s arrangements to safeguard pupils, the quality of the PHSE programme and the pastoral care for pupils together generate a culture of safeguarding. Pupils feel safe as a consequence, and said that they are cared for well. Parents who contacted the inspectors agree.
• Pupils show themselves to be thoughtful and enjoy learning about such things as the importance of Remembrance Day and what it means for themselves and others.
• The curriculum provides a wealth of opportunities for pupils to develop their personal responses to the world around them, for example through art and photography. Pupils develop a strong sense of right and wrong and increasingly effective interpersonal skills to deal with their peers and adults in their lives.
• Pupils who attend vocational training courses off site for part of their week benefit from the opportunities they have to develop their personal skills, and put their learning about the world of work into practice. Rigorous checks to safeguard pupils and carefully completed risk assessments enable them to learn and acquire workplace skills in a safe environment.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Overall, pupils conduct themselves well in lessons and throughout the school day.
• Well-managed support and oversight provided by senior leaders provide staff with helpful information and strategies to manage pupils’ behaviour. Pupils respond positively most of the time. As a result, pupils develop ways to manage themselves. This leads to a reduction of serious incidents of misbehaviour, and for the most part learning proceeds without interruption.
• A small number of pupils find it difficult to maintain high standards of behaviour. Outbursts of anger are handled sensitively and effectively by staff, who help pupils to regain control of their emotions.
• Overall, pupils attend well. Many pupils with previous histories of poor attendance begin to attend school regularly. However, a small number of pupils continue to miss school and do not attend regularly enough. The school persists in its efforts to improve their attendance, and works with a range of teams and agencies and families to motivate pupils to attend better.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Effective teaching and deep knowledge of pupils’ needs enable them to make good progress across a wide range of subjects.
• The wider pastoral support programme to promote pupils’ personal development enables pupils to apply themselves well and make progress.
• A carefully selected range of externally accredited courses leads to good achievement in key stage 4. As a result of effective careers advice and guidance and work-related experiences, pupils are well prepared for the future. No pupils leave the school without a clear pathway for their next steps in education or training that reflects their interests and ambitions.
• Learning in English and mathematics leads to strong rates of progress overall. A growing proportion of pupils exceed their school targets. The school has rapidly improved the progress made by pupils in mathematics following a small decline in the previous school year. However, there remains some unevenness in the progress made in different aspects of learning.
• Pupils’ reading skills are developed well, often from very low starting points. Pupils learn to use skills acquired in phonics lessons to help them make sense of what they read across a wider range of subjects.
• The vast majority of pupils come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Effective use of additional funding provides focused support, which motivates pupils. As a consequence, pupils progress well, especially in reading and mathematics.
• Pupils’ progress in writing is improving. Improved reading skills and effective teaching are paying dividends in developing their writing skills. However, there remains variation in the progress rates of pupils from different starting points. A small number of pupils do not make all the progress of which they are capable.
• Progress in wider subjects is good. However, there are missed opportunities for pupils to demonstrate a deeper understanding of their learning and subject-specific concepts by using and consolidating their writing skills.
• Pupils in key stage 4 who struggle to learn well in the main school are well supported in the learning centre. Through the highly personalised provision, they begin to make progress again.
• Historical information about the progress that very small numbers of children make in the early years foundation stage shows that they too settle to learning and make the same good progress as pupils in other key stages.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 133432 North Tyneside 10036531 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Special School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Foundation special 3 to 16 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 99 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Andrew Graydon Peter Gannon 01916 053230 http://www.silverdaleschool.com silverdale.school@northtyneside.gov.uk Date of previous inspection February 2014

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website. At the beginning of the inspection, information about how the school promotes equality was not available on its website. This omission was rectified immediately by the school during the course of inspection.
• Silverdale School is a foundation special school. It provides education for pupils aged three to 16 who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities, from across the borough of North Tyneside. A very small number of pupils come from farther afield. The number of pupils in the school has grown quickly since the last inspection.
• The vast majority of pupils have an education, care and health plan. Since the last inspection, Silverdale has changed its designation to a special school for social, emotional and mental health difficulties. Many more pupils, than at the time of the previous inspection, who have multiple complex needs, including attachment disorder and autistic spectrum condition, are admitted.
• A greater-than-average proportion of pupils come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Since the previous inspection, a new chair of the governing body has been appointed. The current deputy headteacher took up post recently, and a middle leadership team has been established.
• Since the previous inspection, the school has opened an additional resourced provision in partnership with the local authority. It caters for 36 pupils in the primary phase.
• Some pupils in key stage 4 attend vocational learning placements for part of the week at Norham Construction, Palmersville Training and Barn Joinery Ltd.
• The school offers outreach services and support to schools across the local authority.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors held discussions with the headteacher, other senior leaders, staff and governors of the school. In addition, discussions were held with a representative of the local authority.
• Inspectors listened to pupils’ views about their school in meetings and through informal discussions. Inspectors also took into account the views of pupils, staff and parents given in response to Ofsted questionnaires at the time of the inspection.
• Inspectors visited classes on all three sites of the school, observed learning and considered a wide range of pupils’ books and other evidence of their learning, such as displays.
• Inspectors scrutinised the school’s records of checks on pupils’ personal development and progress and a wide range of other documents, including the school’s arrangements to safeguard pupils, the school’s own self-evaluation documents and its plans for further development.

Inspection team

Chris Campbell, lead inspector Khursh Khan

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector