Park Community Academy Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Further develop the school’s systems for assessing pupils’ personal, social and emotional development, so leaders and governors have a clear overview of how much progress pupils are making in these important areas.
• Ensure that even greater attention is paid to providing the most able pupils with the systematic support needed to build further upon the fast progress they already make.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• Leaders and governors are relentless in their quest for each and every pupil to make the most of their time at the school. The headteacher is unwavering in his ambition for pupils, their families and the staff. Leaders have ensured that pupils benefit from the very best teaching within a happy, caring and life-affirming environment.
• Leaders have created a dynamic, warm and pupil-centred community in which everyone feels committed, happy and fulfilled. The school’s ethos is based upon respect, care and trust. These values radiate from all members of the community and underpin pupils’ remarkable successes. Like a stick of Blackpool rock, the school’s strengths run throughout the school from children’s first steps in the early years to the day they finally leave the sixth form.
• This is a school where every member of staff is encouraged to be a leader. Members of staff are set ambitious targets for their own development, which ensure that everyone plays a key role in sustaining and developing the school.
• Middle leaders share their senior colleagues’ perceptive and nuanced understanding of the school’s effectiveness. Their successful approach is underpinned by a total commitment to doing their best for pupils. They check astutely on the quality of teaching in their areas, and have a clear understanding of what needs to be done to make further improvements. Consequently, they play a vital role in the school’s ongoing success and present as a budding team of senior leaders.
• Staff benefit from a carefully considered range of training opportunities that enable them to develop professionally and continue to enhance the experience of different pupils. Leaders are ambitious for all staff and the school also adopts a range of innovative strategies to ‘grow their own’ teachers and leaders. For example, several teaching assistants have been supported to become teachers and the school has successfully recruited a number of apprentices who continue to flourish while making a positive difference to the lives of pupils.
• Leaders have established a vibrant climate for staff to discuss, debate and develop teaching. Leaders’ effective checks on the quality of teaching are augmented by established procedures for staff to observe each other teach. This helps staff to share good practice which, in turn, has ensured that the quality of teaching continues to go from strength to strength.
• Leaders are conscious of the need to challenge members of staff and expose them to new, exciting and unfamiliar experiences. To this end, members of staff are encouraged to work with pupils of different ages and who have different needs. They are also supported to teach subjects with which they are unfamiliar. Members of staff continue to develop and feel supported to take risks and innovate.
• The breadth and content of the curriculum reflect leaders’ high expectations of pupils. Leaders ensure that pupils’ entitlement to the national curriculum is carefully balanced alongside the need to provide pupils with the personalised support needed to overcome their individual barriers to achievement.
• Leaders have ensured that the development of pupils’ skills in English and mathematics assumes a central role within the curriculum. Furthermore, they ensure that the curriculum beyond English and mathematics provides vibrant and diverse opportunities to develop pupils’ knowledge and skills across a wide range of subjects.
• Pupils benefit from an extensive range of opportunities to enrich the formal curriculum. In particular, pupils achieve great things in different sports and in the performing arts. Most impressively, the school’s inclusive and accomplished brass band acts as a great source of pride.
• All pupils take part in compulsory enrichment activities during Wednesday afternoons, and work towards the completion of the Arts Award. This reflects the high priority leaders attach to using the expressive arts as a vehicle for pupils’ personal development.
• Pupils are exceptionally positive about the school. They feel happy, very well-supported and challenged in their learning. Typical comments from pupils include, ‘staff are fair and give you really good ideas’ and ‘staff help you to face your fears and work together’.
• Staff are unanimously positive about working at a school they feel continues to improve rapidly. They feel proud to work at the school and find their work fulfilling and filled with moral purpose.
• Many parents and carers feel that the school has orchestrated a transformation in their children’s lives. They are particularly appreciative of the support they receive that enables them to help their children more effectively. Parents have total trust in the school’s staff. Many feel their children have made levels of progress that they felt were unimaginable before they joined the school.
• Leaders are astute in their use of additional funding, including the funding to enhance pupils’ physical education and sports in the primary phase and the funding to help pupils who do not reach the expected academic standards at the end of Year 6.

Governance of the school

• Working in unison with leaders, governors capably oversee the school’s work. Their approach to improving the school is visionary. In 2013, they established a bold and ambitious plan for the school’s future, which included the expansion of the school’s early years provision and the establishment of a thriving sixth form. Over the next five years, their careful oversight ensured that this vision became a reality.
• Governors have a clear and perceptive understanding of the school’s effectiveness. They ensure that they receive the right information for them to make appropriate checks on the quality of education for different groups of pupils.
• The chair of the governing body is meticulous in her attention to detail. She effectively coordinates the work of the governing body to ensure that key areas for development, such as the establishment of the sixth form, have been carefully and precisely monitored. In doing so, she has ensured that the work of governors has been instrumental in helping the school to continue moving forwards at pace.
• The governing body benefits from members with a broad range of experiences and expertise. In particular, a significant number of governors have, or have had, children at the school. As a result, there is a strong bond between the governing body and the community the school serves.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders have ensured that a strong culture of safeguarding permeates all aspects of the school’s work. Fundamental to this culture is the strength of relationships at the school. Staff know pupils exceptionally well. They quickly spot when there are signs that a pupil may be distressed or not their usual selves.
• Of equal importance, pupils look out for each other. They are attentive to each other’s needs and do not think twice about informing members of staff if they have concerns about their own well-being or that of their friends. This reflects leaders’ success in establishing an open and caring ethos.
• The school takes appropriate steps to support pupils with the additional vulnerabilities that may arise from their SEN and/or disabilities. For example, the school’s work to keep pupils safe when online is exemplary. Pupils are supported to develop an awareness of hazards involved in completing everyday tasks, such as ironing.
• Staff are also highly skilled in supporting pupils’ diverse medical needs. Leaders have ensured that their assessments of risk, at a group and individual level, are detailed and appropriate.
• Leaders have ensured that the school’s strong safeguarding culture is underpinned by clear and appropriate communication. In addition to receiving regular training and safeguarding updates, staff are informed of any appropriate information that is vital for ensuring pupils are safe and cared for well.
• Staff ensure that a proportionate and intelligent approach is adopted towards keeping pupils safe. In particular, staff attach great importance to helping pupils to manage risk for themselves. This forms one important strand of the school’s strategy for supporting pupils along a path to independence.
• Leaders work with a range of additional agencies to ensure that pupils receive the precise support necessary to keep them safe and flourish.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• Teachers and other adults are highly skilled in helping pupils to make frequent small steps in their learning. As a result of consistently excellent teaching, these small steps amount to giant leaps over time.
• Teachers are skilled in catering for pupils’ diverse needs. They expertly use different resources so pupils quickly become engrossed in their learning and enthusiastically participate in lessons.
• Teachers and other adults closely monitor pupils’ work. They spot misconceptions early and intervene skilfully and sensitively to get pupils back on track and address any emerging misunderstandings.
• Pupils enjoy deeply respectful relationships with teachers and their peers. Adults and pupils are united in their determination for all pupils to get the most out of every lesson. Adults use humour to build rapport with pupils. Pupils typically go about their work in a relaxed and happy frame of mind.
• Staff model new skills well. They are very skilled in reshaping their explanations for different pupils who find it difficult to comprehend new material.
• Teachers and other adults question pupils thoughtfully. This helps pupils to make connections with prior learning and also supports them to develop the depth and clarity of their thinking.
• Teachers assess what pupils know and can do with precision and clarity. The development in pupils’ work over time provides compelling evidence of the significant progress that pupils make across a wide range of subjects.
• Teachers and other adults work closely to ensure that lessons cater appropriately for pupils with different needs and abilities. Low-ability pupils are supported extremely well. When they find work too demanding, adults intervene quickly and reshape their teaching.
• Teachers are particularly adept in supporting the relatively small number of pupils who make less progress than the school expects of them. Staff pay particular attention to these pupils when planning and delivering lessons. The school convincingly demonstrates that the vast majority of these pupils make fast progress once teachers provide them with even more intensive support.
• In recent years, leaders have prioritised the need to provide even greater challenge for the most able pupils. Staff have risen to this challenge and the most able pupils are well catered for and making consistently fast progress. Staff also feel that this focus has helped them to think even more deeply about the level of challenge they provide for pupils of all abilities. Despite this, leaders have identified a very small group of pupils, who are very able within the school’s context, whom they feel would benefit from even greater challenge. In particular, they feel there are some pupils who join the school after a period of elective home education who could be challenged more systematically.
• Teaching in mathematics is highly effective. Pupils of all abilities are challenged and enjoy mathematics. Staff are skilled in developing pupils’ mathematical reasoning and problem-solving skills. Wherever possible, pupils are helped to apply their skills to real-life situations, such as managing money.
• Teaching in English is similarly impressive. Leaders are acutely aware that many pupils make faster progress in reading than writing. As a result, they have ensured that pupils receive excellent support to develop the fluency and technical accuracy of their writing. They have also ensured that pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills are developed effectively across the curriculum. As a result, the discrepancy between pupils’ achievement in reading and writing is becoming far less pronounced.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• The school’s open culture promotes all aspects of pupils’ welfare. Pupils’ learning about different cultures and religions enables them to celebrate diversity and understand discrimination and prejudice. Pupils are respectful and tolerant of peoples’ differences. Pupils told inspectors that they wholeheartedly feel that ‘you should treat people how you would like to be treated’.
• Pupils are supported skilfully to become aware of their own emotions and how to deal with them. They are also supported to develop an awareness of how to adapt their behaviour when in the company of different people. Pupils interact very well and appropriately with others, including people who are unknown to them.
• Pupils have a clear understanding of what constitutes an effective learner. Pupils persevere exceptionally well in lessons, even when they find tasks difficult. They are determined to do well and support each other to do their best. Without exception, pupils take great pride in their work.
• Pupils have a clear understanding of what bullying is. They say bullying is exceptionally rare and, when it does occasionally happen, staff deal with it swiftly and sensitively. Pupils know there are different types of bullying, such as cyber bullying and racism.
• Staff provide pupils with ongoing support on how to stay safe and manage risk.
• Pupils benefit from extremely high-quality, work-related learning. The school aims to provide pupils with the necessary knowledge, skills and traits to live successful and fulfilled lives. To this end, careers education has a central role within the curriculum. Pupils learn about different jobs from an early age. Pupils in Year 11 and the sixth form choose to study a vocational course, such as carpentry, horticulture and photography, at a local college for one day per week. Pupils’ aspirations are also a key focus when reviewing pupils’ progress against the targets in their education, health and care (EHC) plans. The vast majority of key stage 4 pupils and sixth-form students have a clear understanding of what jobs they want to do when they are older and what they need to do to gain employment.
• Leaders have ensured that pupils’ physical health is well promoted. Many pupils choose to use the sports equipment provided during break and lunchtime. A wide range of well-attended sporting clubs, such as ‘let’s get moving’, football and circuit training, involve a large number of pupils in activities which help to maintain their physical health.
• The warmth and openness of the school community help to promote pupils’ emotional health and well-being. When pupils need additional help in these areas, leaders ensure that they access additional support from appropriate professionals.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the site is exemplary. Pupils are considerate, courteous and respectful towards adults and each other. They respond quickly to established routines. Pupils behave exceptionally well in lessons. This is because they have a clear understanding of the behaviour required to learn well. As a result, pupils concentrate fully during lessons and no learning time is wasted.
• Staff provide excellent support for pupils who have exhibited challenging behaviour in the past. Staff are highly skilled in de-escalating situations. Their detailed knowledge of pupils’ needs enables them to enact appropriate strategies to refocus pupils. Staff are skilled in building the caring and respectful relationships which underpin the school’s approach to managing pupils’ behaviour.
• Leaders’ records clearly demonstrate that pupils’ behaviour improves significantly the longer they have been at the school. This happens for a number of reasons, such as pupils realising how valued they are as members of the school community. As this happens, pupils’ self-esteem grows and their behaviour improves.
• The school’s open culture helps all pupils to develop a sensitive understanding of why a small number of pupils sometimes misbehave. Pupils told inspectors that poor behaviour is very rare. Furthermore, they made it clear that, on the rare occasions when a pupil does misbehave, it is often the result of a factor that is beyond the school’s control and not the pupil’s fault. Consequently, pupils adopt an understanding and mature approach towards those of their peers who sometimes find it difficult to behave appropriately.
• Pupils’ punctuality is exemplary and arrangements for pupils’ arrival and departure from school are organised efficiently.
• Pupils’ attendance is above the national average for all schools and well above the national average for special schools. All groups of pupils attend school regularly and rates of persistent absence are below historic national averages for pupils in all schools. Pupils love coming to school and leaders are meticulous in encouraging and supporting pupils to attend regularly.
• Pupils in Year 11 and students in the sixth form continue to behave in a mature and sensible manner and are kept safe when they attend their courses at local colleges with staff from the school.

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• Pupils make excellent progress throughout the school and across the curriculum.
• Leaders go to great lengths to ensure that assessments of what pupils know and can do are accurate. They moderate pupils’ work alongside colleagues in the trust and other mainstream and special schools. As a result, teachers’ assessments of pupils’ progress are predicated upon sound and accurate assessment.
• Pupils make consistently strong progress against appropriately challenging targets set by leaders. Pupils make very good progress across the curriculum in comparison to many pupils nationally with similar starting points.
• Pupils make swift progress in all subjects, including English and mathematics. At the first sign of a dip in progress in any one subject, leaders immediately enact plans for improvement and adapt aspects relating to teaching, assessment and the curriculum. For example, leaders responded to a dip in history outcomes two years ago by identifying that history should have a higher priority in the curriculum. Pupils are now making progress in this area comparable to other subjects.
• Leaders have focused on improving the quality of pupils’ writing in English and across the curriculum. Pupils are making faster progress in this area and the discrepancy between pupils’ progress in reading and writing is quickly fading.
• All groups of pupils make similarly fast rates of progress, including disadvantaged pupils and those with both moderate and severe learning difficulties. Staff ensure that pupils receive the necessary support to flourish.
• Children looked after make the same rapid progress. The support they receive is excellent, and leaders go to great lengths to ensure that the curriculum meets their needs. The head of the local authority’s virtual school provided inspectors with a glowing endorsement of the support the school provides for children looked after.
• Staff provide exemplary additional support for the small number of pupils who do not make the progress that leaders expect of them. Their rates of progress accelerate and they quickly catch up with their peers.
• Leaders have developed a strong literacy culture across the school. Pupils enjoy reading for pleasure and can discuss their favourite genres and authors. Pupils make excellent progress in reading from their starting points. Pupils read comfortably and confidently with adults and in front of their peers.
• Pupils gain a range of meaningful and appropriate qualifications in key stage 4, including a range of BTEC National Diplomas, GCSEs and entry level qualifications. Leaders have introduced a way of working in which pupils gain accreditation when they are ready, rather than at fixed points in their school career. These qualifications further demonstrate the strength of pupils’ progress.
• Pupils make equally impressive progress with their social, emotional and personal development. Despite this, leaders have not yet managed to develop an effective and coherent system for tracking pupils’ development in these important areas. Leaders are acutely aware of this and are trialling different systems with a view to establishing a common system across the school.

Early years provision Outstanding

• The early years leaders’ pursuit of excellence sets the tone for the department. Leaders have a comprehensive and accurate understanding of the strengths and relative weaknesses in the early years. Leaders have focused, appropriately, on developing the provision for younger children and those of very low ability. They are also in the process of developing the outdoor provision to provide children with a greater range of opportunities to learn more from the natural environment.
• Children make excellent progress. Teaching meticulously caters for their diverse needs. Adults use information about what children have previously achieved to plan appropriately challenging learning activities. They use resources well to exemplify new ideas and generate excitement. Children become mesmerised as they play and learn.
• Adults set tasks which challenge children of different abilities, including the most and least able. They also use effective strategies to consolidate children’s learning.
• Staff gather a wealth of information on children before they start in the early years. This helps them to build up a rich picture of children which enables them to carefully tailor the support they offer to their precise needs. Arrangements for transition are heavily personalised and staff patiently wait for children to develop the necessary skills to learn effectively.
• The strength of relationships between adults and children is a key feature of the provision. Children behave confidently with adults, including adults who are unfamiliar to them. Children are supported to be inquisitive and they join in enthusiastically with a range of activities.
• Children settle remarkably quickly into the provision, including those who have experienced considerable challenges in other settings. Staff are very skilled in de-escalating poor behaviour and redirecting children. Simple yet effective systems help children understand the high expectations staff have of their behaviour.
• Leaders ensure that there are clear and robust systems in place for ensuring all statutory welfare requirements are met. Children with medical needs are also capably supported.
• Underpinning children’s success in the early years is the work of staff to work in partnership with parents and to raise parental aspirations. When their children join the early years, parents quickly raise their expectations of what their children are capable of and become confident that their children can lead happy, successful and fulfilling lives. Parents are effusive in their praise of the provision. Parents value the day books, Twitter account and class blogs, which keep them updated about the curriculum and their children’s progress.
• The provision provides excellent support for children who initially make slower progress than others. Over time, the provision does an exceptional job in getting children ready to learn. As such, it establishes the foundations for all future successes.
• Children make fast progress in all of the main areas. However, they make particularly rapid progress with their speech, communication and language. Staff prioritise learning in these areas, and additional support is procured from speech and language therapists where necessary.

16 to 19 study programmes Outstanding

• Leaders demonstrate an unswerving commitment to providing the very best opportunities for students in the sixth form. The development of the sixth form has been underpinned by a clear strategic vision, focused on maximising students’ preparedness for the next steps in their lives. Leaders have had great success in bringing this vision to life. They have skilfully orchestrated the development of a provision which caters exceptionally well for students’ diverse needs.
• Leaders have a very clear understanding of the sixth form’s strengths and relative weaknesses. They have appropriate and carefully crafted plans in place for further development.
• Teaching in the sixth form provides students with consistent challenge which enables them to continue to make rapid gains in their learning. The teaching of English and mathematics continues to assume a central role within the curriculum. Teachers focus on students using their English and mathematical skills in real-life situations, as students are supported on a path towards independence.
• Teachers know the students exceptionally well. They have a perceptive understanding of when to introduce incremental challenge into students’ work.
• Students’ behaviour is excellent in the sixth form. Students continue to be extremely supportive and respectful of each other. Their attendance too is excellent. It is exceptionally rare for a student not to complete their studies at the sixth form.
• Leaders work closely with the local authority to ensure that students’ transition from sixth form is carefully managed and focused upon a suitable target destination. Leaders carefully monitor how well students settle over time in their target destination. Many ex-students continue to attend the school’s youth club to maintain links with the school.
• Students benefit from excellent work-related learning, which flows seamlessly from the effective support that students receive in the main school. Students benefit from regular and varied opportunities for work experience. These are carefully matched and adapted to students’ needs to ensure that they gain a positive experience of the world of work. Some students gain paid employment because they impress their employers so much while on work experience.
• Students continue to benefit from a broad range of enrichment activities. All students take part in these on Wednesday afternoons, such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, cookery lessons, music and drama. These ensure that the growth in students’ confidence and self-esteem continues to gather momentum during their time in the sixth form.
• Students are supported capably to become independent and protect themselves from potential risks. Weekly personal, social, health and economic education lessons, for example, equip students with the knowledge and skills to stay safe online, and make informed decisions about risks related to alcohol, drugs and sexual relationships.
• The design of the sixth-form building partly resembles the typical layout of a home. Students are supported to develop the skills necessary to complete a range of everyday household chores, such as making beds, washing clothes and cooking. Students appreciate having these opportunities and they make a strong contribution to students’ excellent personal development.
• Students continue to make outstanding progress in the sixth form from their respective starting points. The curriculum, in conjunction with consistently high-quality teaching, enables students to gain a broad range of meaningful accreditation. For example, students study for a range of appropriate BTEC National Diplomas, GCSEs and entry level qualifications in addition to the vocational courses they study at college. Since the school opened, all students have proceeded to appropriate destinations.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 140143 Blackpool 10046577 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 Gender of pupils in 16 to 19 study programmes Number of pupils on the school roll Of which, number on roll in 16 to 19 study programmes Academy special converter 2 to 19 Mixed Mixed 258 29 Appropriate authority Board of trustees Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Susan Fielder Keith Berry 01253 764130 www.park.blackpool.sch.uk admin@park.blackpool.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 20–21 May 2015

Information about this school

• The school is a founder member of the Blackpool Multi-Academy Trust.
• The school is for pupils with moderate or severe SEN and/or disabilities. An increasing proportion of pupils have autistic spectrum disorder or speech, language and communication needs. Some pupils have social, emotional and behavioural needs. All pupils have an EHC plan or are awaiting statutory assessment.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is much higher than the national average.
• The proportions of pupils who are from minority ethnic groups or who speak English as an additional language are much lower than national averages.
• A much larger proportion of children are looked after than is typically seen in most schools.
• An increasing number of pupils are joining the school after a period of elective home education.
• There are currently no children who are two years old at the school.
• The school extended its age range in September 2015 to take students in the sixth form up to 19 years of age.
• Pupils in Years 11, 12, 13 and 14 spend one day a week studying a variety of courses at Blackpool and the Fylde College and Myerscough College.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors undertook observations of learning in all classes alongside school leaders. Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour during playtime and lunchtime. Inspectors also observed pupils as they participated in different activities to enrich their education. They also observed the school’s arrangements for welcoming pupils to school and dismissing them at the end of the day.
• Pupils’ work across a range of subjects was scrutinised.
• Meetings were held with leaders, governors and a member of the trust board. Inspectors also spoke with leaders from the virtual school at Blackpool local authority, which is responsible for overseeing the education for children looked after.
• Inspectors scrutinised a range of documents, including the school’s plans for improvement, self-evaluation and information about pupils’ achievement.
• Inspectors looked at safeguarding information and documents relating to pupils’ behaviour and attendance.
• Inspectors met with a group of parents. They also considered 150 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and took account of letters that parents had written to the inspection team. Inspectors also considered 32 comments made by parents on Ofsted’s free-text service. Inspectors took account of 32 pupils’ responses to the online questionnaire and 76 responses from members of staff to their online questionnaire.
• Inspectors met with groups of pupils. They also talked informally with pupils about the school. They heard pupils read.
• Inspectors looked at information on the school’s website.

Inspection team

Will Smith, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Jane Eccleston Ofsted Inspector Pippa Jackson-Maitland Her Majesty’s Inspector