Moat House Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Provide details to newcomers about the range of subjects and opportunities on offer to meet their individual needs and aspirations.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• The headteacher and governing body have established a clear vision for the school. The relationships between staff and students are outstanding. There is a culture of mutual respect and care in which students can thrive and make exceptional progress in their learning and well-being.
• The headteacher and other leaders complement each other well. They have a vast range of knowledge, skills and experience. Leaders work exceptionally well together towards achieving agreed school improvement objectives. All subject leaders provide action plans that are aimed at achieving and maintaining high-quality teaching, learning and assessment. Teachers’ consistent adherence to agreed school policies has led to exceptional outcomes for students. The checks carried out on the quality of teaching, learning and assessment are very strong and are well monitored by governors, for example in how all subject teachers promote literacy and numeracy skills in their subjects.
• The local authority has a high regard for the school’s work and provides only light-touch support.
• In almost every facet of school life, students are encouraged to show respect and tolerance towards each other and to staff, governors and visitors to the school. Students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is enhanced through educational visits and themed days. For example, students have visited the village of Haworth, learning much about the Bronte sisters, as part of their English and history studies. Students interact socially with each other and their babies during lunchtimes or when developing their parenting skills with the midwife and health visitor. Lifeskills lessons provide opportunities to discuss lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and this reinforces their levels of tolerance and respect for minority groups.
• The school’s curriculum is enriching and engaging. New students respond readily to interesting yet challenging lessons. They develop the self-confidence and resilience to attempt new work. The curriculum provides opportunities to study English literature, parenting, ICT, child development, cookery, geography, history, science, sociology and art. Some students attend mainstream lessons, for example in physics and chemistry, because there is not always the capacity to provide certain subjects at Moat House. Other students benefit from involvement in the Dame Kelly Holmes Project that encourages enterprise work, such as fundraising for local charities. As yet, leaders do not provide enough detail to students, parents and carers, other schools and agencies about the wide range of curriculum opportunities that are on offer.
• The partnership between the school, the on-site nursery and parents is strong. For example, the school’s special educational needs coordinator ensures that parents and students become fully involved when making decisions about students’ learning programmes, especially for those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The very good partnerships between the school and health and social services leads to highly effective ‘wrap around’ care for young mothers and their babies.
• The headteacher has shown very strong leadership through her involvement with other local secondary schools. She ensures that the school’s provision is recognised and valued in a wider context. This partnership with other schools has been extended to include teachers sharing best practice with one another.

Governance of the school

• The governing body includes members that have a range of skills, knowledge, experience and background. Governors are very well informed about the work of the school and provide strong challenge and support to the headteacher. They ensure that staff benefit from a wide range of effective professional development opportunities.
• Governors have defined link responsibilities, for example relating to students with SEND. This means that they keep abreast of developments in specific areas and share that knowledge in full or committee meetings.
• Governors monitor school improvement actions through an agreed system of themed visits. For example, they looked at how well mathematics is promoted across different subjects and provided a written report to other governors to inform them of their findings.
• Leaders and other staff give presentations to governors. For example, they are very well informed about the school’s assessment and target-setting system that charts the progress of different pupils. Governors check the progress made by students with SEND and disadvantaged students. Alongside this, they check that pupil premium and SEND funding streams are used effectively. Governors know that these two groups make the same strong progress from their starting points as their peers in school.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• There is a comprehensive safeguarding policy, which describes the designated safeguarding lead and related roles and responsibilities of specific staff and governors. The link governor for safeguarding is tasked to visit the school to check that agreed policies and procedures are followed. In this way, any issues can be raised and dealt with at follow-up meetings with other governors and leaders.
• Leaders have reviewed security arrangements so that unwanted visitors cannot enter the premises uninvited. For example, the use of CCTV cameras and a review of signing in procedures have further tightened security arrangements.
• Staff briefing meetings are held daily. Occasionally, debriefing meetings are held at the end of the day when necessary. Safeguarding or child protection concerns are always high on the agenda, as they are in governors’ meetings. Updated safeguarding training for all staff, leaders and governors has raised awareness of potential issues or risks.
• The school has a range of risk assessments, for example when planning educational trips and visits. A recent trip to London took account of potential terror attacks. There has been recent ‘Prevent’ duty training to help staff minimise the risk to students of becoming vulnerable to radicalisation.
• The headteacher is overseeing plans for a lockdown rehearsal in the case of a potential emergency. Fire drill practices are held each term. Leaders state that the students respond extremely well, especially regarding the well-being of their babies.
• Displays around school focus upon the importance of students’ safeguarding, for example regarding the dangers of sexual exploitation. Students receive extremely good support in keeping safe on the internet
• Recent survey feedback from staff, students and parents confirms that all stakeholders believe that safeguarding policies and procedures are effective. Students confirm that they feel safe in school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding. Without exception, teachers have a thorough knowledge of their subjects. They are well qualified and benefit from regular and relevant training so that they keep abreast of recent national changes to the curriculum.
• Teachers use assessment information most effectively to plan for individual students’ needs. As a result, students become more confident and resilient because they know that teachers understand their strengths and weaknesses. Staff adherence to the school’s agreed assessment and target-setting system ensures that students are fully included in knowing what is required of them.
• Teachers ensure that lessons are engaging and challenging. They make excellent use of questioning techniques. They modify their language or rephrase their questions to accommodate less-able pupils or to challenge the most able. As a result, students are keen to participate in discussions and share their ideas. For example, students were confident to explain their understanding of Venn diagrams in mathematics.
• Teachers’ thorough understanding of students’ social, emotional and mental health needs leads to outstanding and sensitive engagement with students. Students feel reassured that these needs are recognised and met in their interactions with staff. This leads to very positive attitudes to learning and an eagerness to take advantage of all that is available to them.
• Teachers promote students’ literacy and numeracy skills through other subjects to great effect. Students understand the importance and relevance of reading, writing and spelling in a variety of contexts.
• Teachers support students through an agreed system of independent learning sessions, as opposed to homework. These sessions enable them to catch up on work missed due to maternity leave.
• Parents, in a recent questionnaire survey, indicate that they appreciate the updates they receive from the school about the progress their children make.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• Students’ conduct in and around school is impeccable. They are polite and respectful to each other, to staff and to visitors. They value learning, particularly when it comes to caring for their babies, for example in child development or parenting sessions.
• Students’ attitudes to learning and their desire to engage in lessons are exceptional. They are keen to conduct reviews of each other’s work and offer positive support. Students were eager to discuss their creative, independent writing with an inspector.
• There have been no reported cases of bullying, harassment, racist behaviour, homophobic behaviour or hate incidents in recent times.
• Students value the high-quality support they receive from the member of staff who oversees transition arrangements through the school and beyond. All students know exactly what their next steps are, including when moving on to the next year group.
• Students demonstrate maturity and responsibility when caring for their babies in school. They value their social interaction with peers who face similar challenges in their lives.
• Students completing a recent survey confirmed that they feel safe in school and the wider community, as did the students spoken to by inspectors. The support they receive from staff about e-safety is valued, so that there have been few instances in school of inappropriate use of the internet or social media. For example, students became aware of the potential dangers when setting up and engaging in online social media discussions due to the support provided by staff in school.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Some students have had fixed-term exclusions and poor attendance and were disengaged in their previous schools. Clear boundaries and expectations are set in the induction programme for students when they arrive at the school. For instance, students are informed that they cannot have mobile phones in school and cannot use bad language.
• A recent survey of student views indicated that students become far more positive and assured when they arrive at Moat House. The survey indicated that students feel they behave better and that their attendance improves. Actual data provided by leaders supports these views and demonstrates that students’ attendance, behaviour and engagement in learning improve notably once they attend Moat House.
• Observations in and around school confirmed that students are consistently well behaved and respectful of people and property. No misbehaviour was observed over the two days of inspection. They are invariably well prepared and ready to learn in lessons.
• When attending mainstream classes, students maintain high-quality behaviour and attitudes at all times.
• Staff views from the online survey provide a very positive picture about students’ behaviour. They confirm that there has been no bullying and that they receive strong support from leaders in managing and supporting students’ behaviour in school.
• The recent school-based survey of parents’ views tallies with the views expressed by staff.

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• The majority of students, including those with SEND, the most able and those who are disadvantaged, make good or better progress from their starting points in all subjects, including English and mathematics. Many enter the school with a range of barriers to their learning.
• Students make substantial progress in their social skills. They engage exceptionally well in class discussions. For example, they will talk enthusiastically about different approaches to take when observing their babies in the nursery during child development lessons.
• Students extend their writing skills. Workbooks show that they build effectively upon their basic knowledge, skills and understanding. The most able pupils talk knowledgeably about their independent writing. They demonstrate an excellent insight into how to use creative and imaginative writing styles to great effect.
• In mathematics, students engage with enthusiasm because they enjoy the challenges they face. They draw upon taught skills with confidence to tackle new, increasingly complex problems. For example, they use and apply mathematical language to demonstrate their thinking when working out factors of given numbers.
• Teachers are very effective at enhancing pupils’ reading skills. Many make significant progress and read enthusiastically in and out of lessons They read independently, for pleasure and to research ongoing topics. They understand the importance of reading and other literacy skills when working across different subjects. For example, students record and then learn new vocabulary during cookery lessons. They recognise the benefits of spoken language when reading to their babies.
• Teachers ensure that students are able to take courses that match their interests, aspirations and abilities. As a result, all students have the opportunity to take GCSE courses. The most able students achieve higher grade GCSEs and move on successfully to further and higher education. All students attain accreditations in a range of subjects from a selection of Entry Level 1 awards, through functional skills awards up to higher level GCSE courses. The majority of students leave with qualifications in both English and mathematics.
• All students are equipped with a transition plan at the end of each academic year. Most leavers moved on successfully to college placements last year. Students benefit from The Young Parents Project, which gives them the skills and resilience to manage their babies’ needs with greater confidence once they leave Moat House. The transition manager at the school maintains checks on whether students maintain their placements once they have left Moat House.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 106023 Stockport 10057890 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Pupil referral unit Pupil referral unit 14 to 19 Girls Number of pupils on the school roll 16 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Judith Davies Lucy Cooney Telephone number 0161 429 9015 Website Email address www.moathouse.stockport.sch.uk headteacher@moathouse.stockport.sch.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school now provides education on one site for students who are aged 14 to 19 years. This means that the school is deemed not to have had a previous inspection as the age range has changed. The students are either pregnant or are young mothers.
• The school does not operate a sixth form or 16 to 19 study programmes. A key stage 4 curriculum is offered to students aged 16 to 19 years because they have missed part of their education due to pregnancy or maternity leave,
• All the girls who attend Moat House are referred to as students.
• There is an on-site nursery for their babies offering full- and part-time provision, which is only open to mothers who attend Moat House. The nursery is inspected separately.
• The school has weekly or fortnightly visits from a midwife and a health visitor.
• The school has capacity for 20 students.
• A very small proportion of disadvantaged students is supported through the pupil premium.
• The number of students receiving support for SEND is more than 50%. The number of students with education, health and care plans is small.
• Students aged 14 to 16 years remain on the roll of their secondary schools while attending Moat House. The school uses no alternative provision for students. Occasionally, where appropriate, students attend specified lessons at local mainstream schools.
• The local authority’s Young Parents Project, based at Moat House, provides support for students on leaving school, especially on transfer to local colleges.
• The headteacher is a member of the Stockport secondary headteachers’ consortium.

Information about this inspection

• During the inspection, the team held meetings with the headteacher and other senior leaders.
• Inspectors conducted joint observations with the assistant headteacher.
• An inspector held discussions with staff about safeguarding, attendance and behaviour.
• An inspector met with the school’s special educational needs coordinator.
• A meeting was held with two members of the governing body, including the chair of governors.
• A meeting was held with a local authority representative.
• Inspectors looked at pupils’ workbooks, folders and classroom displays. They observed pupils in the school corridors and at lunchtime. They spoke informally with pupils during lessons, breakfast club and at lunchtime.
• They considered a range of documentation, including the school’s review of its strengths and areas to develop, appraisal procedures and information about pupils’ ability levels, progress and outcomes.
• They also looked at documentation relating to safeguarding, including safe recruitment of staff and risk assessments, behaviour and attendance, and governors’ reports and minutes of meetings.
• They considered responses by parents to a recent school questionnaire survey. They spoke with two parents. There were no responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire for parents. There were no responses to the online pupils’ survey. Inspectors looked at 17 responses to Ofsted’s online staff questionnaire.

Inspection team

Jon Ashley, lead inspector Maggie Parker

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector