1 December 2008 Mr W Chatwin Headteacher Elmete ... - Ofsted

CfBT Inspection Services
Suite 22
West Lancs Investment
Centre
Maple View
Skelmersdale
WN8 9TG
1 December 2008
Mr W Chatwin
Headteacher
Elmete Wood BESD SILC
Elmete Lane
Leeds
West Yorkshire
LS8 2LJ
Dear Mr Chatwin
Special measures: monitoring inspection of Elmete Wood BESD SILC
Following my visit with David Muir HMI to your school on 27 and 28 November 2008,
I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector to confirm the inspection findings.
The visit was the fifth monitoring inspection since the school became subject to
special measures in February 2007. The monitoring inspection report is attached and
the main judgements are set out below.
Progress since being subject to special measures – satisfactory.
Progress since previous monitoring inspection – satisfactory.
Newly qualified teachers may be appointed to teach on the Elmete Lane site.
This letter and monitoring inspection report will be posted on the Ofsted website.
Please inform the Regional Inspection Service Provider of any factual inaccuracies
within 24 hours of the receipt of this letter.
I am copying this letter and the monitoring inspection report to the Secretary of
State, the chair of governors, Education Leeds and the Director of Children’s Services
for Leeds.
Yours sincerely
Eric Craven
H M Inspector
T 08456 40 40 40
enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk
www.ofsted.gov.uk
September 2008 Page 1
Direct T 01695 566 947
Direct F 01695 729 320
sdaly@cfbt.com

SPECIAL MEASURES: MONITORING OF ELMETE WOOD BESD SILC
Report from the fifth monitoring inspection on 27 and 28 November 2008
Evidence
Inspectors observed the school’s work at both sites. They scrutinised documents and
met with the principal and other senior leaders, a group of pupils, groups of staff,
five members of the governing body, the school improvement partner and four
representatives of the local authority (LA).
Context
The national leader of education who was engaged in a consultative capacity has
concluded his work with the school. Approximately 30 pupils have joined the school
since the last monitoring inspection and the school roll stands at 105. At the time of
this monitoring inspection most Year 11 pupils were on work experience placements.
The school improvement partner has begun to work with the school. The school was
awarded the National Heathy Schools Award in June 2008. The LA has very recently
confirmed that additional funding of approximately £76,000 has been secured from
the schools’ forum to support the school’s alternative curriculum programme and
further, that three very challenging pupils have been allocated one-to-one support
with the LA paying for this resource. It has determined that up to £150,000 will be
made available to help sustain the school on its journey out of special measures and
beyond. The school and LA are predicting that the school will have a substantial
deficit budget of over £250,000 at the end of 2008-09 financial year. The LA plans to
begin consulting in January 2009 on the proposed reorganisation of its ‘behaviour
continuum’.
Achievement and standards
Standards are improving and achievement is on the rise. Compared with other pupils
of a similar age nationally the majority of pupils when they arrive at the school are
below average standards. Their behaviour, emotional and social difficulties have
prevented them from fully benefiting from their education in previous schools.
However, the rate of progress they make is increasing as a result of improvements
to the quality of teaching and the curriculum. The progress of pupils in lessons is
rarely less than satisfactory and in a few lessons, such as history, physical education
(PE) and music their progress is outstanding. In all but three lessons observed on
this monitoring inspection the progress of pupils matched the quality of teaching. In
these three lessons pupils’ progress fell behind the quality of teaching because pupils
failed to apply themselves as well as they could have done and a few were intent on
causing problems. Improved examination results also demonstrate that the legacy of
underachievement is being eroded. For example, in 2008 more pupils achieved GCSE
C to G grades in mathematics and science than in 2007. The position in English is
much less strong largely because of the staffing difficulties the school has faced.
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Personal development and well-being
Pupils’ behaviour has improved greatly since the school was last inspected in
February 2007. However, a recent influx of challenging Key Stage 3 pupils in
particular has been quite testing for the school. Partly as a consequence of this, the
number of fixed-term exclusions is very high although the sanction of permanent
exclusion has not been used. Staff have devised various strategies to manage this
behaviour and there are signs that the behaviour of some pupils has improved. A
range of data on the behaviour of this group of pupils as a whole is still to be
evaluated. A model of provision to reduce the need for fixed-term exclusion has
been shaped by staff and is soon to be implemented. The behaviour of pupils at the
Stonegate Road site overall is improving slowly as evidenced by more group work
and some of them having lessons at the Elmete Lane site. Nevertheless, some pupils
are volatile and their behaviour is not managed as well as it could be by some staff.
Some of these pupils respond to different staff in distinctly different ways.
The overall rate of attendance remains low at about 63%. It has improved a little at
the Stonegate Road site and is best at the Elmete Lane site where it is currently
77%. It is encouraging that unauthorised absence has dropped from 24.5% in
2007–08 to 16.5% for the current school year. The overall figures are skewed by a
handful of pupils who are non-attenders and approximately another 10 pupils whose
attendance is very poor and sporadic despite the rigorous and varied efforts of the
school to engage them. The school has little or no influence over the most
disengaged and intransigent pupils and the parents of some of them are being
prosecuted in an attempt to force their hand. The school’s strategies have had
success with other pupils, for example a little over half of the pupils with attendance
targets are currently exceeding their target.
Quality of provision
The quality of teaching and learning has continued to improve since the last
monitoring inspection. Teaching is now consistently at least satisfactory across the
school, with nearly a third of lessons seen on this monitoring inspection judged as
outstanding. Nevertheless, there are still too many lessons that are satisfactory. The
school is aware that the quality needs to be raised further in order to engage pupils
fully and to maintain the momentum of improvement. Systems are in place to
identify good practice and disseminate this among staff with the aim of raising the
standards of all teaching. This monitoring inspection confirms the findings from
monitoring by senior leaders.
The Elmete Lane site continues to have the better teaching, although there has been
some improvement at the Stonegate Road site where pupils are now taught in
groups. Although this has caused some problems related to the group dynamics, the
school is working hard to provide opportunities for pupils to develop their social skills
to diminish the disruption caused by this. In the best lessons seen, teachers ensure
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a swift pace, a variety of activities and use their knowledge of pupils’ abilities and
interests to capture their interest and make learning fun. Students from the
Stonegate Road site have benefited from being able to access practical subjects like
PE and design and technology on the Elmete Lane site.
Lesson planning continues to improve and staff consistently follow the school’s
requirements. Teachers make use of feedback to support pupils’ learning, giving
clear guidance as to the next steps. The innovative use of book cover stickers in
science has been shared with the rest of the staff. These stickers helpfully consist of
feedback about the level of individual pupils’ work and give an area for improvement
to ensure that they are aware of their progress and next steps. Marking also gives
written guidance and is improving in quality and consistency but still needs to
improve further to ensure maximum impact on pupils’ achievement. Teachers’
conclusions to lessons, where they check on and reinforce learning, are improving
and pupils now take a more active part in these.
There has been an increase in accreditation available to pupils this year and each
subject leader is reviewing the appropriateness of the assessment arrangements and
examination boards used. There is an increasing array of alternative vocational
placements for students who can benefit from these, including construction courses
and a hairdressing diploma. The school has successfully introduced some new areas
to the curriculum such as ‘Big Themes’, which is a cross-curricular project that
capitalises on teachers’ skills and interests, in order to foster more interest in the
Key Stage 3 curriculum. The training of staff in the teaching of personal and thinking
skills has been well received and has enhanced the curriculum.
The tracking of pupils’ academic and personal progress continues to improve and
curriculum and behavioural targets are evident across the school. Pupils say that
they know who to talk to if they are experiencing difficulties and a secure
relationship with their key worker means that pupils have someone to go to if they
need help.
Progress since the last visit on the areas for improvement:
� Ensure that pupils achieve well by improving the quality of teaching and the
curriculum– satisfactory.
Leadership and management
It is because of improved leadership and management that the school has taken the
strides forward it has. The school has responded well to the priorities for further
improvement identified at the last monitoring inspection. A fully mapped out
timetable is now in place for every pupil despite some being chronic non-attenders.
There has been an increased use of alternative curriculum packages for those pupils
who can benefit from these. The school now has a wealth of data which is being
managed well by the achievement and systems manager. This includes data on
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achievement, attendance and behaviour. However, the school needs to be more
discerning about the data it requires and also needs to evaluate it so that it is clear
what the information is telling the school and what are the next steps the school
needs to take. This said, the school is evaluating itself much more effectively than it
did at the time of the 2007 inspection. Monitoring of teaching and learning is a firmly
embedded practice. The school has sought the views of parents, pupils and staff to
help it understand what is doing well and what needs to be improved further. Good
examples of parents’ views making a difference are the improving transport
arrangements and the developing system of involving parents in their children’s
target setting. Staff are being enabled to have more influence on the school and
senior managers are receptive to their ideas. A staff council has been formed and
this also has useful links with the governing body. Staff are also taking more of a
lead on other initiatives, such as behaviour change. Senior leaders are very
cognisant of staff welfare. They have worked with the LA to compare data on
assaults on staff with staff absence and the principal is involved in the LA’s reducing
violence at work initiative. All staff are trained in ‘Team-Teach’ approaches to
managing difficult behaviour and the school draws on other agencies effectively to
support its work with pupils. Middle management has improved and with the data
now available to them subject leaders and their link member of the senior leadership
team have begun to meet regularly to review the subjects and the progress of
pupils.
The governing body has benefited from some recent appointments, including staff
governors and a serving headteacher. Governors have a good understanding of the
challenges the school faces and the gains it has made. They have benefited from the
support they received from the national leader of education and are in a much better
position to operate as a critical friend of the school than they were at the time of the
last inspection in February 2007.
Progress since the last visit on the areas for improvement:
� Establish robust systems to monitor the effectiveness of the SILC and its
impact on learning and achievement – satisfactory.
� Make the workload of the leadership team more equitable and effective –
good.
External support
Two of the LA’s school improvement officers are working regularly with senior
managers and their work has become more focused on particular issues as the
school has demonstrated its ability to stand on its own two feet. They have provided
good support and they have an accurate view of where their continuing support and
challenge is needed. Support has been provided for the English department by an
advanced skills teacher as the school has been unable to appoint a head of English.
This support is to continue. The LA has put its shoulder firmly to the wheel to help
the school better meet the needs of its challenging population by recently
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committing significant resources to the school. It is soon to discuss a proposed three
year deficit management plan with the governors.
Priorities for further improvement
� Improve the consistency with which staff deal with problematic behaviour at the
Stonegate Road site.
� Work with the local authority to agree a plan to manage the deficit budget.
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