ofsted report - discovery new school

8/12/2019 Ofsted report - Discovery New School

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School report

Discovery New SchoolBroadfield House, Crawley, RH11 9RZ

Inspection dates 1 –2 May 2013

Overall effectivenessPrevious inspection: Not previously inspected

This inspection: Inadequate 4

Achievement of pupils Inadequate 4

Quality of teaching Inadequate 4

Behaviour and safety of pupils Require improvement 3

Leadership and management Inadequate 4

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires special measures.

Too many pupils are in danger of leaving theschool without being able to read and writeproperly. Unless this is put right quickly,pupils are unlikely to flourish in theirsecondary schools and future lives.

Arrangements for assessing pupils’ progressin reading, writing and mathematics areinadequate.

The headteacher lacks the skills andknowledge to improve teaching. Too muchteaching is inadequate, and the headteacherhas an over-optimistic view of its quality.

Provision for pupils who have specialeducational needs is inadequate. Too manypupils are assessed as having specialeducational needs when this should not be

the case. Some of them simply need betterteaching.

Senior leaders believe the school is far betterthan it is. They describe at length what theschool is doing but do not check,systematically, whether or not the school givesits pupils a good enough education.

Senior leaders are not giving the school a clearsense of direction. They have been far too slowto act on essential recommendations from avisit by the Department for Education’ s advisor,which took place over seven months ago.

Governance is inadequate. Governors are notknowledgeable enough about the school’sserious shortcomings. They do not have a clearview of the quality of teaching and pupils’achievement. Governors do not challengesenior leaders to help the school improve.

The school has the following strengths

Pupils like their school and talk readily abouttheir work. They think for themselves, makechoices and develop independence. Teachingstaff relate to pupils well.



Inspection report: Discovery New School, 1 –2 May 2013 2 of 10

Information about this inspection

Inspectors observed seven lessons, four of which were lengthy observations. All four teacherswere seen at least once. The headteacher joined inspectors for parts of two lessons. Inspectorslooked at pupils’ written work and talked to pupils in lessons and during lunch breaks.

Meetings were held with all senior leaders and two governors, including the new Chair of theGoverning Body.

Inspectors took into account 50 responses to the online Parent View questionnaire. They talkedinformally to parents and held telephone discussions with a small sample. Inspectors alsoconsidered, alongside other evidence, issues raised through several complaints submitted toOfsted prior to the inspection.

Responses from 11 staff questionnaires were analysed.

Inspectors looked at a range of documentation, including the senior leaders’ summary of theschool’s effectiveness, policy documents and minutes of the governing body ’s meetings. Noschool improvement plan was available for inspectors to scrutinise.

Inspection team

Margaret Dickinson, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

Phillip Minns Her Majesty’s Inspector




Full report

In accordance with the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that thisschool requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard ofeducation and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not

demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. Inspectors strongly recommend that the school should not seek to appoint newly qualified

teachers.

Information about this school

Discovery New School is a small Montessori primary school. Montessori is a method of teachingthat is based upon the principle that children have innate curiosity and interest in learning, andthat by presenting the child with the right environment and materials, children should makeprogress and learn to be self-motivated and independent. The school opened in September 2011as one of the first free schools in the country and the first Montessori free school. The school

started with pupils from Reception to Year 3. Currently, the oldest pupils are in Year 4. Theschool will, in time, grow to the full primary age range, catering for pupils up to Year 6.

The proportion of pupils who receive extra help in class (school action) is well below average.The proportion who need more help than this (school action plus) or who have a statement ofspecial educational needs is well above average.

The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for support through the pupil premium (additionalgovernment funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, those in the care ofthe local authority and those with a parent serving in the armed forces) is well below average.This school does not have any pupils who are in the care of the local authority or whose parentsare in the armed forces.

Just under half of the pupils come from White British backgrounds, with most of the remainingpupils coming from other White or mixed ethnic groups.

The school’s senior leadership team comprises the headteacher, the business director and thespecial educational needs coordinator.

What does the school need to do to improve further?

Improve teaching urgently so that none is inadequate and more is good or better by:

providing systematic training for teachers to fill the gaps in their knowledge so that they feel

confident to teach reading, writing and mathematics successfullymaking better use of reading sessions to support weaker readers, promote a love of readingand broaden pupils’ knowledge of books and authors

improving the effectiveness of teaching assistants so that they make a strong contribution topupils’ learning in every lesson

making sure that writing skills are systematically planned and taught and that all pupils receivemore help to improve their work, through marking, advice and short-term targets

providing more specific support and training for teachers and teaching assistants on how toidentify and support pupils who have special educational needs and those of lower ability.

Improve pupils’ progress rapidly, particularly in reading and writing, by:

raising senior leaders’ and teachers’ expectations of the standard of work pupils should aspireto for their ages and capabilities

improving the quality of teachers’ plans so that they help all pupils to make good oroutstanding progress in lessons and, particularly, over time




making sure that assessments of what pupils know and can do are accurate and are used toplan the right work for all pupils, to help them thrive and flourish academically

keeping parents much better informed about their children’s progress so that they are in abetter position to support their learning at home.

Urgently improve the effectiveness and impact of the senior leadership team by:

strengthening senior leaders’ capacity to evaluate the school’s strengths and weaknessesaccurately and reliably, with a sharp focus on pupils’ learning and progress

ensuring that leaders adopt a more strategic approach to the school’s improvement, identifyclear priorities and draw up an effective plan for rapid improvement

providing training for the senior teachers in monitoring the quality of teaching and learning sothat their judgements become accurate, and teachers are helped to teach good or betterlessons

ensuring that pupils’ progress in reading, writing and mathematics is formally checked at leastsix times each year, that assessments are accurate and that they are used well to promotegood progress

improving the organisation and management of provision for pupils with special educationalneeds so that these pupils have a well-organised, structured and tailored programme ofsupport that everyone concerned knows and follows.

Improve governance by:

providing training for governors on how best to hold the school’s leaders to account andprovide a helpful degree of challenge for the senior leadership team

making sure governors are fully aware of the strengths and weaknesses in teaching andachievement, know what is being done to improve the weaker aspects and are clear aboutwhether or not actions are working

making sure that the arrangements for the headteacher’s and teachers’ performancemanagement meet statutory requirements

writing clear procedures that are understood by all staff and assure impartiality, and ensurethat they are followed should a complaint be made against a member of staff.




Inspection judgements

The achievement of pupils is inadequate

The pupils who have been in school since it opened have not made enough academic progress.Parents who are concerned about their children’s progress, and want more information from the

school on how well their children are doing, are right to be worried. Too many pupils are notreaching their potential and are not having the chance to benefit from a good education. Theflaws in how the school checks pupils’ progress is holding back their learning, particularly inreading and writing. The gaps in pupils’ knowledge are not being identified and filled.

Pupils’ work is not checked regularly enough to find out what they can or cannot do. Attainmentin reading and writing is much lower than it should be. Inspectors found some assessments wereover-generous.

Pupils’ work in mathematics is better than their reading and writing. The school’s approach ismore systematic in mathematics and pupils do not have as many gaps in their learning in thissubject.

Pupils who have special educational needs do not receive enough support to help them learnand succeed. The plans for these pupils are not organised or communicated well enough tomake sure that all staff are clear about what is needed for each pupil.

Pupils in Year 1 have not made enough progress since they left Reception. The school has notmade good use of the information provided by the local authority on these children’s attainmentat the end of the Reception Year. Their attainment was below average in important areas.Leaders have not done enough to help them catch up this year.

Pupils are not learning to read successfully. They are not developing a strong foundation in earlyreading skills because the teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds they make) is weak. Pupilsstruggle too much to read words they should find easy. Last year, a lower proportion of pupilsreached the expected mark in the national reading check for six-year-olds than was the case

nationally. This applied especially to girls. The Year 1 pupils who did not reach the expectedstandard have not been helped to catch up quickly while in Year 2.

Teachers’ expectations of the quality of pupils’ writing are too low. Unfinished, untidy writing,with inaccurate spelling and incorrectly formed letters is the norm in too many pupils’ books.Pupils struggle to spell words they should know because their knowledge of phonics is notsecure. Once a week, they write longer pieces and some of this work is of a better quality.

Senior leaders have not identified potential gaps between the Montessori curriculum and aspectsof English and mathematics on which pupils are tested at Year 2 and, in time, will be tested at Year 6. For example, pupils do not have enough opportunities to apply their mathematicalknowledge and understanding in problem-solving situations. Teachers want to put their pupils inthe best position for the national assessments but have not had enough training to do so.

The school has not been open long enough to make comparisons between the Year 2assessments from one year to another. The number of pupils supported through the pupilpremium last year was very low and too small to make reliable statistical comparisons in Englishand mathematics.

The quality of teaching is inadequate

Teachers have not received enough support from senior leaders to help them teach the aspectsof reading, writing and mathematics with which they are less familiar. The gaps in teachers’knowledge are preventing pupils from developing a good grounding in basic skills, particularly in

literacy. Aspects of mathematics are also not being taught well. Pupils are not assessed carefully enough to find out the strengths and gaps in their skills and

knowledge. Teachers have not had enough guidance on how to assess pupils’ work accurately.When inspectors looked at pupils’ books, or heard them read, the inspectors’ assessments of thepupils’ attainment often did not match those of the school.




Teaching does not allow pupils opportunities to make choices for themselves, or to express theirideas and to experiment. In one lesson, all pupils in Reception and Year 1 had to make a hot airballoon in the same way. There was no option for pupils to put their own stamp on theirdesigns, take an alternative approach or experiment with different materials.

Teachers do not have a secure enough knowledge of how to teach phonics. Pupils who struggleto read different sounds and blend them together to read whole words do not get enough help.Reading sessions are not used well to encourage reading, support weaker readers or inspirethose who are fluent to broaden their diet in reading.

A lot of written work is undated and unmarked. Pupils do not get the help they need to improvetheir reading and writing skills. They are not sure how well they are doing in reading, writing andmathematics and what they should do to make their work better.

Staff are caring towards pupils and there is a happy atmosphere in classrooms. Teachers areencouraging when talking to pupils on an individual basis. They listen to pupils’ views andpreferences and are sensitive when pupils become demanding or distressed.

When pupils make choices, within a structured situation, their learning is more successfulbecause they are clear what they have to achieve. Some of the lessons observed during the

inspection were too relaxed. Pupils were seen wandering without purpose for too long in somelessons, achieving very little. On one occasion, the pupils were sitting with coats on and bookbags to hand, ready to go home, when the timetable showed 20 minutes of ‘story time’ and ‘practical life’ .

Teachers have not received enough support to help them identify and teach pupils who havespecial educational needs successfully. Learning for these pupils is not sufficiently adapted tohelp them take part fully in lessons and succeed. This is particularly the case for pupils who havebehavioural and/or emotional difficulties. Work is not adapted well enough for pupils who areless able, some of whom are inappropriately identified as having special educational needs.

Teaching assistants are not deployed well enough. They are not well briefed by the teachers sothat they are clear what is expected of them and how they should support pupils’ learning.

The behaviour and safety of pupils require improvement

Pupils enjoy school and several told inspectors they preferred this school to their previous one.Pupils are polite and cooperative. They relate well to one another and show initiative. Some stepin spontaneously to try and mediate when others find it hard to manage their own behaviour.

Pupils take responsibility readily, clearing away plates, helping to serve food or loading thedishwasher at lunchtimes.

Some unsettled behaviour was seen during lessons, not necessarily caused by the pupils whoare known to have difficulty behaving well. Some pupils are over-boisterous at lunchtime and

adults supervising play do not always step in early enough to defuse disagreements betweenpupils.

Pupils are good at getting on with their work independently, particularly the older ones.However, there are times when pupils’ attention wanders for too long and they spend longperiods of time not participating in lessons. This happened in a physical education lesson for Years 2 to 4, when too many pupils did very little.

Pupils report that there is some teasing and unkind behaviour in school from time to time. Theyare clear about what happens if they misbehave Inspectors asked several pupils what happenedon these occasions and all were clear that pupils were sent to the headteacher.

Pupils’ attendance is broadly in line with the national average.

The leadership and management are inadequate

Over a third of parents who submitted their views, through Parent View, disagree or strongly




disagree that the school is well led and managed. These parents are right to have concerns.Inspectors could not identify any strengths in the school’s leadership and management.

The leadership of teaching is inadequate. Teaching is not checked regularly to make sure it is asgood as it needs to be. The headteacher reported to inspectors that she does not have the skillsto do this. Teachers responded well to feedback from inspectors and expressed appreciation foradvice and suggestions. Leaders do not provide enough helpful feedback for staff on a regularbasis. Performance management for staff is not fully in place and is a factor in the inadequateteaching.

Senior leaders have not dealt with the weaknesses that were identified by an advisor from theDepartment for Education in September 2012. The key priorities from this report were to:improve pupils’ progress in reading and writing; improve teaching; and develop better systemsfor keeping pupils’ attainment and progress under review. None of these have been dealt with;all remain key weaknesses in the school.

Senior leaders do not have the capacity to evaluate the school’s effectiveness accurately. Theyare unclear about the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Leaders describe at length what ishappening, or about to happen. They do not have a diagnostic approach to checking whether ornot actions have made a difference to pupils’ learning, progress or behaviour. There is nostrategic plan to guide priorities and improve the school’s effectiveness.

Leadership of provision for pupils with special educational needs is inadequate. The plans forindividual pupils, especially those who need help with their behaviour, are not good enough.Some pupils who are less able are identified as having special educational needs when betterteaching would support their learning more effectively.

The senior leaders were not well prepared for the inspection. The key documents and evidencethat all schools are asked to provide for inspectors were very slow to materialise and had to bechased up several times.

The governance of the school:

Governors do not know the strengths and weaknesses of the school and have not been involved

in checking its effectiveness. They have relied too much on the views of the headteacher, whohas reassured them that the school was providing a good education with good teaching. This isnot the case. Governors have not used the School Data Dashboard, available on Ofsted’swebsite, to ask leaders essential questions about pupils’ attainment. They are not familiar withthe pupils’ achievement, including how well different groups of pupils are performing. Governorshave not made sure that proper arrangements for managing teachers’ performance are in place.The turnover in governors has been high, given the length of time the school has been open.This has left governors unable to assure inspectors that the headteacher’s performancemanagement has been carried out in line with statutory guidance. The arrangements forsafeguarding pupils are appropriate, with all necessary checks carried out and recorded. Thegoverning body has not considered well enough the procedures that need to be in place for

complaints.




What inspection judgements mean

School

Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes

that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensuresthat pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of theireducation, training or employment.

Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide wellfor all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stageof their education, training or employment.

Grade 3 Requiresimprovement

A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but itis not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within24 months from the date of this inspection.

Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and

requires significant improvement but leadership and managementare judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regularmonitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

A school that requires special measures is one where the school isfailing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education andthe school’s leaders, managers or governors have notdemonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessaryimprovement in the school. This school will receive regularmonitoring by Ofsted inspectors.




School details

Unique reference number 137326

Local authority West Sussex

Inspection number 400337

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

Type of school Academy free school

School category Maintained

Age range of pupils 4 –9

Gender of pupils Mixed

Number of pupils on the school roll 62

Appropriate authority The governing body

Chair Mr Chris Clark

Headteacher Mrs Lindsay Snowdon

Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected

Telephone number 01293 649320

Fax number Not applicable

Email address [email protected]



Any complaints about the inspection or the report should be made following the procedures set out in the

guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted ', which is available from Ofsted’s website:

www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300

123 4234, or email [email protected] .

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofstedwill use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools toinspect and when and as part of the inspection.

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think aboutschools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the linkon the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) regulates and inspects to

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners

of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children

and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-

based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in

prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects servicesfor looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school

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ofsted report - discovery new school

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