Henry Tyndale School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Henry Tyndale School continues to be an outstanding school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Henry Tyndale is a happy, caring and inclusive school.

There is a smile and warm greeting for each pupil every time they meet an adult. Positive relationships help pupils to flourish. Their days are full of interesting activities.

Leaders and teachers set high standards. They expect maximum effort, but they make learning fun and always praise good work.

Pupils are treated as individuals, and they are also very much part of a social group.

Right from the early years, children learn to listen and develop language skills. Step by step, they grow in confidence a...nd find effective ways to communicate their ideas. Each class has a weekly visit to the local community to apply their learning with a real-life task.

They might go to the swimming pool or park, buy shopping from the supermarket, or visit the library.

Pupils told inspectors that they feel safe at school. Staff are always on hand to help them with any worries.

Pupils behave very well. Skilled staff support any pupil who struggles so they can get back to learning. Staff notice and deal with every incident.

Records confirm that bullying is very unusual.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders and governors place pupils at the heart of all that they do. Their vision has inspired an impressive redesign of the already strong curriculum.

It now meets pupils' complex needs through flexible pathways that are precisely tailored to pupils' individual needs. Personal development and communication thread through every aspect of school life. An exemplary assessment framework sets out in detail the sequence of learning.

Teachers know exactly how to support pupils to build knowledge successfully across a broad range of subjects.

Pupils learn through stimulating topics that are a means to experience big concepts, such as life in the past. In a recent 'Fire and Ice' topic, pupils found out about the Titanic and the Fire of London.

Pupils often go further afield in connection with their topics. Secondary pupils learn how to look after themselves. Residential visits make a rich contribution to increasing pupils' independence.

Sixth-form students enjoy work experience either in school or the locality. Teachers prepare students very well, so they are ready for adulthood. Pupils of all ages enjoy learning activities that involve music and songs.

They like stories brought to life through sensory experiences.

Developing children's communication and language is of prime importance in the Reception classes. Children settle quickly into routines.

At snack time, for example, they learn to make a choice by using picture exchange. Some pupils learn to ask with a short sentence. Throughout the school, teachers use careful observations of pupils' learning to plan what comes next.

They select the right approaches and resources to support learning the basic skills. The school's reading programme is very effective. Some pupils make steady improvement to learn phonics and decoding.

They learn to read words and books with growing independence. Most pupils are non-verbal. They are very well supported to use alternative communication strategies.

They learn to read and write using symbols. Teachers set up tablets with personalised pages to assist each pupil's communication. In time, pupils become adept at using these to ask and answer questions, and to have a short conversation.

Teachers take every opportunity to increase pupils' independence and well-being. They learn about making relationships, such as having a boyfriend or girlfriend. Adults support pupils to think about the choices they might make.

Personal development knowledge increases in the sixth form. Here, students deepen their understanding about self-care. They learn how to maintain their personal hygiene and practise some of the domestic work they will need to do at home.

They enjoy learning about horticulture in the school grounds and engaging in work experience in the wider community. Staff support students to make visits to other providers before making a choice at their next annual review. A 'moving on fair' supports students to identify what they want to do next.

School staff make excellent use of guidance from professional partners. Supportive therapies improve pupils' movement, speech and language, and their well-being. Several parents told inspectors that their children achieve in ways they never thought could be possible.

Regular therapeutic input enables some pupils to improve their physical strength. These important changes mean pupils can learn more easily.Staff use positive approaches to manage pupils' behaviour.

They know that all behaviour conveys a message and they interpret it well. Teachers put actions in place that result in change. The curriculum teaches pupils about behaving well.

Older pupils are able to identify safe and unsafe behaviour. Breaktime is calm and well-supervised, and lunch is eaten in a family-friendly setting. Pupils like to play alongside the adults.

The staff encourage cooperation, for example by joining in with a parachute game.Staff say that leaders are visible. Their door is always open, and they listen and act if staff have concerns about workload.

Staff feel appreciated and are proud of the high quality of training that the school offers. The governing body is knowledgeable about its role and is dedicated to the school's continuing improvement. It has provided a firm steer through recent changes.

Leaders are well placed to manage the school's imminent growth in size, when it will occupy three sites.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders oversee clear safeguarding processes.

Everyone has comprehensive training and regular updates. Staff know every pupil very well, including how to manage intimate care needs. They do this with dignity.

Staff report even the smallest of concerns. Leaders waste no time in responding to any worry and they make sensible decisions. They know that many pupils have additional challenging needs for families to meet.

They work proactively with parents, carers and other agencies. Leaders advocate on behalf of pupils and are relentless in getting exactly the right support.

Background

When we have judged a school to be outstanding, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains outstanding.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding in December 2011.