Heaton School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, who all have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are well cared for at this school. They enjoy positive working relationships with staff and are happy to attend every day. For example, pupils receive a warm welcome when they arrive at school.

This helps to create a calm, positive start to the day. Staff are well trained to support pupils with their behaviour. The school uses its environment effectively to support pupils' behaviour.

Some pupils are increasingly able to manage their own behaviour and emotions. They behave well in lessons, at lunchtime and when they move around the school. They know who they can turn to if they have any worries ...or concerns.

The school ensures that pupils receive a wide variety of experiences and trips. For example, pupils consolidate their understanding of different life-skills in the community by visiting local shops and cafes.

The school wants the very best for its pupils.

Currently, the school is adapting and improving the curriculum which pupils receive. While some progress has been made, there is still not enough clarity around the curriculum content in some subjects. The school does not give enough thought in specific subjects to how pupils' learning will build year on year.

Changes to the reading curriculum, particularly for phonics, are still in the earliest stages. This means that the reading curriculum does not support pupils well enough to develop their reading skills. Across different subjects, some pupils do not achieve as well as they could.

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

The school has started to respond to the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection. It began to scrutinise the curriculum which was on offer for pupils. There is further work to do to ensure that the curriculum is suitably ambitious in all subjects.

In subjects which are further developed, the school has identified the knowledge which pupils need to learn. There is a clear focus on the steps which pupils need to take through the curriculum. This improves pupils' knowledge and understanding in small, incremental steps.

Pupils achieve well in these subjects.

In these subjects, curriculum leadership is secure, so there is a secure oversight of subjects. This supports staff's understanding of the curriculum.

As a result, teachers understand what they should be teaching and deliver these curriculums well. Within these subjects, teachers also identify successfully what pupils should have retained from their previous learning. They can, with increasing precision, identify what the next steps are for pupils in their learning.

That said, there are still several subjects which have not had the same level of curriculum thinking. Curriculum leadership in these subjects is not as strong. It is not clear for teachers what pupils need to learn and when they should learn it.

Teachers' use of assessment information is also not as effective. They are therefore unsure of what pupils have remembered from previous learning. This means that they do not deliver the curriculum as effectively as they do in other more established subjects.

In these subjects, pupils do not achieve consistently well.

In the sixth form, the curriculum overall is more carefully thought out than in other year groups. Staff deliver it consistently.

Students are prepared successfully for adulthood. They learn about different employment opportunities, healthy relationships and independent living. This includes students reading recipes to plan a meal, learning how to budget when buying the ingredients and then visiting the local shop to purchase the ingredients.

The school ensures that staff understand each pupil's SEND before pupils join the school. This helps staff to know what individual pupils' needs are and to help them overcome any barriers to learning. Individual plans identify pupils' targets.

However, at times, these do not take into enough consideration what pupils already know or can do.

Reading is not prioritised as highly as it should be. The school environment does not support pupils to develop a love of reading.

The school responded to the previous inspection by putting a phonics programme in place. Staff have different levels of subject knowledge as some staff have not received the necessary training that they need to deliver this programme. This leads to inconsistencies in how well the scheme is implemented.

On occasion, the books which pupils read are not well matched to their phonics knowledge. As a result, pupils sometimes read books which are too easy or too difficult for them to practise reading the sounds that they know.

Overall, pupils display positive attitudes towards their learning.

Many pupils concentrate well in lessons. They remain focussed at times, even when they find the work challenging. Pupils cooperate well with each other.

They share equipment well. Pupils attend school often. For pupils who do not come to school as often as they should, the school takes effective action to improve their attendance over time.

Pupils' wider development is well considered. For example, they go on trips to museums, libraries and the local park. Pupils are supported to take on extra responsibilities.

For example, they are encouraged to join the school council or to organise events to raise money for charity. The school has arranged key learning experiences for pupils around their personal safety. Pupils discussed how they keep themselves safe in different contexts and situations.

Governors are aware that the quality of education needs to improve. They have enhanced their systems to monitor the school's effectiveness. This is giving them a greater understanding of how well the school is performing.

Governors' ability to challenge the school to bring about the necessary improvements, is also improving. Both governors and the school are mindful of staff's workload and well-being. In general, staff appreciate how the school has streamlined some of its systems to give them the necessary time to prepare their lessons.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some subject curriculums are still at an early stage of development. In these subjects, there is still not enough clarity around the knowledge and skills that pupils should learn.

As a result, teachers find it difficult to know what pupils should learn and by when. The school should finalise its curriculum thinking swiftly in these final few subjects. ? In some subjects, the school has not ensured that curriculum leadership is able to evaluate the implementation and impact of the curriculum.

Staff do not have the necessary guidance that they require in these subjects to deliver the curriculums consistently. The school should ensure that curriculum leadership in these final subjects is further developed. ? In some subjects, the school's methods for assessment are not used well enough.

Teachers do not have a secure enough knowledge of pupils' learning to identify any gaps in pupils' understanding. This means that they cannot plan to ensure that these gaps in knowledge diminish over time. The school should ensure that staff gain a deeper understanding of the assessment systems in these subjects so that they can identify gaps in pupils' knowledge.

• Some staff do not have the subject knowledge needed to support pupils at the early stages of reading. This means that some pupils do not develop the skills and knowledge that they need to become more fluent, confident readers. The school should ensure that staff have the required knowledge to teach phonics and reading skills effectively.

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