Humberston Park School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Humberston Park School continues to be an outstanding school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Humberston Park School is an extremely friendly and welcoming school.

Staff are highly skilled. They know their pupils well and care passionately about them. All staff have a precise knowledge of the needs of each pupil.

Pupils say that they love school and enjoy their learning, particularly when stories are involved. They feel happy and know that teachers keep them safe.

Pupils' behaviour is superb.

All areas of the school are calm. Classrooms are structured areas where learning can take place. Independence is promoted through activities that are planned....

Staff are on hand to facilitate and develop this independence. Pupils are not worried about bullying. They know that adults will help if other pupils are unkind to them.

Day-to-day routines are established and clear. Pupils know exactly what they need to do. Support from staff is carried out with dignity and respect.

Pupils work hard and achieve well at this school. Teachers' expectations of pupils are high. They ensure that pupils have the right support at the right time to help them to progress.

Functional skills, such as those required in making a sandwich, telling the time or going shopping, are taught to all year groups. This ensures that by the time they leave school, pupils are very well prepared for adult life.

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

The quality of education at Humberston Park School is outstanding.

Leaders, staff and governors are extremely ambitious for pupils to achieve their full potential. Leaders have thought hard about what each individual pupil needs to learn as they move through the school. Teachers understand each pupil's specific special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in detail.

They use the pupils' education, health and care (EHC) plans very well to plan individual learning experiences. Teachers receive ongoing support and highly effective training to improve their skills. Link workers in each classroom champion key areas for each pupil, for example reading or physical development.

Teachers successfully meet the educational and social needs of pupils, which enables pupils to know and remember more.

Leaders want all pupils to be able to communicate and be ready to learn. As soon as pupils join the school, they start to learn the communication skills they need.

Staff use a variety of methods to develop communication skills with individual pupils depending on their need and ability. This is successful in giving all pupils the opportunity to express their feelings and opinions. Pupils enjoy a range of activities, both individually and in groups, to develop their attention and listening skills.

Snack time is used well to encourage pupils to communicate with adults and their friends, to make choices and to experience new foods.

Pupils develop their love of reading by listening, reading, watching and experiencing a variety of stories. These stories are carefully chosen to excite and educate pupils.

For example, stories that help pupils to manage their emotions are used. Teachers use a wide range of props to support storytelling. A fan and water spray were used to support a story about the weather, for example.

Leaders ensure that pupils learn about the wider world. Pupils were proud of their achievements in singing, dancing and the talent show. They also spoke knowledgably about current affairs, for example, the Australian bush fires.

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, particularly online. The school has well-equipped outdoor areas. Pupils use these to develop their coordination and balance skills during breaktimes.

Leaders have made sure that the systems to assess pupils' progress closely match their needs. The system tracks pupils' progress according to their EHC plan. Teachers use these assessments to plan individualised work that challenges pupils to learn and develop further.

Sixth-form students get precisely the support they need to help them to get ready for when they leave school. Visitors from local colleges come in to work with teachers and students. This gives students the chance to experience the courses on offer, such as hairdressing and beauty therapy.

Work experience is offered within the school, for example through helping the dinner staff or supporting younger children in the nursery. Students also take part in planning, shopping and cooking activities, where they learn vital life skills such as budgeting and making a simple meal.

Pupils can concentrate on their work because behaviour is managed exceptionally well.

Pupils show respect to visitors, teachers and their friends. Members of staff use the same respectful and calm approach. This helps pupils to know exactly what is expected of them.

Staff say that leaders care about their well-being. They speak highly about the support they receive and the school's 'open-door' policy. Leaders lead by example.

They ensure that staff have the training and support they need to develop.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders carry out thorough checks to ensure that all adults are safe to work with children.

Safeguarding training is regular and relevant. Staff are aware of their responsibilities in keeping children safe.

Exceptionally strong knowledge of each pupil ensures that staff notice immediately when pupils might be at risk of harm.

Any concerns about a pupil's safety or welfare are quickly reported to the safeguarding team, which looks into concerns promptly. Leaders ensure that pupils get the help and support they need.

Background

When we have judged a special 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 a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding in June 2015.

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