Kingsley High School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Kingsley High School continues to be an outstanding school.

What is it like to attend this school?

A deep sense of care and positive energy permeate through this school. The staff know the pupils and their individual needs inside out. They plan forensically to address these in a bespoke manner.

This includes for every pupil's health, care, social and academic needs. Every small step of progress and achievement is celebrated. This makes for a happy school, full of smiles.

Pupils are safe, enjoying trusting working relationships with adults.

The school's leaders focus their attention squarely on giving pupils the care, knowledge and skills to enable them to gain ind...ependence and be prepared for adulthood. The teaching, support and therapeutic staff work in unison to deliver this high ambition with great success.

Parents and carers are consistently kept in the loop. Staff give them guidance to play their part in helping their children reach their goals for the future.

Pupils' behaviour and attitudes are strong.

Staff are adept at noticing the signs when a pupil might have rising anxiety. They step in quickly and effectively to give pupils a short break. This helps them to calm down and return to their learning.

The school has an extensive programme to promote pupils' personal development. For example, the Kingsley daily mile supports pupils' health and well-being. It gives them opportunities to be taught about road safety and to get to know the local community.

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

Well before pupils join the school, staff work with their previous schools and with their parents to meet and get to know the pupils and understand their bespoke needs. They also organise a well-considered transition programme. This helps pupils get to know and become familiar with their new school and the staff who will work with them.

Pupils, therefore, settle down quickly as they get the care, support and teaching they need right from the start.School leaders have, in recent years, given careful thought to revamping and developing a highly ambitious curriculum. It includes a broad range of topics and knowledge chosen towards the goal of preparation for adulthood.

These choices are skilfully interwoven with the school's designed aspirational skills targets. Pupils master new knowledge and these skills as they progress through the school. Teachers and support staff have the expertise to deliver the curriculum effectively.

Based on the information on pupils' education, health and care plans, the school creates a bespoke pupil learning plan. This sets out a range of small-step targets. Staff frequently check on pupils' progress and as they reach their goals, new targets are set.

As a result, pupils' individual achievement is high.

Teaching pupils to communicate is extremely high on the agenda. Staff work closely with speech and language therapists.

They are trained in the use of a wide range of techniques and communication strategies and tools. These approaches enable non-verbal pupils to be included. They learn to convey their choices, answer questions and express their desires and requests.

Reading is used extensively. Staff read published books and sensory books as appropriate to the needs of each class. They also create many of their own social stories to which pupils can relate.

These activities give pupils joy and knowledge. There is a programme of phonics teaching for the few who are at the very early stage of being able to begin to read, and these pupils are learning the sounds that letters make.

The school works with parents and a range of agencies, including medical staff, to support pupils' ability to attend school as regularly as possible.

Within the context of the school, attendance is high. Staff have extensive training in behaviour management. Staff are extremely nimble in identifying underlying causes of behaviours that are challenging.

They quickly put in strategies to help pupils overcome any barriers. As a result, pupils learn important social skills, resulting in calm and purposeful lessons and social times.

The school provides pupils with extensive enrichment opportunities.

Trips include to places of worship, parks and the seaside. They go to external venues for football, tennis and swimming. An external arts agency works with this and other special schools on themed projects, such as on diversity.

These are showcased publicly. All classes prepare for and take part in the annual Kingsley's got talent event. Last year, for example, each class made a short musicals-based film.

The screening for parents and other visitors had pupils selling tickets, acting as ushers and making and selling refreshments. Post-16 students are given effective careers guidance. They have opportunities for work experience in school.

They also have interactions with local business. Chosen units of study help students to gain skills for independent living. For example, content includes personal hygiene, how to make healthy soups and using cleaning products.

Most students continue with courses at a local college and others go to other suitable placements.

School leaders and the governing body all share, communicate and deliver their aspirations for giving all pupils the very best life chances they can. Staff value the many changes made in recent years to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy.

They said that leaders are approachable and take care of their well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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 the school to be outstanding in May 2014.