The Harbour School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This school is a lifeline for many pupils.

For most pupils, the school is now a calm, stable environment where they can learn. Relationships are positive and pupils feel confident to talk to an adult in school about their worries and aspirations. Across all provisions, kind and caring staff act promptly to ensure pupils are safe and get the help they need.

However, for a minority of pupils, expectations remain too low, leading to learning being frequently disrupted by poor behaviour.

Pupils benefit from the changes throughout the school. They appreciate the priority given to careers and exploring possible future destinations.

There are increasingly h...igh aspirations for pupils' achievement and many pupils are now getting a much better education. However, many of the recent changes are in the early stages of implementation. This means the quality of education varies between the different groups of pupils and the different school sites.

Although it is one school, The Harbour has six different provisions operating across multiple sites, catering to six distinct groups of pupils with different special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Improvement work is having a positive impact for some sites, but not all. As a result, some pupils achieve well, but some pupils do not.

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

Leaders have reorganised the school, redesigned the curriculum and stabilised staffing. A coherent and ambitious curriculum is now in place. This supports teachers in knowing what to teach and when and is driving improvements in the quality of education for most pupils.

However, it is too early to see the full impact of the school's actions. Most notably, the curriculum for the youngest pupils still requires significant improvement.

Teaching is strongest for pupils in the school's Vista, Horizons and Lighthouse provisions.

Staff there have good subject knowledge. They adapt teaching to meet pupils' needs and use resources effectively to help pupils understand new concepts. Teachers check pupils' understanding and adjust the work they give pupils accordingly.

This helps pupils to experience success in their learning. As a result, they are engaged, and many go on to achieve well. However, this is not true for all pupils.

The quality of teaching is more variable at The Bridge and The Bay, where not all staff have the knowledge they need to deliver the curriculum effectively. Furthermore, it is at these two provisions where expectations for behaviour are neither clear nor consistent. As a result, for some pupils, learning is frequently impeded by poor behaviour.

Attendance needs to be improved. For some hard-to-reach pupils, often with a history of disengagement from education, the school's specialist provision supports them to attend regularly. This must be celebrated.

However, for other pupils, most notably those at The Bridge and The Bay, attendance is worryingly low, suspensions are high and the use of part-time timetables is commonplace. This fragments pupils' experience of school. As a result, some pupils have significant gaps in their learning.

Strong monitoring systems are now in place, but they need further refinement to ensure the school has accurate oversight of pupils' attendance and can evaluate the impact of its actions effectively.Reading has not been prioritised. There is no adequate provision in place to teach pupils the knowledge they need to read fluently.

This means pupils at the earlier stages of learning to read are not yet getting the help they need and are underachieving.

Pastoral support is a strength. In all provisions and across all sites, well-trained staff provide a range of nurturing and specialist support for pupils.

This, combined with efficient systems for identifying SEND and proactive work with external professionals, ensures pupils get the help they need. The school has also developed an ambitious personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) curriculum for pupils and is now working on ensuring it meets their wide-ranging needs.

Staff, leaders and those responsible for governance are united in a commitment to support Portsmouth's most vulnerable young people.

The school has embraced rapid improvement. As a result, the school is beginning to realise its vision. Staff feel valued and have a renewed sense of positivity under the school's new and inclusive leadership.

Staff are resolutely determined to improve things further. However, there is lots of work left to do. Some leaders are new to post, and some improvements, such as the new curriculum, have only very recently been implemented.

This means that many improvements have not yet had the impact that leaders intend.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Too many pupils are not coming to school regularly, and the school has not linked its use of part-time timetables with systems used to oversee and improve attendance.

Consequently, some pupils' experience of school is fragmented. These pupils have significant gaps in their knowledge, and the school does not always have a clear picture of the actions it is taking to address this. The school must refine systems and continue its work to urgently improve pupil attendance.

• The new curriculum is not being implemented consistently across all provisions and sites. This means the quality of teaching varies, and not all pupils achieve as well as they could. The school must continue its work to develop the subject and pedagogical knowledge that teachers need to confidently deliver the curriculum to pupils in a way that meets their needs.

• In some parts of the school, behaviour expectations are not clear and consistent. Here, poor behaviour and disruption to learning are frequent. The school must evaluate and improve its approach to behaviour management in these areas to create an environment conducive to learning.

• The school's curriculum for its youngest pupils is not fit for purpose. As a result, these pupils do not learn as well as others. The school must urgently review the primary curriculum and its implementation.

It must make rapid improvements, to ensure the youngest pupils achieve as well as other pupils. ? Aspects of the school's provision are not yet performing as leaders intend. The school must ensure that leaders at all levels receive the training and support needed to discharge their responsibilities effectively in line with the school's vision.