Vale of Evesham School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Every moment counts when it comes to 'learning for life' at Vale of Evesham School. The school has the highest expectations for all pupils. Pupils arrive with various learning barriers, such as autism spectrum disorder and speech, language, and communication needs.

Because of caring staff and determined leaders, these barriers are overcome, and expectations are fulfilled. Pupils leave as confident young adults, eager to be part of the world around them.

A strong focus on positive relationships is at the heart of this special community.

Staff act quickly when a pupil needs help or finds things difficult. There is a positive, calm environment in the school, whe...re pupils are cared for and valued. Pupils have varying understanding about bullying, but they agree that staff will be there for them if they need help.

Pupils are happy and safe because the staff care.

Forest schools, horticulture or pop-up cafes enrich pupils' time at school. Trips to places such as castles, the railway, rugby stadiums or local museums inspire an awareness of the community around them.

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

Over the last few years, the leadership team at Vale of Evesham has significantly changed. These changes have brought a fresh enthusiasm and drive to the school. Staff and leaders from both the residential and education provision combine to enrich the lives of very special pupils.

Leaders and governors have a detailed and clear understanding of what the school does well and could do even better. Support and challenge from the multi-academy trust have been timely and welcomed by the school, which is eager to get it right for all pupils.

Leaders and teachers strive to ensure they accurately understand the additional needs of the pupils.

Many pupils have communication needs. Others have conditions related to learning, health or sensory processing needs. By working with parents and specialist services, staff come to understand those needs.

Consequently, the school plans a precise and detailed provision for children to overcome their barriers to learning.

Leaders are highly ambitious for what they want pupils to learn at Vale of Evesham. They have devised a curriculum focusing on what knowledge their pupils will need to succeed in school and life.

Curriculum pathways provide opportunities for pupils to work with staff who are experts in special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Frequent staff training enhances their subject knowledge and skill in delivering lessons to children with varying SEND.

Children in the early years are happy and quickly become learners who like exploring and communicating.

Partnership with parents and carers is prioritised from the start. Staff are skilful in spotting when early learning happens. A well-planned and organised environment provides opportunities to develop early physical, personal, and social skills.

The school works hard to ensure that pupils are engaged and purposeful in lessons. A focus on developing awareness of others, listening, shared attention, switching attention, and turn taking create the right conditions for pupils to get the most from the lesson. Staff support pupils to complete tasks in different ways, such as using symbols or pictures.

However, while some staff consistently use various communication systems, such as signing or symbols, others do not. This affects how much a pupil can understand, learn and remember from a lesson.

Recent changes have reinvigorated how reading is taught from the youngest to the oldest.

For those pupils who are not yet ready to learn phonics, attention, concentration, and developing a love of stories and books are the focus of lessons. When pupils can hear and recognise different sounds, phonics is taught skillfully. Pupils are excited about the books they choose to read and confident in answering questions about what they have read.

The school works hard to understand what pupils learn and how they learn best. For example, for those pupils with the most complex needs, staff have written detailed engagement profiles demonstrating how pupils learn best. However, while some staff use this information to inform how they adapt future lessons or interactions with pupils, others do not.

Students in the sixth form are happy and enjoy the opportunities provided to them. Weekly visits to a local college allow students to experience college life and complete different taster courses in animal care, bricklaying and independent living. However, students' voices are not always considered when designing programmes of study.

Consequently, the current courses do not always prepare students for their chosen path to employment, training or education.

Behaviour is a real strength. Sensory integration and carefully designed regulation plans help pupils regulate their emotions and feelings.

Consequently, very few moments are lost through unwanted behaviour or moments of distraction. Pupils attend school regularly. When attendance does drop, the school works hard to know where the pupil is, if they are safe and when they will be back at school.

Leaders have carefully considered what it is like to be a child or young person growing up in Worcestershire. For example, they understand what challenges the pupils will face in their local communities. Consequently, leaders ensure that staff have the training to keep pupils safe in and out of school.

This knowledge is then used to develop lessons to successfully help pupils develop protective behaviours.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school does not consistently implement the communication systems pupils need to access the curriculum.

While a broad and robust offer exists for developing staff's knowledge and skill in this area, some staff do not ensure pupils are supported with the appropriate spoken language, symbols or signing. This affects how engaged pupils are in their learning. The school needs to ensure that all staff act on the training provided to adapt the curriculum and provision to meet the children's receptive, processing, and expressive skills.

• The school does not yet consistently use assessment information from the Engagement Model to inform how the curriculum is implemented. This means that, in some cases, lessons and interactions with pupils are not always clearly focused on what pupils need to know or how they learn best. The school needs to ensure that the information gathered for the Engagement Model is used well for those pupils on the appropriate curriculum pathway so that lessons and interactions with pupils are based on how pupils learn best and focused on what they need to know next.

• The current curriculum for those students in the sixth form is not precisely planned or sequenced towards preparing students for the next steps. While students are happy, the school is unclear if the provision meets their ambitions or aspirations. The school needs to ensure that the sixth-form study programme is precisely designed, planned and implemented to prepare students for their own chosen next steps.

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