Vermont School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils who join this school have had challenging experiences of education previously. At this school, they feel safe and secure as they become part of the 'Vermont family'. All pupils at the school have an education, health and care plan.

Pupils appreciate that their teachers get to know them as individuals and understand their needs.

Although pupils are cared for well, they do not always learn as well as they should. Lessons are often disrupted because behaviour is not always managed effectively.

Classrooms do not always provide the calm orderly learning environments which pupils need to be able to focus and achieve.

Unkind behaviour and prejud...icial language sometimes happen at the school. However, it is dealt with when it happens and is not tolerated by leaders.

Pupils feel safe at school and know they can speak to an adult if they are feeling worried.

Pupils enjoy a range of lunchtime clubs such as football, art and gaming. Although these have been introduced recently, they are already popular and participation is high.

Pupils benefit from these activities because they provide opportunities for them to develop their social skills and build positive relationships with their peers.

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

Leaders have ensured that there is a planned and sequenced curriculum at the school in an appropriately broad range of subjects. Some of this curriculum has been developed recently and is still being embedded.

The school introduced a phonics programme in September. Although this is being delivered well, the school is still developing its approach to identifying and supporting struggling readers. In all subjects, teachers assess how well pupils are learning.

However, they do not always use this information to ensure that their lessons are ambitious and challenging enough.

When lessons are focused, pupils benefit from the curriculum on offer. However, disruptive behaviour is too common due to a lack of embedded routines for learning.

This prevents pupils from making as much progress as they should.

The number of violent incidents at the school has increased recently. Physical interventions by staff are sometimes used to keep pupils safe.

Although carried out proportionately, leaders rightly recognise the need for these interventions to be reduced through more effective de-escalation and management of behaviour across the school. Similarly, the number of suspensions is high and could be reduced if more serious behavioural incidents were prevented. The school is taking action to address this.

Leaders have introduced a new behaviour policy and are training staff in its application. Although it is too early to see the full impact of this work, there are initial signs of a positive impact.

To support pupils' personal development, they learn about important topics such as healthy and appropriate relationships.

Pupils are also taught about how to manage and communicate their emotions, helping them to become more moral and responsible citizens. Like the rest of the curriculum, this part of the school's offer is not as effective as it could be because pupils are not always focused on their learning.

Although overall attendance figures are similar to national averages, there are still too many pupils who are persistently absent.

The school is working to reduce this number and has strengthened its attendance systems.

The school has experienced some disruption to its leadership and staffing over the course of this academic year. This has had a negative impact on the quality and consistency of education pupils have received.

The governing body and local authority have commissioned interim support for the school's leadership team. This temporary arrangement has ensured that the school is beginning to make necessary improvements. Most of the school's governing body are new to their roles.

They have quickly established an accurate understanding of the school and take an active role in supporting and challenging leaders. The school is part of the Aspire Community Trust and has made use of support from local English and mathematics hubs when reviewing the curriculum.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Not all staff are clear about the importance of maintaining appropriate physical boundaries with pupils. This was identified during the inspection, and the school has acted quickly alongside the local authority to ensure that additional training is delivered.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Routines for managing pupils' behaviour are not well embedded and understood by staff.

This sometimes results in the unnecessary escalation of behavioural incidents. Leaders should continue their work to establish the new behaviour policy and ensure that all staff are trained to apply it effectively. This will help to ensure that behaviour does not escalate and reduce the need for physical interventions and suspensions.

• Teachers do not demonstrate a secure understanding of effective teaching approaches. Activities are not always well chosen, and transitions between tasks are sometimes disorderly, leading to lost learning. The school should provide further training so that all teachers have a clear understanding of effective teaching strategies and classroom routines.

Information gathered through assessment is not always used well to adapt learning for pupils. Leaders should ensure that teachers understand how to use information about what pupils know to ensure that lesson content is sufficiently challenging and ambitious. This will help to ensure that learning activities are always purposeful.

• Until very recently, staff have been frustrated by a lack of clear vision and direction in the school. Leaders should continue to engage meaningfully with staff, developing clearer systems and processes where needed. This will help to motivate staff and lead to more consistent experiences for pupils.

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