White Spire School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

White Spire School continues to be an outstanding school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are flourishing at this school. They achieve exceptionally well and their behaviour is exemplary.

Relationships between staff and pupils are highly positive. This helps pupils to feel safe and very well supported. Pupils are respectful and kind to others.

They enjoy one another's company and get on well together.

There is high ambition for every pupil. This is reflected in the palpable learning culture that permeates the school.

Staff instil pupils with confidence, aspiration and a belief that they can succeed. As a result, pupils work hard and do so wi...thout fear of failure, knowing that staff are there to support them. Pupils are full of pride about their achievements.

They are also immensely proud to be part of the 'White Spire Family'.

Pupils benefit from a diverse range of experiences that help to prepare them for adulthood. For example, they enjoy visits to shops and the local community and travel on public transport.

Older pupils take part in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme which includes overnight expeditions. Students in the sixth form gain valuable workplace skills by helping to run a community café, 'The Daily Grind'. They also benefit from a residential visit where they experience outdoor, adventurous activities.

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

The school's vision statement, 'Through Learning to Independence', sums up the school's determination to prepare pupils for adulthood. This is founded on a strong moral purpose and belief that all pupils, no matter their needs, can succeed and achieve. These fundamental principles underpin the curriculum and teaching at this school.

The success of this is seen in pupils' excellent achievement. This includes the qualifications they achieve and their successful pathways into further education or employment.

The curriculum is ambitious and coherently sequenced.

It is shaped around modified objectives drawn from the national curriculum. Staff successfully integrate pupils' outcomes from their education, health and care plans (EHC plan), creating a bespoke curriculum that meets pupils' needs exceptionally well. Pupils learn a broad range of subjects.

Priority is given to English, mathematics, cooking and personal, social and health education (PSHE). As pupils move into key stage 4, the curriculum is increasingly aligned with different qualification pathways. Skills for life are woven through this, ensuring that pupils acquire the knowledge they need for independent living.

The school has an unswerving focus on literacy and reading. Pupils at an early stage of learning to read receive regular phonics teaching. Along with frequent practice, this successfully builds pupils' knowledge and fluency.

Good-quality texts form the backbone of the English curriculum. Adapted versions of classic texts enable older pupils to access reading books appropriate to their age and maturity. Their growing ability to read unlocks a whole new world.

It enables pupils to read texts to support their learning in different subjects and in daily life.

Staff are knowledgeable and highly skilled. They adapt their approach and means of communication to cater for pupils' needs.

For example, they use Makaton signing and visual symbols. Staff break down learning so it is manageable for pupils. Frequent repetition is built into the teaching sequence.

Underlying this is teachers' very strong knowledge of pupils and their learning pathways. This starts with a suite of assessments when pupils join the school, and thereafter, staff's regular progress checks.

The impact of this school on many pupils' lives has been transformational.

Pupils attend well because they want to be here and feel that they belong. They behave superbly well. Pupils open doors for others and shake the hands of visitors, keen to tell them about what they are learning.

The school is a motivating, inclusive environment where everyone is welcomed and where friendships are forged. One parent summed this up, 'All through primary school our son was well loved but did not have a single person he could call a friend, and now he has a whole school full of them.'

The school's work to prepare pupils for adulthood is commendable.

Staff teach pupils important life skills, including how to prepare simple meals and important hygiene practices. Pupils learn about relationships and sensitive topics, such as consent. They learn how to behave and keep safe in different social settings.

Pupils receive excellent careers guidance about the options open to them when they leave school. Termly careers weeks and meaningful work experience give pupils valuable insights into the world of work and further education.

Staff are fully committed to working at the school and feel as valued as the pupils.

Leaders and governors are very considerate of staff's well-being, ensuring that workload is reflected in enhanced time for preparing lessons.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Background

When we have judged 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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding in January 2019.

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