Report of Focused Inspection - Department of Education



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|[pic] |Providing Inspection Services for |

| |Department of Education |

| |Department for Employment and Learning |

| |Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure |

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|Education and Training Inspectorate | |

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|Report of a Focused Inspection | |

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|Ardmore House Special School | |

|Downpatrick | |

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|Inspected: October 2001 | |

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CONTENTS

Section Page

STATISTICAL INFORMATION

1. INTRODUCTION 1

2. ETHOS 1

3. PASTORAL CARE AND CHILD PROTECTION 2

4. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS

TECHNOLOGY 2

5. ENGLISH 3

6. OUTREACH 4

7. MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS 4

8. CONCLUSION 5

STATISTICAL INFORMATION (SPECIAL SCHOOLS)

1.1 i. School: Ardmore House iii. Date of Inspection: 01.10.01

ii. School Reference Number: 431-0019 iv. Nature of Inspection: Focused

1.2

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|School Year |1997/98 |1998/99 |1999/00 |2000/01 |2001/02 |

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|Total Enrolment |21 |43 |40 |46 |28 |

The enrolment for the current year is the figure on the day of notification of inspection. For previous years it is the figure in the annual return to the Department of Education.

1.3 Number of Pupils in Outreach Programme: 255

1.4 Average Attendance for the Previous School Year: 56%

1.5 i. Number of Teachers in School: 12 on Outreach Programme: 12 (including the Principal and p/t teachers)

(f/t equivalent = 25 teaching hours)

ii. PTR (pupil/teacher ratio): 2.33

iii. Average Class Size: 6

iv. Number of Classroom Assistants 6

v. Ancillary Support:

Number of Hours per week:

Clerical Support: 36.25

vi. Percentage of children in receipt of free

school meals: 65%

1. Introduction

1.1 Ardmore House Special School, which is situated in Downpatrick, caters for up to 28 boys and girls, of secondary school age, with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD). The pupils, who are drawn from the South-Eastern Education and Library Board (SEELB) area, can attend the school for an eight-week period for assessment and diagnosis, with a view to returning to their own school, or they can attend full-time.

1.2 In addition to providing school-based education, Ardmore offers an outreach service to post-primary schools in the board’s area, for pupils who are experiencing difficulties in their mainstream school. Currently, all 12 of the teaching staff of the school, including the principal and vice-principal, are involved in the outreach service.

1.3 This inspection focused on pastoral care including child protection, information and communications technology (ICT) and English.

2. Ethos

2.1 Relationships at all levels are good. The teachers, classroom assistants and ancillary staff work well together in the best interests of the pupils. There is ample evidence that all of the staff treat the pupils with respect and work assiduously to raise their self-esteem.

2.2 While some of the accommodation is in a poor state of repair, the teachers have endeavoured to provide a bright and lively environment to stimulate the pupils’ interest; some of the rooms and corridors are further enhanced by attractive displays of the pupils’ work.

2.3 The pupils respond positively in class and, in the majority of instances, co-operate effectively with the teachers to complete the work. While most of the pupils have significant behavioural difficulties, it is to the credit of the teaching staff that they handle, with calmness and skill, any confrontations with pupils, thus ensuring that even the most difficult pupils achieve some success in their class work.

2.4 The staff work hard to develop links with the parents. While there is no parent on the Board of Governors (BoG) at present, it is anticipated that for the first time the school will have a parent representative when the governors are re-constituted later this year. However, the staff report regularly to parents on their children’s progress and keep them informed through letters, phone calls and a school newspaper. Weekly reports are sent home, and information about areas of concern, such as child protection and bullying, is copied to parents for their consideration and approval. Given the wide geographical catchment area of the school, and the previous history of limited home-school links, the staff face significant challenges in engaging with parents. Nevertheless, further initiatives, including the designation of a home-school teacher, would assist the school’s efforts to develop a meaningful partnership with the parents and enhance the opportunities to involve them in the life and work of the school.

2.5 Frequently, the staff face difficult and unpleasant confrontations with the pupils, and occasions of injury to staff are recorded. The teachers work hard and have developed an agreed system of promoting good behaviour and dealing with aggressive outbursts and non-compliance in lessons. The behaviour management system offers the pupils the opportunity to earn points for acceptable behaviour on a daily basis and to translate these points into one of four levels of privilege. The system is understood clearly by the pupils and is a key factor in fostering a positive atmosphere throughout the school, and in encouraging the pupils to participate in lessons. The teachers operate the behaviour management system consistently. “Time-out” is used effectively when a pupil’s behaviour cannot be dealt with adequately in class. In “time-out”, the pupil remains isolated from his/her peers and is only permitted to return to class when settled and willing to participate in the work. The arrangement is highly demanding on the staff, particularly when restraint has to be used for those pupils who show aggression to the staff, other pupils and property. For a minority of pupils, suspension remains a last resort. While the staff have clear regulations and guidance for the use and recording of restraint techniques, and the operation of “time-out”, it is important that these arrangements are constantly evaluated. Overall, the behaviour management system has many strengths.

3. Pastoral Care and Child Protection

3.1 As part of the inspection of the school’s pastoral care and child protection arrangements, interviews were held with the BoG and pupils from year 11. All were supportive of the work of the school and, in particular, the governors expressed their satisfaction with the quality of education provided but also expressed serious concerns about the accommodation deficiencies and the increasing demands being placed on the outreach service. No parents were available to meet the inspection team at the pre-arranged meeting. A total of three returns were received from the parental questionnaires sent by the Department of Education (DE) to parents of pupils attending the school and, in two responses, the parents were positive about the quality of education provided.

3.2 The school’s policies and procedures for pastoral care and child protection are fully in line with the DE Circular 1999/10.

3.3 The senior management team is fully aware of its responsibilities for the welfare of pupils with behavioural difficulties. In this regard, its members have fostered sound professional relationships with other statutory agencies charged with looking after the interests of pupils who are vulnerable. Hence, the school’s links with social services, and the police juvenile liaison service, enhance the quality of the pastoral care provision and ensure that the staff is fully cogniscent of all the issues that impinge on the development of individual pupils.

3.4 Currently only three members of staff are willing to involve themselves with restraints on pupils when the pupil’s behaviour puts themselves, others or property at risk. All staff see training in restraint techniques as a major priority and this has been conveyed to the SEELB.

4. Information and Communications Technology

4.1 The School Development Plan identifies ICT as a priority and suitable resources have been allocated to support teachers in their work. The school has a detailed and appropriate rationale for the use of ICT, and the work is guided by an agreed policy and ably co-ordinated by the teacher responsible. The recent series of staff development opportunities has lead to increased confidence in using ICT to support learning and to help the pupils communicate and handle information effectively.

4.2 Teachers are beginning to use a range of programmes to support specific subject areas. In geography, for example, the teacher used the Internet to support the study of volcanoes and maps. In some classrooms, the teachers display pupils’ ICT work in an attractive manner. These displays enhance the pupils’ self-esteem and encourage them to attempt writing with more confidence. The school should develop this work so that displays of the pupils’ work using ICT can be celebrated more widely throughout the school classrooms and corridors.

4.3 As the pupils progress, they develop their skills and, by key stage (KS) 4, pupils were preparing a presentation for an art exhibition using a combination of digital images, print and sound. Another group of pupils worked very successfully as a team to produce a school newsletter using desktop publishing.

4.4 To date, there is no formal accreditation of the pupils’ achievements. It would be helpful to explore appropriate accreditation opportunities and to develop a systematic method of assessing pupils’ progress in ICT.

5. English

5.1 Currently, the school operates four KS3 classes and one KS4 class for pupils with differing levels of literacy skills, generally poor learning habits, and negative attitudes to reading and writing. Three teachers teach English to the pupils, all of whom receive seven lessons of English, including a library period, each week. Two periods are reserved for the pupils to use ICT to support the work in English.

5.2 Following a recent audit of literacy in the school, a decision was taken to prioritise the development of English on a whole-school basis and to promote the development of reading and writing skills within the teaching of all subjects. The SEELB’s Curriculum Advisory and Support Service (CASS) has provided effective in-service support to the staff. English is taught through units of work, which extend for some eight weeks and are based mostly on topics of interest to teenagers. The quality of teaching is good and is best when lessons are rigorously structured, have specific learning outcomes, and use a variety of approaches to motivate the pupils to remain on task and interested.

5.3 Talking and listening are key features of the teaching in the school and are well promoted, both in formal lessons and incidentally throughout the day. In the early morning breakfast club, for example, the staff and the pupils engage readily in conversation and discussion about daily and local events, in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. This activity helps a number of the pupils to settle at the beginning of the school day. During the inspection, the pupils responded well, in most instances, to the staff’s efforts to develop their interpersonal and social skills; many of the senior pupils present their ideas and opinions with sound common-sense and reasoned argument.

5.4 The teachers read frequently to the pupils and use reading as a preparation for talking, listening and writing; many of the pupils can read fluently but are often reluctant to read for enjoyment. A majority of the pupils, however, experience considerable difficulty with reading and require intensive individual assistance. The teachers do well, in these circumstances, to keep the pupils on task and to hold their interest for short periods of time. The new library is well stocked and provides a pleasant area, which is beginning to foster the pupils’ interest in reading about people and topics which hold their interest. The computer is used well and offers a strong motivation to the pupils. The quality of the pupils’ word-processed work is good; one group of pupils, for example, produced Powerpoint material of good quality for presentation to an external audience.

6. Outreach

6.1 All of the teaching staff are involved in providing an outreach service for pupils with behavioural problems in post-primary schools in the SEELB’s area. A total of 259 pupils are currently enrolled in the outreach service; of these, 152 are categorized as “active” by the school. These pupils are given weekly support by the outreach teachers who liaise effectively with the staff from the schools to set appropriate targets for the pupils’ behaviour. The outreach teachers keep a watching brief on the other 107 pupils ensuring that teachers have access to advice and support as they need it. The service is successful in meeting its stated aim to enable the schools to work more effectively with those pupils referred to it for support.

6.2 There is sound evidence that the outreach support service, provided by Ardmore, is effective and, discussion with staff in the schools revealed their satisfaction with the service and its impact on developing positive behaviour and discipline strategies on a whole-school basis. However, the SEELB should monitor closely the numbers of pupils being referred to the outreach service since the school is currently struggling to meet the increasing demands placed upon it.

7. Management Arrangements

7.1 The principal is effective in his management of the school. He has successfully developed a collegiate management style in which the contribution of all of the staff is valued. He has displayed leadership and vision in setting out his priorities for the school and has succeeded in motivating the staff to create a positive environment for learning.

7.2 The School Development Plan has successfully met its goals; the principal and staff have worked collaboratively to ensure that the priorities set by the school have been effective in enhancing the quality of provision.

7.3 The deployment of staff is largely effective; the decision to include all teachers in the outreach programme, as well as teaching in the school, has been successful in developing the teachers’ skills across a range of provision and has established their credibility as they offer advice and support to mainstream schools. However, the practice of having two teachers on duty at the same time in the “time-out” provision, is difficult to justify when teaching resources are already stretched.

7.4 The quality of teaching is generally good and, sometimes very good. In the main, the teachers display patience and resolve in meeting the needs of pupils with very diverse problems. Where good teaching was observed, it was characterized by sound planning with appropriate learning outcomes identified, flexible teaching approaches and, a good variety of practical and theoretical tasks to stimulate the pupils’ motivation.

8. Conclusion

This is a school which meets the needs of its pupils well. The dedication and skill of the management and staff of the school are clearly evident in the quality of education provided for pupils with significant EBD. The strengths of the school are many; the good quality of much of the teaching, the support given to the pupils and the strong encouragement to participate in the educational process, despite their previous difficult experiences of school, the effectiveness of the English programme and the encouraging start made to develop the ICT provision, the sound quality of the outreach service and the school’s child protection and pastoral care arrangements. The issues raised in this report, the development of further links with parents, the review of pupils numbers referred to the outreach service, the deployment of teachers in the “time-out” provision and the need to enhance the programme of staff development, can be addressed with confidence by the school.

© CROWN COPYRIGHT 2002

This report may be reproduced in whole or in part, except for commercial purposes or in connection with a prospectus or advertisement, provided that the source and date thereof are stated.

Copies of this report may be obtained from the Inspection Services Branch, Department of Education, Rathgael House, 43 Balloo Road, Bangor, Co Down BT19 7PR. A copy is also available on the DE website: .uk

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