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INSPECTION REPORT ON |
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Dale House Independent School |
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Full Name of the School |
Dale House Independent
School |
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DfES Number |
382/6022 |
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Registered Charity Number |
Not
applicable |
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Address |
Ruby
Street, Carlinghow, Batley, West Yorkshire, WF17 8HL. |
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Telephone Number |
01924
422215 |
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Fax Number |
01924
422215 |
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Email Address |
admin@dhschool.freeserve.co.uk |
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Headmistress |
Mrs
Sarah M G Fletcher |
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Proprietor |
Mrs
Sarah M G Fletcher |
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Age Range |
2
- 11 |
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Gender |
Mixed |
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Inspection Dates |
27th
- 30th November 2006 |
This inspection report follows the framework laid down by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI). The inspection was carried out under the arrangements of the Independent Schools Council (ISC) Associations for the maintenance and improvement of the quality of their membership. It was also carried out under Section 162A(1)(b) of the Education Act 2002, as amended by the Education Act 2005, under the provisions of which the Secretary of State for Education and Skills has accredited ISI as the body approved for the purpose of inspecting schools belonging to ISC Associations and reporting on compliance with the Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2003.
The inspection does not examine the financial viability of the school or investigate its accounting procedures. The inspectors check the school’s health and safety procedures and comment on any significant hazards they encounter: they do not carry out an exhaustive health and safety examination. Their inspection of the premises is from an educational perspective and does not include in-depth examination of the structural condition of the school, its services or other physical features.
1.1 Dale House Independent School is a small school situated in the industrial town of Batley in West Yorkshire. Its children come from families that are predominantly of British white heritage and live in the small towns and villages in the surrounding area. Parents are usually in professional or business occupations.
1.2 The school opened in 1999 as a nursery school for three to five year olds in the converted building of a former Edwardian Sunday School. In 2002 an extension was built to accommodate two year olds in the nursery and the age range was extended to seven years old. In 2004 a second extension was built to accommodate a Junior Department. Up until July 2000 the great majority of pupils left the school at five years old and until 2004 the great majority left at seven years old, as there was no provision for older pupils. Now there are increasing numbers of pupils staying on in the Junior Department for the next stage of their education. The school has adopted 'Educare' principles and has pre-and post school clubs, so that pupils are cared for between 8.00 am and 5.30 pm, as part of the school's overall provision. The school also runs a ‘Holiday Club’ out of term time.
1.3 The school’s aims include: providing a happy and secure learning environment, where learning is an exciting and enjoyably positive learning experience, which stimulates wonder, curiosity and imagination; helping pupils to develop their potential, intellectually, spiritually and aesthetically; ensuring that pupils develop a good grounding in the core and foundation subjects and the knowledge and skills that will serve them well in their future education and in the wider world; developing the spiritual, moral and social values that will provide pupils with core beliefs that will guide their actions in future life; encouraging a close partnership with parents in order to achieve these aims.
1.4 No formal academic entry tests are conducted by the school, but pupils and parents are interviewed to ascertain the suitability of pupils for the education the school provides. Children come to the school with a varied range of attainments, although overall these are above the national average. This means that if pupils are achieving in line with their abilities, they will achieve test results that are above the national average for all maintained primary schools. About 10 per cent of pupils come from families that are not of British white heritage. All pupils speak English as their first language. The school has identified 17 pupils with special educational needs, but none of them have formal statements. The most commonly identified learning difficulty is dyslexia, mainly amongst boys. There are also a number of pupils in the school who have been identified as gifted and talented.
1.5 National Curriculum nomenclature is used throughout this report to refer to year groups in the school. The year group nomenclature used by the school and its National Curriculum (NC) equivalence are shown in the following table.
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School |
NC name |
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Nursery |
Nursery (2-3 years) |
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Prep |
Nursery (3-4 years) |
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Transition |
Reception |
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Lower Prep I/II |
Year 1/2 |
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Upper Prep III/IV |
Year 3/4 |
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Upper Prep V/VI |
Year 5/6 |
The Educational Experience Provided
2.1 The quality of the educational experience provided is good overall, with a number of outstanding features. It is very consistent with the school's aims and purposes and provides a broad-based education that meets the needs of its pupils well in a happy and secure learning environment.
2.2 The school's curriculum is based securely on Birth to Three Matters, the Early Years Foundation Curriculum, the National Curriculum and the National Strategy at the appropriate ages for pupils. The Early Years Foundation Curriculum is enhanced by drama and music. The curriculum for Years 1 and 2 incorporates all the National Curriculum subjects and offers, in addition, French and music, whilst information and communications technology (ICT) is taught as a separate subject. For pupils in Years 3 to 6, as well as the National Curriculum, French and Spanish are offered. Personal, social, health and citizenship education and ICT are taught as separate subjects.
2.3 The academic curriculum is complemented by a good range of extra-curricular activities, in which the great majority of pupils above five years old are involved. These include art and craft, computer, drama, singing, Spanish and sports clubs. There is also instruction in piano, singing and dance by peripatetic teachers.
2.4 The curriculum is enhanced, additionally, by a variety of educational visits to theatres, museums and other places of historical interest, which pupils enjoy greatly, and by links with the local community. Pupils regularly attend services at the local church and often are involved in organising them. They follow a civic trail, finding out about places of interest and importance in the local community, and attend talks given by parents and members of local community services, such as the Fire Service.
2.5 The combination of experiences described above ensures that the education that pupils receive makes an effective contribution to their mathematical, scientific, technological, physical, aesthetic and creative development, and to the acquisition of numeracy skills. There is a strong focus in the curriculum, through the ethos of the school and through teaching, on the development of human and social and literacy skills. These are impressive areas of pupils' development. Consequently, pupils are articulate, listen well from an early age and display interpersonal skills of a high order.
2.6 Pupils are prepared well for the next stage of their education, not least through the confidence, self-esteem, study skills and excellent attitudes to study that they develop.
2.7 Curriculum planning is thorough and detailed. It focuses tightly on the specific requirements of the various curricula and how these will be delivered in the classroom. At nursery and Early Years levels it is particularly good. The planning ensures equality of access and opportunity for all pupils and helps to support the good progress that they make in their learning. It promotes a broad range of activities, but does not always give sufficient opportunities for open-ended investigative work by pupils.
2.8 Provision for pupils with learning difficulties and physical disabilities is excellent. Learning needs are identified early and helpful individual educational plans are drawn up through consultation between the class teacher and headmistress. Progress is monitored closely through a regular review process, including target setting, which involves parents. Those pupils receiving extra support from the specialist dyslexia teacher make good progress and the relevant targets related to this work are included in their individual education plans.
2.9 The school meets the regulatory requirements for the curriculum [Standard 1].
Pupils’ Learning and Achievements
2.10 Pupils' learning and achievements are good across all age and ability groups. They make consistently good progress as they move through the school, and there are no significant differences in the relative attainment of different groups of pupils.
2.11 Across the curriculum and in all age groups, pupils gain a strong grounding in knowledge, understanding and skills. This is particularly evident in English and language development, where pupils quickly learn the basic skills of reading and writing, build effectively on these in later years and become fluent and confident in all aspects of literacy. Similarly, they demonstrate impressive skills in music, drama and modern foreign languages, producing work of a high-quality. They also develop good mathematical understanding and secure numeracy skills.
2.12 In other areas of the curriculum, knowledge and understanding is always well-developed. There is more variation in the development of investigative skills, which are often less consistently developed in subjects such as science, geography and history. This reflects the less strong emphasis on the development of these skills in the teaching.
2.13 The national test results and the school's own standardised measures support the evidence of pupils' good learning and achievement. Foundation Stage Profile results for 2004 to 2006 indicate that pupils achieve results well above the national average for all maintained primary schools, which is a good level of achievement for pupils by the time they begin compulsory schooling. Key stage one results over the last three years are far above the national average for all maintained primary schools. The level of achievement in reading and writing is a little higher than in mathematics, which reflects inspection evidence about achievement.
2.14 The evidence about the school's intake indicates that it is varied in terms of intellectual ability, but overall is above the national average. The progress made by younger pupils and the achievement they make in national tests is good therefore, in relation to their ability. No pupils are yet of an age to take the national tests in Year 6, but the school has used the annual test material for Years 3 to 5, provided by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. The results of these tests also indicate good achievement and progress, which were reflected in scrutiny of work and lessons observed, particularly in literacy and numeracy.
2.15 Pupils also achieve considerable success in non-academic areas. Individual pupils are successful in music and dance examinations. Their choral singing is of a high-quality and the excellent quality of pupils' acting in the school plays, observed on video and during rehearsal for the Christmas play, belies their years.
2.16 The rapid and sustained progress that pupils make in developing their speaking and listening and reading and writing skills is a major strength of the school. From a very early age, pupils learn how to listen intently to explanations, questions, stories and instructions. They are very articulate and provide explanations and descriptions that are increasingly complex and sophisticated. Their writing skills develop early and they learn how to write fluently, grammatically and for different purposes. They can write creatively and imaginatively when opportunities arise.
2.17 Encouraged and guided through some notably effective questioning by teachers, pupils learn how to think for themselves, express their own opinions and develop the ability to formulate cogent arguments, drawing on the skills enumerated above. They become increasingly adept at thinking critically, for instance in identifying the difference between fact and opinion in personal, social, health and citizenship education and the quality of different texts in English. They have the confidence and skills to be creative and examples of this were observed in lessons and in pupils' work. Nevertheless, creativity is not as strong a feature of learning as is the capacity to reason and critically examine evidence.
2.18 Pupils have a clear grasp of simple mathematical concepts at an early age and continue to develop and extend their understanding effectively as they move through the school. This includes a good understanding of measurement, shape and space and increasingly confident numeracy skills. Pupils apply their skills well in data collection and graphical interpretation of data in geography and science. More generally, however, pupils are less skilled at applying mathematical concepts in problem-solving and investigatory activities, and have relatively few opportunities to do so.
2.19 Through their ICT lessons pupils become confident in using a broad range of applications. Opportunities to use ICT for independent research in other areas of the curriculum are limited and this important ICT skill is less evident than other skills.
2.20 Pupils' work is generally well organised and of at least a good quality, but standards of presentation do not always match the quality of the content and handwriting is often untidy.
2.21 Pupils are diligent and approach learning with evident enthusiasm and enjoyment. They settle well in lessons from an early age and quickly focus their attention on learning tasks that they are given, helping to maintain the pace of learning. They work very well individually and in small groups. The quality of collaboration, including the sharing and development of ideas, is impressive. Across a great variety of activities in more academic lessons, such as English, geography and history, and in more practical lessons, such as drama, music and physical education, pupils demonstrate collaboration of a high-quality. This draws on pupils' excellent listening and speaking skills, but also reflects the courtesy and mutual respect shown by pupils with each other and with staff which imbues the school.
Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development of Pupils
2.22 The spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils is an outstanding strength of the school and fulfils a key aim.
2.23 The Christian ethos of the school informs the clear set of moral and spiritual values that pupils develop as they move through it. This ethos promotes a climate of trust and amity in which pupils learn to live in harmony with their peers and the adults who care for them, in a spirit of mutual respect and affection.
2.24 The pupils' spiritual development is excellent. They develop strong self-esteem and confidence from their relationships with adults in the school, not least teachers, without a hint of arrogance. In subjects such as drama, English, music, personal, social, health and citizenship education and religious education, together with assemblies, they gain insights into the importance of spirituality in the world. They also experience the pleasure of spiritual experience through their participation in activities such as singing, drama and listening to stories.
2.25 The moral development of pupils is outstanding. They learn from a very early age to distinguish right from wrong and internalise this very well, in order to regulate and guide their behaviour. In this they are greatly helped by the calm, courteous and consistent behaviour of their teachers and other adults, which provides excellent models for them to emulate. As they proceed through the school, pupils also develop an increasing understanding about inequalities in the world and their moral responsibilities, as members of a relatively privileged group, to provide for those less favoured than themselves.
2.26 Pupils develop a strong sense of social responsibility. From an early age they learn to accept responsibility for their own behaviour. This is greatly encouraged through the ethos of the school and activities such as devising, with their teachers, their own classroom rules, which they could explain and justify impressively.
2.27 Through the school's charity activities, in which pupils take an active part, including helping to decide which charity should be sponsored; they recognise their responsibilities to the wider community. In personal, social, health and citizenship education they learn about various public institutions and public services. Contributions in assemblies from members of key public services, such as fire service and police officers and health professionals, add to pupils' understanding in a helpful manner.
2.28 Pupils come from families with a range of cultural and religious traditions. This diversity is celebrated through assemblies that focus on major festivals of different religions, sometimes involving pupils and their parents from particular religious groups in leading assemblies. Through religious education pupils gain a good understanding of different religions and their religious and cultural traditions. This is illustrated well by the sophisticated understanding displayed by older pupils about the religious and cultural significance of various architectural features of mosques and their central importance to Islamic communities.
2.29 Through subjects, such as English, drama, geography and history, pupils also develop an understanding of the significance of different cultural and religious traditions. Key to the cultural development of pupils is their interest in, and often fascination about, different religions and cultural traditions, which encourages harmony and the celebration of cultural diversity.
2.30 The school meets the regulatory requirements for the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils [Standard 2].
The Quality of Teaching (Including Assessment)
2.31 The quality of the teaching is good overall. A great majority of the teaching is at least good, a significant minority excellent and none of it unsatisfactory.
2.32 Teachers and other staff are well-qualified and very conscientious. Teachers generally have a good command of their teaching material. At times this is excellent and teachers display great confidence and, on occasion, panache and flair in their teaching. When teachers are less secure and confident about their teaching material, they become unadventurous in their choice of teaching methods and rely too much on mundane tasks that do not take learning on with any great pace. This was a common feature of a minority of lessons where the teaching was judged to be satisfactory. In contrast, lessons where the teaching was excellent had verve and a driving pace, so that the learning progressed rapidly.
2.33 A key feature of much of the teaching is the high quality of questioning by teachers. This is used to consolidate, probe and extend understanding, as well as explore ideas and concepts. Another is the excellent relationships that teachers develop with the pupils they teach, which is universal across the school.
2.34 Lessons are well planned and tightly structured, with clear learning objectives and activities that generally lead to good progress in pupils' learning. This reflects the very clear understanding that teachers have about pupils' attitudes, needs and prior attainment, partly because they get to know their pupils very well and partly because the school has very effective procedures for tracking progress in pupils' learning, particularly in literacy and numeracy.
2.35 Teachers are also well supported by the clear and sharply focused individual education plans for pupils with learning difficulties, which include appropriate learning targets, and the identification of more able, and gifted and talented pupils. This information allows teachers to tailor the work to meet their specific learning needs, which is done particularly well for pupils with learning difficulties.
2.36 The quality of displays, which are informative and celebrate pupils' work, and the pleasant decor of the classrooms, create an inviting learning environment for pupils. This is further supported by the high standards of cleanliness and maintenance in the school, which are the responsibility of the caretaker.
2.37 The various factors outlined above contribute to the creation of an ethos in classrooms that is highly conducive to learning. Teachers strongly support the intellectual development of their pupils and encourage them to think and learn for themselves. The generally high quality of questioning plays a key role in this process. The tight structure of learning experiences for pupils, however, does not always allow them sufficient opportunities for more open-ended, creative and investigative learning.
2.38 Resources generally support teaching satisfactorily and sometimes very well. Nevertheless, the lack of a school library, with a good range of reference texts, paper-based and electronic, and access to the internet for pupils for investigative work, reduces opportunities for teaching to develop independent research skills. The school is aware of the problem and has well-advanced plans to rectify the situation.
2.39 Teachers use questioning consistently well to assess pupils’ learning. They mark pupils' work regularly and constructively, with comments that are personally encouraging. Some marking, but not all, diagnoses strengths and weaknesses in work perceptively and provides pupils with helpful guidance about how they can improve their work.
2.40 The school makes effective use of a range of standardised test material to monitor pupils' achievement and progress. These include the Foundation Stage Profile, national assessments in Year 2 and the annual tests for Years 3 to 4 developed by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in order to help schools monitor their pupils’ progress. The school also uses a well established commercial test, which compares the school's results with those of a large national cohort. This evidence produces a very clear picture of pupils' progress and achievement, particularly with regard to literacy and numeracy. It is used, together with the assessment of pupils' own work, in order to set learning targets for them.
2.41 Written reports make good use of assessment data in order to provide parents with clear and precise judgements about their children’s achievements and progress, and share the learning targets set.
2.42 The school meets the regulatory requirements for teaching [Standard 1].
3. THE QUALITY OF CARE AND RELATIONSHIPS
The Quality of Pastoral Care, and the Welfare, Health and Safety of Pupils
3.1 The quality of the school's pastoral care is excellent and it makes full and appropriate arrangements to secure the welfare, health and safety of pupils.
3.2 Staff provide outstanding support and guidance for their pupils. Class teachers have primary responsibility for support and guidance. They understand their roles and responsibilities very well, are strongly committed to them and carry them out with great diligence and care. The headmistress has overall responsibility for pastoral care. She knows the pupils well and is fully cognizant of any particular problem or issues. She liaises closely with her teachers and provides helpful support and guidance where necessary. She is also involved in drawing up and reviewing individual education plans.
3.3 Relationships between teachers and the pupils they teach are very close. The teachers know their pupils very well and provide exemplary role models. They treat pupils with great courtesy and respect, exercising a gentle but firm authority founded on high expectations and a great concern for their pupils' personal well-being, as well as for academic performance. As a result, pupils display great confidence and trust in their teachers.
3.4 The atmosphere of mutual respect, courtesy and purposefulness that teachers create in their classrooms encourages pupils to respect and support each other, which they do remarkably well from an early age. This is illustrated by the impressive manner in which pupils listen to each other, and by how well they work together in small groups and play in the playground. The recently introduced personal, social, health and citizenship education programme also provides pupils with valuable opportunities to explore and share their feelings and thoughts, and develop strategies for handling them.
3.5 From an early age, excellent standards of behaviour and discipline are inculcated in pupils, so they become internalised and they behave towards each other with a remarkable emotional maturity and mutual respect. Pupils do not regard bullying as an issue, but are very clear about what they would do if they or their friends encountered any. In relation to bullying and other concerns, pupils expressed great confidence in approaching any member of staff.
3.6 The school has a clear and appropriate system of rewards and sanctions, which has a strong focus on positively awarding good behaviour, kindness, collaboration and achievement. A house system serves as the focus for short-term rewards and all pupils enjoy earning points in the hope of winning the cup awarded weekly for special achievement. There is an appropriate system of sanctions, but it seldom needs to be used. Pupils know about the system of rewards and sanctions and consider that it is applied fairly.
3.7 The lunches and snacks prepared for pupils by kitchen staff are nutritious and popular. All pupils stay for lunch and it is a pleasant social occasion where they learn the good manners that accompany social eating.
3.8 The health and safety of pupils are catered for well. All staff are Criminal Records Bureau checked and references are taken up correctly. Pupils are closely supervised at all times, including play-time, at lunch-time, and during pre- and post-school activities. The school buildings and grounds provide a safe and secure environment for pupils in all respects. Medical and first aid procedures are laid out clearly in the staff handbook, with all the other welfare, health and safety procedures. Staff are fully trained in medical and first aid procedures at an appropriate level. There are clear and appropriate procedures for school trips and a detailed and careful risk assessment is done prior to visits, identifying very clearly potential hazards and how the organisation of groups and individuals can avoid these risks.
3.9 The school has a health and safety committee, consisting of the headmistress and four members of staff from different parts of the school. It meets regularly and has been involved fully in the development and practice of procedures to minimise health and safety risks.
3.10 Recent risk assessments have been carried out by fire officers and the Yorkshire Fire Service has confirmed that all is in order. Admissions procedures and attendance registers are completed carefully and the school fulfils its obligations.
3.11 The school meets the regulatory requirements for the welfare, health and safety of pupils [Standard 3].
The Quality of Links with Parents and the Community
3.12 Links with parents are excellent. In the parental questionnaires, handed out before the inspection, which nearly all parents completed, they expressed great satisfaction with teaching, standards of behaviour, the values of the school and the support and guidance that their children receive.
3.13 Parents are given good opportunities to be involved in the work and progress of their children through the diary that each pupil keeps, in which homework tasks are recorded and any comments or particular parents that teachers wish to make. Teachers and parents sign these weekly and parents are encouraged to make comments about homework tasks and any issues which concern them, which many do. Parents often see teachers at the start or end of the day, when informal discussion and communication takes place. Teachers and the headmistress also make themselves very readily available for discussion with parents at other times.
3.14 Basic information about the school is available in the school prospectus and on the school's website. When pupils start at the school parents receive a helpful pack of information, including the detailed parents' handbook. The school provides regular newsletters to parents, which keep them well informed about school events and pupil successes.
3.15 Staff have meetings twice a year with parents, at which they report on progress, achievement and attitudes. Written reports for parents, also twice a year, make clear and precise judgements about pupils' achievements and progress, reflecting the close attention that teachers pay to the intellectual and personal development of their pupils. They are also written in a style that is constructive and personally encouraging.
3.16 Learning targets are set in reports, particularly focusing on progress in English and mathematics. Opportunities are given for parents and pupils to respond to these reports. Staff are also very willing to discuss pupils' progress and any developing issues at any other time. Parents are very appreciative about how well the reporting system keeps them informed about their children's progress.
3.17 There are clear and appropriate procedures for dealing with parents' complaints, including appeals procedures, and these are made available to staff and parents respectively through the staff handbook and information pack for new parents.
3.18 Parents are heavily involved in supporting the school through a range of activities. The Parents Association is very successful in raising funds to support the school. Parents also visit the school regularly to talk to pupils about their occupations and contribute to assemblies, particularly those which celebrate festivals of other religions and cultures. Attendance at school plays, concerts and services at the local church is high and parents provide valuable support during school trips. They also make an important contribution to the various charity events which the school runs. Parents are consulted about particular school decisions, such as those about school uniform, the development of new menus and the range of after-school clubs that the school runs. In the parental questionnaires they expressed great satisfaction with opportunities to be involved in the work of the school.
3.19 The school has established some valuable links with the local community, particularly the local church, where the school goes regularly for services. Pupils also visit a residential home for the elderly and members of local public services visit the school to talk about these to pupils.
3.20 Links with the wider community are fostered through the various charities that the pupils support, which they help to select.
3.21 The school meets the regulatory requirements for the provision of information and the manner in which complaints are to be handled [Standards 6 and 7].
4. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
4.1 The governance of the school is good.
4.2 Dale House Independent School is a limited company, with the headmistress and her husband as the sole proprietors. The headmistress is the managing director and her husband, a qualified accountant, acts as the bursar, but has little involvement in the day-to-day running of the school.
4.3 In 2000 a Foundation Committee was set up to deal with complaints and admissions and support the school in various ways. It includes a representative from the local church, a retired primary headteacher and the husband of the headmistress. It is chaired by an experienced teacher, who is a member of the senior management team of a local school and a maintained school governor. The committee meets regularly and discusses a wide range of topics involving the school and its development, providing advice which is greatly appreciated. The chair of the committee meets the headmistress very regularly and offers advice and guidance as a ‘critical friend’ of the school, much in the manner of a chair of governors.
4.4 The headmistress has very good oversight of educational development in the school and is able to draw upon the expertise and experience of the chair of the Foundation Committee.
4.5 Financial planning is good and has supported the educational development of the school well. This is aided by the financial expertise that the bursar brings to his role.
The Quality of Leadership and Management
4.6 The leadership and management of the school is outstanding. It has ensured the good quality of education that the school provides, the excellent care that pupils receive and the very successful fulfilment of its aims.
4.7 The headmistress retains major managerial responsibilities in the school and, until recently, held the only formal management responsibility. The recent appointment of a deputy head and subject coordinators takes account of the increasing complexity of the school, with a widening of the age range and concomitant increase in pupil numbers. Arrangements for the induction training of these new post holders is well advanced and forms an important part of the school's development plan.
4.8 The developing needs of the school are carefully analysed, clear priorities are set and careful planning takes place to meet these priorities through the school development plan. Financial resources have been managed well to support this process. This has led to the recruitment of well-qualified and committed staff and the provision of good training opportunities, including supporting one member of staff through training to gain qualified teacher status. This has allowed the school to sustain the good quality of its provision whilst expanding its age range.
4.9 The headmistress provides very clear educational direction of the school. She involves staff in the decision-making related to this, through a collaborative process that encourages them to make contributions, and develops a strong sense of common purpose and commitment to the aims and development of the school.
4.10 The school has developed a comprehensive range of appropriate policies and procedures, which are supported by staff development, as necessary. Staff know these policies and procedures well and follow them consistently.
4.11 There is a clear recognition of the importance of staff development to the progress and development of the school and there is major financial provision for the training of staff with new management responsibilities, and more generally to support curriculum development.
4.12 The quality of teaching and learning is closely monitored by the headmistress, who regularly observes the teaching of individual staff and writes helpful and perceptive reports about it. Pupils' books and diaries are also monitored and commented upon. Staff produce end of year annual profiles about the classes that they teach, which provide helpful information for colleagues and are discussed with the headmistress as part of her monitoring role.
4.13 As the special educational needs coordinator, the headmistress helps to identify and support the small number of pupils identified with special educational needs. She tracks the progress of all pupils closely through the tracking system that she has developed and the linked target setting, based on the results of various standardised tests and teacher assessments of pupils’ work. Those pupils identified as gifted and talented are supported and tracked in a similar manner throughout the school.
4.14 All of this work ensures that the headmistress has a very clear understanding about the quality of teaching and learning and the achievement and progress of pupils.
4.15 The detailed monitoring by the headmistress also provides evidence for the appraisal of staff. Appraisal involves review and the setting of targets for individual staff, with identified staff development where necessary. Staff regard appraisal as a helpful process which contributes to their career development.
4.16 The school has no newly qualified teachers currently, but has had them in the past. The arrangements for the induction of newly qualified teachers are appropriate and provide good support.
4.17 The administration of the school is excellent and the school secretary plays a key role in this. The work of the caretaker, cooks and cleaning staff ensure that pupils are well fed and learn in a clean and well-maintained learning environment.
4.18 The school meets the regulatory requirements for the suitability of proprietors and staff and for premises and accommodation [Standards 4 and 5].
4.19 The school participates in the national scheme for the induction of newly qualified teachers and meets its requirements.
5.1 Dale House Independent School is a school with a number of outstanding features and no significant weaknesses. The school meets its aims outstandingly well. The quality of leadership, management and administration; the skills and attitudes to learning of pupils and their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development; together with the pastoral care provided and links with parents; are great strengths of the school. Learning and achievement and teaching are good. The only areas in need of development are those related to improving opportunities for creative and investigative work by pupils and the provision of the resources to support this.
5.2 This inspection is the first by the ISI of the school, and so it is not possible to comment upon improvements since the last inspection. Nevertheless, there is considerable evidence that the school has a credible capacity to sustain and improve itself. The Ofsted reports about nursery and Early Years provision have been increasingly complimentary and the school has responded quickly and effectively to recommendations made. Development planning is of a high quality and the school has sustained and improved the quality of its provision as it has increased in size and age range.
5.3 The school meets all the regulatory requirements.
5.4 In order to build on the very secure foundation of its teaching and learning, the school should do the following.
1. Continue to develop the experience and expertise of the staff, so that they can meet changing curricular needs and encourage pupils to engage in more independent investigative work.
2. Ensure that plans to develop the library as a learning resource to support the teaching are implemented successfully.
3. Further develop subject resources more generally, so that they always provide good support for teaching and learning.
5.5 No action in respect of regulatory requirements is required.
6. summary of inspection evidence
6.1 The inspection was carried out from the 27th to the 30th November 2006. The inspectors examined samples of pupils’ work, observed lessons and conducted formal interviews with pupils. They held discussions with teaching and non-teaching staff and with governors, observed a sample of the extra-curricular activities that occurred during the inspection period, and attended registration sessions and assemblies. The responses of parents and pupils to pre-inspection questionnaires were analysed, and the inspectors examined a range of documentation made available by the school.
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Mr. Ted Cohn |
Reporting Inspector |