Oak Lodge School

Ofsted Inspection 2009

This is a summary of the Ofsted Inspectors' Report. The school was inspected on 29th & 30th January 2009 by a team of inspectors led by Greg Sorrell

Overall Evaluation

Oak Lodge is an outstanding school that successfully demonstrates its aims that include enabling the pupils and students to take pride in themselves as deaf people and in their achievements. The results are evident in their outstanding achievement and personal development. Because of their learning difficulties and/or disabilities, the standards reached by pupils, in most cases, are below average, but are exceptionally good in view of their starting points. The good boarding provision has a positive impact upon the boarders' achievements, personal development and well-being.

The quality of teaching is excellent and is typified by very effective signing skills and specialist subject knowledge possessed by education and boarding staff. The benefit of such expertise is extended beyond the school gates and reaches other young people and adults in a range of settings. Lessons are very well planned and typically they are characterised by brisk pace with many opportunities for first-hand experience. Teaching assistants, some of whom have advanced skills and qualifications, make a significant contribution to the pupils' learning and achievement. The vast majority of pupils meet their challenging targets and, where they do not, the school promptly acts, following a review of individual progress. The pupils enjoy coming to school and parents are very happy for their children to attend. Comments from parents included, 'My daughter is improving a lot with her signing...the school's parents' group has been a very good support to us...always someone on the end of the phone...I wouldn't want my son to go anywhere else because he has come so far and done so well.'

The school's monitoring and tracking of pupils' overall achievement is exemplary and is a major factor in enabling the pupils to achieve as well as they do. The good curriculum is under constant review. The school has accurately identified a lack of sufficient cross-curricular lessons for pupils with complex needs, especially in Key Stage 3. Detailed planning to remedy this is at an early stage. The curriculum is enriched by specialist studies relevant to hearing impairment, access to mainstream settings and a wide range of clubs.

All the pupils make excellent progress in their personal development due to the well-integrated provision of personal, social, health and citizenship education and specific programmes to develop emotional expression. The pupils are very proud of their school, and this is evidenced by extremely positive relationships at all levels, excellent behaviour and good attendance. Absences are invariably due to medical reasons. The overall quality of care, guidance and support provided for all is excellent. School procedures, including those for child protection, ensure pupils' well-being is appropriately safeguarded. Careers education and transition planning prepare them for moving from one stage to the next. Pupils receive very effective specialist support, including speech and language therapy, to improve their access to the curriculum and overall independence. However, some subject reports contain too little progress information as part of the annual review procedures.

The quality of leadership and management is outstanding due to their very accurate view of the school's effectiveness. Despite recent changes in management, the capacity for further improvement remains good. The governing body gives excellent support on all school and boarding issues.

During the last academic year, all pupils were entered for a range of GCSE and Entry Level certificates in English, mathematics, science, art and design, information and communication technology and design technology. All gained at least one GCSE grade from A* to G and several gained good passes with grades A-C. They also gained success in vocational studies such as the Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network (ASDAN) and keyboard skills. Although the pupils' attainment compared to mainstream schools is below average, considering their starting points, their progress is outstanding. They also gained awards for their signing skills, including British Sign Language. Pupils make excellent progress in meeting the challenging targets in their individual education plans. The school's highly effective analysis of each pupil's progress helps ensure that any underachievement is promptly addressed. Routine analysis indicates that there are no significant differences in progress made by any individual or group.

The high-quality teaching and learning throughout the school are key factors in its overall success. All staff are well qualified and experienced in communicating with the pupils and boarders. Relationships are strong and expectations are high in relation to work and attitudes to learning. Lessons are well planned with due regard to national guidance to ensure that learning takes on a brisk pace with good opportunities for pupils to reflect upon their learning. Progress is identified by setting challenging targets over time based on rigorous assessment. The quality of written feedback on course work, for example in English, is informative and really helps pupils to know how to improve their work. Teachers make good use of comprehensive 'strategies' guidance supplied by senior managers to ensure the right channels of communication are employed. Pupils, too, are encouraged to be receptive to learning as part of the 'My Learning' initiative. Teachers' prompts at the start of lessons enable the pupils to consider what they need to do in order to learn effectively. Particularly effective support is given to older pupils sitting examinations, for example, study sessions after school hours and homework overseen by boarding staff. All staff minimise the adverse effects of accommodation, particularly where room sizes and storage space are limited.

Overall effectiveness

Click on the link below to read the full report

http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/oxedu_reports/display/(id)/105368