Chelsea Community Hospital School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Chelsea Community Hospital School

Following my visit to the school on 1 May 2018 with Rani Karim, Ofsted Inspector, and Barnaby Geen, Ofsted Inspector, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be outstanding in September 2014.

This school continues to be outstanding. The leadership team has maintained the outstanding quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Since then, you and your leaders have enhanced the provision to include two additional sites, and provide support for pupils with more complex health... needs.

You have also appointed a learning mentor to assist those pupils who would not otherwise be able to come to school. Your mission to achieve the best outcomes for pupils with the most severe health needs is shared by staff across all six sites. Your staff work diligently in challenging circumstances, and you have introduced strategies to build resilience and support their emotional well-being.

Governors provide an effective balance of support and challenge for the leadership team because they have a detailed knowledge of the school's strengths and weaknesses. They are clear about what they need to do in order to take the school from strength to strength. Safeguarding is effective.

Leaders and governors have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and that records are of high quality, and are well managed. Together, they have established a safe culture that is visible throughout the school. Staff develop very positive and trusting relationships with pupils, based on mutual respect and understanding.

All staff receive appropriate and regular training, and safeguarding responsibilities throughout the school are taken extremely seriously at all times. The pupils reported that they feel safe and secure in school. For many pupils, this is a real achievement, given their challenges and health needs.

Inspection findings ? At the start of the inspection, we agreed the key lines of enquiry. This inspection focused on safeguarding, pupils' progress, the quality of the curriculum, preparation for life beyond your school and the effectiveness of leadership. ? Staff work with a wide range of agencies and with staff on hospital wards.

This is to ensure that your most vulnerable pupils and their families receive a coordinated package of support to help them keep safe. Staff use their extensive knowledge of every pupil to meet their individual safeguarding and emotional needs. Pupils report that they feel safe online, and where incidents arise, they are carefully tracked and routinely reported to governors.

• Although safeguarding practice is strong and procedures are in place to keep pupils safe, you agree that there is potential for there to be even greater consistency across the different sites. Governors and leaders have recognised this as a priority for school improvement. ? Pupils often come to you with gaps in their learning, and many are not ready to learn when they start at the school.

Therefore, leaders work with parents and within multi-agency teams as necessary to develop personalised programmes for pupils. Because learning mentors work closely with pupils to reduce anxiety and equip pupils to develop self-help strategies, pupils grow in confidence and their self-esteem improves. Consequently, they are able to attend school and become successful learners.

Daily meetings with ward staff to identify those able to join lessons have resulted in improved outcomes for pupils. For example, pupils who have significant health needs, such as a diagnosis of psychosis, and were previously unable to come to school, now have excellent attendance. ? For pupils who are with you for 10 days or more, detailed assessments provide teachers with accurate information.

This allows them to create highly individualised learning plans. As a result, pupils are able to demonstrate good progress in English and mathematics. Weekly psycho-social meetings also help pupils to achieve potential by addressing social, emotional and mental health concerns.

• Some pupils' targets are overambitious because they do not always reflect their circumstances or changes over time. However, leaders have introduced a more comprehensive system to track personal and social development and allow teachers to track progress more effectively. ? You have developed a curriculum that is built around careers and personal, social and health education.

This helps pupils to succeed at your school and in the wider world. Because you work closely and effectively with home schools, you are able to ensure that the curriculum builds on prior learning. Where pupils' needs change, you skilfully adapt lessons to address specific barriers to learning.

The curriculum responds well to individual interests and aspirations. For example, at the request of one pupil you were able to offer Latin. ? Leaders have been proactive in identifying a need for stronger careers advice.

They have developed an innovative and comprehensive programme that prepares pupils well for adulthood. Despite the challenges individual pupils face, where appropriate they have access to high-quality work experience. Work to re-integrate pupils back into home schools is aided by highly detailed reports.

Transition for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is successful because of your work to secure additional resources. Pupils are exceptionally well prepared for the next stage of their learning. As a result, all pupils leave to go on to thrive within appropriate placements.

Several pupils have gone on to university, where previously this was thought to be impossible. ? Leaders have created a strong culture of commitment and teamwork throughout the school. Twice weekly, whole-school sessions provide staff with the necessary skills to work with and understand pupils' needs.

You and your leaders embrace the challenges of working across six sites to ensure that all pupils have access to high-quality education. This is whether they are in a classroom, a hospital bed or educated at home. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? the recently developed system for tracking pupils' personal and social development is secure and allows pupils to work towards appropriate targets ? you develop and consolidate safeguarding policies and procedures so that there is more consistency across sites in this area.

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body and the director of children's services for Kensington and Chelsea. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Francis McDonald-Gonzalez Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During this inspection, the inspection team held a number of meetings with you and other senior leaders.

Inspectors observed some whole-group and one-to-one teaching, including an English lesson and a pupil discussion group. The inspection team held discussions with different leaders about safeguarding, the curriculum, removing barriers to learning, home tuition and measuring pupils' progress. Meetings were held with two governors, including the chair of governors.

We also spoke to class teachers, a parent and a group of pupils. The inspection team worked with senior leaders to scrutinise pupils' work and information on pupils' progress. Inspectors spoke to other hospital staff about the impact of leaders' work.

We looked at a range of documentation. This included the school's self-evaluation, improvement plan, records of pupils' progress and evidence of records to keep pupils safe. There were too few responses to the staff survey or Parent View to generate a meaningful analysis.