The ArtsXchange

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils want to come to this school because they like what they are learning here.

They really enjoy the creative media, music and arts subjects and they make the most of the great resources available to them. As a result, pupils are happy at school and get a positive experience of education, something that many have not had previously.

The school has high expectations for all pupils.

All pupils study a suitably ambitious curriculum offer, including English and mathematics as well as the specialist creative media, music and arts subjects. Pupils achieve well because staff tailor the courses and their teaching methods to meet the needs of the pupils. Pupils are... proud of their work and enjoy opportunities to perform or present their final projects.

Pupils may have found it hard to manage their emotions and behaviour at previous settings. They are well supported to understand their emotions and to work within the school's rules and systems. The school's policy to promote and secure positive behaviour is clear and pupils understand it.

Pupils are regularly rewarded for following the school rules and expectations. They are motivated to achieve 'positive points' and go on reward trips, for example to places of interest in London.

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

The school has designed programmes of study that engage pupils' interest and motivate them to learn.

The school is well resourced to provide its specialist creative curriculum and teachers are experts in their fields. Leaders have sequenced the learning in these subjects so that pupils build their knowledge and skills step by step. Pupils produce high-quality final pieces of work, confidently putting into use the knowledge and skills that they have been taught.

Staff check pupils' work carefully as they progress through learning in the creative subjects. They make sure that they are achieving well. For pupils with an education, health and care (EHC) plan, staff also track carefully pupils' progress towards achieving their personal targets.

Sixth-form students also learn well overall, and can study creative courses up to the level 3 extended diploma qualification. The school supports students to be successful in progressing to their next steps, such as university, at the end of their studies.

In addition to creative courses, pupils also study a curriculum which includes English, mathematics and personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education in all years through to the sixth form.

Typically, these courses are well sequenced to build on pupils' learning from their previous schools. Staff identify gaps in pupils' prior learning and they sequence their programmes of study to fill missing knowledge. However, in some areas of subject curriculums, the school has not broken down the subject content into smaller parts so that pupils can fully achieve the intended curriculum end goals.

It is sometimes not clear how parts of the curriculum develop for those pupils who stay at the school for more than one year.

Leaders, supported by the trust, have a clear understanding of the school's strengths and the areas that they want to improve. Leaders make sure that staff have the training and support that they need to fulfil their roles.

Staff are supported to manage their workload well and leaders are reasonable in their expectations of the work that staff do. Trustees make sure that the school meets its requirements with regard to safeguarding, the Prevent Duty and the Equalities Act.

All pupils in the school have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and the majority have an EHC plan.

Leaders waste no time in assessing pupils' prior knowledge when they join the school. Pupils are placed on a suitable programme of study and staff tailor their teaching to meet individual needs. Where pupils are still at an early stage of reading, the school provides them with the support that they require to learn the letters and their corresponding sounds.

This helps their reading to improve. However, the school places less emphasis on creating a love of reading and ensuring that pupils access enriching wider reading opportunities.

Many pupils have not had a positive experience of education in the past and have missed a lot of school.

The school supports them well in rebuilding positive attitudes to education. Leaders are relentless in their work to stress the importance of attendance. They work closely with families and outside agencies and their work has an impact.

This can be seen in the improvement in attendance by the time pupils reach the sixth form. Leaders have implemented a new behaviour policy. They ensure that staff understand and apply the policy's expectations fairly and consistently.

Because of this, the school's approach is effective at securing good behaviour.

The PSHE programme teaches pupils how to stay safe and maintain their physical and mental health. They also learn about the diversity of British society and the importance of everyone being treated equally.

Leaders have built educational visits into the creative curriculum, such as to the Barbican Centre or the Miro Gallery.

Careers is at the forefront of the PSHE programme. All pupils receive one-to-one independent careers advice.

Pupils have opportunities to meet people from the creative media industry as well as find out about other careers and qualifications in fields beyond this.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some parts of the school's curriculum are not yet coherently planned and sequenced towards building pupils' knowledge in all subjects.

In a small number of areas, leaders have not thought through how they will break down knowledge into small chunks so that pupils can build on their prior knowledge or how what is learned will be developed in further years. As a result, some of pupils' learning does not develop progressively, with gaps in understanding and knowledge not identified or closed. The school should ensure that all subjects are planned so that pupils build on prior knowledge year on year.

• Reading for pleasure is not given a high enough priority. Pupils' enjoyment of reading is not developed as well as it could be, with their reading in school mainly confined to course materials and text extracts in lessons. The school should ensure that students have regular opportunities to read widely and for pleasure.