During the last three months of Ofsted at Estyn, reports have seen similar patterns in schools across England and Wales: where best practice occurs, poor practice is usually absent.
Attendance does not have the same focus as it did before Christmas. However, it is still clear that where this is successful, it is because well-developed, comprehensive, timely and rigorous systems have been implemented so schools can ensure they are doing all they can to support pupils to attend school.
This support may need to be sensitive, supporting the small number of pupils who may find attending school more difficult. This type of help is based on a detailed understanding of the provision each pupil needs (see Additional Learning Needs provision). Without good attendance, gaps in pupils’ learning will widen. Ofsted highlights that leaders should ensure a sharp focus on helping pupils improve their attendance. Regarding behaviour, schools are praised for having high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and attendance. Where the school’s ethos is modelled by staff and enforced with robust systems and policies, pupils, in turn, are kind and respectful and poor behaviour is very rare. Schools need clear strategies to manage pupil behaviour; for instance, quick and skilful distraction techniques to help pupils manage their emotions.
An absence of this may result in pupils finding school life challenging and, therefore, hesitant to report bullying incidents. Leaders should raise the expectations of pupil behaviour and ensure that staff manage behaviour fairly and consistently, consequently reassuring pupils. Pupils need to see that behaviour is being dealt with in order to feel supported and safe. It is vital that pupils feel safe at school, particularly if home life isn’t a safe place.
Governors have a role behind the scenes by overseeing the most essential work, especially concerning financial propriety and safeguarding. They need to hold leaders accountable and receive specific training. They need to take responsibility and ensure that they do not overly rely on the information provided by the headteacher.
In Wales, the focus is very much on whether governors make suitable arrangements to promote healthy eating and drinking in school while using their pupil development grant effectively. For example, pupils who require bespoke interventions to improve their learning or well-being can access the support they need. The school’s inclusive approach ensures that vulnerable pupils access residential trips they might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience or use it to provide beneficial play therapy sessions to support pupil well-being.
The recent Ofsted reports highlight the fact that pupils feel safe when they feel heard. There should be a range of communication systems and methods in place so pupils can actively voice their opinions. Examples include group meetings, one-to-one discussions and an anonymous’ post box’ where they can make suggestions.
Due to the recent reforms, Personal Social Health and Economic Education (PSHE)/Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) is still a hot topic. Where practice is good, there is a comprehensive personal development offer with dedicated, timetabled lessons. Successful programmes cover important themes that positively impact health and well-being, such as physical exercise, healthy eating and drinking and sexual health, as well as the impact of harmful lifestyle choices and behaviours, such as substance misuse. Good provision is enhanced by visits from external providers and specialist speakers. Internet safety features highly, as does an emphasis on personal and social education that successfully develops pupils’ understanding of their well-being. For instance, enabling pupils to draw on specific strategies as support techniques when faced with more challenging work, which effectively scaffolds their emotional well-being.
It’s important for pupils to learn about looking after their mental health, the dangers of misogyny and how to develop healthy relationships. Risks in the local areas should also be considered, as well as topics such as harmful relationships, peer pressure and substance misuse. PSHE becomes ineffective when it is not well sequenced across all year groups, resulting in pupils being unable to recall important information, such as knowledge about British values and positive relationships. Leaders must ensure pupils in all year groups benefit from a high-quality personal development programme that equips them to be well-prepared for life in modern Britain. Good practice is where leaders ensure that pupils’ personal development is at the heart of everything they do and all pupils learn about healthy relationships in an age-appropriate way. Where PSHE is not at its best, pupils’ knowledge and understanding of equality, diversity and global issues are limited.
Estyn has placed a big chunk of its observations on healthy lifestyles over the past few months. Best practice enables pupils to have a sound understanding of the importance of eating and drinking healthily and an understanding of the benefits of physical exercise on their health. Such schools will provide a wide range of physical extracurricular activities. Primary schools are commended for pupils who recognise the need to clean their teeth regularly and speak thoughtfully about the importance of a healthy diet that does not include too much fast-food. Pupils should know why making healthy choices is important and understand the impact of eating a balanced diet and drinking water, while being encouraged and enabled to make healthy choices during the school day.
Many reports have an emphasis on the relationships between staff and pupils. At the heart of this is the importance of leaders and staff knowing the pupils well and understanding the communities in which they live. It pays to be alert to the dangers that pupils may face in their everyday lives. Staff can then report the signs that might indicate a pupil is at risk of harm. Leaders who work well with a range of agencies ensure that pupils and their families receive the support they need.
Good schools have staff who are skilled in communicating with pupils. They understand the barriers pupils experience when trying to follow routines and process new information. All staff should be patient and nurturing when working with pupils and be positive role models, promoting and maintaining good standards of behaviour. These relationships directly support the well-being of pupils. With strong relationships, pupils will be comfortable and confident to share their concerns with staff.
Taking time to learn about pupils’ experiences and how their individual needs affect how they feel provides a strong base for trusting relationships between pupils and staff. In special schools, staff have been found to use their positive relationships with pupils to help them manage their anxieties and frustrations. Consequently, there were no instances of physical restraint. Pupils are able to reflect on their behaviours and actions and talk to staff about how they were feeling and what responses helped them control their emotions more effectively.
Safeguarding
Highly knowledgeable leaders ensure that all staff have specific and up-to-date safeguarding information. Concerns are reported promptly, and best practice sees governors and leaders working closely with the whole school system to ensure all appropriate safer recruitment processes are strictly completed. It pays for leaders to know pupils and their families well and be vigilant to any changes in the behaviour of individual pupils and the signs that may suggest that a pupil could be at risk of harm.
Training is a key element of best safeguarding practices. All staff should receive regular safeguarding training and updates and be trained sufficiently in the school’s safeguarding procedure so that record-keeping is detailed and actions to protect pupils are timely.
Training should also be specific to meeting the identified needs of pupils, for example, training on how to prevent autistic pupils from becoming exploited and radicalised. Schools’ safeguarding policies should be written in line with the latest statutory guidance and available online.
https://www.gov.wales/keeping-learners-safe
Records should give a clear indication of the potential risks and the action that has been taken in response and show that senior leaders will robustly challenge other professionals when they perceive they are not meeting their responsibilities. Leaders usually follow up on any concerns promptly with appropriate outside agencies and keep accurate records of any referrals. Good communication with external professionals ensures that risks are shared and strategies are devised and circulated.
Poor safeguarding is highlighted when external safeguarding agencies were not consulted when they should have been, senior leaders failed to manage the concern appropriately or there are hazards, e.g., fire doors that fail to shut properly or extension leads plugged in and switched on, balancing on the taps of a sink.
Systems for recording safeguarding concerns must assist with the recording of low-level concerns about individual staff members’ practice. Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) should be supported to analyse information so that potential patterns of inappropriate, problematic or concerning behaviour can be identified.
In good schools, leaders have high ambitions for pupils with Additional Learning Needs (ALN) and disabilities. They quickly identify any pupils with ALN and provide the class support they require to access the full curriculum. Tracking and monitoring pupil progress carefully ensures that all pupils have specific targets reviewed and evaluated regularly. They identify and plan a range of effective literacy, numeracy, social and personal programmes to support pupils. The curriculum should be broken down into manageable steps, appropriate strategies to support pupils’ learning should be used and teaching assistants should support pupils well in all aspects of school life.
High-quality training should be provided to support pupils with ALN in the classroom. This enables teachers to adapt their teaching activities to meet the needs of pupils with ALN. Pupils with ALN will benefit from the same broad and ambitious curriculum as their peers. It also pays to have effective communication with parents who have a child with ALN to ensure parental confidence that all pupils with ALN receive the effective support they need.
Excellent provision includes a wide range of enrichment interventions for pupils with ALN and pupils needing specialist support. For example, spelling and number workshops, art therapy for individuals and groups of pupils, social stories and clay therapy sessions for pupils with weak motor and handwriting skills.
Estyn has highlighted effective practice through ALN coordinators who lead on identifying pupil needs early and that the tracking and support for individuals and groups of pupils begin promptly. Rigorous pupil progress reviews, linked to a robust tracking system, result in a deep understanding of pupils’ needs amongst staff. This is supported by valuable opportunities for staff to engage in training to support all pupils’ well-being and learning needs across the school.
In Wales, schools are successfully implementing the national priority of reforming provision for pupils with ALN and providing staff with valuable professional learning to support them in improving their work, while giving them opportunities to disseminate good practice across the school. As a result, nearly all pupils with ALN make good progress towards their individual learning goals in these schools. Other schools have developed suitable one-page profiles for pupils with ALN that are shared appropriately with teachers to support their lesson planning. Teaching assistants play a valuable role in developing pupils’ one-page profiles and setting individualised targets. Teachers also need to plan for the deployment of teaching assistants satisfactorily and ensure they know their role in supporting pupils’ learning.
Ofsted and Estyn have both noted schools that place importance on student well-being. They have highlighted instances where leaders have invested heavily in supporting pupils’ wider social, emotional and behavioural needs. Where staff receive training and support around their own well-being, as well as strategies about how to help pupils, there is a shared awareness, and pupils then feel comfortable speaking to staff about their feelings and emotional well-being, which, in turn, allows pupils to build emotional resilience.
Staff also benefit from attending well-being workshops as it helps to build resilience. These schools recognise that staff who feel valued and supported are more likely to meet the challenges they experience in their roles.
Other examples include ‘well-being hubs’ to support pupils. This brings together services from inside and outside the school to work collaboratively on behalf of pupils, for example, the youth service and school counselling service. Pupil well-being thrives in a nurturing environment where they feel safe, secure and respected.
Read more here:
Keeping Learners Safe guidance (Wales): https://www.gov.wales/keeping-learners-safe
Keeping Children Safe in Education (UK): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education–2