An ungraded (section 8) Ofsted inspection of the Island Learning Centre reveals there has been no change to the school’s overall judgement of ‘Good’.
However, inspectors say that the evidence gathered suggests that is a graded (section 5) inspection were carried out now, the inspection grade might not be as high.
Ofsted generally inspect ‘Good’ schools every four years, or at any time if they have concerns.
The last full inspection of the education provider for pupils who are unable to maintain a place at a
mainstream school. Some pupils are dual-registered with a mainstream school. Most pupils in Years 10 and 11 remain at the school until the end of key stage 4.
Highlights from the report
The report reveals the following:
- Pupils are positive about attending the Island Learning Centre.
- They like the small class sizes, which help to maintain a calm and purposeful atmosphere.
- Pupils welcome the support from staff and usually respond well to them.
- They appreciate how staff listen to them and nurture their potential.
- The interim headteacher has empowered staff to begin to address weaknesses in the school.
- The school is keen for pupils, who all have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to do well.
- Some pupils find it challenging to manage their behaviour but, overall, it is improving.
- Leaders have increased their expectations of pupils to be ready, respectful and resilient.
- Many pupils respond positively but some pupils find meeting these expectations difficult.
- The school helps pupils to successfully engage in education.
- Pupils are supported to make positive changes to their attitudes and learning and they go on to
successfully achieve different qualifications. - Staff work closely with parents to prioritise identifying pupils’ needs and use this information well to provide bespoke support.
- The school works effectively with a range of external agencies to provide the support that pupils need.
Improvements needed
The inspection report states that the following needs to happen in order for the school to improve:
- The curriculum is inconsistently implemented. This means that pupils’ learning is variable across different subjects. The school should ensure that staff emphasise the most important content, check pupils’ understanding and help pupils to remember long term the knowledge and skills they have been taught.
- The support for weaker readers is underdeveloped. This means that struggling readers are not swiftly learning to read with fluency. The school should ensure they strengthen the additional support for pupils at an early stage of learning to read and ensure that they have suitable books to read to help them develop confidence and accuracy.
- The management of behaviour is not yet fully consistent. This means that, on occasion, some pupils’ behaviour disrupts learning. The school should ensure that all staff have high expectations of how pupils should behave and then closely follow the agreed behaviour procedures.
- Some pupils’ attendance is too low. This means that they are missing important learning, which reduces their opportunities for future education and employment. The school should ensure that they continue to work with parents to increase attendance for all pupils.
You can read the full report, as well as previous ones, on the Ofsted website.
