Thorneberry School, Doncaster

What it's like to be a pupil at Thorneberry School

The school's safeguarding procedures are not sufficient to ensure that pupils are consistently kept safe in the school. Although pupils are not at immediate risk of harm, the proprietor and staff do not always demonstrate a secure understanding of safeguarding guidance. As a result, policies and practices are not implemented effectively. Some adults working with pupils have not been subject to appropriate checks, and not all are recorded on the school's systems. Pupils quickly develop positive relationships with staff and settle into routines. However, the curriculum is not sufficiently developed to support them to build knowledge and skills over time. In subjects such as personal, social, health and economic education, there is little evidence of a coherent curriculum. Where programmes are introduced, staff do not receive enough support to deliver them effectively. As a result, pupils are not well prepared for future education or life in modern Britain. All pupils have special educational needs and/or disabilities or other barriers to learning. However, staff do not consistently understand these needs well enough. Learning is not adapted effectively, and pupils do not achieve as well as they could. Pupils attend a school on the same site as a children's home, where they live. This supports their sense of security. Staff from the children's home regularly support pupils in school, helping to strengthen relationships. Pupils usually work individually with adults, which reduces concerns about bullying. However, there are other consequences to this arrangement. When pupils become dysregulated, staff are alone in trying to manage this and they do not use consistent strategies to support pupils to manage their emotions and behaviour. The proprietor has not given sufficient thought about the impact of only working with adults on pupils' personal wellbeing and development. There are insufficient opportunities given to pupils to develop socially or learn about the world beyond the school.

What Ofsted says the school should do next

• The proprietor must fulfil their statutory duties in relation to equality, safeguarding and safer recruitment of staff. They must ensure that policies and processes are developed and maintained to ensure that pupils are safe.
• The proprietor must ensure that systems are developed to enable them to monitor the quality of provision in the school and ensure that improvements are identified and addressed swiftly.
• The proprietor should ensure that important policies, linked to the independent school standards, are developed, understood and implemented by all staff.
• The proprietor must ensure that staff's work is monitored and they get appropriate supervision and support to carry out their roles.
• The proprietor should ensure that the curriculum is clear, coherent and progressive in all areas and that teachers are supported to devise learning that matches the needs of the pupils.
• Leaders must ensure that teachers have the subject-specific knowledge and expertise needed to teach the curriculum as expected.
• Leaders must ensure that teachers have sufficient understanding of the curriculum to adapt lessons so that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, can learn the intended curriculum.
• The proprietor should ensure that a well-planned and coherent curriculum is developed to support pupils' personal development and ensure that all pupils are given opportunities to learn from a wide, rich range of experiences.

The school provides a calm, supportive environment where pupils quickly form positive relationships with staff. Staff are committed to helping pupils who struggle with learning. The school is beginning to use some effective published programmes in phonics and mathematics.

Safeguarding standards are not met - the proprietor has not ensured appropriate background checks on staff, the single central record is incomplete, and there is no open and positive culture around safeguarding.

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