A private school in Hove has been rated inadequate by inspectors from Ofsted.
After an inspection in November, Drive Preparatory School was downgraded to the lowest rating, five years after it was rated good at its last inspection.
Inspectors identified shortcomings in the school’s approach to teaching reading, staff training and compliance with safeguarding and curriculum requirements.
However, the school’s headteacher Sue Parkinson says the report is a snapshot judgement about a safeguarding issue that was resolved quickly and the school has complained about the report.
Inspectors, Alice Roberts and Caroline Clarke, wrote in the report: “The school has no clear priorities at present.
“Staff training and development opportunities are very limited.
“Neither the headteacher, nor the proprietor demonstrate the knowledge and understanding necessary to carry out their roles effectively.
“The proprietor has not ensured effective governance arrangements are in place.”
The independent school for ages seven to 16, where fees range from £6,885 to £8,997 a year, has a history of working with pupils who have struggled in larger school environments.
While the independent school was commended for its smaller, home-like environment, the report noted the curriculum lacked clarity.
The report states: “The school relies too heavily on the expertise of individual teachers to ensure that pupils receive a good quality of education.
“The school has not considered carefully enough what pupils need to learn at each stage to be ready to begin their GCSE programme in Year 10.”
Recommendations for the school included for all staff to be trained in early reading instruction and safeguarding.
The school failed to meet independent school standards on the quality of education provided, the welfare, health and safety of pupils and the quality of leadership in and management of schools.
Around 40 percent of the school’s 46 pupils have an education, health and care (EHC) plan and some have a history of low attendance.
The report says that while the school’s environment has had a positive effect on attendance for some, the school’s efforts to improve attendance are not analysed and therefore leaders do not always know when strategies are working.
Sue Parkinson, headteacher, said: “The safeguarding issue did not involve anybody coming to the school and did not involve any child getting harmed. It’s as simple as that.
“If any school has got a safeguarding concern – and ours are sorted, literally immediately, it didn’t involve any changes – then leadership and management automatically gets a judgement of inadequate.
“Also, we feel that Ofsted didn’t understand the actual nature of the school. It’s a snapshot judgement and it focuses on primary age children, but we’re 90 percent secondary.
“We can only just wait and see what the results of that review is, and we’ll have to put up with obviously an inadequate judgement.
“We’ve had a good record of doing well, and people actually loving having their children here so you’ll always get somebody that doesn’t agree with that.
“It’s a job that I’ve been doing for a long time. I’ve been here 26 years. I love this job and the parents are fantastic. The children are even more fantastic.”
The school’s previous Ofsted inspection from February 2019 rated the school as good.
You can read the full inspection report by Ofsted here: https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50240439
Have an autistic child myself and once visited this school for an after school group that was running from there, with my 8 year old. Was shocked by the Head Teacher. She had no idea how to manage younger children and the space needed updating both in terms of the building quality and safety, and in terms of her attitude towards, and way of communicating with younger autistic kids. I also know other autistics who went to the school and were removed for Home Education because it didn’t meet their needs. I am sure there are some teachers who are amazing but I wouldn’t want to send my child there. I felt there were issues with safeguarding, if I am brutally honest. There didn’t seem to be an understanding of how to communicate with highly anxious,younger children who have a PDA profile. Certainly not from the HT, any way. I also didn’t think the play equipment was safe, either, esp when you have children who need to climb A LOT.
This sounds like a different school and head teacher to me. My son is autistic PDA and he’s thriving. All the children adore the headteacher. She’s got a special talent understanding children (and I’m not the only person to have said it)
Whatever people might think of this report, and there are clearly serious concerns, many of the children in this school, including my own, have been failed by mainstream Brighton schools, who will likely not be held to account for their failings. These schools go forward with Good and even Outstanding OFSTED reports, while families and providers like The Drive are left to pick up the pieces.
Yet another Ofsted failure.
I went to this school for several years, and because of it and all the staff it has made me and hundreds of other pupils the very successful people we are today, with excellent grades and wonderful careers.
The dedication of the staff, the deliverance of the learning and the atmosphere of this school is absolutely fantastic.
This is certainly not your normal school, but that is what makes its students successful.
This is just another example of Ofsted ignoring all the good the staff and school do.
My daughter left the Drive Prep school a couple of years ago and I only have admiration and praise for Mrs Parkinson and the team. Without their efforts, compassion and understanding I am sure that my daughter would not have attained any qualifications. The Drive is a small school where the staff really seem to understand the individual needs of their pupils. They were forward thinking and adaptable and able to provide a fairly bespoke curriculum – this was particularly evident in their ability to adapt really quickly and thoughtfully during COVID lockdown. My daughter felt safe, valued and encouraged at school and this is entirely down to the considerable effort, patience and professionalism of Mrs Parkinson and her team. I would have no reservations recommending this school.
My experience of this school does not match the inspectors. I have grandchildren who have previously been to two schools one rated outstanding the other good. Both failed my grandchildren who have now come in leaps and bounds since being at the drive.
My conclusion is that OFSTED is no longer fit for
purpose.
Do you argue that your experience was different to another? That’s rather anecdotal, don’t you agree? Still, I’m glad your grandchildren are thriving.
The school used to be good but has gone downhill in recent years. To say it is disorganised is a complete understatement. Children roam freely with little structure and there is a lot of bullying that is not dealt with properly. Several children and good staff have left in the last year. As parents we are now trying desperately to find places for our children where they can be safe and have access to the good education they used to receive here.
As the local authority fund so many children who attend here, the most vulnerable children who have EHCP’s I hope they are getting involved. The school used to be good but in recent years they far fall behind in so many ways. A school that cannot safeguard vulnerable children should be closed.
I went to this school over 20 years ago when it was based a few doors down and still to this day am traumatised
We did not have any routine and the ‘lessons’ that did occur were very few and between.
One of the less awful memories was forcing us to hurriedly copy pages from books the day of parents evening, to have some material to blind our parents with.
The school is and always has been a money making machine with the children’s interests not even a second thought. I know many people who have also attended and equally have had a horrendous experience at the hands of this ‘school’.
“The school relies too heavily on the expertise of individual teachers to ensure that pupils receive a good quality of education.”
Where do I sign up?
Relying on the quality of individual teachers, rather than bureaucratic box-ticking exercises that promote incompetent and dangerous staff, sounds like a plus to me.
The school has really gone downhill in the past few years. It is so disorganised and lacks structure and professionalism. Lax safeguarding procedures put children at risk and children have certainly come to harm as a result. Those of us with children still there now need support to find places in schools where our children can learn in a safe, secure and professional environment with properly trained staff.
This school is wonderful and is becoming one of the only ones left in Brighton and Hove sadly.
My children attended schools with good and outstanding ofsted reports. There were frequent issues of safeguarding, poor education and being let down in most areas. One of my children didn’t read or write for years. Within two weeks of attending The Drive Prep school he was reading and writing with a reading scheme that’s highly effective and has helped all the children in his class. Both my children are achieving much higher levels academically and enjoy coming to school. This is the general consensus when I speak to other parents. I personally know doctors and professors in education who also highly recommend this school. We can’t thank the teachers and leaders enough for how they have helped our children.
My children attended schools with good and outstanding ofsted reports. There were frequent issues of safeguarding, poor education and being let down in most areas. One of my children didn’t read or write for years. Within two weeks of attending The Drive Prep school he was reading and writing with a reading scheme that’s highly effective and has helped all the children in his class. Both my children are achieving much higher levels academically and enjoy coming to school. This is the general consensus when I speak to other parents. I personally know doctors and professors in education who also highly recommend this school. We can’t thank the teachers and leaders enough for how they have helped our children and countless others.
My children have thrived here in all areas. The head teacher is unbelievable with children especially SEN and they adore her.
One of my children is autistic PDA. Within two weeks he was reading and writing after attending a school with good ofsted where he didn’t read or write. His anxiety has reduced immensely and he’s happy in the mornings when before he would scream and cry all the way to school.
My other child is also much more confident and coming on leaps and bounds in all academic areas. She previously encountered serious safeguarding issues at a school with outstanding ofsted where she left the school grounds at age 5 on a number occasions without the teachers knowing and the head did nothing to rectify it. We can’t praise the teachers and leaders enough at The Drive Prep.
My children have thrived here in all areas. The head teacher is unbelievable with children especially SEN and they adore her.
One of my children is autistic PDA. His anxiety has reduced immensely and he’s happy in the mornings when before he would scream and cry all the way to school.
My other child is also much more confident and coming on leaps and bounds in all academic areas. We can’t praise the teachers and leaders enough at The Drive Prep.
Much of the report extensively discusses paperwork, a matter that can be readily addressed in practice. Emphasising the dependence on one or two specific skills among teachers, as highlighted by various commentators based on their experiences, is a reasonable concern. If these teachers were to depart, particularly unexpectedly, it could result in a deficit in those particular skills, directly impacting the students enrolled in the institution.
This is a good point but in small schools there are bound to be issues with the number of teachers for each subject, and also opportunities for progression. The school should be judged by its results over a number of years when these issues must have been faced and successfully overcome by the present head.
My step son is the deputy head of a much larger secondary but even there he had to teach ICT to cover for missing staff. (He is qualified in Maths, History and Politics).
I am sure the boxes can be ticked to change this grading by OFSTED without too much effort but it has the air of ticking boxes for the sake of it rather than for the sake of education. But, that is the way of things.
For those of us with children still at the school, this report serves only to confirm the concerns that we have been raising for some time. There have been serious lapses in Safeguarding. This HAS caused harm to children. Put simply this school is simply not good enough any more. Ofsted Inspections aren’t just about paperwork, they are about how policies are put into practice and also take into account the experiences and opinions of parents and children at the school. We completed questionnaires and some of us spoke with inspectors too.