Northease Manor School

[Lozzie12]

I am looking for a secondary school for my DS with HF ASD, he is currently in mainstream primary with a 1:1 TA but we have been advised he won't manage secondary. His main problems are anxieties and SpLd. I am going to look at Northease Manor School, does anyone have any knowledge / experience of this, many thanks.

We are thrilled to have found a school for my DS that he is happy with and is suitable. He starts Mark College in September, it's been a long journey and he's just completed a weeks transition which has been really good. The staff are lovely and he was really settled.
I hope this school finds a way forward, there are so few of them and so many children that need places. Thank you everybody that commented.

The problem is that the content has not been removed:
www.ofsted.gov.uk/filedownloading/?id=2244581&type=1&refer=0
What exactly is happening, or more to the point, what is being done about this?

I should also point out that the Local Authority are telling prospective parents that they will continue to support their roll of existing pupils at Northease but they won't send prospective pupils until the current issues are resolved. They refer to the Osted report categorising the school as Inadeqate in terms of residential care and an evaluation of the adequacy of the school in general. I am due to go the 1st Tier Tribunal next month and part of the LA's evidence is a list of staff at Northease and their qualifications.

To say that I am unhappy and frustrated just doesn't do justice. The LA are sticking to their guns that my son, with Dyslexia (Visual and Auditory Processing Disorder), poor working memory, SpLD and Social Age difficulties should attend Seahaven Academy! Seahaven had a Requires Improvement category from Ofsted in Sept. 2012, when the school was Tideway (LA maintained) just before it became an academy it apparently had an Ofsted visit and was 'given a clean bill of health', but there is no documentary evidence of this and now it has become an academy, Ofsted are not allowed to inspect or visit for five terms. Read the Ofsted report about Seahaven and there is nothing in it with regard to SEN pupils. How can anyone seeking provision locally make an informed choice with this mess? I am now thinking of looking at a broad range of schools in Kent, Sussex (E & W) Surrey and Hampshire in order to try and resolve this matter.

I beg to differ with regard to your comment about the LA and how it cannot take action. East Sussex SEN Dept. is saying that it will not send any new pupils to Northease until the current problems are resolved. That is what I was told by my legal rep.

henrypage I can totally understand your frustration and agree with you 100%. There are so few options available generally and so little support for our kids, it's overwhelmingly frustrating and difficult.

We went through your position 2 years ago, we thought that Northease would be 'ok' (it wasn't our first choice), our son started there, things were ok to begin with but we've had our issues and now things have really started to unravel. Now our son is in year 10, we can't move him and he doesn't want to leave. The LEA won't fund him elsewhere and we're stuck with a school we don't trust and which isn't meeting the needs of his statement.

On a positive note, he is happy there and doesn't want to leave because he's made friends - which is certainly better than his previous school. The good thing about Northease is that the kids can 'be themselves' and there's a lot to be said for that. He's also making 'some' progress in 'some' lessons - there are some 'pockets' of good stuff - PE and science are both great and the head of PE is fantastic as is the OT. But there are many other issues which need sorting out. There is no assisted technology and no real support to help the students become independent learners or prepare them for further education or work. My son needs more literacy support to work on his handwriting, reading and comprehension, but that isn't being put in place either.

I have also heard from the LEA that they won't place new pupils there until the issues are resolved. Which doesn't really help those going to tribunal. This is a political issue on a bigger scale and our kids are stuck in the middle of it.

As I understand it the local LEA are currently assessing their children's progress. The results of that will be interesting.

I'd like to hope that Northease can get to the bottom of the issues and put in place what needs to be done to support not only the kids, but provide a great place for teachers to work and develop. Whether that can be done remains to be seen.

henrypage.. good luck with your researching and tribunal.

Hello everyone.
I can see this discussion is still going strong. Lol!
I'm very interested in what East Sussex LEA are saying regarding naming Northease as the school to send our kids.
Am I right that they are holding off until they see progress with existing children?
That seems a bit off doesn't it? Or is that normal?
The whole process of getting an assessment is stressful enough. Then having to go through tribunal when East Sussex say no as usual. Then this on top of all that?

Has anyone got any recent experience of statementing and having Northease as the named school since the ofsted report? I think that would be useful for prospective parents.

I think Northease will weather this storm but some very serious, honest and transparent changes will need to be made. None of this cloak and dagger stuff that is going on at the moment. It's not helping anyone.

I probably should start new thread regarding the statement process for Northease. I'll see if I can figure that out.

My understanding is that LAs will not fund children at a school that is "inadequate" and should be especially concerned if there are concerns about safeguarding. If they are funding they have a duty of care to the children and could be legally liable. As you probably know the LAs go n periodically to inspect the provision as well. When we sought to change the school named on the statement from Northease to another school (admittedly with very good reason) the LA agreed surprisingly easily which makes me think they already knew about some of the problems. They even offered us home education in the interim. I do feel for parents who are going through tribunal process and were hoping to get a place at Northease but frankly I think they would be better off to wait and see if the school can be turned around. And for that there need to be some rapid and drastic changes including changes to the management

I have heard that Norman Baker has been in discussion with Ofsted inspectors and is in continuing discussion with a senior inspector about the situation at Northease Manor School.

I would urge you to contact his office if you have anything to contribute. I have been told that confidentiality would be maintained - I think he is aware that for many reasons people are sometimes reluctant to speak out. You could discuss this with him in any case.

Norman Baker spoke out about the school on the BBC news item on South East Today. He is the local MP and a minister in the Coalition government. His contact number can be found on his website.

It does seem a way to direct your concerns to someone with connections and influence. He is aware of the interest on Mumsnet.

To whom is interested Ofsted inspectors are at the school until tomorrow. So good opportunity to get your views across!

I hope that the Ofsted inspectors have widened their remit beyond the terms of the original inspection rated inadequate. I am mindful of 'Magman's suggestion of 'fragmented responsibility' and hope too that all other relevant organizations associated with the school are fully involved.

I have one friend who taught there for a while, she said it was chaotic and failing to meet the needs of pupils.
I have another friend who has just removed her severely dyslexic 12 year old, after a year there. She said his education or lack of was shocking.
Northease advertises itself constantly on the radio, why???
I have never heard a positive thing about it.

Let's hope Ofsted continue to see the bigger picture of this school. It is time the Head and Chair of Governors became accountable to someone, as it seems Local Authority's only care about money and cheaper placements and not the statement of educational need or safety of children. Perhaps they should be interviewing the recently resigned Governor and some of the many resigned teachers, who would not feel threatened or intimidated to speak out and tell the truth as no longer employed by the Head teacher.

I'm beginning to feel utterly exhausted and so upset by this whole situation. I want to remove my son but the LA won't pay for an alternative placement. My son is 'happy' ish there and doesn't want to leave his friends. Yet I don't trust the school and they are not meeting the needs of his statement. Some recent literacy assessments indicate he has made NO progress at all in 2 years he's been there. He has ASD, so any sort of change is traumatic and will set him back - a placement move at this late stage is just impossible. It's SO difficult. The comments from other posters above about 'if you don't like it, then remove your child' are unbelievably insensitive and thoughtless. It's not that easy and I have very little choice or voice! It's an impossible situation and utterly exhausting. I feel totally let down by Northease and doubt they're going to pull themselves together in the next year to provide my son with the education he deserves.

Good to learn Ofsted are carrying out a follow up visit. Hopefully they will listen this time if current staff feel able to identify instances where they are aware of bullying and intimidation. At the last full Ofsted Inspection, Ofsted inspectors who interviewed staff they were given very detailed information about the culture of bullying and intimidation that prevailed at Northease. They had also received many complaints from parents, staff, ex Governors and other interested parties before they arrived to carry out their Inspection. They failed to act and handed Carmen and Dave Boys a mandate to continue to manage the school in the shocking way that has recently been uncovered.
Dontgothere11, those of us who told the truth to the Ofsted Inspectors at the previous inspection, were informed by Ofsted that there was a 'helpline' for teachers if they felt they were being bullied at work Unsurprisingly, staff who risked their careers to speak out, felt very unsupported, and when the Inspection Report found the school to be 'good', it made it even more difficult to challenge the Head and Chair of Governors.

Hopefully, this time, a more truthful picture will emerge!

The LA are doing this because they don't want to pay for any possible boarding component were your son to move to a school further afield. Best ring IPSEA (Google IPSEA.org) or the Community Legal Service (Google CLS Direct) Either one will give you the advice and CLS can put you in touch with a leagl advice centre who will use legal aid to process your appeal.

Eatcakewillrun - It's possibly worth having a look at Woowo91's posting on 24 June. It is appalling that you are so distressed by this unresolved situation.

I sympathise with you eatcakewilliam as I know how difficult LA's can be. Good advice old timer, and also try talking to Norman Baker MP Lewes, he may be able to assist too as well as IPSEA and Affasic. I am not sure where you live, but have you looked at Frewen College near Rye and also talking to the media may help too? I hope you can resolve your situation soon! Good luck

thanks folks.. Frewen wouldn't take him a couple of years ago (it's nearer to us) and doubt they will now. The move would be too much for him anyway, so I think my only course of action is to ensure his statement is being met with pressure on the LEA and Northease. Whether or not that's even possible is another matter! Oftsed were in yesterday and for the first time ever my son had a TA in his english lesson! coincidence? I think not.

Does anyone know if there have been any developments at Northease since the last Ofsted visit?

I've given up. Imran was offered a place at Northease last year. I even contacted them again in May to see if they would attend the FTT hearing but they didn't get back to me. I am looking elsewhere but as you can imagine, I only discovered this mess at the end of June so it has been a frantic three weeks for me. If this sort of non-communication and lack of partner co-operation is indicative of their style then I don't want my child going there. I am seeking a placement at a type of school because my child has difficulties, so why choose a school that has difficulties too?

Oh dear, that's awful, henry . I won't bother with them in that case. But I have absolutely no idea what school to name on the statement for my son.

Look carefully at his statement of SENs. If he has SpLDs - dyslexia - then Frewen (Netherfield) or Slindon (Arundel) are for him, BUT if he has Emotional and Behavioural Diffs then maybe New School at West Heath?

He doesn't have either of those difficulties, henry, but thank you for your suggestions. His diagnosis is HFA and his main symptom is severe anxiety.

From New School's Admissions Policy (Google 'new school west heath admissions criteria' and it comes at the top of the list as a .pdf)

We specialise in supporting the traumatised child, many of whom
have had a difficult background; some of our children suffer from
obsessive disorders; anorexia, bulimia, others are high functioning
autistic and therefore have communication difficulties. Some children
will have a diagnosis of ADHD or ODD, but will respond well to our
gentle therapeutic approach. We are a haven for those children who
have been severely bullied, but accept that the victim can sometimes
become the perpetrator; who also needs understanding and
management.

Hope that this helps. I have visited New School and it IS a professionally organised school with real benefits for those with anxiety or previous trauma.

Thank you, henry. I'll have a look at their website and admin policy.