An alternative education provider has responded to the outcome of an Ofsted inspection which determined it would be unlikely to meet all independent school standards.
The Freshwater Independent School (FIS) is looking to provide alternative, outdoor education.
Under the auspices of the Outdoor Education and Adventure (OEA) organisation, the school currently provides alternative education for students who need an active setting to engage in their learning, using sport, the outdoors and practical subjects. To expand the provision the OEA offers, FIS need to be registered and have the capacity to act as a school.
Proprietor and prospective headteacher of the FIS, Owen Burson, is working with the Department for Education to set up the establishment — although it will not accept public applications for entry or provide full-time schooling.
As part of the process, a pre-registration inspection was undertaken by Ofsted which found 7 out of 8 areas of the FIS ‘unlikely’ or ‘not likely’ to meet the standards required to be registered as an independent school.
The OEA currently provides some education but was not inspected.
The Isle of Wight Council said OEA had successfully provided alternative provision for many years.
Inspectors found the main site for the FIS, at the back of Freshwater Bay long stay car park, lacked basic facilities. At the time of their inspection in May, there was no hot water, suitable toilets or washing facilities provided for pupils although temporary toilets were available and eco-toilets were planned.
Ofsted said the curriculum and teaching plans did not cater sufficiently for a range of learning difficulties and there were gaps in the proprietor’s knowledge of safeguarding and the duties of the designated safeguarding leader, although a new member of staff would be filling the position.
The area in which inspectors found FIS did meet the standards was the provision of information, with all the required details available on its website.
Overall, inspectors said:
“The proprietor, existing staff and proposed chair of governors are committed to improving provision for vulnerable pupils and those who may have missed out on education.
“They understandably want to build upon their experience of supporting and re-engaging pupils through alternative provision and outdoor education. However, the proprietor has not ensured all the independent school standards are likely to be met.”
Mr Burson said the points made by the inspectors were not criticisms but action points which have almost all been addressed with the remaining ones being resolved. He said the process was not considered to be going badly or well, it was ‘just a process to go though’.
Mr Burson said:
“We now have feeback, we are responding to that feedback and we will take the next steps once we are ready, so this neither hinders nor delays anything.
“We had chosen to have an inspection even though we knew we had things still to be done to the site to meet the standards, as we wanted to get the feedback from Ofsted.”
Mr Burson said their overall goal was to increase access to a wider education programme as the Island needed a greater range of provision for younger people.
