Grange Park School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school is expert in understanding and meeting the needs of pupils with autism spectrum disorder. Pupils appreciate the exceptionally calm and orderly environment throughout the school.

All pupils receive carefully tailored support that enables them to become increasingly able to recognise and manage their physical and emotional well-being. As a result, pupils demonstrate exceptional levels of self-control and commitment to their education. Over time, all pupils develop the social skills and confidence to build positive relationships and friendships within the school community.

The school has great ambition for every pupil to achieve the best possible outcomes. Thi...s includes ensuring that every pupil has a clear pathway into further education or employment when they leave the school. The achievement of some pupils, however, is limited, because the support the school provides for those at an early stage of learning to read lacks precision.

Pupils have extensive opportunities for personal development. They talk with great enthusiasm about the range of trips, visits and workshops on offer, and the difference these opportunities have made to their lives. For example, pupils reflected on how an opportunity to perform on a professional stage had given them a deeper sense of confidence and self-belief.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

All pupils have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, and many have other additional special educational needs and/or disabilities. The school ensures that every member of staff has an in-depth understanding of the needs of each pupil. Every aspect of the school's environment has been developed to meet pupils' needs.

Staff ensure that each pupil gets the right provision set out in their education, health and care (EHC) plan. As a result, pupils fully engage with the school's academic curriculum as well as with the myriad of enriching experiences that form part of their education.

The school is determined that pupils have every opportunity to achieve the best possible outcomes.

The curriculum is highly ambitious. Pupils study a very broad range of academic and vocational subjects. Across subjects, the school has mapped out clear learning pathways.

In a small number of subjects, the school is continuing to refine the curriculum to ensure that the stages of learning each pupil needs to go through to achieve highly are clearly set out. Teachers across the school are expert in the subjects that they teach. All pupils study for GCSEs at key stage 4.

Pupils' achievements at key stage 4 are built on in the school's sixth form very carefully and effectively.

The school provides sensitive support for pupils who arrive at the school at an early stage of learning to read. Some pupils arrive at the school having never had the confidence to read aloud.

Staff work very successfully to rebuild pupils' reading confidence through regular opportunities to read aloud with a familiar adult. Pupils are encouraged and supported to read for pleasure. The school has not, however, developed sufficient expertise in the teaching of phonics and reading to ensure that the support provided for pupils is precise and enables every pupil to learn to read effectively.

As a result, not all pupils gain the phonics knowledge and language comprehension necessary to read as fluently and independently as they could.

The school's personal development programme is transformative for pupils and their families. At its heart is a carefully sequenced programme to develop pupils' social communication and emotional regulation.

Through this programme, the school develops a personal toolkit for each pupil to promote their engagement and to ensure that they have the right support strategies in place. Pupils have ongoing opportunities to collaborate with staff in the development of their own toolkits, and to apply their learning in an increasingly wide range of contexts. For example, while pupils in the primary phase of the school are supported to develop the confidence to participate in school trips with adult support, older pupils are supported to become increasingly independent on trips and visits.

This programme continues into the sixth form and is a key part of pupils' journey to independence. The school has developed a very strong careers programme that prepares pupils extremely well for their next steps.

Pupils' behaviour in lessons and around the school is exceptionally positive.

Pupils appreciate the belief that staff and leaders have in each of them and work hard to live up to the school's values and expectations. Older pupils have learned to use their toolkits to support their own self-regulation. Pupils learn to recognise, for example, when they need a movement break or a quiet moment.

However, their intrinsic motivation means that they are back learning in their classrooms from the moment they are ready.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school has not developed sufficient expertise in the teaching of phonics and reading to ensure that the reading support provided is precise and enables every pupil to learn to read.

Gaps in pupils' phonological knowledge and understanding are not systematically identified or addressed. Consequently, not all pupils are fully able to access the school's planned curriculum, and these pupils achieve less well than they could. The school should ensure that staff develop sufficient expertise so that every pupil gets the right support to learn to read.

Also at this postcode