The Rise Free School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The headteacher has taken the school from strength to strength. She is well supported by trustees and other senior leaders.

The school continues to evolve and grow, as have the team of dedicated and talented staff. The school's main aim, to ensure that pupils are well prepared and able to thrive in their next stage of education and in society, is pivotal to its work. Pupils flourish in school because their personal development, including their mental well-being, is nurtured.

This enables them to develop and sustain positive relationships and to successfully access their learning. Pupils are usually well behaved and keen to do their best. ...Careful checks on teaching, which inform professional development and training for all staff, have strengthened the quality of teaching.

Teaching is effective, because lessons are interesting. This enables pupils to engage well in their learning. However, tasks are not always suitably matched to individual abilities, particularly the most able, including the most able disadvantaged pupils.

Pupils quickly make up for lost ground when they join the school, academically and personally. As a result, better rates of progress are now being made by all current pupils. Leaders can demonstrate that all pupils achieve well.

However, there are insufficient opportunities for younger pupils to apply their writing and mathematics skills in other subjects. Leaders do not track what progress the most able pupils make, including the most able disadvantaged, or check separately pupils' progress in reading and writing. This means that trustees are not able to drill down and challenge leaders even more in these areas.

Pupils' personal safety and welfare needs are top priorities for staff and trustees. Pupils are kept safe and secure. Leaders are adept at spotting talent and nurturing this to build up teaching and leadership capacity.

Middle leaders' roles are developing, but they are not fully responsible for the quality of teaching and pupil progress for their remits.

Information about this school

The Rise School opened in September 2014 under the government's free school programme. The school is part of a multi-academy trust, Ambitious About Autism Schools Trust.

This is the school's first full inspection. The school is registered for pupils aged four to 19 who have autistic spectrum disorder. There are currently 59 pupils on roll aged from four to 16, all of whom have a statement of educational need or an education, health and care plan.

Almost all pupils are boys. A small minority of pupils are dual registered. Around half of the pupils are from a wide range of minority ethnic backgrounds, with roughly one in five speaking English as an additional language.

The proportion of pupils who are eligible for additional pupil premium funding is above average. The school uses alternative placements for some pupils, including Springwest Academy, with which it is co-located, Reach Academy, Capel Manor College and West Thames College. The school meets the requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish. The headteacher was appointed in September 2015, following a short period prior to this as part-time interim headteacher. The deputy headteacher was appointed in September 2016.

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