Cedar Hall School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are settled and happy at this school.

It is a welcoming and inclusive environment in which to learn. Adults take the time to get to know pupils well. Pupils look forward to seeing their friends.

They enjoy chatting to staff and each other during their social times. Staff are patient and clear in their expectations. Pupils respond well to this, paying close attention to what staff say in lessons.

They behave sensibly around the school site.

The school is ambitious for pupils. It wants them to do well academically and socially.

However, the curriculum does not support pupils well enough to realise these ambitions. Pupils have access to ...a range of qualifications such as entry level certificates and GCSEs. The school is developing further its vocational offer.

The school ensures pupils are well prepared for adulthood. Pupils learn how to cook and how to seek help from the emergency services should they need to. They access residential overnight stays and learn how to navigate everyday life, such as ordering food in restaurants.

Older pupils lead assemblies and undertake work experience. Pupils make the most of opportunities available to them, including servicing the school's car and feeding the animals.

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

The school's curriculum is in development.

Not all curriculum plans are effectively sequenced and delivered. Some subjects are further along than others when considering what pupils should learn and when. Consequently, in some areas of the curriculum pupils do not learn so well.

The inclusion of pupils' education, health and care (EHC) plans in the school's curriculum and delivery is hit and miss. Some teachers do not adapt their teaching effectively to meet pupils' needs. There is a tendency to give pupils tasks to do rather than to help pupils close gaps in their knowledge.

Sometimes teachers do not check that pupils have understood or tell them how to improve their work. In some subjects, the checks that teachers make on pupils' learning are not linked to the curriculum. This limits teachers' understanding of what pupils know and can do.

Staff's confidence in the delivery of the school's chosen phonics programme is growing. Staff check pupils' phonics knowledge successfully. They ensure pupils are secure in what they know before changing their reading book to a higher level.

Hence, pupils progress through the programme at an appropriate pace for them. The school has invested significantly in new reading books and a reading scheme. Older pupils are positive about the changes and are developing reading habits for life.

The school site is calm, and pupils' behaviour is managed well. Staff are skilful in supporting pupils to regulate how they feel so they are ready to engage with learning. Pupils enjoy school and want to attend.

The school works hard to reduce pupils' barriers to attendance. However, they have not paid due attention to government guidance. Too many pupils are missing school to undertake holidays in term time with the agreement of the school.

The school prioritises personal development. The personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) curriculum focuses upon giving pupils the tools they need to be active and healthy citizens. For instance, pupils undergo transport training so they can travel independently.

Pupils have endless opportunities to learn outside of the classroom. They go on trips and visits, such as to a local castle. Preparing for adulthood, including careers education, is a strength of the school.

Pupils have access to helpful advice and guidance. The school successfully supports pupils to move on to their next steps in education, employment or training.

While the school demonstrates an understanding of what is working well and what needs to improve, the pace of change has not been quick enough.

To address this, the school has expanded its leadership teams. However, a number are inexperienced in their roles. They have yet to evaluate the impact of new initiatives.

The governing body has not sufficiently held the school to account for the pace of change and some of the decisions that have been made. This includes ensuring that parents have access to the information they need on the school's website, such as the school's accessibility plan and its policy for relationships and sex education and health education.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some areas of the curriculum are in the early stages of development. Where this is the case, it is unclear how pupils build secure knowledge over time. This means pupils do not develop or retain an understanding of important knowledge in those subjects.

The school needs to press ahead with its work to improve the curriculum and its delivery, considering when and how pupils will build on their knowledge over time. ? Adaptations to the curriculum and teaching lack precision. The information gained through assessment does not sufficiently indicate to teachers the gaps in pupils' knowledge.

This hampers teachers' ability to build upon what pupils know and can do. Sometimes, pupils are not told what they need to do to improve. The school needs to ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to assess pupils' understanding effectively, thus helping pupils to improve their progress through the curriculum.

• There is variation in the expertise of leaders and therefore how effectively they undertake their roles. Consequently, their oversight of their areas is developing. The school needs to support leaders, developing their expertise so that they fulfil their roles effectively.

Governors are not sufficiently holding school leaders to account for their decision-making and the quality of provision that pupils receive. In some circumstances they have not paid due regard to certain aspects of government guidance, nor undertaken all their monitoring duties, such as ensuring the website publishes the information that parents need to access. The governing body needs to revisit how it discharges its core responsibilities, so it holds leaders to account effectively.