Cloughside College

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Cloughside College continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enter the school at different times of the year. All pupils have special educational needs and/or disabilities. They have mental health issues and are patients in hospital.

Pupils develop nurturing and trusting relationships with staff, who help them to understand their emotions and anxieties. This helps pupils to feel happy and safe.

The school, together with a team of health, medical and care professionals, provides wraparound care and support.

This helps pupils to recover and to improve their confidence and their communication and interaction with others.

Th...e school has high expectations of pupils' achievements. It provides them with a personalised and flexible curriculum.

Overall, pupils achieve well from their individual starting points. They are keen to learn and behave well in class.

Pupils have rich opportunities to participate in a range of therapies and activities, such as yoga, art, cooking and photography.

They know that their opinions matter and value the many opportunities to express themselves. Pupils show respect for differences between themselves and others. The school organises a range of trips and visits, including to art galleries, museums and a farm.

Pupils enjoy participating in sports and enterprise activities. These opportunities help to reduce any stress or anxiety that pupils may have.

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

The school has high aspirations for pupils.

It works in close partnership with pupils' home schools, hospital staff and social workers. This helps pupils to develop educationally and supports their social and emotional well-being. The school has an ambitious and broad curriculum.

The school swiftly assesses pupils when they join and uses this information to provide pupils with appropriate curriculum pathways. The school and health professionals regularly review pupils' therapy and curriculum programmes to respond to their changing needs. This helps pupils to achieve well during their time in the school.

Subject curriculums are designed well. The school has identified the building blocks of knowledge that pupils should learn. Pupils build their knowledge in a logical order.

Due to the nature of the school, some teachers deliver more than one subject curriculum. Mostly, they have secure subject knowledge that enables them to deliver the curriculum well. Typically, teachers identify and address gaps in what pupils know and understand.

However, in a small number of subjects, some teachers' subject knowledge is not as secure as it should be. Occasionally, this prevents some pupils from achieving as well as they could.

The school has invested in high-quality texts that reflect pupils' interests to engage them with reading.

Pupils practise reading regularly. Those who find reading difficult receive effective support from skilled staff to catch up with their reading knowledge. This develops their confidence and fluency in reading.

Staff understand pupils' social, emotional and mental health needs and show high levels of empathy towards pupils. The school manages risk very well and trained nurses help pupils to be safe. Staff have high expectations of pupils' behaviour.

There are clear and well-established routines for pupils to follow. This helps them to successfully engage in their learning. The school has a calm and orderly atmosphere.

The school uses a range of effective strategies, including rewards, that encourage pupils to attend school when they are well enough. Most pupils show improved attendance. The school liaises closely with pupils' home schools to ensure that they make the transition into hospital education and back out again as smooth as possible.

Pupils receive a bespoke programme of personal development that supports their mental health and well-being. They learn about age-appropriate relationships and sex education and health education. External speakers make pupils aware of risks, such as knife crime.

Pupils enjoy raising money for charity.

Pupils' preparedness for their future lives is enhanced by a well-designed careers information and guidance programme. Some older pupils have limited opportunities for work-related placements.

The length of admission to the school can be relatively short. Despite this, the school is taking effective steps to strengthen the work-experience programme. When pupils are ready to leave the school, staff continue to support pupils.

Staff are proud to work at the school. They appreciate time they receive to adapt the curriculum. Staff spoke positively of the support that they receive for their well-being and their workload.

They benefit from the expertise of a multidisciplinary team of health professionals.

Governors bring a range of relevant skills to their role. They understand the nuances of this distinctive school, including its strengths and priorities for improvement.

Governors support and challenge the school effectively to continue to improve the quality of education that pupils receive.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• A small number of staff lack aspects of the subject knowledge required to deliver curriculum content well.

This occasionally hinders how well some pupils achieve. The school should ensure that staff deliver all aspects of the curriculum well.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in July 2018.