Fern House School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and staff work together well to help pupils overcome any barriers to learning. They set high expectations for pupils' behaviour. The curriculum is ambitious and personalised to meet each pupil's needs.

The school's work to promote pupils' personal development is exceptional. Pupils leave the school well prepared for successful adult living.

The teaching, therapeutic, well-being and safeguarding teams work seamlessly together.

They create a safe and supportive environment. Pupils know that staff care for them and will help them to stay safe. Staff are skilled at dealing with pupils' concerns and anxieties.

This helps pupils to build their conf...idence and achieve well in their studies.

Staff set clear routines and make sure pupils know how they are expected to behave. When pupils feel anxious or overwhelmed, staff help them calm down.

As a result, pupils behave well. Staff investigate any allegations of bullying. They work with all parties concerned to help pupils reflect on their actions and find ways to avoid similar problems in future.

Pupils enjoy the many enrichment activities on offer. These range from team sports, canoeing and horse riding to music and art therapies, for example. Members of staff often go the extra mile, such as taking pupils bicycle riding at the weekend.

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

Leaders aim to help pupils overcome their difficulties so that they can achieve well across all subjects. Pupils' specific needs and circumstances are accurately understood. When pupils join the school, staff assess their well-being needs and academic knowledge.

They use this information well to personalise the curriculum. Staff work with pupils to develop their resilience as well as communication and social skills. They also help pupils identify ways to manage their emotions so they can learn in a calm manner.

Leaders adapt the curriculum and teaching to address pupils' knowledge gaps. This holistic approach supports pupils to gain new knowledge and prepare for adulthood. It also means that pupils typically behave well and lessons are rarely disrupted.

Sometimes pupils join the school without being able to read with fluency. Staff use a well-structured phonics scheme to teach pupils to read. Reading takes place daily in every class and pupils read to adults regularly.

Pupils of all ages enjoy listening to stories read to them by the teacher. Pupils quickly learn to read fluently and enjoy reading books for pleasure.Leaders have thought about what they want pupils to know and remember across different subjects.

They plan for pupils to learn knowledge in small chunks in a well-ordered way. This approach enables pupils to build on what they have learned before. It also helps pupils to make links to other subjects.

For example, when pupils learned about rivers in geography, they made links to their scientific knowledge of the water cycle. Teachers make sure pupils revisit their work so that they can remember key knowledge in the long term. In Year 3 to Year 11, leaders' thinking about pupils' progression through the curriculum has been made explicit.

However, in a few subjects leaders have not given as much thought about how the subject content covered in these year groups follows on from the knowledge taught in the new class for younger pupils.Teachers attend training, increasing their knowledge of the subjects they teach. In a few subjects, however, leaders and teachers do not have a deep understanding of some key subject-specific concepts.

This includes, for example, how art is used to express ideas and convey meaning. As a result, some teaching does not routinely support pupils to gain an in-depth understanding of these ideas.Secondary pupils benefit from a comprehensive programme of impartial careers information, education, advice and guidance.

The curriculum in Years 10 and 11 is broad. It offers pupils several bespoke pathways that cater for their needs and aspirations. Leaders arrange work experience for pupils at local businesses.

Staff also support some pupils to get part-time jobs while they are still at school. All pupils continue into post-16 education. They study college courses in construction, sports leadership and media, for example.

Staff provide pupils with a comprehensive and very well considered range of enrichment activities. These contribute to the excellent provision for pupils' personal development. Pupils debate a range of sensitive issues, such as China's former one-child policy.

Older pupils read to younger ones, and all get involved in charitable events. Pupils also take part in workshops led by external organisations visiting the school. These include, for instance, theatre group presentations on knife crime.

Staff teach pupils the importance of establishing healthy relationships, and consent, for example.Leaders take care of staff welfare. They provide staff with counselling and organise social events, for example.

Staff said that leaders have taken steps to reduce their workload.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff know pupils and their families well.

They are well trained so are able to identify signs that might mean a pupil is at risk. They are vigilant and report all concerns to the safeguarding leaders in a timely fashion. Leaders have close links with a wide range of agencies.

They are robust in getting professional help for pupils and their families who may be at risk and who need help to support their welfare.

The curriculum provides extensive opportunities for pupils to learn about risks and how to stay safe, including from being groomed online, for example.There are secure practices in place to vet applicants' suitability to work with pupils before they are appointed to work in the school.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, leaders do not have a deep understanding of important subject-specific concepts that thread through the subjects. This reduces their expertise in being able to deepen pupils' knowledge. Leaders and teachers should sharpen their own knowledge of subject-specific concepts and then think through how, in turn, they will support pupils to gain a deeper knowledge.

• In a few subjects, leaders have planned what they want pupils to know from key stage 2 onwards without fully considering how this subject content builds on what is taught in the new key stage 1 classes. This means that, when pupils enter key stage 2, teaching is unable to follow on systematically from pupils' prior learning. Leaders should clarify exactly how they expect pupils' learning to progress over time, starting from the classes in Years 1 and 2.