Grantham Additional Needs Fellowship

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school.

All pupils make exceptional progress both academically and socially. Teaching is always good and often outstanding. The executive headteacher and senior principal lead by example and are unflinching in their resolve to improve this even further.

There is a very strong emphasis on reading, writing and mathematics which makes sure pupils are particularly well prepared for life after school. All adults work together extremely well. The sense of common purpose permeates through the school and is shared by staff and pupils.

Excellent relationships mean pupils are eager to learn. They feel very safe in this enabling, supportiv...e school, of which they are rightly proud. Staff have very high expectations of pupils' behaviour.

Pupils respond by behaving impeccably in lessons. They are polite and considerate of others around the school. Managers' meticulous checks on pupils' progress help them achieve their very best and is at the heart of everything the school plans.

Leaders and managers work incredibly hard to make sure parents are fully informed about their child's progress. Consequently parents are particularly supportive, especially parents of pupils with autism spectrum disorders. The school has an excellent reputation for top-quality care and education for these pupils.

Governors have a wide range of skills and expertise that they use well to support the school and challenge it to do even better. Membership of Grantham Additional Needs Federation has been used very well to give pupils many more opportunities.

Information about this school

Ambergate Sports College is part of the Grantham Additional Needs Federation along with The Grantham Sandon School.

There is an executive headteacher in overall charge and a senior principal for each site. There is a principal with responsibility for pastoral care across the federation and a number of staff work in both schools. The school is a specialist sports college, although a significant amount of the funding received for this is now directed towards the outreach support to pupils in mainstream schools who have autism spectrum disorders.

All pupils have a statement of special educational needs. Most pupils have autism spectrum disorders or moderate learning difficulties. Some have behavioural, emotional and social difficulties and a few have severe learning difficulties.

Some pupils have a combination of these. A higher than average number of pupils are supported through the pupil premium (additional funding for pupils who are known to be entitled to free school meals or who are looked after by the local authority). Most pupils are from a White British background and speak English as their first language.

A few students attend part-time courses at Grantham College and others join in lessons at the Sandon site. A small number are members of the Combined Cadet Force at King's Grammar School, Grantham. The school opened an Early Years Foundation Stage class for four-year-olds in September 2012.

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