Hamilton School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school's expectations of pupils' learning and behaviour have increased significantly since the school opened. Pupils are expected to work hard, to behave well, and to do their best. The majority do so and take increasing pride in their achievements because of the good-quality support, care and reassurance provided by the school.

Enrichment activities, such as boxing and cooking, make a valuable contribution to pupils' self-esteem, confidence, and enjoyment of school. Pupils look forward to these and other special events with keen anticipation, such as the upcoming trip to a local theme park to reward positive attitudes and behaviour.

Staff build respectful relatio...nships with pupils, who feel secure as a result.

Well-established routines in the morning help pupils to prepare for the day ahead. They are warmly greeted at the start of each school day. Pupils can be kind and thoughtful, welcoming visitors politely and with interest, for instance.

Sometimes they become frustrated or agitated with their friends, their teachers, or with life in general. Staff respond calmly and sensitively when this is the case, providing pupils with the time and space needed to help them to manage their emotions in a safe environment.

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

The school's quiet insistence that pupils can, and will, attend regularly, behave appropriately, and achieve well has been a key feature in improving the school and in lifting pupils' aspirations for the future.

A consistently strong focus on learning ensures that pupils are left in no doubt about why they are in school.

Lessons are usually calm and settled so that pupils can get on with their work. Behaviour can be lively when pupils are moving between different parts of the school.

However, all areas are well supervised, and staff manage behaviour well. The school is working hard to ensure that the revised behaviour management policy is fully embedded in school life. Pupils' attendance is improving.

The trust's commitment to providing high-quality education for some of the most vulnerable pupils in the community is clear. Leaders have worked methodically and systematically to address each of the weaknesses identified when the school first joined the trust. Strengthened leadership capacity in the past two years has accelerated the pace of development.

Staff report high morale, strong teamwork, and a culture of mutual care and respect. They feel well supported by leaders and appreciate opportunities to share expertise between schools in the trust.

Teachers are clear about what they will teach in each subject and secure assessment procedures provide helpful information about how well pupils are learning.

However, sometimes the curriculum is not adapted as well as it could be to support pupils' individual needs. The work in pupils' books and their contributions during lessons demonstrate the positive impact the curriculum is having on their knowledge and understanding.

Leaders have raised the profile of reading in recent months.

Developments have included the introduction of a school library and a phonics programme. Pupils are increasingly well equipped with secure reading skills as a result. The school has rightly identified the need to ensure that staff have the required subject knowledge to teach early reading skills consistently well.

Pupils are securely prepared for the next stage of their education. Last year, almost all achieved nationally accredited qualifications, including GCSEs, in subjects such as English, mathematics and science. In 2023, all pupils moved on to positive destinations, including colleges of further education.

The school has increased the range of qualification courses available this year, with the introduction of functional skills and BTEC programmes.

The school's personal, social and health education (PSHE) programme ensures suitable coverage of a wide range of topics and themes. Curriculum content includes consideration of important issues, such as consent.

However, some aspects of the PSHE programme, such as relationships, health and sex education (RSHE), are at an early stage of development. Older pupils receive appropriate careers guidance and benefit from effective support for the coming move out of the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The revised curriculum is not always adapted well enough to ensure that all pupils can access the learning fully. As a result, some pupils find it hard to engage with curriculum content in lessons and learn less well. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum is adapted appropriately so that all pupils achieve well, regardless of their needs and starting points.

• Variations in staff subject knowledge mean that recent developments in the teaching of reading are not fully established. This means that some pupils make slower progress in learning to read than they could. Leaders should make sure that improvements in the teaching of reading are implemented consistently well.