Loxley Hall School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. Good leadership and management, including effective support from governors, have ensured a professional nurturing approach throughout the school that helps students to transform their behaviour and personal development.

Behaviour and safety are good. Classes are calm and students mostly have positive attitudes to learning. The school meets the national minimum standards for residential special schools.

The residential provision is outstanding in all areas. Teaching is good. Activities are fun and promote good and relevant learning.

Students make good progress, particularly in English and mathematics. Extra support, based on asse...ssment of students' progress, is provided for students who fall behind. By the end of Year 11, students are well prepared for their next stage.

They gain worthwhile vocational qualifications and continue in education or employment. It is not yet an outstanding school because : A few students do not attend as regularly as they ought. This impedes their rate of progress.

There is some inconsistency in setting work in lessons at the correct level of challenge. While the marking of books is thorough, as are the discussions with students about what they need to do to improve their work, teachers do not always follow up quickly enough on the points of improvement they give to students.

Information about this school

Loxley Hall School provides for students aged 11 to 16 years with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties.

All students are boys. It offers residential provision, in two purpose-built blocks, as part of its educational provision. All students have complex needs, including autistic spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder and very challenging behaviour.

Many experience other significant difficulties and social circumstances which affect their ability to trust adults and learn. All students have statements of special educational needs. A high proportion of students receive the pupil premium, the additional government funding for those eligible for free school meals or who are looked after by their local authority.

A significantly high number of students are looked after by the local authority. Almost all students are from White British backgrounds and none speak English as an additional language. The school has high levels of student mobility.

Students join at any time in their secondary school years, often as late as Years 10 or 11. Each year a number of Key Stage 3 students return to mainstream school before they reach Year 10. In September 2014, a Key Stage 4 annex opened on a new site.

The school operates on a split site. The school increased its number of planned places to 96 in September 2014. Most students stay in the residential accommodation for up to two to three nights (on a rotating basis) to supplement their day-time education.

All have an equal chance to experience residential accommodation. The school makes use of 15 off-site alternative provisions: South Staffordshire College; Highfields Farm; Burton College; Nova Training Brownhills; Nova Training Stafford; Independent Learning Centre Cannock; Sporting Stars Milton; Leek College; Leek Honeycomb Centre; Greenwood Studios Cannock; Walsall College; Multi Media Arts Project Walsall; Nacro Longton; Churnet Valley Steam Railway; and John Sewell Garages. These provisions provide a wide range of vocational and GCSE courses as well as extended work experience opportunities.

The school became federated with Cicely Haughton School, a day and residential school for pupils aged five to 11 years with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties, on 1 May 2013. The governing body and executive headteacher are responsible for both schools. On the 25 September 2014 the school received its conversion order and is going to convert to academy status on 1 April 2015.