Mabel Prichard School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils here have complex and significant needs, some with life-limiting conditions.

They flourish because of the precise and expert support they receive from adults at the school. Throughout the school day, including social times, there are warm and trusting relationships between pupils and staff. Pupils' needs are known and well understood by staff.

As pupils' needs are so individual, the high ambitions the school has for them are personalised. Consequently, pupils meet the school's expectations of how they will learn and behave well.

By accessing a well-sequenced and ambitious communication curriculum, pupils become confident and independent communicators.<...br/>
They express their views and choices well through a range of low- and high-tech approaches and equipment. Pupils are able to inform adults about what they need. This helps pupils to stay regulated and calm.

On rare occasions, pupils may become anxious or distressed. When this happens, they are supported skilfully by the staff that work with them.

The school has made sure that all pupils access enriching and valuable experiences.

An example of this is the well-matched and effective work placements the school has organised. This includes gaining valuable life and social skills experience, on site, in 'Rosie's Cafe'.

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

The school has crafted a curriculum based on 'inclusive frameworks'.

These frameworks have been created to match the special educational needs and/or disabilities of pupils. The school has set out the knowledge and skills that all pupils will learn at a stage-appropriate level. This means that all pupils, including those at the early years foundation or sixth-form stage, are accessing the same ambitious curriculum and can build knowledge coherently over time.

In most of the curriculum, knowledge has been further sequenced to help pupils achieve ambitious learning outcomes. In a small number of subjects, this sequencing is not yet finished. In these subjects, staff are not as clear about what they need to teach and in what order, and pupils are not learning as well as they could.

Through most of the curriculum, pupils are achieving very well. Teachers put in place effective learning activities which align with the range of communication methods pupils use. Teachers regularly check how well pupils are learning.

They use information from these checks to find out what extra support pupils need.

The school is ambitious that all pupils, including those with the most complex medical, physical and communication needs, will learn to read. All staff are expertly trained to teach phonics.

Staff precisely spot when pupils have not secured intended phonics knowledge. They make rapid and effective changes to activities to ensure that all pupils learn to read well, which they do.

Staff have secure knowledge to provide the specialist medical care many pupils need.

All pupils have a range of support plans, which set out the strategies and protocols to help them learn and to keep them safe. Staff follow these well and consistently meet pupils' needs with precision and skill.

Children in the early years learn to follow the school's rules and routines.

The expert use of approaches such as objects and sounds of reference are well implemented to help children recognise changes in activities throughout the day. These same strategies are seen all the way through the school, including in the sixth form. Therefore, all pupils are well prepared to manage transitions in the school day.

The school has set up the optimum sensory and physical learning environment for all pupils. Consequently, through the school, pupils are regulated and able to access learning. Pupils are motivated and eager to learn.

They demonstrate positive attitudes in all areas of the school.

The personal development provision for pupils is exemplary. Every aspect of a pupil's personal needs has been considered and mapped into the school's curriculum.

Staff check how well pupils are securing vital life and social skills. They put in place well-designed activities that help pupils build character and be ready for their next stage. Through the life skills and communication curriculum, pupils learn that they have choices and how to express them.

They learn to be aware that others exist around them and how to show kindness and respect.

Preparation for adulthood begins when children join the school. At the earliest stage, children learn to complete simple tasks independently.

This moves on to more advanced activities for students in the sixth form, for example being able to respond to instructions from unfamiliar adults in a workplace setting. In addition to travel training, personal care, shopping and cooking, pupils learn the social interaction and problem-solving skills needed for independence. They are extremely well prepared for their next stage and adulthood.

The school has made effective changes to the provision on offer since the last inspection. Leaders have built a motivated and well-skilled staff team. Staff are proud and happy to work at the school.

They appreciate how much the school prioritises their well-being and workload. The board of trustees and the central trust team have worked well with the school to ensure that there is a high-quality provision in place.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school has not fully sequenced the curriculum in a small number of non-core subject areas. This means staff are not secure about what they are teaching in these areas, and pupils are not learning as well as they could through the entire curriculum.The school should make sure that in all subjects, there is a progression of knowledge sequenced towards ambitious end points and that staff have the training they need to ensure pupils build coherent knowledge effectively over time.

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