Pathfield School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Pathfield School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pathfield School caters for pupils aged 3 to 19 with profound and severe learning difficulties. The school includes a centre for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs, known as 'Pathways'. This is a school where pupils settle in quickly, even when they have spent a lot of time out of education.

Before long, they are learning happily in their small class groups.

The school provides different curriculum routes for pupils to follow depending on their needs. Pupils in the 'pre-formal' stage learn through sensory exp...eriences.

Meanwhile, pupils learning through more formal approaches focus on early reading and mathematics. Many pupils become accurate readers. This is down to the school's can-do attitude and systematic teaching methods.

Over time, pupils grow comfortable in the school environment. Therapeutic sessions, including in music, art and drama, help them to express their emotions and regulate their behaviour. For some, this opens up more formal learning opportunities.

Increasingly, pupils gain valuable qualifications in key stages 4 and 5. As far as possible, pupils learn to live independent lives. The school is a powerful advocate for older students' lives beyond school, including those who move into supported living arrangements as young adults.

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

The school has designed an engaging curriculum which is usually well-matched to pupils' needs. Children in the early years and some older pupils, learn to develop their attention and focus. The school provides lots of sensory stimulation.

This keeps pupils' interest and prepares them for more formal learning. The school supports pupils to find and use a communication style that works for them. Staff often get together to develop their own expertise.

This helps them to better support pupils using Makaton or Braille, for example.

Reading sits at the heart of all formal learning. The school is highly skilled in recognising when pupils are ready to begin their early reading journey.

For some, phonics learning begins in the early years, for others, this comes later. The whole school is organised to support phonics learning. There is a joyful atmosphere as reading lessons get underway across the school.

Many pupils exceed previous expectations in reading. Increasingly, pupils in key stage 3 become fluent readers. They understand and can discuss their reading maturely.

The school has identified the most important learning to prepare pupils for independent adult lives. For example, the mathematics curriculum has been adapted so that pupils spend more time learning about time and money. Pupils regularly repeat and revisit this key learning.

This helps them to remember and gives them confidence with routines and transactions.

In key stages 4 and 5 there are opportunities for pupils to gain qualifications in literacy and numeracy. The school enables pupils to gain formal credit for their work in areas of interest such as hydrotherapy, horticulture, animal care and food hygiene.

Pupils achieve a good depth of knowledge through these personalised courses.

Nonetheless, there are some secondary-aged pupils who could achieve more with subject-specialist teaching. In the 'Pathways' provision, the school has begun to develop its offer in mathematics so that pupils can study for a GCSE where appropriate.

However, this is not a well-established approach. Pupils have limited opportunities to study other subjects at the same level, because the school has not developed the teacher subject knowledge to support this. Consequently, some pupils do not learn subjects in enough depth.

The school is expert in meeting pupils' emotional needs. The impact of this is clear in the 'Pathways' provision, where pupils who have found school attendance difficult in the past, are now ready for age-appropriate learning. During important transitions, such as when pupils first join the school and as they reach adolescence, the school's support for pupils and their families is exceptional.

This work is underpinned by learning in personal, social and health education, which takes careful account of pupils' needs and the ways in which they are vulnerable.

The school has considerable experience in supporting and managing behavioural needs. Pupils' relationships with key staff are carefully developed.

This helps the school to predict and offset any difficult situations. Although many pupils have complex medical needs and disabilities, they attend school very well. The school is developing its approach to promoting better attendance among older pupils with high anxiety.

Pupils, and students in the sixth form, benefit from appropriate advice about careers and their next steps. For example, the school invites a range of education and training providers, alongside providers of supported accommodation, into school to meet with pupils and their families. The school works closely with local providers to make sure that pupils gain the qualifications they need for a place at college where appropriate.

The school benefits from focused and effective leadership. Since the last inspection, expectations of what pupils can learn have risen considerably. Pupils and staff alike have taken a lot of confidence from the school's highly successful approach to early reading.

A well-informed governing body provides valuable support for the school and helps to ensure that high standards are maintained over time.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In the secondary phase, a small proportion of pupils are ready to learn more challenging curriculum content.

However, the school has not developed the necessary subject-specific expertise among staff to make this possible. As a result, some pupils do not learn subjects in as much depth or gain the qualifications that they could. The school should ensure that pupils receive the expert subject teaching that they need to fulfil their potential.

Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade.

This school was, before September 2024, judged good for its overall effectiveness.

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in March 2019.

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