Phoenix Arch School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a calm and nurturing place. All pupils have autism.

Their care and welfare are a priority for all staff. Pupils benefit from warm working relationships. Pupils are happy and safe.

Adults know pupils extremely well. This helps staff to regulate and improve pupils' behaviour. Pupils are friendly and supportive to each other.

The school has high expectations for all pupils. There is clear ambition for pupils to become equipped to flourish in the future. Over time, pupils make strong progress in their social skills.

Pupils enjoy an increasingly effective academic curriculum.

Personal development is at the heart of the school's work. Pupi...ls from all age groups enjoy playing sports together at lunchtime.

They benefit from many opportunities to understand the community and the world outside the school. Pupils enjoy many visits to local landmarks and residential experiences.

Pupils learn in a lovely environment with outdoor spaces.

They are carefully encouraged to become increasingly independent and adventurous. Pupils develop important character traits. These include teamwork and confidence.

They use these transferrable skills to overcome challenges.

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

The school has worked hard to improve opportunities for pupils since the last inspection. Pupils now receive a good quality of education.

As part of these improvements, leadership and governance have been strengthened and the curriculum has been transformed.

The school has designed a curriculum, across all subject areas, to meet the additional needs of pupils well. The knowledge and skills that leaders want pupils to learn are planned to build in a logical order over time.

However, in a few areas, the content pupils learn does not always build appropriately on what they have learned before. Sometimes the learning pupils are expected to know and remember is not explicitly defined or adapted. This is particularly the case for some pupils with complex needs.

This limits deeper knowledge and skills so that they know and remember more over time.

Teachers select activities which interest and enthuse pupils. They are quick to correct any misconceptions.

A 'pathway model' helps pupils to learn the curriculum alongside pupils with similar needs. These pathways are ambitious. Teachers allow pupils to test out ideas and think for themselves, for example through problem-solving in mathematics.

Reading and communication skills are a high priority for the school. Highly effective systems are in place to help pupils to read and develop a love of books. Pupils have access to a well-stocked library and are proud to collect merit points to celebrate their reading progress.

Leaders are determined to build pupil confidence in communicating, especially pupils who do not yet use verbal language. Learning plans mostly support the communication needs of pupils with autism. Staff are experts at teaching pupils to read.

Pupils who are not ready for the formal phonics programme are supported daily by experienced staff. They share books, identify sounds and help pupils to build their attention during lessons.

The school is committed to broadening pupils' interests further.

Pupils access a wealth of wider experiences that help pupils make the transition to the next stage of their lives. They visit museums and the cinema, travel by public transport and participate in sporting competitions. Younger pupils visit the local shops and learn how to exchange goods.

Pupils visit different places of worship. Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe online and when they are in the community. All these experiences help to develop pupils' confidence and their understanding of the wider world.

Leaders and governors have developed highly effective systems to improve attendance and punctuality. Leaders and support staff have clear attendance strategies in place to support pupils and their families. As a result, they are having a positive impact on pupils' attendance.

The governing body recognises the need to support staff during a period of change for the school. Most staff recognise that their well-being and workload are carefully considered. Governors fulfil their statutory duties effectively.

They offer appropriate support and challenge to the school. Leaders and governors have been successful in securing positive changes to pupils' educational experiences.

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's curriculum does not focus sufficiently on helping all children to build their knowledge and skills step by step. This means that some children do not develop and deepen their understanding consistently well across all subjects and areas of learning, including in communication and language. The school needs to ensure that curricular thinking is clearly designed and adapted to meet all pupils' needs, especially those with complex needs.