Prospect School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Staff at Prospect School understand how to cater for the needs of pupils who attend the school. Each pupil receives a warm welcome when they arrive.

Staff prioritise pupils' welfare and their feelings. It allows them to adjust the curriculum to meet pupils' needs. This helps them to be ready to learn.

The school is ambitious. It has a broad and balanced curriculum that reflects its high expectations. Relationships between adults and pupils are extremely positive and help the school be calm and orderly.

Pupils are polite and courteous towards each other. In the main, pupils behave well in lessons and during social times. They learn to recognise the importance ...of accepting differences between people.

Pupils know that they can share any welfare concerns and always receive help to resolve them.

Pupils enjoy different opportunities for wider learning. Staff take them to sporting events and outdoor activities.

Their tutors regularly take pupils off site to parks and other public places, to help pupils build their self-esteem.

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

The school has recently considered the design of the curriculum. All pupils have an education, health and care (EHC) plan.

Many pupils have previous negative experiences of education. The school ensures that pupils receive appropriate support to help reignite pupils' passion for learning. For example, the garden group accommodates pupils who need personalised learning to help them settle into school.

Pupils are well prepared for their next stages of education. They study a range of subjects. For older pupils, it often leads to gaining qualifications and national awards.

There is ambition for all pupils to achieve as highly as possible. Crucially, there is no ceiling on what pupils can achieve. Most subject curriculums include detailed steps that help pupils build their knowledge over time.

However, some subject curriculums do not have the same precision. This means, in these areas, pupils do not progress quickly enough on to more advanced work.

Reading is an important part of the curriculum.

Staff in all lessons use sensible strategies to support any pupil who finds reading more difficult. Pupils regularly read aloud in class. For those who are more reluctant, staff skilfully engineer opportunities for reading that are more discreet.

There is a positive approach to instilling a love for books. An example of this is the daily 'drop everything and read' time that the whole school community joins in with.

The school identifies pupils' additional needs well.

Staff adhere to the school's agreed strategies to help pupils manage their behaviour effectively. Learning is rarely disturbed as a result. The school analyses data on behaviour meticulously.

This enables adjustments to be made for pupils' specific needs. Pupils develop resilience as they progress through the school, which increases their ability to learn and remember more.

Some pupils do not attend school as regularly as they should.

The school has successfully adopted its rigorous approach to behaviour analysis to improve attendance. As a result, many pupils' attendance improves considerably over time.

Personal development and careers education are central to the curriculum.

Individual learning plans, in addition to EHC plans, are used to support this. These learning plans are reviewed thoroughly to ensure they are always in the best interests of pupils. Tutors regularly take their groups out of school to public places.

The school organises trips that are well received by pupils and their families. However, the monitoring and analysis of the impact of these activities is not yet established, meaning they do not always enhance learning across the school's curriculum as well as they could.

Pupils are well prepared for the challenges that they may face when they become adults.

The school supports pupils to explore the different options available. Pupils develop positive attitudes that will help them cope with the demands of employment, further education, or training.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some foundation subjects, the implementation of the curriculum is not fully secure. This means that, on occasion, pupils' knowledge and skills do not develop deeply over time. The school should continue with its plans to ensure that all teachers are able to deliver their ambitious curriculum precisely.

• School trips and activities are organised as opportunities arise. This means that they are not always related to the lessons that pupils are learning. The school needs to more thoughtfully consider and plan how additional trips and activities can reinforce and consolidate learning in the curriculum, so these experiences are not ad hoc.