Seven Hills School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Seven Hills School enjoy an education that prepares them well for their next steps. Pupils learn how to be independent from the start of Year 7.

This learning increases in breadth and depth as they move through the school. In the sixth form, students learn about a range of careers. This helps them develop confidence and self-belief about what they can do next.

The school has high expectations for what pupils can achieve. Pupils progress well with targeted support from expert staff. Pupils' attitudes to learning underpin this focus on academic progress.

Pupils are respectful to staff and one another. Occasionally, bullying can happen, but pupils are ...confident that staff will resolve it. Pupils enjoy personalised interventions from a high-quality pastoral team.

This includes one-to-one gym sessions that provide an opportunity to explore issues while exercising.

Pupils with the most complex needs develop positive routines and relationships. They learn to regulate their own behaviour.

Staff thoughtfully create classroom environments that support and encourage good behaviour. Pupils thrive emotionally and socially in this stimulating and personalised setting.

Pupils enjoy a range of experiences designed to broaden their horizons.

The school ensures these opportunities are fully inclusive. Pupils learn transferrable skills during outdoor activities, including rock climbing. They also enjoy clubs such as dance and football.

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

The school has focused on revising and improving its curriculum. Overall, it is meeting the needs of its diverse pupil population. The school builds on strong foundations for learning.

This includes excellent relationships between pupils and staff. Pupils enjoy their learning. The school brings the curriculum to life in a range of active ways.

In key stage 3 English, pupils work in groups to recount and invent stories. This links to their class text of 'Iron Man'. Pupils explore their ideas in several ways.

This includes writing on windows, building models and drawing. Well-trained staff ask effective questions to check pupils' understanding. This links to the personalised targets for improvement each pupil has.

However, these approaches are not fully embedded across the school. The school does not have an in-depth understanding of how well the curriculum is working for its pupils.

Pupils with the most complex needs benefit from the school's new pathway of learning.

Here, staff focus on intensive interaction and sensory experiences. Through non-verbal cues, pupils show high engagement in their learning about the garden. They explore a range of sensory materials and objects.

Pupils distinguish between different parts of the garden. They also show which is their favourite. However, the school is yet to build on this high-quality work.

Pupils do not progress as effectively in their academic learning. This is because the school has not developed a long-term plan for learning that caters for their wide range of starting points. This includes for students in the sixth form.

Reading is at the heart of the school's curriculum. Every learning pathway includes a central text, which changes each half term. These texts represent the distinct community in the school.

A significant group of pupils in the school learn daily phonics. This helps them to become more confident and fluent readers. Pupils across the school also enjoy listening to staff read aloud.

Pupils with profound difficulties delight in sensory stories. Skilled staff use focused touch to stimulate pupils' positive reactions. Students in the sixth form experience reading in a range of functional ways.

For example, they enjoy reading recipes and shopping lists. This helps them prepare their lunch.

Pupils' understanding of risks in the wider world is well established.

They recall ways to keep themselves safe online. Pupils also have an age-appropriate understanding of healthy relationships. They are clear about the importance of consent.

Alongside this, the school brings mental health and well-being into sharp focus. Pupils across the school enjoy 'Well-being Friday'. They appreciate being able to make choices about what they do.

Pupils also enjoy mixing with peers from different classes. In the sixth form, the two separate sites come together. Students join in with activities that develop their well-being and physical health.

Students suggest ideas for these activities. This leads to them running clubs for their peers.

Leaders have an accurate understanding of how well the school is doing.

They have a clear vision for the future. Governors have an in-depth understanding of the school's unique context. They use this knowledge to support the school well.

Staff have experienced a period of change. Pupil numbers have grown over time, and the school is supporting a wider range of complex needs. Some staff comment on how this adds to their workload.

However, staff are proud to work at the school. The majority feel supported by the school. Staff enjoy a range of professional development opportunities.

These match well with priorities in the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The complex needs pathway is relatively new.

The school has not developed a long-term plan for the curriculum, including for sixth-form students. This limits the progress they make academically. The school should continue its work to build a curriculum that is focused on ensuring pupils with complex needs make good progress in learning from their individual starting points.

• In some subjects and pathways, the school is not clear about which aspects of the curriculum will be assessed and when this will happen. In these areas, the school does not understand how well the curriculum is meeting the needs of the pupils. The school should continue its work to match the curriculum to effective assessment procedures that help them monitor, evaluate and improve learning for pupils.

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