Tanbridge House School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

A clear sense of care resonates through this truly inclusive school. Strong relationships are evident across the site, and pupils are known well by staff. Pupils are ambitious for what they can achieve, and staff encourage this through high expectations.

A range of opportunities engage pupils' interests beyond their curriculum, including the 'scholars' programmes, where pupils can be 'subject scholars' or 'global scholars' and develop leadership and study skills.

Behaviour around the school site is calm and settled. The school's values of kindness, care, and achievement are lived out daily by pupils.

Bullying rarely happens, and it is dealt with swiftly by st...aff if it does. For the small minority who struggle to meet the school's high expectations for conduct, there is exceptionally strong support through spaces such as 'The Bridge'. Here, pupils are supported in learning how to regulate themselves, leading to longer term improvements in their conduct.

Pupils achieve particularly well at this school. At GCSE, outcomes over time are impressive and this includes performance of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils are keen to work hard and do well.

One parent described the way that staff really 'ignite the passion for learning' in their children.

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

The school has planned a carefully considered curriculum across subject areas, systematically plotting the knowledge and skills that all pupils, including those with SEND, need to learn. As a result of these plans and the strong teaching they receive, pupils accrue a broad range of knowledge which they can apply with increasing independence.

Staff have expert subject knowledge and use this to give clear explanations and model what effective answers look like. In lessons, staff check the learning of pupils with precision, adapting their input to ensure that any misunderstandings do not persist. These highly effective adaptations also ensure that pupils with SEND and those who are disadvantaged access the same learning as their peers and secure the same high outcomes.

Pupils' engagement in lessons is strong, and low-level disruption is rare.

The experiences of pupils with SEND are positive. They are supported well, and staff know how to adapt their input to ensure that pupils thrive.

As part of the school's drive for continual improvement, it re-evaluated the systems to identify need rapidly. This has helped to further strengthen these processes, particularly for pupils transitioning from primary school. This has been noted by parents, who increasingly comment on their children being 'supported in every way' and on how they 'thrive' with the care and attention of staff.

Reading is made a high priority across the school. For those who struggle to read with confidence, an exceptionally strong programme of interventions is tailored to develop their fluency. This shows a demonstrable impact with the most disadvantaged pupils.

These same approaches are mirrored across the curriculum, meaning that all staff develop pupils' literacy and increasing use of subject-specific vocabulary.

Pupils access a well-planned personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) programme which, in careful conjunction with assemblies and tutor time, supports them in developing beyond the classroom. Pastoral relationships are remarkably strong; staff know the pupils in their care well and anticipate their needs effectively.

This leads to especially strong support for pupils' mental health. This is rightly prioritised, both by being woven through the PSHE programme but also through giving pupils access to counselling should they need it.

There is an exceptional range of activities on offer to support the wider development of every child.

The school is mindful to ensure this offer is truly inclusive, so those who are disadvantaged are given access to these as a priority. Opportunities including the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme, the scholars' programme, and cultural trips such as the recent one to Glyndebourne, are vast and varied.

Leaders are precise in their recognition of what works well in their school, and what needs further refinement.

Development plans are founded on secure understanding of the school and they take decisive actions where they are needed. Governors know the school especially well and hold leaders to account effectively through a range of developed systems.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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