Canterbury Campus and Lavender Campus

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 10 December 2024

Pupils mostly attend this school for a short period of time. All staff know the importance of quickly building strong and positive working relationships with the pupils that attend here. They act on this effectively and have high aspirations. Pupils feel safe and trust that the staff team can help them. Pupils are supported to understand their emotions. They are taught strategies to manage and reflect on their behaviour for themselves. As a result, behaviour is mostly calm and orderly. Many pupils successfully reintegrate back to their mainstream schools or into new settings. Pupils are provided with a range of opportunities and experiences to prepare them for adulthood. This includes workshops on how to stay safe in the community and the dangers of substance misuse. They visit universities and have work experience opportunities at local farms. As a result, pupils are prepared for their futures. The school provides opportunities for pupils to experience things beyond the classroom. Pupils visit the theatre to bring to life learning from English lessons, or take part in social activities such as ice skating. They can become members of the school council and learn about life in modern Britain. These opportunities further develop pupils' confidence, social skills and interests.

What the school should improve

• Occasionally, pupils' understanding and recall is not checked routinely in all subjects. As a result, sometimes, pupils are not helped to build on what they already know, or gaps or misconceptions are not identified. The school should ensure that all teachers routinely check what pupils know and remember to identify and address any gaps or misconceptions.
• A small number of pupils join the school with significant weaknesses in reading and gaps in their phonics knowledge. The specific support to help them develop into fluent and confident readers is at the very early stages of implementation. The school should ensure that staff have the training they need to help weaker readers to catch up quickly and develop fluency in reading.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)