Cedars - Newcastle, Moorlands and Darwin Bases

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 25 June 2024

This is a school where staff work hard to give pupils a fresh start with their education. Many pupils arrive here having been excluded from their previous school or having been out of education for long periods of time. Staff get to know pupils well. They take the time to build warm and trusting relationships with pupils to help them re-engage with learning. Pupils' behaviour is highly variable. Staff do not consistently challenge pupils' derogatory language when it is used. In addition, some pupils wander between classrooms or linger in corridors; they do not always follow the instructions of staff. All of this combined can lead to some lessons being disrupted. The curriculum offers a range of subjects to study across key stages 3 and 4. However, in some subjects, the key knowledge that pupils need to learn and remember is not set out clearly. This hinders their progress. Friday activities help broaden pupils' experiences beyond the classroom. Pupils have the opportunity to go caving, climbing and walking with alpacas. There are also inter-school sports tournaments in basketball, football and netball, which take place each term. Pupils enjoy visiting a local farm to take part in bushcraft activities, such as making fires and building dens.

What the school should improve

• The school's electronic safeguarding logs are not always updated regularly enough. This means that, in some instances, it is unclear when actions have been taken and how pupils receive help and support in a timely way. The school should ensure that all safeguarding records clearly show the chronological steps being taken to keep pupils safe from harm.
• The school has not set out a coherent strategy to teach pupils how to improve their behaviour. This means that some pupils continue to display negative attitudes to their learning, use derogatory language and do not follow staff's instructions consistently. The school should ensure it puts in place a behaviour strategy to help pupils develop a more positive attitude towards school, staff and their studies.
• In some subjects, the school has not identified and set out the smaller blocks of knowledge pupils need to secure before completing more complex tasks. This means that some pupils struggle to connect their learning together and build on what they already know. The school should ensure that the curriculum in each subject sets out the precise knowledge and skills pupils need to remember over time.
• Teachers are not using assessment strategies consistently well to check what pupils know and remember. This means that gaps in pupils' knowledge persist, and misconceptions and errors do not get spotted quickly. The school should ensure that teachers use assessment methods effectively to help pupils make better progress in their learning.
• The school's PSHE curriculum and careers programme are not as well structured as they should be. Pupils are not building, from key stage 3, a depth of understanding of important PSHE topics. In addition, the school is not using the Gatsby benchmarks effectively to help develop and improve its careers provision. The school should revise its PSHE curriculum and careers programme to help strengthen the way pupils' personal development is catered for.

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