Clay Hill School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 22 October 2024

Pupils are positive about their school. They are proud of what they are achieving. They feel safe here and have strong opinions about the world around them. Older pupils are keen to share their views with visitors, not afraid to hold back when sharing their thoughts about previous settings. One pupil's view that, ''Mostly everyone relates to you here, so you don't have to mask anything, because everyone just gets it, so you can be yourself, truly', met with blanket approval by other pupils. Loyalty to your peers, to staff and to the school itself, means something here. Pupils' behaviour is largely excellent, though not perfect all the time. Periods of high anxiety are managed well by all because partnerships are trusting and staff are skilled at heading off problems. Because of this, classrooms are purposeful and productive places. Most pupils settle quickly on joining Clay Hill because staff work hard on getting relationships right before anything else. As a result, pupils respond well to the increasingly high expectations of staff over time, developing trust and confidence in themselves as learners. The impact of this is a happy school where pupils achieve well, despite the complex barriers that some face.

What the school should improve

• On occasion, teaching does not meet the needs of pupils as well as it might. Sometimes staff lack confidence and miss opportunities to adapt their teaching in the moment. This includes when pupils need additional support, or reminding about what they already know and can do. When this is the case, pupils' progress through the curriculum is not as strong as it might be. The school needs to focus more sharply on ensuring that best practice is more widely shared, so that all pupils benefit from high-quality teaching across both sites of the school.

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