Compass Community School Vicarage Park

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 30 September 2025

Being a pupil at this school means joining a friendly community that cares for everyone and values happiness and safety. Pupils particularly enjoy the range of outdoor equipment in the school's spacious, beautiful grounds. They feel happy because staff are caring and know their needs well. Horse riding, animal care and taking walks around the local area add to pupils' enjoyment and learning. The school has high expectations for pupils. However, due to recent significant changes to staffing and leadership of the school, these expectations have not been fully realised. Pupils make progress from their starting points in their personal, social and emotional development. For example, being able to communicate a feeling, work in a classroom with a peer being present or eat alongside others in the dining hall. However, for some pupils, adaptations are not fully meeting their needs in some areas of learning. Behaviour is typically positive. Staff know each pupil well and the warm relationships between staff and pupils are clear to see. This helps staff to be in tune with pupils' shifting emotions and behaviours throughout the day. Staff, alongside the support of the therapy team, use a range of strategies to help pupils to learn to recognise and manage their emotions.

What the school should improve

• The school has not ensured that staff are supported to have the subject-specific knowledge that they need to teach some of the subjects that they are required to. This means that pupils' learning, and achievement is not as strong as it could be across the curriculum. The school should ensure that staff are provided the professional learning and support that they need to deepen their subject-specific expertise, so that they can deliver and adapt the curriculum for pupils consistently well.
• Sometimes, the school does not check pupil's understanding or match learning activities sufficiently well to pupils' needs. As a result, some learning tasks can be too easy or too hard. This leads to pupils feeling unsettled and unable to engage with learning. The school should ensure that staff receive the necessary support to make effective checks on what pupils know and can do and match learning accordingly.
• The communication strategies used by pupils to express their wants, needs and ideas are not always consistently supported. This reduces pupils' ability to express their feelings and emotions and impacts upon the development of their independence. The school should strengthen their communication strategies, making use of therapeutic services on offer when doing so.

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