Elm House School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 8 April 2025

This is a school where dedicated staff ensure pupils feel settled, secure and safe. Staff know the pupils extremely well and deeply understand their needs, views and ambitions. This enables staff to tailor provision for each pupil successfully. Pupils enjoy their time in school and are rarely absent. Pupils arrive at this school having had very difficult experiences of education in the past. They all have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff understand this well and put in place the support needed. They are particularly skilled in addressing pupils' social, emotional and mental health needs. As a result, pupils typically achieve well and simply love talking about what they have learned. Staff have high expectations of pupils' behaviour. They help pupils achieve these through developing highly positive relationships and treating pupils with sensitivity and kindness. Pupils respond well to this and trust adults to be fair, warm and always approachable. Pupils respect one another, and incidences of bullying are very rare and swiftly dealt with. Despite the negative experiences pupils have had before coming to Elm House, there is a tangible feeling of belonging here.

What the school should improve

• Pupils have gaps in some of their basic writing and mathematics knowledge, including how they form letters and numbers. This means that their writing is both difficult to read and lacks fluency, and their mathematics can be inaccurate. The school should support pupils in securing their basic skills in writing and mathematics, so their written work is fluent, and their mathematical recording is accurate.
• Sometimes pupils receive too much support during lessons. This limits pupils' time to process ideas or to develop independence. The school should support pupils in ways that provide them with the time and space to develop independent learning strategies.

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