Falconer School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 18 March 2025

This school provides pupils with a lifeline back into learning and support for their future aspirations. Pupils arrive here often having had significant disruption to their education. The school is determined that every pupil will have improved life chances. It ensures that reasonable adjustments are in place for pupils to meet their needs. Once engaged in school, most pupils gain the qualifications needed to secure post-16 education or training. Pupils are starting to benefit from improvements to the curriculum, the learning environment and behaviour expectations. However, some of this work is still in its early stages. There are instances where pupils are not having gaps in their knowledge addressed quickly enough. This can lead to some pupils disengaging from learning. Behaviour has improved, yet some unwelcome behaviours remain. While attendance is improving, there are still too many pupils not at school every day. Pupils and staff develop positive relationships. Pupils have trusted adults and mentors. They know the site is safe and secure. They appreciate the well-resourced vocational programmes on offer, such as motor vehicle maintenance, construction, and design and technology. Pupils enjoy off-site visits to bowling, swimming, climbing and a local café. This improves their confidence in social situations and their independence, preparing them for adulthood.

What the school should improve

• At times, the work set for pupils does not have high expectations or is not tailored to fill specific gaps in pupils' knowledge. This means some pupils disengage in learning, and gaps in knowledge, especially in writing, remain. The school needs to ensure pupils engage in ambitious learning activities that are more precisely focused on filling pupils' gaps in understanding so that they achieve more highly.
• The phonics programme is not being followed as consistently as intended. This means pupils who have gaps in reading knowledge are not being sufficiently supported to catch up on missed learning. The school needs to ensure that pupils who find reading tricky are provided with a consistent and systematic approach to ensure that gaps in reading are overcome quickly so pupils develop improved fluency.
• There are still too many pupils who are not attending school often enough or full time, partly due to the turbulence the school experienced. This is impacting on how much pupils can achieve as they miss out on important learning opportunities. The school needs to ensure all staff have the knowledge and skills to support pupils to increase and sustain good attendance habits.
• The school has been through a period of turbulence since the last inspection. This has impacted on resources available to the school to support it in delivering its ambitious strategic aims. The governors need to continue to work collaboratively with the local authority to ensure the necessary resources and external support are in place to realise and sustain this vision for continued school improvement.

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