Fortitude School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 24 June 2025

Fortitude School is a warm, welcoming and inclusive school at the beginning of its journey. Many pupils who attend have experienced disjointed experiences in previous settings. The school understands this and takes careful account of pupils' needs. There is a firm belief that every pupil can attend and succeed. This is beginning to be realised. The school's three core values, 'courage, compassion and commitment' thread through every aspect of school life. Pupils generally behave well. They are polite to visitors and build friendships with their classmates. For example, more confident pupils kindly help their friends when caring for the farm chickens. Relationships between staff and pupils are warm and respectful. Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe and know that staff in school care for them. Pupils benefit from the therapeutic curriculum at a working farm. Here, the school's work to enable pupils to shine is most apparent. From building dens together to knowledgeably grooming the donkeys, pupils learn important life and social skills. Pupils are beginning to make a difference in the local community, for example by litter picking. Whole school trips, such as to the zoo, provide pupils with new experiences and help them to develop resilience.

What the school should improve

• The curriculum does not set out precisely what pupils should learn. This means that, sometimes, teachers do not select the right activities and pupils do not gain a deep enough understanding of what they need to know. The school should ensure that the curriculum identifies clearly what pupils are to learn, so that all pupils can learn as well as the school intends them to.
• The school is in the early stages of assessing what pupils know and can do. This makes it difficult for teachers to identify pupils' different starting points and ensure that learning is carefully matched to their next steps. The school needs to ensure that teachers have a secure understanding of how to check pupils' learning and ensure pupils' next steps are appropriate to their needs.
• The school does not use the information it has to focus school improvement sharply enough. As a result, the school, on occasion, does not know what is working well and what needs to improve. The school needs to ensure that there are effective systems in place to establish an accurate and well-informed view to drive forward further improvements.

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