George Hastwell School Special Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 5 November 2024

Pupils have a strong sense of belonging at this warm and inclusive school. They feel valued members of the school community. Pupils enjoy strong, caring relationships with adults, who know them well. This helps pupils to feel happy and safe. They benefit from the wide range of pastoral and therapeutic support that adults offer them. They trust that there is always an adult available to help them if they are worried. The school expects all pupils, all of whom have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to achieve well. However, there are weaknesses in how well the curriculum is taught to pupils, including children in early years and students in the post-16 provision. This means that some pupils do not achieve as well as they should. The school expects pupils to behave well. Staff are quick to notice when pupils experience distress. They are successful in helping pupils to manage their behaviour and their emotions. Pupils enjoy the opportunities that the school offers them to develop themselves personally and to ready themselves for adult life. For example, pupils learn to keep themselves healthy, go shopping and cook meals. These valuable activities equip them well for life outside school.

What the school should improve

• Some teachers do not routinely adapt their teaching, nor use the information they have available to them, well enough to meet pupils' individual needs. Consequently, some pupils, including children in the early years and students in the post-16 provision, do not learn as well as they should. The school should ensure that teachers are confident in their target setting and have the expertise to adapt their teaching so that they meet pupils' individual needs more effectively.
• For some pupils, learning activities are not matched closely enough to their learning needs. This means that they find it difficult to settle to activities and employ behaviours to avoid engaging in their learning. The school should make sure that learning activities are closely matched to pupil's learning needs and engage pupils.
• The school, including those responsible for governance, does not have enough oversight of the quality of education provided to pupils. As a result, the curriculum is not sufficiently embedded across the school. The school and those that are responsible for governance, should ensure that they have rigorous oversight of the implementation of the curriculum so that they can support staff to embed it effectively.

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