Graduately Developing Futures

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 24 June 2025

Graduately Developing Futures is a unique place to learn. It has a successful approach to working with pupils who have missed a lot of school or have had a negative experience of education. In this nurturing farm setting, pupils develop their social skills, make friends and flourish as individuals. Staff build positive relationships with pupils. This forms the bedrock of the school's work. They get to know pupils' needs and interests. Pupils quickly come to trust staff. They feel understood and valued for who they are. When pupils need space to regulate, staff support them skilfully. Over time, the school transforms pupils' behaviour. The school has high expectations for pupils' learning. It has designed well-thought- out social and academic curriculum pathways to meet pupils' needs. Pupils listen intently and persevere with their learning. They work hard and benefit from a consistent structure to lessons. This helps them learn a lot from their different starting points. Well-established routines provide a calm and purposeful start to each day. Pupils learn the importance of teamwork and responsibility when looking after and feeding the alpacas. 'Well-being Friday' is a popular part of the week. Pupils explore new interests such as photography and yoga.

What the school should improve

• In a minority of subjects, the school has not identified the precise knowledge it wants pupils to learn. Occasionally, some activities do not support pupils to learn important subject content. This makes it difficult for pupils to deepen and connect their knowledge as well as they could over time. The school needs to set out clearly what it wants pupils to learn in all subjects and provide suitable activities to help pupils learn well across the curriculum.
• At times, staff do not prioritise the essential writing skills that pupils need to secure. As a result, some pupils' written work contains basic errors. The school should ensure that staff provide sufficient opportunities for pupils to master early writing skills so that pupils can increase their success across the curriculum.
• Some pupils are not as well informed as they might be about potential career options. This means that sometimes, pupils do not get the guidance they need to pursue a broad range of next steps. The school should provide all secondary-age pupils with a broader range of careers guidance so they are well informed about their potential next steps in education, employment and training.

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