Heart of the Forest Community Special School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 25 February 2025

There are warm and respectful working relationships between pupils and staff. Parents and carers are welcomed into school. Communication between the school and its families has greatly improved since the last inspection. Pupils are settled and safe. The school is working at pace to improve its curriculum to meet the needs of its pupils. Where the curriculum is clearly sequenced and appropriate, pupils engage effectively with their learning and achieve well. However, the quality of education that pupils currently experience varies too much. This means that some pupils do not achieve as well as they could. Pupils take part in a wide range of enrichment activities that support their personal, social and emotional development effectively. Pupils say they have friends to play with and staff who will help them if they need it. Visitors to the school and trips out of school help pupils to learn about the wider world. Pupils are proud to take on class and whole school responsibilities, such as school councillors. These activities contribute to their understanding of fundamental British values. Pupil's talents and interests are nurtured through timetabled sessions such as dance, music and drama. Pupils have the opportunity to complete the Duke of Edinburgh's bronze and silver awards and camp out on the school field. These opportunities contribute to the development of pupils' independence and resilience well.

What the school should improve

• The school's curriculum and communication strategy are not implemented as leaders intend in some subjects. In these subjects, learning activities do not always secure and deepen pupils' knowledge of important concepts sufficiently well. This means pupils are unable to communicate their existing knowledge, build on prior learning and make connections between concepts taught. The school needs to support staff to ensure that pupils communicate effectively, know more, can do more and remember more of the school's curriculum.
• The school does not routinely use assessment information to develop and effectively adapt the curriculum to meet some pupils' short-term targets. Consequently, these pupils make insufficient progress through the school's curriculum and towards their individual targets. The school should support staff to use assessment information to develop precise short-term targets and make appropriate adaptations to the curriculum to improve pupils' achievement.

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