Helen Allison School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 18 June 2024

Pupils feel very happy at school. Pupils who communicate verbally say that they enjoy school because staff understand their needs so well, and work to ensure that every pupil learns in the right environment. The school supports pupils who are not yet communicating verbally to share their views and preferences in a range of ways. Staff are very attentive to all pupils' communications. In this way, staff build positive and trusting relationships with pupils. Pupils across the school have highly positive attitudes to their learning. Those pupils who were able to talk to inspectors were keen to share their positive views of learning and how they are supported to become increasingly effective learners. Pupils at an earlier developmental stage learn within a less formal environment with an emphasis on play, engagement and their education, health and care (EHC) plans. As a result of the careful support provided by the school, and pupils' own commitment to their learning, pupils across the school achieve well. Pupils enjoy the very wide range of enriching opportunities the school provides. They learn a range of musical instruments and have opportunities to perform within school and in the wider community. For many pupils, performing publicly would have been unimaginable when they first joined the school. However, as pupils progress through the school, their confidence in themselves builds, and they learn to take great pride in their talents and interests. Pupils across the school attend well because they enjoy coming to school.

What the school should improve

• Not all staff are expert in the teaching of phonics. As a result, some pupils and groups of pupils receive less effective teaching than others. The school should continue their work to ensure that all staff are expert in the teaching of early reading so that all pupils are supported to achieve the best possible outcomes in reading.
• Assessment information is not gathered and used consistently well by the school to ensure that pupils are achieving the best possible outcomes across the academic curriculum. The school should continue their work to develop a clear approach to assessment across the curriculum so that leaders can be fully assured that all pupils are achieving highly across the subjects they learn.

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