Hill Top School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 13 February 2024

Pupils and students love coming to this caring and inclusive school. Each morning, pupils receive a warm welcome from staff as they arrive. This provides a positive start to the school day and helps pupils feel safe. Strong, trusting relationships between staff and pupils are the reason that Hill Top is such a happy place to be. Pupils have a strong sense of belonging here. Well-established daily routines create a safe and harmonious environment for pupils to thrive. As a result, pupils try their best and they behave very well. All pupils have an education, health and care (EHC) plan. The school does much to extend pupils' learning beyond the classroom. Pupils appreciate the extra opportunities, trips and visits they experience. They take part eagerly in events such as sports tournaments and outings to the local area. The 'Independent Living Skills' curriculum helps pupils to be ready for adulthood. Pupils value how visits to the local shops help them to learn about finance and develop their independence. Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the school. One parent echoed the sentiments of many, 'My child has flourished throughout his time here, staff always have his best interests at heart.'

What the school should improve

• In a few subjects, checks are not made to consider how well the academic curriculum is being implemented This means that, at times, leaders are unable to assure themselves that pupils are securing the knowledge that they need. The school should ensure that there are effective systems to fully evaluate the impact of the curriculum.
• In some subjects, curriculum leaders have not had sufficient opportunities to monitor the impact of their new curriculums. This means they are not able to know what changes might need to be made to the curriculum, or what additional training might be needed for some staff. The school needs to ensure that all subject leaders have the opportunity to review the curriculum's implementation in their subjects so they can evaluate what changes might need to take place.
• A small proportion of pupils do not attend school as often as they should. This means that they miss valuable learning, which has a negative impact on how well they achieve. The school should ensure that they take appropriate and effective action to support pupils to secure high attendance for all pupils.

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