Hope School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 16 September 2025

Pupils settle quickly at Hope School because of the positive way in which staff welcome them into the school. Pupils are happy and feel valued as individuals. They are confident in expressing their opinions and ideas. Pupils are encouraged by the frequent praise that they receive for their efforts. Pupils engage well in their lessons. They respond to the high expectations set for their learning. They are supported well to achieve a range of qualifications. They have positive attitudes towards school and are motivated to learn. Staff support pupils to reflect on their own conduct. Pupils are given time to make sense of their emotions and to make positive choices. The strong personal development on offer at the school helps pupils understand the consequences of their decisions and amend their behaviour. Pupils have opportunities to try different activities. For example, the school has facilitated pupils' interests in golf and other sports, both in the curriculum and as part of its extra-curricular offer. Pupils feel that they have a strong voice and that their suggestions to improve the school's provision are considered carefully by leaders.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects, the school's curriculum does not set out some of the key subject knowledge that it wants pupils to learn. As a result, the expectations for pupils' learning in some areas are not as high as they could be. The school should ensure that this important knowledge is clearly defined so that pupils are enabled to know and remember more in these subjects.
• In some subjects, the checks on pupils' learning do not highlight some areas where pupils lack understanding. As a result, some misconceptions in some subjects remain. The school should ensure that staff have the expertise to assess pupils' recall of key knowledge precisely in these subjects to identify and address misconceptions.

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