Mayfield House School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 8 July 2025

The school, including the proprietor body, has overseen a decline in the quality of education since the previous inspection. The school has not ensured that the curriculum meets the needs of pupils. Pupils experience a curriculum that lacks ambition and breadth. As a result, many do not succeed academically. This hampers how well prepared some pupils are for the next steps in their education and in their lives. The school's arrangements for safeguarding are not effective, and this has left pupils at risk of harm. Some aspects of pupils' personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education are underdeveloped. The PSHE curriculum is dependent on what staff think pupils should learn. Some pupils do not learn important life skills such as understanding what consenting relationships are. This means that some pupils are not prepared sufficiently well for life in modern Britain. The school does not ensure that staff have the necessary skills and expertise to manage pupils' poor behaviour. Many pupils are unsettled during lessons and lose interest in their work. The school has not ensured that lessons and activities match pupils' needs. Pupils enjoy the small family feel of the school. They benefit from the caring attention of staff who nurture pupils. Pupils build trusting relationships with adults and with their peers.

What the school should improve

• There are weaknesses in safeguarding arrangements. The school's records relating to agreed actions to keep pupils safe are not updated in a timely fashion. In addition, information about checks on the suitability of staff and contractors is not recorded properly in the single central record. The school should ensure that all records relating to safeguarding are updated promptly and that the agreed actions are recorded accurately.
• The school does not ensure that staff have the necessary expertise to use physical restraint practices appropriately. Furthermore, physical restraint practices are not recorded or reviewed rigorously enough. The school must ensure that staff have the necessary expertise to use physical restraint appropriately and only when necessary.
• The proprietor body has overseen a decline in the quality of education at the school and has not ensured that leaders fulfil their statutory responsibilities. The proprietor body must hold leaders to account stringently and assure itself by using evidence from a range of sources that standards are improving rapidly.
• There is a lack of curriculum coherence in many subjects. The school has given insufficient thought to how pupils' learning builds as they progress through the school. As a result, many pupils do not achieve as well as they should. The school should ensure that there is an ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum in place that enables pupils to achieve well and that prepares them well for their next steps in learning.
• Curriculum activities do not consistently meet the aim of the intended learning. Consequently, pupils do not achieve as well as they should. The school should ensure that staff receive the training that they require to deliver the curriculum well.
• The school's assessment strategies in most subjects are ineffective. As a result, teachers are unsure about what pupils know and remember. This means that the school does not address gaps in pupils' learning. The school should make sure that its assessment processes are effective and that staff develop the expertise to check pupils' learning and adapt their teaching sufficiently well.
• The school does not review the implementation and impact of the provision specified on each pupil's EHC plan with sufficient rigour. Consequently, adaptations to the provision for each pupil are not always made in a timely manner. Pupils sometimes do not access the curriculum as they should. The school should ensure that it routinely reviews the impact of the provision for each pupil to ensure that it remains suitable.
• The school has not ensured that teachers have a secure understanding of phonics or how to support pupils in the earlier stages of learning to read. As a result, pupils do not gain the necessary knowledge to read with accuracy, confidence, and fluency. The school should ensure that staff have the expertise to teach reading so that pupils gain these essential skills.
• The school does not design personal development opportunities carefully enough. Some pupils do not benefit from suitable careers guidance and enrichment opportunities. Not all pupils receive an appropriate RSE programme. Consequently, some pupils are not prepared well enough for life in modern Britain. The school should develop an effective programme of careers guidance, enrichment opportunities, and RSE for all pupils.

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