North West Hospital School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 18 June 2024

Pupils attend this school because they are seriously ill and undergoing hospital treatment. The education that pupils receive forms an integral part of their recovery. It provides them with hope for the future. Many pupils told inspectors that their experience at this school contributes to improving their physical and mental health. Pupils are welcomed into the school's safe and nurturing environment. Pupils build trusting relationships with their key adults. This helps them to regain their self- confidence. Some pupils' health initially makes it very difficult for them to enjoy learning. Regardless of this, school staff work closely with clinical professionals to ensure that pupils are supported well. Pupils gradually increase the time that they spend in school. Staff have the highest expectations of pupils. Regardless of the difficulties that pupils face, the school is determined to help them to re-engage with their education. Typically, pupils achieve well. They attain the qualifications that they need to successfully move on in their education once they are well enough to leave hospital. Pupils develop strong bonds with each other. They behave well and typically get along together. This helps to ensure a calm learning environment. Pupils take part in a range of well-considered activities that develop their interests and talents.

What the school should improve

• Some pupils develop gaps in their knowledge because they do not attend school as often as their medical treatment allows. The school does not check this missed learning sufficiently well. This limits staff's ability to help pupils to catch up. The school should ensure that assessment strategies identify gaps in pupils' knowledge accurately, and that there are opportunities for staff to address these gaps. Alongside this, the school should continue to work closely with hospital staff to reduce the impact of pupils' medical absences on their learning.
• A small number of pupils who have gaps in their reading knowledge do not receive the support that they need to catch up. They do not develop into accurate and fluent readers as quickly as they should, and this hinders their achievement in other subjects. The school should ensure that pupils who struggle with reading receive effective support so that they catch up quickly.
• Some information relating to safeguarding is not recorded in the most useful way. At times, a mismatch between school and hospital administrative systems makes it difficult for the school to join together important information about pupils' welfare and safety. This hinders the proprietor's oversight of safeguarding arrangements for pupils. The proprietor should ensure that the school's safeguarding records are clear and comprehensive.

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