Progress Schools - Liverpool

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 3 December 2024

Typically, pupils who join this school have complex social and emotional needs. Most pupils have attended several other schools or settings and they have been absent from school for long periods of time. The school focuses on building relationships with pupils and their families, so that pupils can re-engage with their education. Most pupils respond positively to this. They feel safe and valued as part of a school community. The school sets high academic expectations for pupils. Most pupils respond well to this. They trust the staff who work with them and they gradually reconnect with their learning. However, sometimes the curriculum is not matched or delivered well enough to ensure that pupils routinely achieve as highly as they should. Pupils appreciate that the school sets high standards for their behaviour. They enjoy the calm and productive environment, where they can focus and learn. Pupils receive specialist support to help them to manage their emotions. This helps them to reduce any negative behaviours that have previously been barriers to their learning. Pupils benefit from a wide range of enrichment opportunities, both as part of their curriculum and beyond. For example, they visit local landmarks, different places of worship and universities. They also raise money for charities. This helps pupils to develop their confidence levels and aspirations for the future.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects, the curriculum content that pupils are taught and the order in which they learn it, are not matched well enough to meet their needs and starting points. This hampers how well some pupils build and deepen their knowledge over time. The school should ensure that teachers are clear about the essential subject-specific knowledge that pupils should know, so that they can build successfully on their prior learning and achieve well.
• Some staff deliver curriculum subjects that are outside of their main areas of expertise. This hinders how effectively they can teach these subjects and so it negatively impacts on some pupils' achievements. The school should ensure that staff have the subject-specific expertise that they need to teach the curriculum effectively.
• Some pupils do not read with sufficient fluency and accuracy. This stops them from getting the most out of the curriculum. The school should ensure that it provides more carefully targeted support to ensure that gaps in pupils' reading knowledge are addressed and pupils catch up quickly.

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