Progress Schools - Northamptonshire

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 12 March 2024

Before coming to this school, pupils have often had a poor experience of education previously. Staff work hard to overcome the obstacles that put pupils off attending school or wanting to learn. The school's efforts have a positive impact. Over time, many pupils come to school more frequently and engage more readily with their studies. However, the attendance of some pupils remains too low. Pupils appreciate how staff focus on getting to know them as individuals and building a rapport. Strong and trusting relationships develop. Pupils know that staff will help them to manage their emotions when they become unsettled. This consistent support means that pupils feel safe, cared for and valued. As one pupil typically explained, 'Staff are always trying to help us. They don't give up.' The curriculum provides pupils with the foundations they need for their next steps. They take part in programmes of study that relate to their talents and interests. Pupils grow in confidence and develop aspirations for the future. However, the curriculum pupils study does not always cater for their specific needs. Support for pupils who struggle with their reading is only just being organised. Despite these weaknesses, most pupils secure a suitable education or training placement when they leave school.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects, pupils do not study a curriculum that is appropriate to their individual needs, or that takes into account their age and/or abilities. When this is the case, these pupils can struggle to access the learning without significant support. They cannot recall key knowledge. The school must ensure that, across all subjects, the curriculum pupils access is appropriate to their needs and their stage of learning, and enables them to achieve well
• The curriculum outlines the substantive knowledge that pupils need to know in each subject. However, the disciplinary knowledge that pupils need to learn is not always identified. As a result, pupils struggle to make connections between different topics within subjects, while their understanding of the subject can lack depth. The school needs to make sure that the curriculum in each subject pays sufficient attention to the disciplinary knowledge so that pupils develop a secure understanding across all the subjects that they study.
• The school does not have a consistent approach to teaching pupils how to read. Pupils who are at an early stage of learning to read have gaps in their knowledge of phonics. They do not become accurate and fluent readers quickly enough because they do not always receive the support they need. The school must ensure that pupils who struggle to read get the help they need to develop their reading skills so that they can access the curriculum independently.
• The range of accreditations and qualifications that pupils can achieve is quite limited. This has the potential to limit their next-steps aspirations. The school should ensure that there are opportunities for pupils to gain suitable external recognition for their studies across the full range of subjects that they study.
• Some pupils do not attend school often enough. They miss out on learning important curriculum content, as well as on wider curriculum experiences. The school should ensure that these pupils receive the support they need to enable them to improve their attendance.
• The school's risk assessment policy is not implemented effectively. Strategies used to assess risks vary. It is not clear who is responsible for each risk assessment or how these assessments are shared with appropriate staff. When a pupil's circumstances change, their risk assessment is not always revisited to ensure that it remains suitable. The lack of a consistent approach to assessing risk reduces opportunities for staff to identify appropriate mitigations. The school must ensure that it has robust procedures in place to evaluate and review risks.
• The proprietor has not ensured that all the standards are met. Some aspects of the curriculum are not of a consistently good quality or implemented effectively. The school's approach to assessing risk is inconsistent. The proprietor must ensure that it has a robust oversight of all the standards, so that these standards are met consistently and securely over time.

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