Running Deer School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 24 June 2025

Running Deer is a school where everyone is welcome. Many pupils have joined the school following unsuccessful experiences of education elsewhere. Staff take the time to get to know them and their interests. Pupils are safe and happy. They trust staff to support and guide them. The school has stabilised following a period of turbulence. A new leadership structure has been established. There is now an ambitious vision in place. The school has overhauled its curriculum in many areas to ensure it is broad and balanced, with focused plans to develop further the quality of education. It is implementing these at pace. However, there is more to do to ensure that pupils fully benefit from the improvements made. As a result, the quality of education that pupils receive is not good. Pupils rise to the high behaviour expectations the school has of them. Pupils learn about how to be considerate of one another's needs. Bullying incidents are rare and are dealt with promptly. Pupils learn about the importance of democracy, inclusion and free speech. They benefit from opportunities to develop social empathy. For example, they raise money for charity through local fundraising.

What the school should improve

• In a few subjects, school leaders have yet to develop a thorough understanding of how the curriculum impacts pupils' learning. As a result, gaps in some pupils' knowledge are not promptly addressed, and opportunities to build on prior learning are missed. The school should ensure that all subject leaders receive the necessary support to evaluate and enhance curriculum effectiveness.
• Teaching expertise is unevenly developed across subjects. This means that the strengths of the school's teaching in some subjects are not replicated in others. Consequently, some pupils do not learn securely across the curriculum. The school must continue to strengthen staff's expertise to deliver the subject curriculums consistently well.
• Sometimes, pupils' support plans do not accurately reflect the adaptations made to the curriculum to address pupils' individual barriers to learning or detail specific strategies and targets. This is because they are not sufficiently precise. Consequently, opportunities to build on some pupils' progress are not as prompt as they could be. The school must ensure that written plans reflect adaptations to the curriculum and are targeted precisely to meet all pupils' individual needs.

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