Saxon Wood School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 23 May 2023

Pupils are happy to attend this school. Parents say their children smile when they talk about their education. The morning routine runs like clockwork as staff create a positive start to the day. They skilfully help pupils with meeting individual health and care needs, including changes of positioning. This helps everyone settle quickly into learning. Pupils thrive on the clear and predictable structure that carries on throughout the school day. Every pupil is valued as a unique individual, and everyone shares the belief that each pupil has a right to their own voice. Leaders and staff work closely with therapists to support pupils to communicate effectively using a variety of bespoke approaches. Pupils demonstrate highly considerate attitudes towards each other. They help out their classmates without question. The atmosphere around school is calm and purposeful. Staff build strong and trusting relationships with pupils. Pupils rely on them to keep them safe and help them to achieve all they are capable of. Pupils have consistently positive attitudes toward their learning. They persist in their learning and work hard. Pupils are rightly proud of their achievements. They celebrate their own and other pupils' successes with equal joy.

What the school should improve

• Leaders' work to revise the wider curriculum is still in development. In some foundation subjects or wider areas of learning, leaders have not clearly identified the important knowledge and skills they want pupils to learn and when. This limits opportunities for some pupils to develop their understanding securely. Leaders need to ensure that teachers know what they should teach and when in each subject so that pupils fully develop their understanding over time.
• Leaders have not yet fully embedded a coherent assessment system that encompasses the small steps of progress that pupils need to make across the curriculum. This means that sometimes the targets set for pupils are not always the most important or valid next steps. Leaders need to ensure that the small steps of learning in each subject area are clearly articulated so that pupils can consolidate and generalise their learning before moving on.

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