Spa School, Bermondsey

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 22 May 2024

This school is aspirational for all pupils' academic, personal and social development. Experiences and the curriculum are designed to ensure that pupils learn important, meaningful and functional information. These are well chosen to help pupils in their lives beyond school. Pupils said they enjoy coming to school and trust adults will support them if they are worried or unsure. This helps them to feel safe. Some pupils spoke about their ambitions for the future and how the school is helping them to realise these. The school does this through links with local colleges, preparing pupils for functional skills exams and personal progress qualifications. As well as teaching independence skills such as cooking and how to do laundry. The school provides a range of opportunities to develop pupils' interests as well as to experience new activities. This includes weekly special interest lessons, where pupils take part in activities of their choice. For example, these include musical theatre, horticulture or learning to play the piano. The school proudly talks to pupils about autism and how each of them is unique. This helps pupils to understand the individual needs of one another. Consequentially, pupils build positive relationships with their peers, cooperating with and working alongside each other well. This means that inside and outside of classrooms are places where pupils can, and do, learn without distraction.

What the school should improve

• Occasionally, in teaching phonics, staff do not check pupils' accuracy or correct their errors quickly. This means that, sometimes, pupils do not learn new sounds and become fluent readers as swiftly as they could. Leaders should make sure that all staff check pupils' phonics reading accuracy routinely and systematically and address any mistakes.
• In a few subjects, curriculum thinking is developing. Consequentially, some pupils do not achieve as well as they could in those subjects. They miss key components of knowledge and skills or are moved on too quickly before important foundational knowledge is secured. Leaders should ensure that curriculum thinking routinely and specifically sets out what they want all pupils to know and be able to do securely and when to move pupils on to the next steps of knowledge acquisition.

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