Teenage Kicks

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 26 November 2024

This small, friendly school is a beacon of light for the pupils who come here. Most have experienced considerable barriers and disruption to their earlier education. The school marks a welcome turning point. Once they join, pupils rediscover their appetite for learning. They thrive and blossom because of the strong relationships that they build with staff. All pupils who attend the school have a range of special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school has high expectations for what they can achieve. Pupils take pride in their success. They know that staff will help them if there is anything that they do not understand. Pupils typically achieve well from their starting points. Pupils learn to consider the impact that their conduct may have on others. This helps them to make appropriate choices about how to behave. Pupils generally show respectful attitudes towards staff and towards each other. Their behaviour typically improves over time. Pupils enjoy the activities that the school provides beyond the academic curriculum. For example, pupils participate in football coaching sessions with professional clubs. They relish the trips and visits to museums, theatres and places of interest. These activities enrich pupils' personal development as well as their life at school.

What the school should improve

• In a very small number of subjects, the curriculum does not contain sufficient information about the key knowledge and concepts that pupils should learn in key stage 4. This makes it difficult for staff to ensure that pupils learn the important subject content that they need to know well in these subjects. The school should ensure that in all subjects the curriculum sets out clearly all of the important knowledge that pupils should learn in order to develop sufficient knowledge by the time that they leave the school.

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