The Promise School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 17 June 2025

For many pupils, their educational experience at The Promise School has been hindered significantly by poor behaviour and weak attitudes to learning. The school's expectations of pupils' conduct and achievement are low. Pupils regularly opt out of learning and lessons are frequently disrupted. The approaches that staff use to help pupils manage their behaviour lack consistency. This has a negative impact on pupils' learning and their ability to make progress against the targets in their education, health and care (EHC) plans. Some pupils do not trust or have confidence in the school's current provision for their education. Consequently, they say that, at times, they do not feel safe because of the conduct of their peers. Pupils' academic learning is impeded because the school does not take account of their starting points or meet their special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school is developing its curriculum to increase its ambition and effectiveness. It has started to raise its expectations of what pupils should know and be able to do. However, this work is in its infancy. Currently, pupils do not benefit from a well-designed curriculum that enables them to achieve well. Pupils wider understanding of the world is increasing through the school's personal development offer. Pupils are starting to benefit from opportunities to develop beyond the academic curriculum. This includes experiences of the world of work, supported by independent careers advice, and a valued outdoor learning offer.

What the school should improve

• The school's expectations for pupils' behaviour and their attitudes to learning are low. This is exacerbated further by the school's lack of a consistent approach in how to challenge and respond to pupils' poor behaviour. The result is a school culture where pupils demonstrate a lack of respect to others, learning is regularly disrupted and the use of derogatory language is commonplace. The school must increase its expectations so that pupils have clear boundaries to encourage positive behaviour and attitudes to learning. Staff must be supported in their understanding of these increased expectations so that they have the confidence and skills to adhere to them.
• The school has not ensured that its staff have the necessary knowledge and skills to support pupils with SEND. As a result, pupils do not get the precise, targeted support that they need to learn and develop successfully. Too often, this lack of SEND expertise increases pupils' barriers to learning so that they show their frustrations in their behaviour and attitudes. The trust must work with the school to enable the SEND expertise that is in place to be shared and understood fully, so that pupils get the provision that they need and deserve.
• The school's curriculum is not sufficiently developed. Furthermore, the systems to check pupils' progress through the curriculum and identify gaps in learning are not effective. This hinders pupils from building new learning successfully. The school must develop a well-sequenced and coherent curriculum in all subjects so that pupils can build securely on their prior learning and be fully prepared for their next steps.
• The school has not secured the strategic oversight needed to identify and address weaknesses in its provision quickly enough. As a result, many pupils experience a poor quality of education. The trust must support the school to continue the very recent growth in its capacity, so that it can stem the current decline in its standards, develop staff's knowledge and expertise and provide pupils with a high-quality education that meets their academic, social and emotional needs fully.
• The school has not established a shared vision and agreed values to support and foster the development of a positive school culture, which is aspirational for its pupils in all that they can achieve socially, emotionally and academically. At present, the school's current practice is impacting negatively on too much of its community, including pupils, staff and families. The trust must work with the school to enable it to swiftly stem the current decline, so that it can transform and provide a high-quality education for its pupils and improve the experience of the school for all. HMCI strongly recommends that the school does not seek to appoint early career teachers. The position regarding the appointment of early career teachers will be considered again during any monitoring inspection we carry out.

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