Setting

Education and residential inspection summary for St Anne’s School and Sixth Form College 27 and 28 June 2023 Education and residential inspection summary for St Anne’s School and Sixth Form College Boothferry Road, Hessle HU13 9AR

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Outcome

The education overall effectiveness judgement is: good

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Outcome

The judgement for the experiences and progress of children in the boarding for residential special schools provision is: good

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What is it like to attend this school?

◼ St Anne’s School and Sixth Form College is a caring and welcoming school, where all pupils feel valued. Excellent relationships exist between staff and pupils. The view of one pupil reflects that of many, stating: ‘We’re all one big community and family. We celebrate that in our school.’ ◼ Pupils feel safe and trust adults to listen to them. Staff use consistent routines and thoughtful approaches to support and communicate with individual pupils. Pupils communicate effectively with staff if they have a worry or concern, which includes bullying. Pupils feel that this rarely happens, but if it does, then staff ‘help fix it’. ◼ Staff have high expectations of what pupils can achieve and how they behave. Pupils benefit from a broad and relevant curriculum from the early years to the sixth form. They enjoy following the carefully adapted curriculum, which meets their individual needs. They are well prepared for their next steps in education

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What is it like to attend this school?

and for adulthood. ◼ There is a calm and orderly environment throughout the school. Pupils behave well and enjoy exploring the grounds and playing in the well-resourced outdoor areas during break and lunchtimes. ◼ Pupils enjoy taking on responsibilities, such as acting as school councillors, where they have a say in what they learn and do in school. Pupils in the sixth form enjoy their roles as librarians and visiting their college and work placements. The inspectors made three recommendations to help the school improve. These are the further development of the curriculum in a small number of subjects, promoting opportunities for children in the early years to develop their learning in the outside environment and how staff record actions in relation to the use of restrictive physical intervention.

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◼ Staying in the school’s residence provides children with the opportunity to form friendships and socialise with their peers. The trusting relationships children develop with staff provide them with warmth, nurture and a secure connection to adults that helps them to feel safe when staying away from home.

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◼ Children benefit from daily planned activities, such as sensory play, bowling and trampolining. Additionally, they have use of the school’s on-site facilities. They also attend group trips to specialist activities with children with similar needs. These experiences help to build the children’s self-esteem and confidence. ◼ Staff prioritise the needs of the children by ensuring that they have ample opportunities to share their views and have their personal choices respected. The children can pick what activities they do and the food they want to eat. Regular visits from a children’s rights worker further strengthen the children’s voices by providing them with impartial advocacy through children’s meetings. ◼ There are established relationships with specialist staff, including the school nurse, a speech and language therapist and an occupational therapist. As a result, staff have continued access to expert support and advice, and specialist

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equipment is available to enable staff to care for children who have complex needs. ◼ Most parents recognise the progress their children make from their time in residence and speak highly about the head of care and the staff team. Parents say that staff go ‘above and beyond’. One parent said, ‘I would be lost without the staff, they have really supported us. They have helped us through so much and are patient and understanding.’ This demonstrates that children staying in residence can have positive outcomes for children’s families. ◼ The residential building remains bright and spacious, and staff continue to use the environment well to care for the children. However, this does not come without a variety of frustrations for staff and children due to improvement work needed for the new building that has not been completed. For example, certain areas of the building become too warm due to the wrong grade of glass being

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fitted in the roof space when the school was built. School leaders have repeatedly pushed for these shortfalls to be rectified without success. The impact on children is minimised through the love, care and attention they receive during their stay in residence. The school does not meet the national minimum standards for residential special schools relating to: national minimum standards’, 20.6.

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The inspectors made one recommendation to help the school improve, covering the training of staff in relation to the risk of ligatures.

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◼ View the full inspection report for the education provision: https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/25/118145

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◼ View the full inspection report for residential special schools provision: https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/10/SC056736 regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format

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or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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