Easthorpe School

Inspection of Easthorpe School 165 Loughborough Road, Ruddington, Nottingham NG11 6LQ

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Inspection dates: 14 to 16 November 2023

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

The quality of education Outstanding Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

At Easthorpe School, pupils receive guidance and support in a highly nurturing environment. Staff warmly welcome pupils as they arrive. Pupils who are new to the school quickly settle into school life. This is because staff know pupils’ individual needs and backgrounds very well. Pupils thrive here.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have high expectations of every pupil. They use their knowledge of each individual to adapt the curriculum to help pupils succeed. Pupils engage very well with their learning. They have positive attitudes to their education and attend well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy earning rewards for their positive attitudes and engagement. They plan their own rewards, such as going swimming or having a pyjama day. Pupils look forward to ‘golden time’, when thoughtfully planned activities are on offer, such as football, dance or building marble runs.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff show high levels of understanding and empathy towards pupils’ social, emotional and mental health needs. Pupils receive strong pastoral support. Some pupils have had mixed educational experiences prior to starting here. A few pupils sometimes need support to regulate their emotions in school. Staff are skilful in the support they offer. They focus on helping pupils to manage their own behaviour and emotions. In so doing, they work closely with parents and carers.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are resilient, tenacious and enthusiastic to succeed.

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better?

The curriculum is ambitious, well planned and fully sequenced. Staff know the pupils, and their needs, extremely well. The curriculum is designed effectively to respond to pupils’ individual needs and the important information outlined in pupils’ education, health and care (EHC) plans. There are personalised targets identified for each pupil. All staff are acutely aware of pupils’ individual needs. Teachers monitor pupils’ progress carefully, skilfully adapting teaching strategies as needed. Consequently, pupils achieve exceptionally well.

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better?

Teachers have strong subject knowledge across all areas of the curriculum. They consistently deliver lessons of great quality. During lessons, teachers regularly check pupils’ understanding and skilfully address misconceptions. Teachers are ambitious for all pupils to achieve well.

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better?

The school recognises that reading is a key skill for life and staff are dedicated to instilling a love of reading in pupils. Reading happens every day, and pupils get lots of reading opportunities, such as reading to an adult, guided reading sessions and listening to the teacher read a story to them. Teachers and other adults have received training to ensure that they deliver the phonics programme well. Pupils who struggle to learn to read get extra support and practice. 14 to 16 November 2023 Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. They respond positively to high expectations and clear routines. Staff manage behaviour skilfully and help pupils to regulate themselves and to manage their emotions and behaviour. Pupils benefit from highly successful strategies to help them succeed in their education.

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better?

The programme for pupils’ wider personal development is at the heart of the school’s curriculum. Staff talk about how ‘it is everything we do here’. The school wants to make sure that their pupils experience a wide range of opportunities that will enrich them and their learning and provide them with essential life skills. This is clear to see and is fundamental to the vision for the curriculum. At Easthorpe, the pupils’ learning is not limited to the classroom. The school has organised a range of visits, including, for example, trips to the zoo, supermarkets, Christmas markets and many more. These experiences provide pupils with many opportunities to develop their life skills. For example, these visits support pupils’ learning in mathematics, with pupils calculating prices, paying for items and checking that the change they have been given is correct.

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better?

Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, and learning about British values, are embedded in the curriculum. For example, pupils learn about democracy through voting for their class rewards. They learn about the rule of law through learning about laws, why they are important and then creating their own class rules. Pupils are tolerant and respectful.

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better?

The school puts pupils at the centre of everything it does. Staff feel very well supported and are extremely proud and happy to work at a school where they are part of a close-knit team, dedicated to supporting the development of every pupil.

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better?

The proprietor, those responsible for overseeing the school, and school leaders have close oversight of the school’s strengths and areas for further development.

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better?

The proprietor ensures that the school consistently meets the independent school standards. Regular health and safety checks maintain the premises to a high standard. School policies reflect the latest statutory guidance. The safeguarding policy and the relationships and sex education policy are available on the school’s website. The school complies with schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 14 to 16 November 2023

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school. 14 to 16 November 2023

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School details

DfE registration number 891/6049 Local authority Nottinghamshire County Council

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School details

Type of school Other Independent Special School

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School details

Email address schooloffice@easthorpeschool.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected 14 to 16 November 2023

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Information about this school

 Easthorpe School is an independent special school. Pupils who attend the school have social, emotional and mental health needs. They all have an EHC plan.  The school is registered to provide full-time education for up to 80 pupils. There are currently 28 on roll, aged nine to 13.  The headteacher was appointed in September 2023.  The school does not use the services of any alternative provisions.  This was the school’s first standard inspection. The school opened in October 2022.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors carried out this inspection under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008. The purpose of the inspection is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school's suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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Information about this inspection

The school meets the independent school standards. These are the requirements set out in the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 .

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors met with the headteacher and executive headteacher. The lead inspector met with the chair of the board of directors.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics, personal, social and health education (PSHE), and history. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The lead inspector listened to some pupils read to a member of staff.  Inspectors also considered the curriculum plans for art, physical education, religious education and science.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors reviewed the single

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Information about this inspection

central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; reviewed safeguarding records; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school site during playtime. 14 to 16 November 2023  Inspectors reviewed a range of documents, including: the school’s self-evaluation; a variety of policies; information about pupils’ attendance and behaviour; and, pupils’ EHC plans, individual education plans, and individual risk assessments.  The inspectors spoke with some pupils and staff. An inspector considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey for parents, and the school staff survey.  To check the school’s compliance with the independent school standards, inspectors considered relevant documentation and reviewed facilities at the

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Inspection team

Dawn Ashbolt, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Liz Moore Ofsted Inspector 14 to 16 November 2023 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.

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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

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