Eden School

Inspection of Eden School 76 Chelford Road, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 3LQ

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good The school leadership and management Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to Eden school. They receive a welcome smile when they arrive at school in the morning from staff. After a period out of education for some pupils, they are quickly made to feel part of the Eden family. Staff take the time to get to know pupils. They understand their special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and interests well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. They treat each member of this close-knit school community with respect. If anyone gets angry or upset, staff are well trained to deal with this calmly and effectively. This helps pupils to control their emotions so they can quickly return to their learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for pupils’ achievement. They listen to pupils’ views about school and lessons. This helps teachers work out the best way for individual pupils to learn the curriculum. Pupils receive different, personalised opportunities to learn new information. From their individual starting points, pupils achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides diverse opportunities to broaden pupils’ interests. Pupils spoke positively about the recent residential trip that they have been on. They also enjoy learning outdoors in the nearby forest area.

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better?

The school ensures that pupils across both the primary and secondary phases study a range of subjects. The school has considered with care the knowledge that pupils should learn and the order in which it should be taught. In many subjects, pupils build up their knowledge over time. This allows some older pupils to gain formal qualifications which help them to access their next step into education, employment or training.

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better?

In many subjects, teachers prepare activities that help to support pupils’ learning in lessons. Staff use the school’s assessment systems well to match learning activities to pupils’ academic needs. Teachers are able to explain new information carefully, as they receive regular curriculum training in these subjects. This helps pupils to learn well.

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better?

However, the school has not provided teachers with enough training to deliver some areas of the curriculum. This means that teachers’ knowledge of these curriculum subjects is not as secure as it could be. Some of the activities that pupils complete do not help them to learn well. On occasion, therefore, pupils do not achieve as well as they could in these few curriculum areas.

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better?

The school places great importance on ensuring that pupils learn to read. Staff share their love of reading with pupils. There is a dedicated reading session every day where staff read to pupils. This allows pupils to experience a wide variety of 23 to 25 January 2024 literature. The school has also put in place a structured phonics programme. Staff check pupils’ knowledge regularly to ensure that they begin the phonics programme at the most appropriate point. This helps pupils to build up their understanding of phonics. Where pupils still find learning phonics difficult, the school provides targeted support to help them catch up with their peers.

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better?

The school has implemented an effective personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education curriculum. This includes lessons around consent. Pupils receive effective support to understand how to build positive relationships with both their peers and adults alike. Older pupils receive effective sex education, which the school tailors to the needs of pupils. Pupils learn about respect for, and tolerance of, backgrounds and beliefs that are different from their own. They celebrate these differences. Through the curriculum, pupils develop an understanding of right and wrong. The school also ensures that pupils receive valuable careers information. This helps pupils to make informed choices about their next steps in their education journey.

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better?

Pupils who attend Eden school have found it difficult to attend their previous schools regularly. However, staff at the school are adept at using a variety of strategies to help pupils attend this school more regularly. This is working. Pupils attend school more often than they did in the past. The school ensures that pupils receive support to help them to manage their behaviour with increased confidence. Overall, the school is a calm environment for pupils to learn.

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better?

All pupils at the school have an education, health and care (EHC) plan. The school knows all pupils well and is responsive to pupils’ SEND. Staff receive helpful information about pupils, which they often use to set pertinent and relevant targets. On occasion, however, some of the targets that teachers set lack clarity and specificity. This makes it hard to be sure that pupils have achieved the targets in their EHC plan. In addition, some targets are not relevant to moving pupils on in their learning.

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better?

The proprietor supports the school in setting appropriate targets, so that the school continues to improve over time. The proprietor has systems in place to ensure that they keep checks on the school’s progress towards these targets. The proprietor ensures that the school complies with the Equality Act 2010 and that all independent school standards (‘the standards’) are met consistently.

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better?

Both the proprietor and the school place a sharp focus on staff’s workload and well- being. Staff are positive about the support they receive. This includes when the school introduces new ideas. These are introduced slowly and carefully, with appropriate consideration for staff’s workload. The school engages well with parents and carers to keep them informed of their child’s progress at school. This includes giving them information about pupils’ academic and social achievements. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the impact of the education that the school provides for their child. 23 to 25 January 2024

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 In a few subjects, teachers’ knowledge of the curriculum is underdeveloped. This means that they do not have a secure enough grasp of how to design learning activities which help pupils to learn well. The school should ensure that teachers receive appropriate training in these subjects.  In a few instances, the targets that teachers set for pupils are not specific enough to meet the requirements in pupils’ EHC plans. This means that teachers occasionally do not identify the small steps that pupils need to take so that they achieve all that they can. The school should ensure that teachers receive training so that targets are more closely linked to pupils’ needs.

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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. 23 to 25 January 2024

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School details

Unique reference number 143531 DfE registration number 895/6003

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School details

Inspection number 10299234 Type of school Other independent special school

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School details

School category Independent special school

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School details

Proprietor Family Care Associations Limited

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) £35,685 - £62,628

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School details

Website www.family-care.co.uk/eden-school

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School details

Email address eden.school@family-care.co.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 26 and 27 June 2019 23 to 25 January 2024

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Information about this school

 The school is a small independent special school situated on one site. The school address is 68 Chelford Road, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 3QL.  All pupils who attend the school have an EHC plan. The school caters for pupils with autistic spectrum disorder.  The school received a material change inspection on 8 June 2022. This increased the number of pupils that can be registered at the school from 6 to 16. There are currently 15 pupils on roll.  The school is currently led by a head of school and the registered headteacher.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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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 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.  Inspectors met with the head of school, current registered headteacher and the proprietor body, including the chair of the proprietor body.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and PSHE education. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders to discuss the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to pupils about their learning, spoke to teachers and, where appropriate, looked at pupils’ work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of the school, staff and pupils; and

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Information about this inspection

considered the extent to which the school has created an open and honest culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspectors spoke with a representative of the local authority SEND department and a representative of the local authority safeguarding team.  School policies and other documents were examined to check compliance with the standards and to provide other inspection evidence. These included: minutes from management committee meetings; information on pupils’ progress; the school’s evaluation of its own performance; and its development plan. Behaviour 23 to 25 January 2024 and attendance records and information relating to safeguarding were also scrutinised.  Inspectors made a tour of the school premises accompanied by the head of school.

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Inspection team

Stuart Perkins, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Pippa Jackson Maitland His Majesty’s Inspector 23 to 25 January 2024 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

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