Limpsfield Grange School

Inspection of an outstanding school: Limpsfield Grange School 89 Bluehouse Lane, Oxted, Surrey RH8 0RZ

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Outcome

Limpsfield Grange School continues to be an outstanding school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thrive in the school’s calm, welcoming and friendly atmosphere. Strong relationships and a relaxed ethos ensure that they feel settled and secure. Staff have the highest expectations of all pupils, and rightly so.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are a credit to the school. They are impeccably well mannered, welcoming visitors politely and standing to one side to let them pass. The quality of pupils’ engagement and behaviour in lessons is impressive. Pupils are ambitious for the future. They achieve exceptionally well across the curriculum and gain valuable qualifications, such as BTEC National Diplomas and GCSEs. Pupils move on to a range of sixth form and further education colleges when they leave the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s unwavering focus on making sure that every pupil is fully prepared for the next stage of their education is a highly successful part of its work. Pupils are taught skills which are essential to ensuring that they can participate fully in the world of work. For instance, during the inspection the youngest pupils were taught how to introduce themselves in a formal situation. Later, some of the older pupils put this important learning into practice when they spontaneously and politely introduced themselves to inspectors and shook them by the hand. One pupil commented, ‘I love it here’, while another said, ‘Staff are brilliant – this is my second home!’

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Pupils thoroughly enjoy school and most attend regularly. Lunchtimes provide them with a friendly and sociable time to eat together, and the corridors are filled with happy chatter at the start and end of the school day. Occasionally, pupils become anxious or frustrated, and sometimes they fall out with their friends. Pupils say that adults sort out any difficulties quickly and without fuss.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Pupils’ achievement is particularly striking given that many have had unsettled and sometimes disjointed experiences of education before joining the school. Often, they have 12 to 14 March 2024

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significant gaps in learning when they arrive and negative views of education. Limpsfield Grange teaches them that they matter and that they can, and will, achieve, and they do. Assessments are used effectively to identify pupils’ starting points when they join the school. The Year 7 curriculum is tailored to make up for lost time and to support pupils’ individual needs. The school’s success in doing so ensures that pupils have a secure grounding for learning in the following months and years.

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Pupils achieve very well in reading. Weaker readers catch up quickly, swiftly developing secure reading skills which enable them to enjoy books and access the wider curriculum. The art curriculum is of exceptional high quality. Pupils learn a comprehensive range of techniques and excel in their critical appreciation of art and artists. The quality of their work is impressive and, at times, quite extraordinary. Talent and success are nurtured wonderfully, so that all pupils take and pass GCSE art, some at the highest levels.

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The school’s well-being, achievement, communication, independence (WACI) programme is a golden thread running through the school. It makes a significant contribution to pupils’ well-being and to their prospects, equipping them with skills which will hold them in good stead in the future. During the inspection, for example, pupils in Year 7 tackled the thorny issue of how to work out how much service charge to leave when paying for a meal in a restaurant.

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Many parents who completed Ofsted’s survey had nothing but praise for the school, commenting on its supportive ethos and happy children. One said: ‘I feel incredibly lucky that my daughter attends this amazing school.’ Leaders use a range of strategies to communicate effectively with parents, including regular newsletters and weekly updates from tutors. The school’s behaviour management and attendance policies are applied consistently and fairly. Pupils are safe and well cared for.

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Leaders engage well with staff and have made changes in response to staff feedback, such as adjusting parents’ evening timings. Staff who spoke with inspectors commented on the school’s supportive atmosphere.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be outstanding, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains outstanding. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately. 12 to 14 March 2024

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This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding in July 2018.

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How can I feed back my views?

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.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 12 to 14 March 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 4 July 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Limpsfield Grange School caters for girls from across Surrey, as well as from neighbouring authorities. All pupils have an education, health and care plan for autism and for a range of associated conditions.

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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 leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspection was carried out at the same time as an inspection of the residential provision.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, assistant headteacher, and other senior leaders. The lead inspector also met with two governors, including the chair of governors, and had a telephone conversation with a local authority representative. 12 to 14 March 2024

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 Inspectors spoke with a range of staff at different times during the inspection. They also considered the views of staff expressed in Ofsted’s staff survey.  Inspectors spoke with pupils in lessons, during lunchbreaks, and at other times of the school day. An inspector also met formally with a group of pupils.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics and art. Deep dives included visits to lessons, a review of pupils’ work, and discussions with leaders, teachers and pupils. Inspectors also reviewed the curriculum in science and the humanities.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interest first.

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Inspection team

Julie Sackett, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Matthew Haynes His Majesty’s Inspector 12 to 14 March 2024

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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.

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