East Hall School

Inspection of East Hall School The Calf House, East Hall Farm, St Pauls Walden, Hitchin, Hertfordshire SG4 8DL

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils flourish at East Hall School. Skilled, caring staff swiftly build positive and supportive relationships with pupils. This helps pupils to overcome previously negative experiences of education. As a result, they enjoy learning again and achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Care for pupils’ social, emotional and mental health needs is exemplary. Staff help pupils to understand and communicate their emotions. They learn to self-regulate their behaviour. As a result, pupils’ self-esteem and self-confidence increase. They attend regularly, behave very positively and work hard. Staff and pupils treat everyone with courtesy and compassion.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy participating in a wide range of trips, visits and sporting activities such as archery and rock climbing. Pupils take part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme. These activities help develop pupils’ character and resilience.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school offers pupils a broad, ambitious and personalised curriculum. Pupils study vocational subjects such as horticulture, as well as GCSEs. The curriculum, in most subjects, effectively prepares pupils for their next steps.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn about a range of careers and further education opportunities. Staff support them with their applications. This enables pupils to make well-informed choices about the next stages in their education, employment and training.

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better?

East Hall School welcomed its first pupils just over a year ago. Since then, the curriculum has continued to evolve. In subjects such as mathematics and science, there are effective and clearly sequenced curriculum plans. Leaders have identified the key knowledge pupils should gain by the end of Year 11 and how this should be built.

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better?

In most subjects, very effective use is made of assessment. Robust checks identify how much pupils have learned when they start here. This is used to adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of individual pupils. As a result, pupils learn at an appropriate pace. Gaps in their knowledge are filled so they can move securely on to new learning. This helps them know and remember more.

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better?

Some curriculum pathways are under development and are not yet fully embedded across all subjects. This means that some pupils are not gaining sufficient depth of knowledge in a few subjects.

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better?

Teachers have secure subject knowledge. They explain new learning clearly to help pupils learn new concepts. Teaching provides pupils with suitable opportunities to practise and apply their learning. However, the curriculum and teaching do not give 3 to 5 December 2024 sufficient focus or time for pupils to develop important aspects of their writing such as spelling and punctuation. As a result, pupils’ knowledge of these aspects is not always secure, and some find it difficult to communicate their ideas through writing.

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better?

Pupils receive effective support to improve their reading. Well-trained staff check how well pupils can read. They use this information to provide effective support for pupils. This includes phonics teaching when this is needed. This helps pupils become more fluent and accurate so they can access the curriculum.

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better?

All pupils have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Pupils make huge progress in this school in their attitudes to learning. Staff swiftly identify and address pupils’ needs. They review pupils’ education, health and care plans (EHC plan) to tailor provision to their needs. Staff work with enormous patience and empathy to gain pupils’ trust and engage them in their learning. Staff work with pupils to work out the best ways for them to reduce their anxiety. As a result of this tireless work across the school, the school is a calm, positive environment. Pupils, often for the first time in many years of education, feel safe and welcome. This helps pupils to focus on their learning and achieve well.

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better?

The school provides very valuable opportunities for pupils to learn about animal care through their work with horses at a nearby centre. Through this, pupils acquire caring skills and the responsibility that this entails. Pupils learn about personal finance when they put together shopping lists and gain confidence when speaking to adults when they buy items from these lists in shops. These experiences help pupils to improve their communication and understand and express empathy.

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better?

The school works closely with families to improve pupils’ attendance. Staff ‘go the extra mile’ to get pupils into school, even when pupils may be feeling anxious. As a result, they increasingly attend very well.

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better?

The school makes excellent use of its rural setting. Pupils learn about the natural world, for instance, by whittling wooden walking sticks, when they re-wild a local pond and go for nature walks. Connecting with nature helps pupils to learn to manage their emotions.

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better?

The school ensures that pupils learn how to keep safe and look after their mental well-being. Pupils can practise mindfulness through yoga. Pupils enjoy expressing themselves through art. Pupils learn about equality and democracy and threats to British values, such as radicalisation.

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better?

The proprietary body has a clear vision for the school. It is determined that all pupils leave school more confident and resilient, with the knowledge and qualifications they need to prosper after school. Staff fully understand the school’s ethos and put it into action. Leaders are highly reflective and always seek to improve the curriculum and experiences. The proprietary body regularly checks all aspects of the school’s work, including safeguarding. 3 to 5 December 2024 Staff receive appropriate and effective training to carry out their roles. They feel very well supported and enjoy working here. Parents are effusive in their appreciation of the school’s work and its impact.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 A few aspects of the school’s curriculum are not fully embedded. As a result, pupils’ learning is not as secure as it could be across the breadth of the curriculum. The school should refine and embed its curriculum to support pupils in achieving the best possible outcomes across all curriculum subjects and pathways.  The school has not given sufficient emphasis or structured support to developing pupils’ spelling and punctuation. Teaching does not consistently address gaps or weaknesses in these aspects of pupils’ writing. As a result, weaknesses in punctuation and spelling hinder pupils’ fluency and the quality of their writing. The school needs to strengthen its approach to teaching these important aspects of pupils’ writing.

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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. 3 to 5 December 2024

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School details

Type of school Other independent special school

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School details

School category Independent special school

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School details

Email address laura@easthallschool.org 3 to 5 December 2024

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Information about this school

 East Hall School operates from one site at its registered address of The Calf House, Easthall Farm, St Paul’s Walden, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG4 8DJ.  The school opened in November 2023 to cater for pupils with severe and complex social, emotional and mental health needs. All pupils have an EHC plan. Many have a diagnosis of autism and/or communication difficulties.  Prior to joining the school, typically, pupils have been out of education for some time or have had very low attendance.  The school makes use of one unregistered alternative provision.  The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information and engagement about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.  The school was registered in August 2023. This is the school’s first standard inspection.

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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

Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.

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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

 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.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics, science and personal, social and health education. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects and visited a range of lessons.  Inspectors held meetings with a range of leaders including the special educational needs and disabilities coordinator.  The lead inspector met with the proprietary body and headteacher. Inspectors 3 to 5 December 2024 spoke to representatives from two local authorities who have placed pupils at this

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Information about this inspection

school and an external consultant used by the school to support the development of its provision and monitor the effectiveness of its work.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons and at other times around school.  The lead inspector visited the alternative provision used by the school.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the 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’ interests first.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of records relating to behaviour and attendance.  Inspectors considered the responses and free-text responses received during the inspection to Ofsted Parent View. They also considered the responses to Ofsted’s staff survey and the responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey.

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of pupils

The school has applied to the Department for Education (DfE) to make a ‘material change’ to its registration. At the DfE’s request, we checked whether the school is likely to meet the relevant independent school standards if the DfE decides to approve the change. This part of the inspection was carried out under section 162(4) of the Education Act 2002.

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of pupils

 The outcome of this part of the inspection is: the school is likely to meet the

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Information about the material change inspection

 The school has applied to amend their age range from 14 to 16 to 14 to 17.

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Inspection team

Steve Woodley, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Daniel Short His Majesty’s Inspector 3 to 5 December 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

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

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