Cedar Hall School

Inspection of Cedar Hall School Hart Road, Thundersley, Benfleet, Essex SS7 3UQ

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Inspection dates: 21 and 22 January 2025

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The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Insufficient evidence Previous inspection grade Good 21 and 22 January 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are settled and happy at this school. It is a welcoming and inclusive environment in which to learn. Adults take the time to get to know pupils well. Pupils look forward to seeing their friends. They enjoy chatting to staff and each other during their social times. Staff are patient and clear in their expectations. Pupils respond well to this, paying close attention to what staff say in lessons. They behave sensibly around the school site.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious for pupils. It wants them to do well academically and socially. However, the curriculum does not support pupils well enough to realise these ambitions. Pupils have access to a range of qualifications such as entry level certificates and GCSEs. The school is developing further its vocational offer.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school ensures pupils are well prepared for adulthood. Pupils learn how to cook and how to seek help from the emergency services should they need to. They access residential overnight stays and learn how to navigate everyday life, such as ordering food in restaurants. Older pupils lead assemblies and undertake work experience. Pupils make the most of opportunities available to them, including servicing the school’s car and feeding the animals.

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

The school’s curriculum is in development. Not all curriculum plans are effectively sequenced and delivered. Some subjects are further along than others when considering what pupils should learn and when. Consequently, in some areas of the curriculum pupils do not learn so well.

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

The inclusion of pupils’ education, health and care (EHC) plans in the school’s curriculum and delivery is hit and miss. Some teachers do not adapt their teaching effectively to meet pupils’ needs. There is a tendency to give pupils tasks to do rather than to help pupils close gaps in their knowledge. Sometimes teachers do not check that pupils have understood or tell them how to improve their work. In some subjects, the checks that teachers make on pupils’ learning are not linked to the curriculum. This limits teachers’ understanding of what pupils know and can do.

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

Staff’s confidence in the delivery of the school’s chosen phonics programme is growing. Staff check pupils’ phonics knowledge successfully. They ensure pupils are secure in what they know before changing their reading book to a higher level. Hence, pupils progress through the programme at an appropriate pace for them. The school has invested significantly in new reading books and a reading scheme. Older pupils are positive about the changes and are developing reading habits for life.

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

The school site is calm, and pupils’ behaviour is managed well. Staff are skilful in supporting pupils to regulate how they feel so they are ready to engage with learning. Pupils enjoy school and want to attend. The school works hard to reduce pupils’ barriers to attendance. However, they have not paid due attention to government guidance. Too 21 and 22 January 2025

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many pupils are missing school to undertake holidays in term time with the agreement of the school.

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The school prioritises personal development. The personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) curriculum focuses upon giving pupils the tools they need to be active and healthy citizens. For instance, pupils undergo transport training so they can travel independently. Pupils have endless opportunities to learn outside of the classroom. They go on trips and visits, such as to a local castle. Preparing for adulthood, including careers education, is a strength of the school. Pupils have access to helpful advice and guidance. The school successfully supports pupils to move on to their next steps in education, employment or training.

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While the school demonstrates an understanding of what is working well and what needs to improve, the pace of change has not been quick enough. To address this, the school has expanded its leadership teams. However, a number are inexperienced in their roles. They have yet to evaluate the impact of new initiatives. The governing body has not sufficiently held the school to account for the pace of change and some of the decisions that have been made. This includes ensuring that parents have access to the information they need on the school’s website, such as the school’s accessibility plan and its policy for relationships and sex education and health education.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some areas of the curriculum are in the early stages of development. Where this is the case, it is unclear how pupils build secure knowledge over time. This means pupils do not develop or retain an understanding of important knowledge in those subjects. The school needs to press ahead with its work to improve the curriculum and its delivery, considering when and how pupils will build on their knowledge over time.  Adaptations to the curriculum and teaching lack precision. The information gained through assessment does not sufficiently indicate to teachers the gaps in pupils’ knowledge. This hampers teachers’ ability to build upon what pupils know and can do. Sometimes, pupils are not told what they need to do to improve. The school needs to ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to assess pupils’ understanding effectively, thus helping pupils to improve their progress through the curriculum.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 There is variation in the expertise of leaders and therefore how effectively they undertake their roles. Consequently, their oversight of their areas is developing. The school needs to support leaders, developing their expertise so that they fulfil their roles effectively. 21 and 22 January 2025

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 Governors are not sufficiently holding school leaders to account for their decision- making and the quality of provision that pupils receive. In some circumstances they have not paid due regard to certain aspects of government guidance, nor undertaken all their monitoring duties, such as ensuring the website publishes the information that parents need to access. The governing body needs to revisit how it discharges its core responsibilities, so it holds leaders to account effectively.

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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). 21 and 22 January 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Debbie Braithwaite

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 31 October and 1 November 2023, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school caters for pupils with a range of needs, but most notably those with moderate learning difficulties. All pupils at the setting have an education, health and care plan.  The school’s senior leadership team has increased recently in size.  The school uses alternative provision. One provider is registered and the other two are not.  Although the school is registered to have early years children, there are no children of that age on roll. Therefore, due to insufficient evidence, amnesty has been granted for the judgement of the early years provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form 21 and 22 January 2025

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provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors spoke to the headteacher, senior leaders and staff about the school’s provision.  The lead inspector met with representatives from the governing body, including the chair of governors, and spoke to a local authority officer. She spoke to members of staff from the alternative provisions.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, including early reading; mathematics; PSHE, including the school’s personal, social and emotional development curriculum; physical education, including physical development. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’

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work.  Inspectors also considered the curriculums and their delivery in other subjects, such as science and design technology.  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 considered the responses to the Ofsted Parent View questionnaire and the free-text comments that were submitted. They also took account of the responses to the confidential Ofsted staff survey. They gathered the views of staff and pupils throughout the inspection.

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Inspection team

Liz Smith, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Rowena Simmons Ofsted Inspector 21 and 22 January 2025

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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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