High Peak School

Inspection of High Peak School Mudhurst Lane, Higher Disley, Stockport, Cheshire SK12 2AP

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Inspection dates: 11 to 13 February 2025

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good 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 feel happy and welcome at this friendly school. They know that staff have their best interests at heart. Many pupils have experienced difficulties in their earlier school lives. Some pupils have been absent from school for long periods. Once here, they grow and thrive because of the good care and education they receive.

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What is it like to attend this school?

All pupils at the school have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Their starting points are wide-ranging. Regardless of these differences, the school has high expectations for pupils’ success. Pupils try their best to live up to these expectations. They take pride in their own success and develop aspirations for the future. Pupils of all ages typically achieve well in the subjects that they study.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils understand school rules and usually follow them well. For example, they speak politely to staff. They show respect to visitors. Pupils move around school sensibly and treat resources with care.

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What is it like to attend this school?

A range of interesting activities support pupils’ personal development. Pupils enjoy their outdoor education programme, which includes fell-walking, orienteering and horticulture. Pupils learn about events in the wider world through discussions about current affairs. They learn to understand healthy eating. These activities help pupils to prepare for future life.

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better?

The school has designed an ambitious curriculum that spans a suitably broad range of subjects. This curriculum sets out the most important knowledge that the school wants pupils to learn by the time they leave the school. All pupils learn this curriculum regardless of their individual SEND.

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better?

Many pupils have already missed periods of education when they join the school. This means that their knowledge is sometimes incomplete or insecure. The school makes swift and effective use of assessment to identify any missing knowledge and any additional SEND. Staff make careful adaptations to ensure pupils are able to access the curriculum. This makes an effective contribution towards pupils’ achievement.

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better?

In most subjects, the curriculum is well organised. In each key stage, overarching knowledge is broken down further into smaller chunks that pupils learn in a logical order. This helps ensure that pupils build a strong body of knowledge over time. In a small number of subjects, some steps of knowledge are less clearly defined, especially for those pupils who experience a more gradual transition into school. This makes it more difficult for staff to ensure that pupils learn everything they need to know in readiness for the next stage in their learning.

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better?

In most subjects, pupils have opportunities to practise and apply their new knowledge and skills in a range of situations. For example, pupils practise their 11 to 13 February 2025 writing knowledge when they write for different purposes. This helps them to connect their knowledge and to deepen their understanding. In a few subjects, pupils do not have as many of these opportunities. This limits their understanding in these subjects.

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better?

The school has made reading a priority. Pupils at the early stage of learning to read benefit from a carefully structured programme of phonics teaching. They read books that help them to practise using the new letters, sounds and words they have learned. Older pupils enjoy reading an increasingly challenging range of texts. The school has a well-stocked library. This offers pupils a quiet and relaxing space that encourages them to read. Staff use their strong subject knowledge to bring texts to life. Many pupils develop a real enthusiasm for reading and achieve well, including at GCSE.

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better?

Pupils learn how to manage and regulate their own behaviour. This contributes to their ability to concentrate and learn. Through the curriculum, pupils learn how to recognise when they feel anxious or upset. They learn how to respond to their feelings in appropriate ways. Staff follow the school’s behaviour policy consistently. Pupils trust adults to support them with care and sensitivity if ever they need help with their behaviour.

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better?

Pupils of all ages have a variety of opportunities to develop talents and interests. For example, the extensive school grounds provide ample space for pupils to engage in a range of sports. Pupils enjoy cookery using the wide range of equipment that the school provides. Pupils especially enjoy caring for animals such as the school’s much-loved guinea pigs. A growing number of pupils achieve the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Older pupils benefit from effective careers advice and guidance. This helps them to understand the choices available to them when they leave the school.

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better?

The proprietor ensures that pupils learn how to keep themselves safe. For example, pupils learn about potential risks when working online. There are appropriate filtering and monitoring systems to ensure that content is appropriate. Regular fire drills help pupils to understand how to leave the building calmly when the alarm sounds. These arrangements contribute to pupils’ welfare, health and safety.

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better?

The school has put in place an appropriate programme for relationships and sex education. Pupils learn about difference and diversity among people in faiths and cultures in their community and in the wider world. These experiences help pupils to prepare for life in British society.

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better?

The proprietor has ensured that the education it provides has a positive impact on pupils. Staff value the support that the proprietor and leaders provide. For example, a range of training is available to help staff teach the curriculum and to support pupils’ behaviour. Leaders take account of staff workload in the decisions made about the school. These arrangements contribute to staff well-being. 11 to 13 February 2025 The proprietor has ensured the school complies with schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010.

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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, the curriculum does not provide enough opportunities for pupils to practise their skills and knowledge in different situations. This can prevent pupils from deepening their understanding. The school should ensure that, in all subjects, the curriculum identifies opportunities for pupils to hone their skills in different ways so they can connect new knowledge with what they already know and can do.  In a small number of subjects, the curriculum does not define clearly enough all of the knowledge pupils should learn. This makes it difficult for staff to ensure pupils learn everything they need to know. The school should ensure that in each subject, the knowledge pupils should learn is clear, especially for those who need a slower transition into school, so they build a solid grounding in readiness for the next stage in their education.

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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. 11 to 13 February 2025

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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 m.rathmill@kedlestongroup.com

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School details

Date of previous inspection 22 to 24 November 2022 11 to 13 February 2025

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Information about this school

 The school was registered by the Department for Education on 8 October 2014. Its previous standard inspection took place on 22 to 24 November 2022.  The school is located in a former hotel at Mudhurst Lane, Higher Disley, Stockport, Cheshire, SK12 2AP. The proprietor runs a children’s home which is located at the same address. This children’s home is separately registered and inspected by Ofsted. It was not the subject of this school inspection.  The school caters mainly for pupils with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and social, emotional and mental health needs. All pupils have an education, health and care plan.  The school is registered to admit 90 pupils.  The school uses one registered and two unregistered alternative provisions.

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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

 Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and other school leaders.  The lead inspector met with a member of the proprietor body. She spoke on the telephone with a local authority representative.  An inspector visited one of the unregistered alternative provisions the school uses.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, including early reading, mathematics and humanities. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The lead inspector also listened to some pupils reading to a familiar adult.  Inspectors looked at samples of pupils’ work, curriculum plans and schemes of

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Information about this inspection

work and spoke to leaders about the curriculum in some other subjects. 11 to 13 February 2025  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour at breaktime and lunchtime, in lessons and around the school. They also spoke with a range of pupils about their experiences at school.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free- text comments. They also considered the responses from the Ofsted’s online survey for staff.  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.  The lead inspector made a tour of the school and reviewed a range of documents, including those relating to health and safety, in order to check the school’s compliance with the independent school standards.

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Inspection team

Mavis Smith, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Sally Timmons His Majesty’s Inspector 11 to 13 February 2025 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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