Doucecroft School

Inspection of Doucecroft School Abbotts Lane, Eight Ash Green, Colchester, Essex CO6 3QL

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Inspection dates: 25 to 27 February 2025

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Insufficient evidence Sixth-form provision Insufficient evidence Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

Doucecroft School is a happy place. Pupils thrive socially. Adults teach them the skills they need to communicate and cooperate with others. Pupils arrive at school with enthusiasm for the day ahead. They have good relationships with the adults that care for them. Many pupils attend school all or nearly all the time. This is often an improvement from not attending previous schools at all.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils begin to make progress academically but could achieve more highly than they do. They are not always taught as well as they should be. The proprietor and school leaders are ambitious for pupils to do better, but there is currently limited capacity for leaders to improve teaching.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff help pupils well to develop strategies to regulate their own behaviour. Staff are calm and patient with pupils. As a result, most pupils behave well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the many trips out and experiences that they do not necessarily access elsewhere in life. For instance, they regularly visit the beach. Older pupils take part in work experience activities. All of this develops their abilities to cope with unfamiliar situations and life beyond the school.

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better?

The school knows its pupils extremely well. All pupils have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), primarily autism. The therapy and education teams work closely with families to draw up detailed plans on how to support pupils and to identify any other needs they may have. These plans are implemented successfully to develop pupils’ skills for regulation and resilience. Over time, pupils become confident and more motivated to work.

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better?

Staff use a wide range of practical activities and integrate pupils’ particular interests to engage them in learning. If pupils choose to work in one of the smaller ‘calm’ rooms, with soft furniture and lower lighting, staff take the learning to them, ensuring that they do not opt out. Attendance has risen since the previous inspection and suspensions have dropped. This reflects the good behaviour and enthusiasm to learn of most pupils.

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better?

Most of the curriculum is well designed. However, in some subjects it is not clear what should be taught and when. The school has not thought carefully about how new learning will build on what has come before.

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better?

There is too often a mismatch between what teachers intend pupils to learn and the activities that pupils do. Staff do not check whether pupils have grasped the key learning points before pupils start to practice. This means that pupils often attempt tasks which they do not fully understand. 25 to 27 February 2025 The mixed quality in the delivery of the academic curriculum means that some of the independent school standards linked to the school’s quality of education are not met.

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better?

Reading is taught on an individual basis, using an accredited scheme, which means pupils who need to catch up get additional help. The school has ensured that books are appealing to older readers who are still at an early stage of learning to read. There is more emphasis on sharing books together in the primary phase than in the secondary phase. As with other subjects, there are too often low expectations and some pupils could be making more progress in their reading.

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better?

Staff regularly check where pupils are in their learning. This information, together with their progress through any therapies, is used to create detailed reports for annual reviews. This information is used well to support pupils with their personal and social development but could be used more effectively to plan their academic work.

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better?

There is a strong focus on pupils’ personal development. Pupils learn about life in modern Britain and how to be active members of their communities. The programme for this is flexible to meet unexpected situations. The careers programme is well thought out and carefully prepares pupils for their next steps academically. Most pupils move on to appropriate college courses after this school.

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better?

Senior leaders have a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school’s provision. They know what needs to improve and how to achieve these improvements. However, leadership of the school has been stretched very thinly in the last year due to turbulence in staffing. As a result, there has been limited capacity for school improvement. Although the proprietor has taken action to appoint new senior leaders, some are very new to their roles and others have not yet joined the school. This has hindered the school’s attempts to improve the quality of education that it provides.

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better?

The proprietor has changed the way that governance is carried out. The school now reports directly to the charity trustees. This is to reduce duplication of reporting and to make oversight clearer. This change is very recent, and the impact of this change is not clear. The proprietor and school leaders are clear on their responsibilities under the independent school standards and understand why those standards not currently met are so. The school meets its responsibilities under schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 25 to 27 February 2025

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 In some subjects, the school has not thought carefully about how pupils’ learning builds over time. This hinders pupils in developing secure bodies of knowledge in these subjects. The school should ensure that the curriculum provides clarity about what pupils should learn and when in each subject.  The learning intention and what pupils are given to do are not always closely linked. Sometimes work given has too low expectations of what pupils can achieve. Other times, pupils are asked to start an activity without the prerequisite knowledge they require to complete their work. This means that pupils are not learning as well as they should. The school should ensure that learning intentions, teaching points and work given are closely linked and of high quality.  The leadership team’s ability to have an impact on school improvement has been severely impacted by a lack of key personnel. This means that the quality of

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

education is not as good as it should be. The proprietor should ensure that the increased capacity in the leadership team is able to successfully address the weaknesses in the provision.

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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. 25 to 27 February 2025

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School details

Inspection number 10342000 Type of school Other independent special school

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) £57,905 to £93,698

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School details

Email address doucecroft@autism-anglia.org.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 21 to 23 June 2022 25 to 27 February 2025

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Information about this school

 Doucecroft School is an independent special school registered to provide education for pupils with autism. All pupils have an education, health and care plan.  All school placements are funded by local authorities and admission is through local authority referral. Currently, pupils who attend the school are funded by Essex and Suffolk local authorities.  The school does not use any alternative provision.  The school officially ceased to operate boarding provision in August 2022, it had been moving towards stopping this provision for some time previously.  The school is registered for pupils from aged three to 19. At the time of the inspection there were no pupils in the early years provision, so no judgement was made. There are currently fewer than five students in the sixth form, so no judgement was made.  Most pupils leave at age 16 to go to further education or other specialist colleges. The very few who remain post-16 are still completing key stage 4 programmes of

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Information about this school

study.  A material change inspection has taken place since the previous standard inspection. This was in September 2023 so that the school could increase the pupils on roll.  The school is based at: Abbotts Lane, Eight Ash Green, Colchester, Essex CO6 3QL.

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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 has failed to meet the independent school standards. These are the requirements of 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 education provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors spoke to the headteacher and other leaders. They met with the chief executive officer and the chair of trustees of the charity that is the proprietorial body. 25 to 27 February 2025  Inspectors checked the premises and documentation linked to the independent school standards.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading; personal, social and health education; and knowledge of the world. 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’ work.  Inspectors also discussed the curriculum and looked at samples of pupils’ work in

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Information about this inspection

some other subjects.  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.

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Inspection team

Tessa Holledge, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Nathan Lowe His Majesty’s Inspector 25 to 27 February 2025

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Part 1. Quality of education provided

 2(1) The standard in this paragraph is met if– – 2(1)(a) the proprietor ensures that a written policy on the curriculum, supported by appropriate plans and schemes of work, which provides for the matters specified in sub-paragraph (2) is drawn up and implemented effectively  3 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that the teaching at the school– – 3(a) enables pupils to acquire new knowledge and make good progress according to their ability so that they increase their understanding and develop their skills in the subjects taught – 3(c) involves well planned lessons and effective teaching methods, activities and management of class time – 3(d) shows a good understanding of the aptitudes, needs and prior attainments of the pupils, and ensures that these are taken into account in the planning of lessons – 3(e) demonstrates good knowledge and understanding of the subject matter

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Part 1. Quality of education provided

being taught – 3(f) utilises effectively classroom resources of a good quality, quantity and range.

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

 34(1) The standard about the quality of leadership and management is met if the proprietor ensures that persons with leadership and management responsibilities at the school– – 34(1)(a) demonstrate good skills and knowledge appropriate to their role so that the independent school standards are met consistently – 34(1)(b) fulfil their responsibilities effectively so that the independent school standards are met consistently. 25 to 27 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

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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