Abigail's Place

Inspection of Abigail’s Place St. Ann’s School, Spetchley, Worcester WR5 1RS

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding 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?

For the pupils at Abigail’s Place, school is a great place to attend. They bustle eagerly through the gate each morning, looking forward to the day ahead. Staff welcome them with a caring smile, and each day is filled with purpose. This is in stark contrast to the significant challenges pupils have faced and continue to face outside school. Abigail’s Place gives them the self-belief, determination and confidence they need to thrive. This transforms their view of learning and sets them on the path to success.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school expects pupils to do their best and behave well. Skilled staff provide high-quality therapeutic and academic support, coupled with limitless patience. Pupils trust staff. They know that they have their best interests at heart. This helps pupils to embrace the challenge of each school day. Consequently, pupils try hard, learn well and talk enthusiastically about their school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The wider curriculum is broad and varied. Pupils benefit from the many different experiences on offer to them. These range from running their own fashion show to supporting a local dog shelter. Pupils are keen to contribute, and staff celebrate their success. This broadens pupils’ horizons and provides the experiences many have missed out on growing up.

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better?

Everyone at the school shares a common vision of what they want the school to be. This vision is underpinned by three simple school rules: Stick together, no hurts and have fun. These rules are evident in everyday school life. Staff and pupils get on well together, always showing mutual respect and kindness. This sits comfortably alongside an academic culture that values learning and promotes pupils’ progress.

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better?

Many pupils have lost the confidence and resilience needed to learn. To address this, therapeutic support is woven in alongside academic learning. This equips pupils with the skills needed to begin learning again. As part of this, each day begins with a session to help prepare pupils for the day ahead. These sessions include activities such as African drumming and dance. Pupils participate fully and enthusiastically.

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better?

In their lessons, pupils learn a broad and balanced curriculum. In each subject, the school has set out exactly what pupils need to learn and when they should learn it. This builds pupils’ knowledge and understanding over time. Teachers begin each topic by checking for any gaps in pupils’ prior knowledge that may be a barrier to future learning. When they spot these, they fill them before moving on. Teachers give pupils time to practise new learning so that it is secure. At the end of each topic, teachers recheck pupils’ new learning before moving on again. As a result, pupils learn well.

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better?

While there is significant ambition in the curriculum, there is scope for more. This is because pupils reengage with their learning well, experience early success and 20 to 22 May 2025 demonstrate strong readiness to learn. This means that the school could be even more aspirational in what it wants pupils to achieve academically. Currently, in a small number of areas, the end points that pupils are working towards, both in the short and long term, are not as high as they could be.

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better?

The school has recognised the importance of reading. Staff are suitably trained and help pupils become confident readers. Alongside this, staff read to pupils every day to help build a love of reading and develop their vocabulary.

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better?

All pupils have special educational needs and/or disabilities. When they join the school, staff take the time to understand the needs of each pupil. They use this knowledge to provide pupils with the specific help and support they need. This includes helping pupils to learn to communicate with others. This is highly effective.

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better?

Pupils have missed a significant amount of school prior to joining Abigail’s Place. The transformation in their attendance and behaviour is remarkable. Pupils are rarely absent and attend all their lessons. Expert staff help pupils make huge demonstrable improvements in their behaviour. This makes school a safe, supportive and happy place where pupils learn new and exciting things each day.

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better?

The school’s personal, social and health education (PSHE) curriculum helps pupils develop the skills and knowledge for life beyond school. It supports both character development and physical and mental health. Pupils learn how to make decisions that will keep them safe and well. There is an effective careers programme in place that teaches pupils about the world of work and helps them ‘think big’ about what they can achieve. The enrichment programme is comprehensive, from visits to medieval Worcester to hobby-horse races on the beach. This helps pupils to see the awe and wonder in the world and its people.

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better?

Staff see working at the school as more than a job. They are dedicated and committed to the pupils. All feel valued and supported, and staff well-being and workload are prioritised. Staff, pupils, parents and carers describe the school as ‘one big family’.

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better?

The proprietor has good oversight of the work of the school. The school meets the independent school standards consistently. However, a few of the practical systems and processes in place relating to the school site and its operation do not always have sufficient rigour. This means that minor defects and failures are occasionally overlooked and not addressed in a timely manner. This does not present a risk to the safe running of the school. However, it does hold the school back as it looks to realise its vision fully. The school meets the statutory requirements of the Equality Act 2010.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 20 to 22 May 2025

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 In a small number of subjects, the end points that pupils are working towards are not as ambitious as they could be. As a result, as pupils rediscover their love of learning, they do not always have their learning fully extended and deepened. This then limits the qualifications they can achieve at the end of key stage 4. The school should ensure that it continually reviews what pupils can achieve at the end of each unit, academic year and key stage so that pupils’ academic standards match the progress they make socially and emotionally.  Sometimes the checks the school makes on the operational and practical aspects of running a school do not identify where attention is required. In other cases, the school is too slow or fails to act on the findings of its own or external checks. The school and proprietor should ensure that its routine checks have the rigour necessary to highlight where attention is required and that the school responds to

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

the findings of checks in a timely manner.

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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. 20 to 22 May 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

Annual fees (day pupils) £62,700 to £87,500

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School details

Email address nina.stone@abigailsplace.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 12 to 14 July 2022 20 to 22 May 2025

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Information about this school

 Abigail’s Place is a small, specialist school for pupils who have experienced trauma or complex trauma. All pupils at the school have had repeated placement breakdowns in the care sector. Pupils present with complex behavioural, social and emotional needs that have been unable to be met in other specialist provisions.  The school opened in April 2021. A material change inspection was carried out in February 2023 and the capacity of the school was subsequently increased. This followed the previous standard inspection that took place in July 2022.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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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 education lead, who is also the school’s special educational needs and disabilities coordinator. Inspectors also met with the proprietor.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, history and creative art. 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.  Inspectors met with members of staff and spoke to pupils formally and informally at various points in the inspection to gather general information about school life. They took account of responses to Ofsted Parent View.  Inspectors also looked at curriculum plans and spoke to leaders about some other

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Information about this inspection

subjects, including design and technology and PSHE.  Inspectors looked at records and spoke to staff in relation to attendance, behaviour, bullying and safeguarding.  Inspectors reviewed the school’s extra-curricular activities, enrichment 20 to 22 May 2025 programme and personal development programme with leaders.  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

Ian Tustian, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Heather Simpson His Majesty’s Inspector 20 to 22 May 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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