Hall Cliffe School

Inspection of Hall Cliffe School Dovecote Lane, Horbury, Wakefield, West Yorkshire WF4 6BB

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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 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?

Pupils at Hall Cliffe benefit from positive relationships with staff. The school provides strong pastoral and clinical support meaning pupils are well cared for. However, the academic provision does not match this support. The school has not made sufficient checks on the quality of education that pupils receive. Consequently, pupils’ educational experience varies across the range of subjects that they study. This means that pupils do not achieve as well as they could.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has improved the consistency with which staff apply the behaviour policy. As a result of comprehensive training, staff now manage pupils’ behaviour well. Incidents of serious behaviour have significantly decreased since the last inspection. Pupils feel safe in school and know who to talk to if they have any worries.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is determined to ensure that pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. Through the vocational offer, pupils have opportunities to undertake qualifications in, for example, motor vehicle maintenance or catering and hospitality. Pupils enjoy a range of educational visits. These contribute to developing social and teamwork skills. Pupils learn responsibility through sharing ideas on how to improve their classrooms and other spaces. This encourages respect for the school environment.

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better?

Pupils study a broad curriculum. In some subjects, the school has designed coherent sequences of learning that enable pupils to build their knowledge over time. In these subjects, pupils revisit prior learning and staff identify and address misconceptions and gaps in knowledge. However, this is not the case across all subjects. In English, for example, the curriculum does not help pupils to develop essential writing skills. Pupils do not learn about different sentence structures and grammatical features. Consequently, their writing shows limited improvement over time. Staff do not use the information from checks on pupils’ learning consistently well to inform their teaching. This leads to pupils completing tasks that do not match their individual needs and ability. This inhibits the progress that pupils make through the curriculum.

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better?

The school has trained support staff in the teaching of phonics. Pupils who need it receive regular phonics teaching. However, staff do not apply their training when working with pupils. Consequently, pupils do not get the right support to break down and understand new words using phonics strategies. The school has recently introduced dedicated reading for pleasure time to encourage pupils to enjoy books. It is too early yet for this to have made a difference. Pupils do not take books home to read but say they could if they wanted to. Pupils’ enthusiasm for reading varies.

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better?

All pupils in the school have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Teams of professionals collaborate effectively to identify needs and provide the right support. Clinical staff help teachers to manage pupils’ diverse needs. Staff, pupils, parents and carers work well together to create individual support plans. 3 to 5 June 2025 The curriculum is supported by a well-considered vocational offer as well as a programme for pupils’ personal development. This helps to prepare pupils for life beyond the school. Links with local businesses provide useful opportunities for work experience. Pupils attend open days at further education providers and careers fairs. This supports them in developing aspirations for the future. All pupils who left the school last year secured a place in employment or further education. Pupils develop social and financial skills through helping to organise fundraising events.

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better?

The curriculum for personal, social and health education (PSHE) teaches pupils about healthy relationships and safety. Pupils’ understanding of how to keep safe online is particularly strong. Fundamental British values are promoted within the curriculum effectively. Pupils learn respect and tolerance for others, including those with protected characteristics. They know about some of the features of different faiths.

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better?

Staff appreciate leaders’ efforts to support their workload and well-being. They recognise that the school has had a period of turbulence but are optimistic about the future. Staff talk particularly positively about the support they receive to manage pupils’ behaviour. They describe how the culture of the school has shifted making it an enjoyable place to work.

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better?

The proprietor makes regular checks to ensure the health, safety and welfare of pupils is managed diligently. The premises at both school sites are well-maintained. A range of suitable policies and procedures are in place. These are reviewed in a timely manner. Pupils are supervised appropriately. The school complies with the Equality Act 2010. Those responsible for governance are aware of their statutory duties in relation to this. However, leaders and those responsible for governance do not have sufficient oversight of the quality of the implementation of the curriculum. Consequently, there is variability in how well the curriculum is taught, which means that pupils do not achieve as well as they could. Over time, the proprietor has not ensured that the independent school standards are consistently met. Nevertheless, the leadership team have the skills to bring about the improvements needed.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 Although some staff have received phonics training, they do not apply this when working with pupils. Consequently, pupils do not benefit from high-quality phonics support to help them to read unfamiliar words. The school should ensure that staff implement their phonics training when working with pupils who are at the early stages of learning to read.  Staff do not use the information from assessments consistently well to design tasks that meet pupils’ individual needs. This leads to pupils completing tasks that 3 to 5 June 2025 do not match their individual needs and ability, which then inhibits their progress through the curriculum. The school should improve staff’s use of assessment to inform lesson design effectively.  The English curriculum does not support pupils to master basic skills in writing. It does not teach pupils about different sentence structures and grammatical features. As a result, pupils’ writing shows limited improvement over time. The

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

school should ensure that the English curriculum secures pupils’ writing skills, so that they are better prepared for the next stage of education, employment or training.  Leaders do not have sufficient oversight of the quality of the implementation of the curriculum. This means that when there is variation in how well the curriculum is taught, leaders are unaware and so it goes unaddressed and pupils do not achieve as well as they could. The school should ensure that robust systems exist for checking the quality of education so that all pupils achieve their full potential.

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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 June 2025

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School details

Unique reference number 141860 DfE registration number 384/6003

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School details

Inspection number 10401989 Type of school Other Independent Special School

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) £83,914 to £106,620

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School details

Email address Hall-Cliffe@witherslackgroup.co.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 10 to 12 October 2023 3 to 5 June 2025

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Information about this school

 The school operates on two sites. The main school site is located at Dovecote Lane Horbury, Wakefield WF4 6BB. The second site is located at Jubilee Way, Grange Moor WF4 4TD.  The school caters for pupils with a range of SEND. This includes pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs and pupils who have a diagnosis of autism. Some pupils have moderate learning difficulties or speech, language and communication needs. Almost every pupil who attends the school has an education, health and care plan.  The school is registered to take post-16 students up to the age of 17 years. At the time of this inspection, there were no post-16 students on roll.  The school is part of the Witherslack Group which runs special schools and residential care across the UK.  The school uses four unregistered alternative provisions.  Since the previous standard inspection in October 2023, the school has had an

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Information about this school

emergency inspection. This took place in December 2024.

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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 set out in the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.

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Information about this inspection

 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 leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  This inspection was brought forward following the emergency inspection of the school in December 2024. This was because the school failed to meet all the independent school standards at that emergency inspection.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and other members of the senior leadership team. They also met with the chair of the proprietor board, chair of the local board and the operations director from the Witherslack Group.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, science, PSHE and food technology. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to

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Information about this inspection

teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. A member of school staff stayed with some groups of pupils during 3 to 5 June 2025 pupil discussions. An inspector also reviewed samples of pupils’ work in mathematics and English.  An inspector visited the school’s site at Grange Moor to look at the vocational offer.  Pupils’ behaviour was observed during lessons and at social times.  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.  To check compliance with the independent school standards, inspectors scrutinised a wide range of policies and documentation, including those relating to attendance, behaviour, the curriculum, complaints and health and safety. The lead

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Information about this inspection

inspector reviewed the attendance and admissions registers and made a tour of the premises at both school sites.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for parents and carers, Ofsted Parent View. This included any free-text responses. They also reviewed the responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Philippa Kermotschuk, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Mary Cook His Majesty's Inspector 3 to 5 June 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; and – 2(1)(b) the written policy, plans and schemes of work– – 2(1)(b)(i) take into account the ages, aptitudes and needs of all pupils, including those pupils with an EHC plan – 2(2) For the purposes of paragraph (2)(1)(a), the matters are- – 2(2)(h) that all pupils have the opportunity to learn and make progress; and – 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(b) fosters in pupils self-motivation, the application of intellectual, physical and

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Part 1. Quality of education provided

creative effort, interest in their work and the ability to think and learn for themselves; – 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 being taught; – 3(g) demonstrates that a framework is in place to assess pupils’ work regularly and thoroughly and use assessment to plan teaching so that pupils can progress.

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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. 3 to 5 June 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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