Valley Bridge School

Inspection of Valley Bridge School Church Lane, Whaddon, Gloucester GL4 0UF

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have often missed considerable parts of their education before joining the school. As a result, they have significant gaps in their knowledge on arrival. However, until recently the school has not ensured that these gaps are closed effectively. Consequently, pupils do not build their knowledge and skills on strong foundations.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have positive attitudes to learning when work is matched well to their starting points. However, staff do not always have the expertise they need to implement the curriculum or adapt it to meet pupils’ needs. Some pupils’ learning is hampered by their poor attendance.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has raised its expectations of pupils’ behaviour. It has started to develop pupils’ understanding of diversity and of challenging stereotypes, for example. However, the ‘Valley Bridge values’ are not well understood by pupils. On some occasions, pupils do not respond to staff with appropriate respect.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has started to provide pupils with wider opportunities beyond their academic programme. For example, pupils take part in ‘Valley Meets’ at lunchtimes. They participate in sports, such as basketball and football, play board games, or enjoy arts and crafts.

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better?

The school has undergone a significant period of turbulence since it opened in September 2024. There have been several changes of leadership. These have impeded the school’s work to embed its curriculum and personal development programme.

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better?

The curriculum remains under development in some subjects. For example, in mathematics, the school has not ordered precisely what pupils should learn and when. In physical education, there is not a clear sequence of skills that pupils should acquire. The school has started to ensure that staff have the expertise they need to teach and assess the curriculum effectively, but this work is in its infancy.

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better?

Pupils each have an education, health and care plan. This set outs how the school should meet each pupil’s special educational needs and/or disabilities. The school has started to use this information to plan the steps in learning that pupils need to take. However, it does not adapt the curriculum consistently well to meet pupils’ individual needs.

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better?

The school has recently started to implement an early reading programme. It has identified pupils’ starting points and is beginning to provide effective teaching to close gaps in their phonics knowledge. As a result, some pupils have started to gain more confidence and fluency in reading. 20 to 22 May 2025 The school identifies which pupils need support to reduce their absence. However, its actions to raise attendance have had only limited impact so far. Some pupils miss learning and opportunities for their wider development.

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better?

Staff are determined to build positive relationships with pupils during lessons and breaktimes. In most cases, they do. Recent changes to the site have provided younger pupils with improved spaces for learning and playing together. Suitable activities help to promote positive social interactions between pupils and with staff.

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better?

The school has started to implement a personal, social and health education (PSHE) programme. Pupils have opportunities to learn about important changes in their lives, such as puberty. The programme helps pupils understand risks, such as those posed by online activity. Pupils start and end each day by considering their feelings, their successes and their learning for the next day. This teaches them to be reflective and mindful of their emotions.

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better?

Some pupils benefit from wider personal development opportunities. For instance, one group of pupils raised money for a local animal charity, while another organised a ‘superhero’ day to celebrate difference. A school council has recently been established. However, there is not a wide range of opportunities for pupils to contribute to the school and strengthen their understanding of citizenship.

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better?

Through the school’s ‘industry experts’ programme, pupils have started to learn about careers. For example, there have been visits from a local craftsperson, a sporting professional and the military. This work is starting to prepare secondary-age pupils for the next steps in their education. However, the careers advice and guidance programme is in its infancy. As a result, there are currently limited opportunities for pupils to gain an in-depth understanding of their potential next steps in education and employment.

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better?

Leaders have started to strengthen staff knowledge to implement the curriculum effectively. The proprietor and leaders engage with staff about well-being, but workload demands have been high at times. On occasions, staff say that this has impacted negatively on teaching.

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better?

The school meets all the independent school standards and complies with schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010. The proprietor has effective systems to ensure that the site is well maintained and that the health and safety policy is implemented effectively. There are clear policies and routines in place for the proprietor to gain an insight into safeguarding and behaviour.

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better?

Unsettled leadership has hindered the school from improving. The proprietor has taken action to address these concerns, but it has not prioritised improvements to the quality of education until recently. Consequently, the school’s work to address the gaps in pupils’ knowledge, skills and wider development is in its early stages. 20 to 22 May 2025

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 In some subjects, the school has not defined clearly what pupils should learn and when. This affects how well the curriculum is implemented. As a result, pupils do not build their knowledge cumulatively over time. The proprietor must ensure that the curriculum sets out exactly what pupils will learn so they can deepen their knowledge and understanding in each subject.  There are inconsistencies in how well the curriculum is adapted to meet pupils’ needs. This hinders pupils’ progress through the curriculum from their different starting points. The proprietor must ensure that the curriculum and teaching are well matched to pupils’ needs and that pupils build their knowledge and skills securely over time.  Rates of absence, including persistent absence, are too high. The school’s approaches to improve pupils’ attendance are not as effective as they need to be. The proprietor must ensure that the school takes effective action to raise pupils’

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

attendance.  There is variability in staff subject knowledge across the curriculum. This leads to inconsistencies in how well the curriculum is implemented, including how well staff check pupils’ learning. The proprietor must ensure that staff have the subject expertise needed to implement the curriculum effectively and check pupils’ learning.

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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

Unique reference number 150712 DfE registration number 916/6042

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School details

Inspection number 10374884 Type of school Other independent special school

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School details

Email address admin@valleybridgeschool.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected 20 to 22 May 2025

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Information about this school

 The school was registered with the Department for Education on 6 August 2024. The school opened in September 2024. This was the school’s first standard inspection.  The school operates from Church Lane, Whaddon, Gloucester GL4 0UF.  The school provides places for pupils in receipt of an education, health and care plan. The school caters for pupils with communication and interaction needs and social, emotional and mental health needs.  The school is registered to admit 52 pupils.  The proprietor is Spaghetti Bridge Ltd, a chain of independent special schools.  There have been several changes in leadership since the school opened.  The school currently does not use any alternative providers.

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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 meets the independent school standards. These are the requirements set out in the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.  Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, the interim deputy headteacher, the designated safeguarding lead and curriculum coordinators. Inspectors also held discussions with the chair of the governance team and the chief executive officer and other leaders from the Spaghetti Bridge Ltd group.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, PSHE, physical education and mathematics. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject

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Information about this inspection

leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school site.  The lead inspector considered documentation, including policies, leaders’ evaluations and risk assessments. The lead inspector toured the site to check for compliance with the relevant parts of the independent school standards. 20 to 22 May 2025  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, 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 responses to Ofsted Parent View and parents’ free-text comments. Inspectors met with some parents at the beginning of the school day.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors spoke with staff to gather their views about the school and evaluated their responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.

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The school’s proposed change to the maximum number of pupils

The school applied to the Department for Education (DfE) to make a ‘material change’ to its registration. At the DfE’s request, we checked whether the school is likely to meet the relevant independent school standards if the DfE decides to approve the change. This part of the inspection was carried out under section 162(4) of the Education Act 2002.

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The school’s proposed change to the maximum number of pupils

 The outcome of this part of the inspection is: the school is likely to meet

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the relevant independent school standards if the material change

relating to the school provision is implemented.  The proprietor requested an increase in the maximum number of pupils. Leaders have carried out significant improvements to existing school buildings to accommodate additional pupils. The refurbished buildings will provide additional classrooms which will replicate the current set up and include break-out spaces. The improvements that have been made to the site are suitable for the proposed increase to the number of pupils.

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Information about the material change inspection

 The lead inspector toured the site with the headteacher and other leaders and met with a representative from the proprietor board to discuss plans if the change was approved. The lead inspector reviewed the school’s policies and assessed its capacity to continue to implement these policies if the proposed material change was granted.

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Inspection team

James Oldham, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Marie Thomas 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 looked-after children, 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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