Educ8 Liverpool

Inspection of Educ8 Liverpool Elm Road, Seaforth, Liverpool, Merseyside L21 3TG

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Inadequate Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

Almost all pupils at the school have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). When they join this school, pupils have often been out of education for some time. The school helps them to restart their learning journey. Pupils learn what they need in order to gain qualifications in English and mathematics. However, the school’s expectations for what pupils can learn and achieve are often low. Many pupils do not achieve as well as they should.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This school has not done enough to foster an inclusive environment. Many pupils do not attend the school often enough. Some pupils also miss out on their education when the school sends them home as a result of negative behaviour. These pupils are not supported to make positive choices. Added to this, weaknesses in the culture and practice of safeguarding mean that the school does not fulfil its duties to protect pupils from harm. Even though pupils may feel safe at this school, they are not.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Other pupils experience the school differently. Those who attend regularly are typically happy at school. Through the caring relationships that staff build with them, these pupils begin to put any previous difficulties behind them. Their behaviour, and their attitudes to learning, improve throughout their time here.

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better?

The proprietor has failed to ensure that leaders and staff at the school understand what is required of them. The school lacks the knowledge and skills to ensure that the independent school standards (the standards) are met consistently. This has far- reaching and potentially harmful implications for pupils’ welfare, health and safety. For example, the school’s safeguarding policy is not implemented effectively enough to keep pupils safe from harm. Furthermore, many of the improvements that were identified during the school’s previous inspection have not been successfully addressed. The proprietor’s actions to tackle these weaknesses lack urgency. Some improvements have only just begun; others have stalled.

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better?

The school’s curriculum sets out what pupils should learn in order to gain appropriate key stage 4 qualifications. It prioritises the content that pupils have missed due to previous negative experiences of education. However, in many subjects, the proprietor’s intentions have not been realised. Pupils do not currently study a wide range of subjects. In particular, pupils in key stage 3 do not learn as deep and rich a body of knowledge as they could. This makes it unlikely that they will be able to achieve well in key stage 4.

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better?

The school’s focus on functional skills is helping more pupils to gain qualifications in English and mathematics than in the past. In these core subjects, the work given to pupils typically helps them to learn the curriculum. An increasing proportion of pupils move on to positive college destinations. However, in most other subjects, the work that pupils do is undemanding and sometimes repetitive. Staff do not have sufficient subject knowledge to help pupils to deepen their understanding. In addition, 20 to 22 May 2025 although the school identifies prior gaps in pupils’ learning effectively, staff sometimes do not recognise when pupils are ready to move on to learning new or more complex knowledge. This slows pupils’ progress through the curriculum.

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better?

Pupils lack opportunities to read widely. The school has introduced new strategies to encourage reading. These are in their infancy and have not had the impact that the school intends. Added to this, the school’s approach to supporting pupils with gaps in their reading knowledge is underdeveloped. Those who are the furthest behind in their reading do not get the most appropriate kind of support to help them to catch up. This is because staff sometimes do not know which aspects of reading these pupils struggle with.

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better?

Recently, the school has improved its systems for assessing the needs of pupils with SEND. In general, staff support pupils’ social, emotional and mental health needs effectively. Staff are also beginning to benefit from information about pupils’ other needs, such as those related to cognition and learning.

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better?

The school does not give pupils’ attendance a high enough priority. It does not keep attendance records in line with statutory requirements. This prevents staff from analysing pupils’ absences meaningfully. As a result, the school cannot address persistent absence effectively. Although some pupils’ attendance has improved during their time at the school, it remains stubbornly low for others. The school does not have reliable systems to check that pupils who are not in school are safe.

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better?

When pupils do attend, their conduct is typically positive. The school is usually a calm, orderly place. When pupils struggle with their emotions, supportive staff do their best to help them to settle back to their learning. For many pupils, this is successful. However, on occasions when pupils’ negative behaviour becomes more serious, the school sends them home to ‘cool off’. This is sometimes without following a formal suspension process. The school believes that this is in these pupils’ best interests. It is not. This practice constitutes an unlawful suspension. When it happens, pupils miss out on their education. For some, this compounds their infrequent attendance.

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better?

The school provides well for some aspects of pupils’ personal development. For example, it ensures that pupils have an awareness of the choices open to them once they leave the school. Pupils also learn an appropriate curriculum for personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education and relationships and sex education (RSE). This helps to prepare them for their adult lives. However, the same weaknesses are present in the teaching of PSHE and RSE as in the other curriculum subjects. Furthermore, pupils’ opportunities to develop new interests or to be active citizens are minimal. While some of these activities are offered, many pupils choose not to participate and therefore do not benefit.

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better?

The proprietor has put suitable policies in place. These are available to parents and carers on the school’s website. However, many of these policies do not accurately describe the school’s practice. Moreover, the content of some of the school’s policies is unfamiliar to leaders and staff. They are not implemented effectively. Inspectors 20 to 22 May 2025 also identified some minor maintenance issues that needed to be resolved during the inspection. The proprietor’s systems for monitoring the school’s premises had not provided a clear enough oversight.

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better?

The proprietor has ensured that the school meets the requirements of schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010.

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better?

Many staff speak highly about how the school supports their workload and well- being. In some instances, however, this reflects a lack of accountability. Not enough is expected of staff. For example, teachers are not offered support or training to help them to develop their subject knowledge. Nor do staff get sufficient support to help them to manage pupils’ behaviour effectively. As a result, the shortcomings in these aspects of the school’s provision are unlikely to improve.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

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Safeguarding

The school’s understanding of key safeguarding responsibilities is flawed. Training for staff has not been effective. Despite well-intentioned vigilance to any concerns about pupils’ well-being, the school often abdicates its safeguarding responsibilities to other agencies. At times, staff do not check whether these agencies have acted in a timely way. This provides little reassurance about the school’s actions to support and protect pupils who may be at risk of significant harm. As a result, pupils’ safety is compromised. Their welfare suffers.

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Safeguarding

The school has not maintained accurate, up-to-date records about safeguarding incidents or about pupils’ attendance. It does not follow a rigorous process to check that pupils, including the most vulnerable, are safe when absent from school. This includes occasions when the school sends pupils home without a proper process. Added to this, during the inspection the school was unable to provide a complete admissions register. It was not possible for inspectors to establish exactly which pupils should be attending the school. This places these pupils at an unacceptable level of risk.

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Safeguarding

The school’s systems for record-keeping are not suitable for their intended purpose. It is almost impossible for staff to connect crucial details and patterns linked to pupils’ safety. This makes it likely that the school will miss opportunities to protect pupils.

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Safeguarding

Some of the school’s policies relating to health and safety are poorly implemented. This increases the risk of harm to pupils and staff. For example, the proprietor has not ensured that staff who administer first aid are adequately trained. Furthermore, the proprietor’s risk assessments are too generic to be effective. While appropriate action is taken to reduce some potential risks, others have been overlooked. 20 to 22 May 2025

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 The proprietor body has not fulfilled its statutory duties to safeguard pupils. This has put pupils at risk of harm. In addition, weaknesses in the implementation of some of the school’s policies has the potential to result in harm to staff. The proprietor must take immediate steps to address the school’s ineffective safeguarding arrangements and ensure the safety and well-being of pupils and staff.  The school’s curriculum is neither broad nor rich. Pupils, especially those in key stage 3, miss out on building their knowledge of a wide range of subjects. For some, this limits their future ambitions. The school should roll out its plans to implement the broader, more ambitious, curriculum that it has designed.  Some staff do not have secure enough subject knowledge to deliver the curriculum as effectively as leaders intend. This hinders some pupils in learning the curriculum as well as they should. The school should ensure that staff receive

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

the guidance and support that they need to deliver the curriculum well.  The school does not identify thoroughly enough the specific aspects of reading that pupils struggle with. Pupils do not get the right kind of support to improve their reading. This hinders their achievement across the curriculum. The school should ensure that its programme of reading support is well matched to the gaps in pupils’ reading knowledge. This includes a phonics programme, when required.  Pupils’ absence rates are high. The school does not keep a close enough track of pupils’ attendance, or their whereabouts when they are absent. This puts some pupils at risk of harm. It also means that they miss much of their education. The school should maximise its efforts to ensure that all pupils are helped to attend school regularly, following up any absences rigorously.  Some aspects of the school’s personal development programme are limited. Pupils

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

do not benefit from a wide set of experiences that enable them to develop new skills and interests. This hinders pupils’ preparedness to lead fulfilling future lives. The school should ensure that pupils can engage in a wider range of experiences to enrich their learning and help them to gain additional skills.  The proprietor has not ensured that the actions necessary to bring about sustained improvement to the school have happened with enough urgency. In addition, the proprietor has not demonstrated the knowledge and understanding required to meet the standards consistently. This has led to insufficient oversight of the quality of the school’s provision. The proprietor body must ensure that arrangements to check that all the standards are consistently met are rigorous and effective. 20 to 22 May 2025

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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 148931 DfE registration number 343/6003

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School details

Inspection number 10375145 Type of school Other independent special school

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) £19,500 to £45,000

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School details

Date of previous inspection 11 to 13 July 2023 20 to 22 May 2025

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Information about this school

 The school caters for pupils with SEND, those who are at risk of permanent exclusion from mainstream schools and those who have struggled to engage with education for other reasons. Most pupils at the school have social, emotional and mental health needs. A large proportion have an education, health and care (EHC) plan.  Pupils join the school throughout the year and stay for varying periods of time. Approximately half of the school’s pupils is dual registered with their mainstream school. Others are on single-registration placements, which are commissioned by Sefton local authority.  The number of pupils at the school has more than doubled since its previous inspection. The school is registered by the Department for Education (DfE) to admit up to 30 pupils. For the purpose of this report, inspectors have estimated the number of pupils currently on the school’s roll, and those who attend part- time, because the school was unable to provide this information accurately.

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Information about this school

 The school operates from premises formerly known as the Star of the Sea social club, located at Elm Road, Seaforth, Liverpool, Merseyside L21 3TG.  The proprietor is Educ8 Liverpool Limited. The directors of this company comprise the school’s executive board. The school is part of the Educ8 group which operates four other schools in addition to this one.  The school uses one unregistered 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

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 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.  Inspectors spoke with members of the proprietor body, including the chair, and with the headteacher, other leaders and staff.  The lead inspector held telephone conversations with representatives of the local authority. He also spoke with representatives of some mainstream schools who place pupils at this school. 20 to 22 May 2025  Inspectors reviewed a wide range of documentation, including that relating to the standards and the curriculum.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: reviewed the checks that had been carried out on staff to ensure their suitability; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school

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Information about this inspection

has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors considered the views of parents expressed through Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. There were no responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for pupils and staff.  Inspectors spoke with groups of pupils about their experiences at school and their views of behaviour and bullying. Inspectors also observed pupils’ behaviour at social times, in lessons and around the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics and PSHE. For each deep dive, they discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The lead inspector took a tour of the school premises to check the suitability of the premises and accommodation against the relevant standards.

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Inspection team

Ben Hill, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Sally Timmons His Majesty’s Inspector 20 to 22 May 2025

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Part 3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils

 7 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that- – 7(a) arrangements are made to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils at the school; and – 7(b) such arrangements have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State.  11 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that relevant health and safety laws are complied with by the drawing up and effective implementation of a written health and safety policy.  13 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that first aid is administered in a timely and competent manner by the drawing up and effective implementation of a written first aid policy.  15 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that an admission and attendance register is maintained in accordance with the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006.  16 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that-

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Part 3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils

– 16(a) the welfare of pupils at the school is safeguarded and promoted by the drawing up and effective implementation of a written risk assessment policy; and – 16(b) appropriate action is taken to reduce risks that are identified.

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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; and – 34(1)(c) actively promote the well-being of pupils. 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

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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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