Heckington House School

Inspection of Heckington House School Boston Road, East Heckington, Lincolnshire PE20 3QF

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Overall effectiveness Good

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

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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?

Pupils develop their confidence and engagement with education at this school. They have often spent a significant amount of time out of school, having been permanently excluded from other settings. Staff get to know each pupil as an individual and build strong, trusting relationships with them. Pupils feel safe and appreciate the high-quality pastoral support that staff offer them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious about what pupils can achieve and how ready pupils are for their next steps. Most pupils feel and are well prepared. They achieve well and gain qualifications. Pupils develop their understanding of how to behave in school. Most pupils are calm and participate well in their learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from a broad, rich set of experiences at the school. They develop their talents and interests through opportunities in school and through their work with external experts. For example, pupils develop their appreciation of music and work with a DJ. They become proficient chefs as they learn about healthy ingredients, budgeting and how to cook a nutritious meal. Pupils understand the link between the skills that they develop and opportunities in the world of work.

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better?

The school has designed an ambitious curriculum that is responsive to pupils’ needs. Pupils join the school with very different starting points in terms of their knowledge and understanding. Therefore, staff carefully check pupils’ understanding when they arrive at the school. These checks, as well as ongoing assessment, ensure that the school has the information that it needs to be able to adapt the curriculum when necessary. Pupils often engage well with their learning. They produce work that demonstrates their grasp of subject-specific knowledge and terminology.

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better?

Teachers have secure subject knowledge. They share important ideas and concepts with pupils clearly. Sometimes, however, the activities and resources that staff provide for pupils do not help pupils to build their knowledge as well as they could. The link between the activity and the important knowledge that pupils need to learn is not always clear. As a result, on these occasions, pupils do not improve their understanding as well as they might.

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better?

The school has prioritised reading. Staff have made significant improvements to the provision for helping pupils to develop their reading confidence and fluency since the previous inspection. They check pupils’ ability to read and provide pupils with meaningful opportunities to practise their reading. For pupils who need additional support, staff offer helpful guidance that enables pupils to become more competent readers.

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better?

All pupils currently at the school have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) relating to social, emotional and mental health. The school works closely with each individual pupil and their families to ensure that any additional needs are 17 to 19 June 2025 promptly identified. Staff know the pupils well. They use the helpful information that the school provides to tailor their approaches to working with each pupil. This helps pupils to build positive relationships with staff and to learn well.

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better?

Pupils generally behave well and often display positive attitudes to their learning. The school teaches pupils about how to behave. Staff create a positive environment in which pupils feel comfortable. At times, staff do not help pupils as well as they could to remain focused and committed to their learning. At these times, pupils do not demonstrate positive attitudes to their learning and miss out on opportunities to achieve well as a result.

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better?

The school’s provision for pupils’ personal development is exceptional. Pupils benefit from an impressive array of opportunities to develop their cultural understanding. For example, they celebrate festivals and visit places of worship connected to different major world faiths. For example, pupils constructed a sukkah as part of their celebration of the Jewish festival of Sukkoth. They visited a mosque and celebrated Eid. The school organises a coherent series of events and educational visits that help pupils to broaden their horizons. Pupils visit the theatre in connection with their English studies and the Houses of Parliament to develop their understanding of fundamental British values. The school has created a rewards system which helps pupils to develop their social skills, for example by attending rewards breakfasts and lunches in nearby restaurants.

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better?

Pupils receive a wealth of support and guidance in relation to their next steps. They learn about careers in bespoke sessions as well as through the different subjects that they study. The school provides helpful and unbiased information to pupils. Pupils successfully transition to destinations such as college and apprenticeships.

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better?

Staff like working at the school. They take up a range of training opportunities to improve their practice. Leaders are ambitious about what staff and pupils can achieve. They review the quality of the school’s provision and make changes, when necessary, that lead to an improvement in pupils’ experiences of school.

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better?

The proprietor understands the independent school standards and ensures that they are met consistently and over time. The school complies with the requirements of schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 Sometimes, the activities and resources that staff provide for pupils do not help pupils as well as they could to achieve the ambitious aims of the curriculum. When this is the case, pupils do not build their knowledge as well as they might. 17 to 19 June 2025 The school should ensure that pupils consistently benefit from work that is clearly related to the important knowledge that pupils need to learn.  At times, staff do not help pupils to remain focused on their learning. On these occasions, pupils do not demonstrate positive attitudes and miss out on opportunities to learn. The school should ensure that staff consistently provide pupils with the support and guidance that they need to remain committed to their 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. 17 to 19 June 2025

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School details

Unique reference number 145932 DfE registration number 925/6009

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School details

Inspection number 10374822 Type of school Other Independent School

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) £39,995 to £68,150

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School details

Website education.keyschildren.co.uk/school/hecki ngton-independent-school Email address admin.heckingtonhouse@keyseducation.a c.uk Date of previous inspection 4 to 6 July 2023 17 to 19 June 2025

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Information about this school

 Heckington House School provides alternative education for 11 to 16-year-old pupils who have been permanently excluded from mainstream schools or who are at risk of permanent exclusion. All pupils currently on roll have SEND and the primary area of need relates to social, emotional and mental health.  The school is situated at Boston Road, East Heckington, Lincolnshire PE20 3QF.  The school is registered to provide full-time education for up to 50 pupils.  There were only pupils aged 14 to 16 years on the school’s roll at the time of the inspection. A significant number of Year 11 pupils had just left the school.  The school makes use of 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 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

 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 met with members of the proprietor body and the chair of the school’s governing body. They met with senior leaders, including the leaders responsible for behaviour and attendance, the special educational needs coordinator and the designated safeguarding leads.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics, science, and personal, social, health and economic education. 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 also visited lessons, spoke with pupils and reviewed documentation in

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Information about this inspection

relation to a number of other subjects.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of documents. These included policies related to curriculum, health and safety, and complaints.  Inspectors toured the premises to review the suitability of the site.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and 17 to 19 June 2025 considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View and Ofsted’s surveys for school staff and pupils.

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Inspection team

Matthew Fearns-Davies, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Julie Sheppard Ofsted Inspector 17 to 19 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 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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