Pace

Inspection of Pace Derbyshire Hill Road, St Helens, Merseyside WA9 2LH

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Previous inspection grade Good 17 and 18 June 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pace is a calm and welcoming school. Pupils settle well into their education here. They start to see school as a positive place to be. Pupils, supported by caring staff, find it easy to make friends. Pupils feel valued, not only by the staff, but by one another.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Over time, pupils are supported to manage their own emotions and to behave well. They are eager to please and enjoy the positive praise that they receive from staff. Although some disruption does occur from time to time, it is managed well so that it does not affect pupils’ learning. Pupils feel safe at school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for pupils. Pupils join the school at different points of their education. The curriculum builds carefully on pupils’ next steps and any special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) they may have. They achieve well from their starting points.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from trips and visiting speakers, which enhance and enrich the curriculum. The range of clubs on offer, such as cookery, arts and crafts and indoor and outdoor games, have been developed in response to feedback from pupils, parents and carers. These activities foster pupils’ talents and interests.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Since the previous inspection, the school has introduced a new curriculum across all subjects. This has improved the quality of education. The curriculum is structured to build on pupils’ knowledge progressively. In most subjects, staff use questions well to check on pupils’ understanding. However, the checks made on pupils’ learning in a small number of subjects do not help staff to identify and address the gaps in pupils’ knowledge as well as they could.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school has strengthened its curriculum offer for reading by putting in place a new phonics programme. This helps staff to develop pupils’ reading knowledge well. As a result of the intensive support that they receive, pupils who are at the early stages of reading catch up quickly. Their developing phonics knowledge enables them to read words with increasing fluency and ensures that pupils gain confidence in their own abilities.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school quickly identifies any additional needs that pupils with SEND may have. Staff ensure that the transition for pupils starting at the school is as smooth as possible. The school engages with other agencies to support pupils’ needs. Staff are adept at making adjustments to the curriculum to suit the needs of individual pupils.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

When pupils first start at the school, they often require extra support to manage their behaviour. Staff are patient and skilled. They put pupils at ease as quickly as possible. The school develops strong partnerships with parents. Those parents spoken to during the inspection talked of the positive transformation in their child’s behaviour since starting at this school. 17 and 18 June 2025

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Persistent absence rates are high, especially for those pupils who are new to the school. The school takes all reasonable steps to improve pupils’ attendance to ensure that they engage with their education. The school has high ambitions for pupils to be reintegrated into mainstream education or a suitable specialist provision.

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Pupils gain a strong understanding of others’ views and opinions through the personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education curriculum. For example, pupils debate a range of issues in class. They understand similarities and differences between faiths and cultures. However, some pupils do not remember some aspects of PSHE well enough. Gaps in pupils’ knowledge are not identified and addressed as well as they could be.

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Since the previous inspection, leaders and those responsible for governance have taken effective and comprehensive action to enhance the quality of the curriculum. However, oversight of curriculum subjects is not consistently effective. This means that the school is not able to review its actions or identify improvements to the delivery of the curriculum in these subjects.

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Staff appreciate the steps taken by leaders to support their workload. The new curriculum has had a positive impact on this area. Staff feel that this has enabled them to focus more on developing the quality of pupils’ education.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a small number of subjects, including in PSHE, the assessment of pupils’ understanding does not provide the school with sufficient information about the depth of pupils’ knowledge. Gaps in pupils’ learning are not quickly identified and addressed. Pupils do not build securely on their previous learning and, therefore, do not achieve as well as they could in these subjects. The school should ensure that it carefully makes checks to establish what pupils know and can do and use the strategies in place in other subjects to successfully address any gaps in learning in a timely way.  The school’s oversight of some subjects is not consistently effective. Therefore, it is not clear what impact any actions already in place are having or what aspects need further improvement. The school should ensure that there are effective arrangements in place to review the effectiveness of its actions taken to improve the curriculum and establish

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

the right priorities for its future work. 17 and 18 June 2025

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How can I feed back my views?

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.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 17 and 18 June 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The local authority

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School details

Website www.alternativeprovision.st-helens.sch.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 26 and 27 March 2024, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not make use of any alternative provision.  Since the previous inspection, a new headteacher has been appointed and took up his post in September 2024.  The school caters for pupils with a range of SEND, including social, emotional and mental health needs, and pupils who have been or are at risk of permanent exclusion. Most pupils are dual registered with a mainstream school. They attend this school part time for up to two terms. Some pupils attend the school for a longer period of time.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade. 17 and 18 June 2025

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 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 the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects and look at samples of pupils’ work.  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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 Inspectors met with the headteacher and the deputy headteacher.  The lead inspector met with members of the governing body, including the chair of governors.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour at lunchtimes, in lessons and at the start of the day. They scrutinised leaders’ records of behaviour. There were no responses to Ofsted’s online pupil survey.  Inspectors reviewed a wide range of documentation, including the school development plan and the school’s self-evaluation document.  Inspectors took account of the responses to Ofsted Parent View and spoke with some parents at the start of the school day. They also took into account the responses to Ofsted’s online staff survey.

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Inspection team

Steve Bentham, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Cath Cooke Ofsted Inspector 17 and 18 June 2025

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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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