The Elmley Dray School

Inspection of The Elmley Dray School 18-20 Marina Drive, Minster-on-Sea, Sheerness, Kent ME12 2DP

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Overall effectiveness Good

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

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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?

This is a happy and friendly school. Pupils enjoy the nurturing environment it offers. They feel safe here. Their relationships with staff are based on trust and respect. Routines are well established and understood. Pupils relish their break and communal times together. They care about each other and about the staff, who they see as patient friends that support and guide when needed.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Expectations of pupils’ behaviour and engagement in learning are high. Pupils know this. They respond well to the demands placed on them, even when confidence may be low, or when anxieties are running high. Because of this, pupils achieve well across the curriculum despite the relatively short period of time they have attended.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ attitudes to school are very positive. This is reflected in their impressive levels of attendance and the pride that they show in their own work. A big part of this is due to staff providing them with the strategies they need to become confident learners again. Importantly, pupils feel that they have a voice and that they are listened to. This is because staff know that the pupils themselves have an important role to play in establishing this successful new school.

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better?

This is a school where much has changed in a short period of time. New leadership at all levels is having a positive impact. This work is allowing the proprietor to move the school forward at pace. Those in positions of governance know the school well. They have ensured that the school provides a good quality of provision overall and that all relevant independent school standards are met. Other statutory requirements including those required by the Equality Act 2010 are also fully in place.

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better?

The school’s curriculum is evolving. It is based on the national curriculum and has appropriate breadth. Sensible adjustments are made to prioritise the balance of subjects on offer. However, in some subjects, more work needs to be done to ensure that the knowledge and skills pupils will learn over time are more clearly mapped. Notwithstanding this, pupils benefit from bespoke packages of learning which meet their needs increasingly well. Additionally, work to develop pupils’ life skills and prepare them for life after Elmley Dray is well thought through and a growing strength.

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better?

Classes are small, although the school is slowly growing since accepting a new cohort of pupils from January 2025. Staff work effectively to identify pupils’ evolving individual needs. This work is made more complex by the school’s growing success in settling pupils quickly into a positive learning environment. Despite these challenges, barriers to learning are removed quickly and pupils’ additional needs are being identified and addressed well. 3 to 5 June 2025 Pupils currently attending have had a disrupted education prior to joining the school. This means that they arrive at the school with varying gaps in their knowledge and understanding across the curriculum. On occasion, the school does not design and adapt learning to meet the needs of individuals as well as it might. Despite this, staff are successful in their work to check pupils’ progress during lessons and over time.

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better?

The school’s work to support pupils’ ability to read and enjoy the written word has a high priority. Some pupils are fluent readers already. Other pupils are less accomplished but receiving appropriate support on their journey to develop their early reading skills.

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better?

Staff enjoy working here because their well-being and welfare are actively promoted. Aspects such as the maintenance of facilities and the health and safety of pupils and staff are given appropriate priority. The school is well resourced including a sensory garden and other facilities such as a teaching kitchen. Parents and carers who responded to Ofsted Parent View are largely positive about the work of the school.

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better?

Pupils’ behaviour is a strength here. It is not perfect, but it is exceptional when the complexities of pupils’ needs are considered. Pupils love coming to school because they feel they belong. They manage their own behaviour well. They respect each other’s right to learn. They recognise the impact any poor behaviour may have on others. As a result, pupils thrive here and their desire to learn new things is strong. A tailored programme to support pupils’ personal development is in place. It underpins all aspects of day-to-day school life. It is multi-faceted and provides a range of experiences for pupils across each phase of the school. The programme recognises the additional vulnerabilities of the pupils who attend the school. For example, online safety has a high priority. Work to reach out into the local community is gaining momentum.

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better?

Ensuring that pupils have an age-appropriate grasp of equality and diversity is not a bolt-on here. A culture of respect, understanding and empathy for others, including for fellow pupils and staff, is promoted strongly. Relationships and sex education are taught through a personalised programme which also includes employability and economic education. This is already well established and has a positive impact on pupils’ aspirations for the future.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(information for the school and the proprietor)

 In some subjects, the school has not defined the knowledge or the skills pupils will be taught clearly enough. Because of this, teachers do not have a clear understanding of what pupils need to learn. This means that opportunities for 3 to 5 June 2025 pupils to consolidate and build on what they already know and remember are less effective. The school needs to ensure that all subjects have a clearly sequenced curriculum pathway with well-defined end points. This will ensure that all pupils make the progress they are capable of over time.  In some lessons, staff do not design learning that meets the needs of pupils closely enough. Activity choices do not help all pupils engage in learning as well as they might. When this happens, their learning slows. The school needs to ensure that there is more consistency in the way teachers design learning opportunities, so that pupils across all phases of the school make the progress

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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 119005 DfE registration number 886/6057

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School details

Inspection number 10299164 Type of school Other Independent Special School

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) £48,000 to £79,500

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School details

Email address info@elmleydrayschool.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 26 to 28 November 2019 3 to 5 June 2025

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Information about this school

 This is a special school that caters for pupils with autism spectrum conditions and associated needs. All pupils who attend have an education, health and care plan and are placed by a local authority.  The school operates from one site at 18-20 Marina Drive, Minster-on-Sea, Sheerness, Kent ME12 2DP.  The school is registered for up to 40 pupils. At the time of this inspection there were no students attending the school’s post-16 provision.  The school has changed its name twice since the last standard inspection in November 2019. The school was briefly named The Stefan Taye School before becoming The Elmley Dray School in the summer of 2023.  The proprietor has also changed since the last standard inspection. The current proprietor is Elmley Dray CIC with one sole director currently listed at Companies House.  The school has been subject to three additional material change inspections since the last standard inspection. These took place in March 2023, July 2023 and

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Information about this school

December 2023.  The current headteacher took up her position in September 2024.  All pupils attending the school have joined since January 2025.  The school does not use 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.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors held a wide range of meetings with leaders at all levels, as well as teaching and support staff. The lead inspector met with the chair of the professional advisory team which acts as the school’s governing body. He also met with the sole director of the proprietor company. 3 to 5 June 2025  The lead inspector spoke on the telephone to officers from two different local authorities that have links to the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics and personal, social and health education. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers,

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Information about this inspection

spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects with leaders.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of parents, 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 talked to pupils throughout the inspection to gain their views about the school. The lead inspector also talked formally to a representative group of pupils on day three of the inspection.  Inspectors considered the views of parents submitted through Ofsted Parent View. The views of staff and pupils were also considered through Ofsted’s surveys.

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Inspection team

Clive Close, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Caroline Clarke Ofsted Inspector 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 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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