Wirral Wrap

Inspection of Wirral Wrap Summerhill House, Beechwood Drive, Beechwood, Birkenhead, Merseyside CH43 9LB

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Good 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 benefit from the trusting relationships that staff build with them. The school provides a haven for pupils who have previously struggled in other settings. Many pupils have missed significant amounts of education prior to joining this school. They benefit from the nurturing environment that the school has created. Pupils know that staff care for them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

All pupils have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school has high expectations for their achievement. The school wants all pupils to study an aspirational curriculum and to have experiences that prepare them for adulthood. Many pupils rise to and realise the high aspirations that the school has for their achievement.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ behaviour is not as settled as it should be. Some pupils need more time to develop strategies to manage their emotions and behaviour. This can lead to behaviours that disrupt the learning experience for others in the classroom and around the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have opportunities to develop important life skills, such as learning to eat healthily and shopping. They also have a wide range of opportunities outside of the curriculum. This includes fishing, horse riding and developing their skills in the school’s own beauty salon. This helps to develop pupils’ confidence and talents.

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better?

The school has set a vision for pupils to become confident, resilient and ready for their future lives. The proprietor works closely with the school to ensure a quality education for pupils. The school has taken action to develop the right provision to meet the needs of pupils. The proprietor also ensures that the school fulfils its statutory obligations under schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010. Additionally, it maintains strong oversight of the independent school standards (the standards) to ensure that these are met consistently.

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better?

The school has in place a curriculum that is ambitiously designed to meet the needs of its pupils. Nevertheless, for some pupils, the range of subjects on offer is not as broad as it could be. This means that for these pupils, their experiences and learning across the curriculum is uneven.

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better?

Many pupils have significant gaps in their knowledge. This is because, in the past, they have had periods of time out of education. Teachers tailor their current teaching effectively to address these gaps. For example, in mathematics, teachers identify that pupils have missed key learning such as the fundamentals of number. They provide pupils with targeted support and additional practice in this area. This 24 to 26 June 2025 helps pupils to gain the foundational knowledge that they need for future mathematical understanding.

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better?

In most subjects, the school has thought carefully about the knowledge that pupils should learn. However, in some subjects, the school has not given sufficient thought to this. As a result, pupils do not learn the depth of subject-specific knowledge that they could.

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better?

Many pupils join the school lacking confidence in their reading. Reading is a high priority at the school. Pupils at the early stages of learning to read are identified quickly. They receive prompt and effective help to address any gaps in their phonics knowledge that have resulted from missed learning in the past. This enables these pupils to move forward rapidly in their reading ability to read a range of texts. Over time, pupils develop strong reading knowledge and fluency that enable them to achieve success.

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better?

The school identifies the additional needs of pupils with SEND accurately. Staff appreciate the information that the school provides about pupils’ needs and how to meet them. This supports staff’s workload. Staff use this information to provide these pupils with experiences that enable most of them to learn alongside their peers successfully.

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better?

Although most pupils’ behaviour and attendance improve during their time at the school, the way that staff respond when pupils struggle to manage their emotions is not consistently effective. As a result, learning is often disrupted by poor behaviour. In addition, pupils who struggle to meet the school’s behaviour expectations spend too much time out of the classroom and miss important learning.

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better?

The school’s approach to personal development supports pupils in becoming resilient, independent individuals. They are well informed about how to stay safe and maintain their physical and mental well-being. Staff are committed to ensuring that pupils develop an age-appropriate understanding of healthy relationships, including the concept of consent. Pupils actively contribute to school life, for example, by helping to organise themed days and charity events. The school’s careers education programme inspires pupils and prepares them for their next steps beyond school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 The school has not ensured that the curriculum is sufficiently broad for some pupils. As a result, some pupils’ learning across the breadth of the curriculum is 24 to 26 June 2025 not as strong as it could be. The school should ensure that the curriculum equips pupils with the knowledge and skills they need for their future.  In some subjects, the curriculum lacks sufficient detail about the essential knowledge pupils should acquire and the sequence in which it should be taught. As a result, some pupils are unable to build their understanding in a coherent and progressive way. The school should ensure that key knowledge is clearly identified and logically sequenced to support pupils in developing their learning over time in all subjects.  The school has not ensured that pupils are routinely given the support and guidance that they need to communicate their feelings appropriately and to engage with their learning. This means that sometimes pupils’ behaviour declines,

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

and they become disengaged from learning. The school should ensure that staff have the resources and expertise needed to support pupils’ behaviour effectively to help pupils to engage positively with 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. 24 to 26 June 2025

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School details

Unique reference number 149638 DfE registration number 344/6019

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School details

Inspection number 10401991 Type of school Other independent special school

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School details

Proprietor Wrap (Wirral) Community Interest Company Chair Peter Silcock

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) £50,160 to £90,060

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School details

Date of previous inspection 10 to 12 July 2024 24 to 26 June 2025

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Information about this school

 The school is located in premises at Summerhill House, Beechwood Drive, Beechwood, Birkenhead, Merseyside CH43 9LB.  The school is registered to admit up to 32 pupils aged from 11 to 16.  Pupils join the school throughout the year. Many have been permanently excluded from other schools. Places at the school are commissioned by local authorities.  All pupils have an education, health, and care (EHC) plan. The school caters for pupils with social, emotional, and mental health needs. In addition, some pupils have autism.  The school does not make use of alternative provision.  The school’s previous standard inspection took place from 10 to 12 July 2024. Since then, a progress monitoring inspection took place on 4 February 2025.

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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 the school and have taken this into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, including early reading, mathematics and personal, social, health and economic education. In each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans and visited a sample of lessons. They spoke with teachers and with some pupils about their learning. Inspectors looked at samples of pupils’ work. They also considered the curriculum in other subjects.  The lead inspector discussed reading with a group of pupils.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and other school leaders. The lead inspector met with representatives of the proprietor body. She also spoke with

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Information about this inspection

representatives of the local authority.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons and around school, including at playtime and during lunchtime. They spoke with several groups of pupils about their experiences at school. 24 to 26 June 2025  Inspectors reviewed a range of documentation, including the school’s self- evaluation documents, improvement plans, minutes of governing body meetings and documents about pupils’ behaviour and levels of attendance. They also reviewed documentation related to the standards.  The lead inspector had a tour of the premises to check compliance with the standards.  Inspectors spoke with staff about their workload and their well-being. They considered the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted’s Parent View survey. Inspectors looked at the school’s own parent questionnaires and an inspector spoke with some parents and carers.

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Information about this inspection

 To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record and took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils. They 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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Inspection team

Helen Friend, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Gil Bourgade Ofsted Inspector 24 to 26 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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