a school not in a category of concern of SGS Pegasus School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Marie Cooper Interim Headteacher SGS Pegasus School Hempton Lane Patchway Almondsbury Bristol South Gloucestershire BS32 4AJ

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School

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 24 September 2025, on behalf of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills. The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005 and took place because the school meets the monitoring threshold as set out in the Monitoring Inspection Handbook .

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School

The purpose of a monitoring inspection is not to grade the school’s key and (where applicable) provision judgements, but to identify and report on the school’s progress. It is to highlight to the school and parents any improvements that school leaders have made since the school’s previous graded inspection.

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School

During the inspection, I discussed with you, the interim executive headteacher (EHT), other senior leaders, the interim chief executive officer (CEO), trustees and governors the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection. I also conducted meetings with staff, visited lessons, reviewed pupils’ work and considered school documents. I met with personnel providing external support to the school. I also reviewed the school’s single central record. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement.

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Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but some aspects of the

The school and the trust should take further action to ensure that:  all school staff have strong curriculum knowledge, use effective assessment practices and deal with pupils’ misconceptions proficiently, so that pupils achieve well across all curriculum pathways.  governance strengthens its monitoring and oversight of the school, and particularly the quality of education, so that it routinely holds the school to account for rapid and sustained school improvement.

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Main findings

Since the last inspection, there has been considerable change to governance, school leadership and staffing. Seventeen members of staff have left the school. New appointments include fourteen support staff and four teachers. The chief executive officer (CEO) and the executive headteacher left in March 2025. Three assistant headteachers left the school in August 2025 and there is one new assistant headteacher. The substantive chief operating officer of the trust is currently the interim CEO. An interim executive headteacher was in post between April and September 2025. A new interim EHT started his role in September 2025. The substantive deputy headteacher is now the interim headteacher. There are several new appointments to the local governing body (LGB), including a new chairperson. In addition, the school building has a new wing, providing additional classrooms.

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Main findings

The school is making headway in bringing about necessary improvements to the quality of education. Very recently, you have implemented three curriculum pathways, ‘Connect, Grow and Reach’. These pathways are better designed to meet pupils’ needs. For example, some pupils now learn through a pre-formal curriculum, which is rooted in early years education. Others receive a formal curriculum and work towards functional skills qualifications and GCSEs.

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Main findings

The school is implementing the teaching of early reading with increasing success. Staff are getting to grips with using what pupils know already to adapt the subject content they teach, for example, in mathematics. However, the school has not ensured that staff are supported to have the necessary subject knowledge across the new curriculum pathways. At times, staff do not identify or address pupils’ misconceptions when they arise. This means that pupils remain stuck on their work unnecessarily or they do not benefit from enough practise to consolidate or deepen their knowledge and skills.

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Main findings

Enhancements to clinical and therapy support are just getting off the ground. Currently, there is not enough oversight of the implementation of the school’s curriculums. For example, the school does not readily identify when pupils finish their work quickly or teaching approaches do not use the support set out in pupils’ education, health and care plans well enough.

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Main findings

The trust has provided additional internal support through the appointment of interim executive headteachers. This has bolstered leadership in times of significant staff change and ensured that the school is moving forwards steadily in implementing its action plans. Nevertheless, the trust recognises that it now needs to build further capacity to ensure greater impact. The new interim EHT and interim headteacher have a firm understanding of what the school needs to do next and in what order. The trust has made effective appointments to the LGB. These new members have a strong skillset and proven capacity to improve schools. The LGB is starting to strengthen its work to hold the school to account stringently. However, this work is in its infancy.

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Main findings

The school is prioritising improving staff well-being. For example, improving cross- departmental communication is helping staff understand the reasons for school-wide changes and when they need to be completed. You have also been successful in implementing a new behaviour policy. As a result, the school’s expectations of how pupils behave are on the rise. Increasingly, classrooms are calm and orderly. When pupils do opt out of learning, staff support them effectively to re-engage using the school’s agreed approaches. This helps pupils to manage their emotions effectively. Pupils are well supervised at social times. The school analyses reasons for poor behaviour carefully. Leaders are beginning to act on this information; this is ensuring that a shared culture of respect is becoming increasingly apparent. There is a comprehensive induction programme for staff new to the school or profession. All staff have training in de-

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Main findings

escalation techniques and in restrictive physical intervention (RPI). Occasions of RPIs are now rare.

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Main findings

The Department for Education has brokered support from a multi-academy trust with experience of leading special schools. You have used this support, along with advice from other external consultants, to make decisions about changes to the school’s behaviour and curriculum policies. Leaders at all levels are working collegiately to implement new policies and bring about necessary changes. However, you acknowledge that it is early days. Pupils’ experiences across classes and curriculum pathways vary. Some pupils do not progress through the curriculum consistently well. I recommend that the school uses further external support to ensure that all staff gain the strong curriculum knowledge they need to implement all curriculum pathways effectively.

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Main findings

I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees and the CEO of the South Gloucestershire and Stroud Academy trust, the Department for Education’s regional director and the director of children’s services for South Gloucestershire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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