The Amicus School

Inspection of The Amicus School The Coach House, Arundel Road, Fontwell, Arundel, West Sussex BN18 0SX

p.1

Inspection dates: 16 to 18 September 2025 and 6 November 2025

p.1

Overall effectiveness Requires Improvement

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

p.1

Overall effectiveness Requires Improvement

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

p.1

No

16 to 18 September 2025 and 6 November 2025

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

The school prioritises the importance of positive relationships. Building and maintaining relationships is fundamental to everything the school does and is at the heart of its work. Pupils are kind and treat adults and each other with respect. They learn how to make friends, enjoy playing together and chat sociably during breaktimes. Lunchtimes are a high point of the day, when pupils and staff sit companionably together while they enjoy their meal.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils achieve well. They have often had an unsettled and fractured experience of education before joining the school. The school makes sure that they are fully and sensitively supported from the moment they arrive and throughout their time in the school. The school has high expectations of pupils’ conduct and achievement. Occasionally, pupils can become unsettled. Staff are skilled in helping them to learn how to recognise and manage their own feelings.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

Engaging activities such as those in the outdoor learning area help to bring learning to life. Pupils have a voice in making decisions about school life through activities such as the school council. Little by little, they grow in self-esteem and rediscover a sense of self-worth. They know that their teachers will look after them and so feel secure.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

Leadership and management require improvement because there is not sufficiently rigorous oversight of some decision-making at governance level.

p.2

better?

Pupils’ emotional and physical wellbeing is central to the school’s work. Staff work with great care to forge trusting relationships with pupils. Those pupils who have been in the school for longer periods of time often demonstrate an emotional maturity beyond their years. Pupils want to be in school, and most attend well. Staff work constructively with families to support pupils who attend less regularly.

p.2

better?

Pupils behave well most of the time. Occasionally, individual pupils become agitated when anxious or frustrated. Adults provide sensitive reassurance and skilful support when this is the case. The school’s therapeutic programme is highly effective in helping pupils to understand, establish and maintain positive relationships. The school complies with schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010.

p.2

better?

The school is ambitious for its pupils. It works continuously to make sure that pupils achieve their best, both academically and personally. The school has strengthened its curriculum since the previous inspection, so that the content is clear. Staff are skilled in teaching pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They adapt the curriculum effectively to support individual pupils’ needs and explain what pupils need to do clearly. Staff use questioning well to check pupils’ understanding. However, occasionally, teaching moves pupils on to the next stage of their learning before pupils have fully grasped what has already been taught. 16 to 18 September 2025 and 6 November 2025 Pupils’ starting points vary widely when they join the school. They have often been absent from education for extended periods of time and have significant gaps in their knowledge. The school builds a detailed picture of each pupil’s starting points

p.2

better?

and provides high-quality support to help each pupil settle. Pupils’ education, health and care plans are broken down into appropriate shorter-term targets to support learning.

p.3

better?

The school is highly effective in reigniting pupils’ interest in books. Reading has a high priority with a wide range of appealing books available. The school’s phonics programme is a well-established part of the school’s curriculum and is generally delivered effectively. This means that pupils often make dramatic progress in learning to read. However, there are small variations in staff subject knowledge. This means that some pupils are not always taught the most efficient way of reading unfamiliar words.

p.3

better?

The personal, social and health education (PSHE) programme is carefully tailored to support individual pupils’ needs. It equips pupils well with the knowledge and life skills needed to lead an independent life in modern Britain. For example, they learn how to keep safe in different settings, discuss important themes such as consent in relationships and sex education and play an increasingly active role in school life. The school makes sure that pupils have the information they need to make informed choices about what they would like to do in future. They are very well prepared for the next stage in their education.

p.3

better?

The proprietor has ensured that the school’s premises are safe and maintained to a high standard. Safety procedures are clear and securely established, including fire safety arrangements and risk assessment procedures. Classrooms have a relaxed but purposeful working atmosphere.

p.3

better?

The proprietor has not always taken decisions in the best interests of children. For example, allegations against adults have not always been dealt with in a timely manner, and decisions made have not always followed the school’s own policies. In the past, this has potentially put pupils at risk. The proprietor and leaders are in the process of reviewing their management and governance systems to ensure that there is better oversight of the school.

p.3

better?

Staff are proud to work in the school and feel well supported. They show a high level of care for pupils and are alert to concerns about their welfare and wellbeing. The school maintains positive links with parents and carers, including providing regular updates about pupils’ learning.

p.3

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Staff are alert to the signs that may indicate a child needs extra help and put in place tailored support that helps children to be safe. 16 to 18 September 2025 and 6 November 2025 Typically, leaders liaise with outside agencies extremely well. However, opportunities were missed to promptly investigate a recent concern because the proprietor did not initially fully follow safeguarding procedures. This meant that, for a period of time, children were unnecessarily exposed to a potential risk of harm. As further concerns emerged, the proper steps were taken to prioritise children’s safety, including reporting concerns to the local authority designated officer for safeguarding.

p.3

Safeguarding

The safeguarding policy is in line with statutory guidance, and staff understand their responsibilities well. However, the policy is in need of a thorough review because it contains contradictions about who staff should report concerns about adults to.

p.4

(Information for the school and proprietor)

 There has been insufficient scrutiny when important decisions are made or when some policies are applied, including in the management of allegations against adults. This means that decisions have not always been taken in the best interests of children. The school should strengthen its governance arrangements to ensure that oversight of the school is sufficiently rigorous.  The safeguarding policy has been added to over time to keep it in line with statutory guidance. However, it has not been thoroughly reviewed, and it now contains some information that appears contradictory. Leaders should ensure that the safeguarding policy is reviewed to remove any potential confusion about how to act to keep children safe.  There are some variations in the use of assessment. This means that sometimes pupils are moved on in their learning before they have fully understood and retained prior learning. The school should ensure that checks on pupils’ learning

p.4

(Information for the school and proprietor)

are used consistently well to identify the right time to introduce new content.  There are inconsistencies in the teaching of phonics. This leads to an element of variation in pupils’ use of phonics to decode unfamiliar words. The school should refresh staff subject knowledge to ensure that the phonics programme is followed closely and taught consistently.

p.4

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.

p.4

How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school. 16 to 18 September 2025 and 6 November 2025

p.4

School details

Type of school Other independent special school

p.5

School details

School category Independent special school

p.5

School details

Email address Leeha.watney@theamicuscommunity.com

p.5

School details

Date of previous inspection 8 to 10 November 2022 16 to 18 September 2025 and 6 November 2025

p.5

Information about this school

 The Amicus School is an independent special school. It is part of a therapeutic community accredited by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. It caters for pupils who have complex social, emotional and/or mental health needs. All pupils have an education, health and care plan and have suffered significant trauma in their early lives. Pupils are placed at the school by local authorities.  The school has an advisory board which fulfils a governance role. The proprietor is the strategic and clinical director of The Amicus Community, an independent therapeutic community accredited by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.  The school does not use alternative provision.  The school’s previous full standard inspection took place in November 2022. A material change inspection subsequently took place in July 2024, following the school’s application to increase its capacity.  The lead inspector was aware, during the second part of this inspection, serious

p.6

Information about this school

safeguarding concerns were being investigated by the appropriate authorities. While Ofsted does not have the power to investigate incidents of this kind, actions taken by the provider in response to these concerns were considered alongside other evidence available at the time of the inspection to inform the inspector’s judgements.

p.6

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.

p.6

Information about this inspection

Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.

p.6

Information about this inspection

The school has failed to meet the independent school standards. These are the requirements set out in the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.

p.6

Information about this inspection

The inspection started on 16 September 2025. An inspector returned on 6 November 2025 to gather additional evidence in line with Ofsted inspections and visits: Deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors held discussions with the proprietor, the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and other school leaders. They also spoke with a range of staff at different times during the inspection.  The views of pupils, parents and staff were gathered through discussions. Inspectors spoke with pupils in lessons and at other times of the school day. 16 to 18 September 2025 and 6 November 2025  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, 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

p.6

Information about this inspection

culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history, geography and PSHE. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, looked at curriculum documentation, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Compliance with the independent school standards was checked throughout the inspection, including a tour of the site, discussions with leaders and a review of relevant documentation.

p.7

Inspection team

Catherine Old, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

p.7

Inspection team

Mark Cole Ofsted Inspector 16 to 18 September 2025 and 6 November 2025

p.7

Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

 34(1) The standard about the quality of leadership and management is met if the proprietor ensures that persons with leadership and management responsibilities at the school- – 34(1)(a) demonstrate good skills and knowledge appropriate to their role so that the independent school standards are met consistently; – 34(1)(b) fulfil their responsibilities effectively so that the independent school standards are met consistently; and – 34(1)(c) actively promote the well-being of pupils. 16 to 18 September 2025 and 6 November 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

p.8

Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

p.9

Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.9

Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9