The Chalet School

The Chalet School

Address: Liden Drive, Liden, Swindon, SN3 6EX Unique reference number (URN): 146668

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Achievement Expected standard

Pupils achieve well because learning is precisely aligned to their starting points, education, health and care (EHC) plan targets and individual curriculum goals. Staff frequently check pupils' progress through the curriculum and towards their EHC plan targets. This enables staff to ensure that pupils develop and close gaps in their communication, personal, social, emotional and physical knowledge and skills. For example, many pupils recognise what they are feeling and how to appropriately respond. This helps pupils to develop important life skills, such as socialising during lunchtime or managing personal care routines.

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Achievement Expected standard

Leaders understand that achievement looks different for every pupil. Therefore, they measure and track pupils’ achievement in varied ways across the curriculum pathways and areas of learning. Leaders ensure that parents and carers receive an accurate picture of their child's development and learning. They plan to include contributions from parents via the online communication platform to showcase what their children achieve outside of school.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Leaders maintain a detailed oversight of pupils' attendance and behaviour. They use this information to implement well ‑ informed improvements. Most pupils attend school regularly. Whole-school attendance is consistently in line with or above the national average. This is because, where families need extra help, staff provide skilled, targeted support to help their children overcome the barriers preventing them from attending school.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Well-established routines at the start of the school day are particularly helpful in helping pupils to arrive calm and happy. Home-school communication ensures that staff have the necessary information to support pupils effectively from the moment they arrive. Pupils benefit from these carefully structured routines and positive relationships with staff. It creates a settled atmosphere that enables them to regulate and prepare for learning. Leaders' understanding of pupils’ needs and behaviour information resulted in the introduction of increased communication and sensory regulation opportunities throughout the day. This work has contributed to a significant reduction in the number of behaviour incidents. Behaviour and attitudes to learning across the school are positive. No bullying occurs because pupils are well supported to manage their emotions and interactions safely.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The curriculum at The Chalet School is ambitious and well designed. Leaders regularly refine the curriculum to ensure that it meets the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Clear endpoints and sequenced curriculum pathways support staff to know what to teach and in what order. Staff demonstrate secure subject and teaching knowledge. The curriculum helps staff to accurately check pupils' learning and identify next steps. While the curriculum is typically well delivered, there are some inconsistencies in the quality of teaching. Leaders closely check how well the curriculum is taught and adapted to meet the individual needs of each pupil. This ensures teaching remains responsive to pupils with SEND. The school's communication programme supports pupils to close gaps in their communication, personal, social and emotional knowledge and skills. However, some variability in the

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

implementation of this means that some pupils do not benefit as frequently as intended.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Curriculum improvements are evident in classroom practice. Teaching fosters pupils’ independence through structured, appropriate routines that help them to regulate and engage successfully in learning. Reading is promoted effectively through symbol ‑ supported books and shared reading, for example. Pupils develop early reading behaviours and positive engagement with texts. Teaching is, on the whole, closely aligned with pupils’ education, health and care plan targets, ensuring that learning is personalised, meaningful and ambitious for every pupil.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Inclusion at The Chalet School is effective because leaders have a precise understanding of pupils’ varied needs and starting points. Individual needs are identified and assessed thoroughly before admission. This ensures that placement decisions and curriculum design are accurately matched to each cohort’s profile. Pupils and their barriers to learning and wellbeing are very well known to the staff. Staff receive the information they need to tailor the support that effectively reduces barriers. For example, the production of pupils' education, health and care plan targets involve collaboration with parents and carers and other professionals.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders work productively with families and external professionals. They challenge agencies where necessary so that pupils are not disadvantaged by delays in specialist services. Inclusion is supported by carefully planned class structures that are matched to pupils’ social, emotional and academic needs. There is a clear emphasis on developing pupils' communication and independence. This contributes to a calm and purposeful learning environment. Staff are well equipped through targeted training. They increasingly use communication aids and personalised learning packs with accuracy to sustain pupils' engagement and foster positive working relationships. Pupils eligible for disadvantaged funding benefit from leaders' work to reduce barriers and improve outcomes for pupils.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leadership at the school is effective and has a demonstrable, positive impact on pupils’ lives and outcomes. Leaders act with clarity, purpose and moral intent, making decisions that are firmly rooted in the best interests of pupils. Their strategic oversight ensures that improvement work is sharply focused and informed by accurate monitoring. This contributes directly to the effective provision and day ‑ to ‑ day experiences for pupils. Leaders’ work with external partners and their openness to scrutiny further strengthen the reliability of their self- evaluation, enabling them to respond with agility to emerging priorities.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Governance through an academy improvement board (AIB) has provided challenge and support for the school during a period of changing leadership. Governors possess the expertise needed to hold leaders to account and maintain a clear line of sight on the most vulnerable pupils. They ensure that statutory duties are met, including those relating to safeguarding, inclusion and the use of additional funding. Their understanding of changing cohort needs informs well-targeted decision-making that enhances pupils’ safety, wellbeing and educational opportunities. The AIB will continue to work alongside the local governing committee as it assumes responsibility for the school's governance.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders’ commitment to working productively with parents and carers reinforces the school’s culture of partnership. Parents engage meaningfully in shaping pupils’ support and provision, ensuring consistency between home and school and contributing to improved outcomes. Staff confidence and ambition have been renewed through a shared vision shaped by the interim headteacher, resulting in strengthened professional practice and high expectations for pupils’ achievement and personal development. Leadership at all levels contributes to sustained improvement, ensuring that pupils experience a nurturing, ambitious environment in which they can thrive.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The provision for personal development and wellbeing at the school is effective. Pupils benefit from a well ‑ structured and nurturing offer that equips pupils with the knowledge and understanding needed to thrive both in school and beyond. Pupils benefit from calm, respectful routines modelled consistently by staff. They uphold high expectations for social interaction, self ‑ care and respectful conduct. This supportive culture helps pupils to develop self-awareness skills and fosters positive relationships with adults and peers.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The school’s relationships and health education programme is comprehensive and thoughtfully integrated across curriculum areas. Staff ensure that pupils gain appropriate knowledge about health, relationships and staying safe. Pastoral care routines relating to personal hygiene and self ‑ care are managed safely and sensitively by well ‑ trained staff, ensuring that pupils’ dignity and welfare are prioritised. This work sits alongside enrichment activities that extend pupils’ cultural and social awareness. Carefully structured community visits, including theatre trips, choir performances and shopping, increasingly enable pupils to rehearse and apply important life skills in real ‑ world settings. A broad and ambitious range of experiences contributes strongly to pupils’ personal growth. These activities, for example, support pupils' independence and confidence. Leaders ensure that appropriate consideration is given to pupils' needs and how to meet them so that all pupils now take part

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders support parents, carers and pupils to think about what pupils want to aspire to when they are older. They have introduced increasingly purposeful careers provision as part of the personal, social, health and economic education curriculum and wider personal development offer. Pupils enjoy meaningful opportunities to explore early concepts of employment through stories, family involvement and school ‑ based roles. Leaders track personal development closely through pupils' education, health and care plan targets. They have begun analysing the impact of this offer on disadvantaged pupils in greater detail to accurately target their individual needs.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils at The Chalet School experience a nurturing and inclusive environment where they feel safe, valued and able to learn. From the moment they arrive, calm routines and positive relationships with staff help pupils to regulate and prepare for the day. They settle quickly and engage confidently in their learning. Staff know pupils very well. Barriers to learning and wellbeing are identified and reduced through personalised support, strong communication with families and rigorous use of education, health and care plan information. As a result, pupils trust staff, form positive attachments and are able to participate fully in school life.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils enjoy learning because the curriculum is carefully designed around their needs. Staff adapt their teaching to help pupils build confidence and independence. Skilled staff use the school's communication approaches, sensory regulation strategies and structured activities to keep pupils engaged. These approaches help pupils to achieve well from their varied starting points. Some pupils make rapid progress, particularly since the introduction of improved curriculum pathways and communication strategies. Pupils develop essential life skills, such as eating socially, self ‑ regulation and increasing independence, which further enhance their sense of success and belonging.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Behaviour is positive. Pupils are supported in understanding and expressing their feelings. There is no bullying. Pupils say that everyone at school is kind. Staff provide sensitive guidance to help pupils develop their self-awareness and curiosity about the world. The environment is calm and enabling, with no low ‑ level disruption. Attendance is generally high. Where difficulties arise, staff provide timely and targeted support so that pupils continue to attend well.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Broader experiences, such as community visits, enrichment activities, shared reading and structured play, help pupils to develop socially, emotionally and culturally. These experiences, combined with growing independence and communication skills, ensure that pupils are increasingly well prepared for the demands of secondary education and life beyond school.

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Next steps

Leaders need to support staff in refining the implementation of the school’s communication strategy to ensure pupils receive consistently high-quality, effective provision that develops their communication and independence. Leaders need to ensure that staff have the necessary knowledge and skills so that they can implement the school’s agreed curriculum, teaching and assessment strategies consistently to a high quality across all areas of learning.

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About this inspection

This school is part of the Brunel Academies Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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Total pupils

(CEO), Jackie Fieldwick, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by William Wyldbore- Smith.

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Total pupils

The chair of the board of governors for this school is Jackie Fieldwick.

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Total pupils

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Total pupils

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty's Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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Total pupils

Inspectors spoke with the headteacher, senior leaders of the school and trust, including the CEO, the chief education officer and governors, staff and pupils. A telephone call was held with the local authority representative.

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Total pupils

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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Total pupils

The Chalet School is a special school for autistic pupils with an education, health and care plan.

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Total pupils

The school has undergone a significant change since the last inspection. An academy improvement board has been responsible for the school's governance since the previous inspection in May 2023. An interim headteacher has been in post since September 2025. The school's early years provision was moved on-site from September 2025.

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Total pupils

The school does not currently use alternative provision.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational support needs at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English Indices of Deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced Provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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

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