The Flagship School

The Flagship School

Address: The Ridge, Hastings, TN34 2AE Unique reference number (URN): 149695

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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 typically make secure progress through the curriculum from their starting points. They become increasingly confident readers and writers and apply mathematical knowledge accurately. Most pupils in the early stages of reading catch up. Pupils are proud of their achievements and enjoy talking about their work. On the whole, pupils can recall and explain their prior learning.

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Achievement Expected standard

Pupils generally have the skills and knowledge that they need for their next steps. This academic progress is further supported by the progress that they make socially and emotionally. Pupils learn strategies to manage their behaviour. This is essential for them to access learning and make progress.

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Achievement Expected standard

Pupils increasingly leave the school with a wider range of qualifications. These are ambitious and include GCSEs. Leaders have thought carefully about the offer in relation to next steps as well as pupils' interests and aptitudes. Pupils now sit more examinations and achieve better results.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Leaders are ambitious for all pupils to attend more. The school follows clear processes to support pupils' attendance. Leaders have a detailed understanding of the barriers facing each pupil and the causes of poor attendance. Leaders work strategically and with an individual focus to improve pupils' attendance. Staff use bespoke programmes to respond to individual needs. This supports pupils who have been out of school for prolonged periods or who have had very low attendance at previous settings to start to attend. Attendance improves for the majority of pupils as a result of the school's work.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Leaders have established high expectations of behaviour for pupils. Positive relationships between members of the school community underpin the approach to behaviour. Pupils generally respond positively to these high expectations. Staff and pupils understand the school's rules and routines. Behaviour is typically calm and purposeful. Skilled and knowledgeable staff are quick to provide additional support when it is necessary.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Leaders act as role models for other staff. Generally, rules and sanctions are applied effectively. Suspensions and exclusions are used appropriately, and appropriate follow-up support is provided to reduce further incidents. Leaders ensure that incidents of bullying and derogatory language are dealt with effectively.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have a clear understanding of the quality of the curriculum and teaching across the school. The curriculum has been fully reviewed. It is now a carefully considered and sequenced offer. The curriculum supports pupils to move from their often low starting points to appropriate and ambitious endpoints. It is adapted to reflect the wide-ranging needs of pupils. Leaders are aware that this is not fully consistent and embedded in all areas. Leaders have developed teaching to meet pupils' needs. Leaders provide high-quality training to staff. It is planned based on the needs of staff and pupils. The impact of this is monitored. This ensures teachers gain the subject and teaching knowledge that they need. This helps them successfully support pupils to progress well through the planned curriculum.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders recognise that many pupils arrive with significant gaps in their reading, writing and mathematics knowledge. The work to support this is typically successful. When specific interventions are required, they are planned and reviewed frequently. Gaps in pupils' knowledge are closed, particularly in phonics and early reading, which enables them to progress through the curriculum.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders have an inclusive vision that underpins their work at the school. They have high expectations for all pupils. Leaders know pupils well and understand their backgrounds. They quickly identify pupil needs, which supports them to be met. Thorough monitoring also helps staff identify and meet any emerging needs that pupils have.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Staff use pupils’ education, health and care (EHC) plans to ensure the curriculum is accessible for all pupils. Staff have received suitable training. They know how to make appropriate adaptations to their teaching. These are consistently used. This helps pupils learn successfully. Staff remove barriers and enhance achievement effectively.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders ensure that needs identified in EHC plans are met through specific interventions whenever necessary. The school has trained a number of staff to be able to deliver these. On the whole, these interventions are further reducing barriers to learning for pupils.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders use appropriate evidence to inform their pupil premium strategy. The school works effectively with families, the virtual school and wider agencies. This enables the school to remove barriers for disadvantaged pupils and those known to children’s social care effectively. Alternative provisions are appropriately commissioned and are used to support the school to meet specific needs.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders have a clear vision for the school. This is based on their well-defined understanding of pupils’ needs and the need to re-engage pupils with education. Leaders know pupils' backgrounds very well and have a clear understanding of the school's strengths. They have identified appropriate priorities to continue to improve the school in the most important areas.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders model high expectations to staff. They work across the trust and with leaders from local schools and other agencies to provide support and challenge. They constantly strive to develop positive relationships with parents and carers to support pupils to engage in school life. Pupils' best interests are at the centre of decisions that leaders make.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders support staff wellbeing and ensure that their workload is manageable. The professional learning programme is evidence-informed and builds expertise among the staff team. Staff are proud to work at the school. Those responsible for governance know the school context well, and this drives their work effectively. They understand the journey the school has been on and have high expectations for where the school is going. Those responsible for governance work positively with leaders to understand what is going on in the school. They provide appropriate support and challenge based on this understanding. In recent years, they have successfully taken appropriate steps to act on previous weaknesses in meeting their statutory responsibilities.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders have developed a coherent and appropriate personal, social and health education curriculum. Generally, pupils make suitable progress through this. They can speak with confidence about what it means to be treated fairly. However, their knowledge of themes such as democracy is less well developed. Pupils have an appropriate understanding of equality and diversity. They develop their understanding of how to keep mentally and physically healthy and how to keep themselves safe. They also demonstrate age- appropriate understanding of healthy relationships.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The school’s careers education is well planned and suitably ambitious. It is currently in the early stages of implementation and primarily focused on pupils in key stage 4. As a result of the support older pupils receive, they are informed and aspirational about their next steps. Pupils can talk about their post-16 choices, and they know what they need to achieve to get there.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pastoral support is of a high quality. Leaders precisely identify which pupils need additional support. Where required, interventions are provided. Referrals to external agencies are made if necessary. Pupils confidently access this support. The impact of interventions is carefully tracked to ensure they are effective and appropriate.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils have access to a wide range of opportunities that broaden their experiences. The school council contributes ideas for activities that are available during the weekly enrichment afternoon. These include sports, art, music and chess. Pupils also learn from an increasing range of community-based events, such as baking and serving cakes to residents at a local care home. The school also offers a broad range of trips and visits alongside The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award programme to support pupils' wider development.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils are well supported to develop their social skills and resolve conflicts. As a result, pupils are reflective and cooperate well with others. This supports pupils to be well prepared for adulthood.

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

Pupils are valued by staff at this school. Staff develop warm, professional relationships with pupils. Pupils trust staff and know that they will support them to do their best. They know staff will deal with bullying if it occurs. Pupils know that their voice matters and that staff will listen to any concerns they have. This helps the majority of pupils to feel happy and safe in school. As a result, most pupils re-engage with learning effectively and attend more regularly than in the past.

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

Pupils are generally well-behaved and respectful of other members of the school community. This is particularly the case in lessons, where they show that they are keen to learn. This contributes to a sense of purpose across the school. Pupils are supported to become more successful at regulating their emotions. They are supported effectively to manage challenging situations. This gives them some essential skills for adulthood.

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

Leaders and staff have high ambitions for all pupils. They help them to achieve these through the support they receive in class. This reduces barriers to learning. There is a well- planned curriculum in place across most subjects. Pupils make progress from their starting points. There is an increasing range of qualifications available for all pupils. More pupils are now achieving in qualifications up to GCSE level. This supports them to be well prepared for their next steps.

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

Pupils experience an increasing number of opportunities beyond the curriculum in school and in the wider community. This is evident in their engagement with outdoor learning and local organisations such as the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Pupils learn about being a volunteer as part of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme. The care and ambition that staff show mean that most pupils thrive during their time at the school.

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Next steps

Leaders should continue to act on their identified priorities for development, and rigorously monitor the impact of these so that there is consistent improvement across all areas. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum is delivered and adapted consistently well so that pupils are equally successful across all subjects. Leaders should continue their work to improve overall attendance, particularly for pupils who are persistently or severely absent.

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About this inspection

This school is part of The Beckmead Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Dr Jonty Clark OBE, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Laurence Nesbitt.

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About this inspection

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

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About this inspection

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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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the headteacher and members of the senior and middle leadership teams. The lead inspector also had meetings with the CEO and the deputy CEO and the chair of the board of trustees.

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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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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 inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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What does this mean?

The school has undergone a number of significant changes in leadership. The current headteacher was appointed in December 2025.

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What does this mean?

All pupils at the school have education, health and care plans. Most pupils' primary needs are identified as social, emotional or mental health needs.

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What does this mean?

The school makes use of 4 unregistered alternative provisions for pupils.

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What does this mean?

Headteacher: Mr Grégoire Godin 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

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 .

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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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