Hopedale School

Hopedale School

Address: Hopedale House, Off West Drive, Cheddleton, Staffordshire, ST13 7ED Unique reference number (URN): 138243

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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. Insufficient evidence: Inspectors were unable to gather sufficient evidence to judge whether safeguarding standards are met.

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Inclusion Exceptional

Inclusion is central to the school’s ethos and vision and underpins pupils' success at Hopedale. Leaders have established highly effective, precisely tailored strategies that support pupils from the moment they join. Staff are expert in personalising learning and rigorously review the impact of support on pupils’ learning and development. Staff are determined that every pupil can and will succeed. This is reflected in consistently high- quality teaching, especially in English and mathematics. Training is precisely matched to the school's inclusion priorities, ensuring staff have the knowledge and skills needed to meet pupils' needs.

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Inclusion Exceptional

The school engages exceptionally well with parents and carers to ensure that every pupil is supported to thrive, whatever their starting point. Staff consistently identify pupils’ needs swiftly and accurately. This helps pupils feel valued, involved and confident in their learning. Pupils’ growing confidence in speaking, learning and engaging with each other socially is an exceptional quality of the school.

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Inclusion Exceptional

Funding, including for those who are disadvantaged, is spent effectively and informed by educational research. This improves pupils’ outcomes from their starting points and strengthens their development as young people. Leaders and staff understand the barriers that pupils face and work tirelessly to remove these, so that every pupil can succeed. This leads to a positive culture of belonging for all.

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Inclusion Exceptional

Leaders do not use any alternative provision.

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Leadership and governance Exceptional

The strength and stability of leadership over several years have enabled ongoing, effective decisions that build on the school's previous accomplishments and sustain them. Leaders have established a finely tuned approach that keeps pupils' needs and best interests at the heart of their actions.

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Leadership and governance Exceptional

Leaders act diligently and work effectively with the proprietor and governors to ensure staff understand, share and live out the school’s ethos and aims. The school community clearly recognises the positive difference it makes. This shared understanding enables the proprietor and governors to provide robust challenge and effective support. The proprietor, supported by governors, uses a range of mechanisms to assure themselves of the impact of the school’s work. This enables leaders to showcase their practice and governors to ask pertinent questions. Together, they ensure the school consistently meets the independent school standards.

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Leadership and governance Exceptional

Leaders work regularly with other schools, external agencies, professionals, network groups and local authorities to support improvement and share best practice. Their experience, skill and expertise are highly valued in specialist and mainstream schools locally and beyond. The school works alongside other provisions, including prison and hospital education, to share their expertise and influence provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities nationally.

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Strong standard

Leaders are excellent role models. Leaders and governors ensure staff wellbeing and workload are supported appropriately. Staff benefit from high-quality, evidence-informed training and support. Leaders at all levels demonstrate the highest standards of professionalism, genuine passion and determination to transform pupils’ lives. They ensure pupils can truly flourish regardless of any disadvantage, creating a unique school community built on trust, inclusivity and high expectations.

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Achievement Strong standard

Pupils, all of whom have special educational needs and/or disabilities, consistently achieve well from their starting points. When pupils join the school they have substantial gaps in their communication, learning and regulation skills. Leaders address these from the first day the pupil starts. As a result, the curriculum and assessment system addresses these gaps well and focuses sharply on rebuilding these skills.

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Achievement Strong standard

The school's multi-layered developmental approach, including play-based activities, ensures that pupils develop key learning behaviours, such as increased engagement, attention and interaction in tasks successfully. This helps pupils to form the foundations for academic learning. Staff understand pupils' profiles exceptionally well and use highly individualised developmental plans, reviewed daily, to ensure that learning builds in precise, incremental steps. As a result, no time is wasted in enabling pupils to achieve their next steps. Pupils make excellent progress both pastorally and academically, given their highly complex needs.

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Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

Despite typically low attendance at previous schools, pupils' attendance rises rapidly after joining Hopedale. The school's approach is thoughtful, positive and highly individualised. Leaders design transitions programmes that are ambitious and sensitive to pupils' needs and monitor each pupil's attendance closely. This is very effective, with most pupils attending school much more regularly than before. Leaders respond swiftly to practical barriers, working with other agencies to ensure issues such as travel difficulties do not hinder attendance.

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Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

Behaviour is a notable strength. Pupils are very well supported through an individualised, proactive and relational approach. Pastoral and classroom staff work together extremely well. They have the skills to prevent pupils becoming unsettled and calm them quickly when needed. Staff implement morning routines with precision, which establishes predictability and reduces any anxiety. Pupils settle quickly into well-prepared classrooms, where sensory circuits, familiar materials and personalised routines help regulate behaviour.

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Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

Staff help pupils understand behavioural expectations, enabling them to recognise unsafe or unhelpful behaviours and make better choices more frequently. As a result, some pupils who have previously struggled to share space, accept support or attend lessons now do so confidently. Furthermore, they maintain friendships and engage in learning. When more significant incidents occur, staff use their skills and training expertly.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The curriculum and teaching across the school are highly consistent. Staff demonstrate a deep understanding of individual needs within a calm, respectful classroom environment. Leaders have crafted a tailored and highly creative curriculum that runs alongside the main curriculum offer and reflects the school’s context. Over time, these curriculums have been very successful in re-engaging pupils in their learning and equipping pupils with life skills around cooking, washing and travel.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Across all classes, tasks are well sequenced, aligned to curriculum intentions and adapted with precision. Activities build on prior learning well and offer appropriate challenge to enable significant progress across the curriculum. While staff consistently demonstrate highly responsive teaching, leaders are aware there is further work necessary to sharpen the checks on pupils’ learning, and the effectiveness of feedback, to deepen pupils’ skills and knowledge.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Many pupils benefit from well-planned exploratory and sensory activities. Early reading strategies are particularly well implemented across the school. The school’s phonics system is supported by rigorous assessment and staff use books that are well matched to pupils’ reading ability. Pupils who are not yet ready to verbalise sounds or who are nonverbal, are given every opportunity to be exposed to this key early learning. Mark making, transcription skills and early writing routines are evidenced and tracked precisely through the school.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

The personal development programme reflects leaders’ deep moral commitment to giving every pupil a voice. The personal, social, health and relationships education curriculum is designed with care and delivered with expertise. This ensures lessons remain appropriate, sensitive and firmly adapted to pupils’ developmental needs. Staff are well trained to address pupils' questions and provide tailored support for individuals that matches their needs. Parents and carers seek guidance confidently, reflecting their strong trust in the staff's expertise.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Safety education is explicit and well embedded. Pupils learn how to keep safe online, how their bodies change and how to be safe in the community. Fundamental British values, protected characteristics and kindness are woven through the curriculum effectively. Pupils understand and can explain clearly why it is important to respect everyone equally.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Opportunities for wider personal development are rich, ambitious and inclusive. Lunchtime clubs, shaped by pupils, such as the silent disco, offer experiences ranging from sport and reading to sensory play. Music and performing are increasingly prominent, with many pupils learning instruments for the first time and all taking part in the annual summer concert at a local college.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Pupils take pride in caring for the school’s garden and take on other responsibilities such as reading buddies and office assistants. School council members say their views make a difference, for example in developing further gardening and outdoor spaces. As a result, pupils contribute to school life. Pupils regularly access the local community, including swimming, shopping and visiting local care homes. Pupils visit places of worship to understand and respect different faiths. Visits are carefully managed so every pupil can participate meaningfully.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

The school’s careers programme begins in Year 7 and builds through to post-16. Work experience is adapted to meet pupils’ needs. Leaders continue to extend the careers opportunities. All pupils leave Hopedale and move on successfully to their next stage.

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

For pupils and families at Hopedale, leaders and staff significantly transform their lives. The school is an inspiring place because pupils and staff share a deep understanding of each other’s needs. Leaders prioritise building positive relationships with pupils. These begin before pupils join, with leaders visiting their homes to get to know parents and carers extremely well. This helps pupils build a deep sense of safety and trust in their new school. As a result, pupils do their best and behave consistently well. Staff know pupils exceptionally well, including their individual special educational needs and/or disabilities and other vulnerabilities.

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

Staff welcome pupils with a caring smile and genuine interest in how each pupil is. Pupils talk openly to staff about their feelings. They develop an awareness and understanding of their own vulnerabilities so they know themselves well, feel they belong and thrive. Specialist behaviour support helps pupils to regulate their emotions in a calm, therapeutic way. Pupils also speak joyfully about their time with Walter, the emotional-support dog who regularly visits school.

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

Pupils describe previous experiences in education, such as not taking part, being bullied or not wanting to attend. They say this school helps them overcome these barriers and learn. Each pupil you meet consistently says that Hopedale has given them a ‘place to belong’. One parent, typical of others, said: ‘People often describe things as life-changing, but Hopedale truly changed my son's life.’

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

The wider curriculum is broad and varied. Pupils benefit from a vast number of experiences on offer. These range from visits into the local community, university and careers conferences, supporting national charities and spending time celebrating national ‘days’ such as World Ocean Day and World Mental Health Day. These opportunities broaden pupils’ horizons and provide experiences many missed in previous schools.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that staff continue to embed their highly responsive teaching and sharpen their checks on learning and the effectiveness of feedback to deepen pupils’

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Independent school standards

Independent school standards are either met or not met for each category. knowledge and skills.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this standard inspection under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008, and checked the school's compliance with 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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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 other senior leaders, including the special educational needs and disabilities coordinator, executive headteacher(s), director of education, chair of the proprietor board and governors. Inspectors also spoke to a representative of the local authority, the virtual school headteacher, staff and pupils.

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About this inspection

The name of the proprietor is Hopedale Children and Family Services Ltd. The chair of the proprietor board is Sarah Deaville. The fees currently charged are £33,959 to £107,033 The email address of the school is office@hopedale.org.uk

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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About this inspection

Pupils attending the school have significant social, emotional and mental health needs. All pupils have an education, health and care plan. The school does not use any alternative provision. The school operates from a single site at Hopedale House, Off West Drive, Cheddleton, Staffordshire ST13 7ED. The school admitted its first pupils in 2012. The school currently has 71 pupils on roll, with a capacity of 100 pupils.

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About this inspection

1. Quality of education provided Standards met

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About this inspection

All standards have been met. 2. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils Standards met

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About this inspection

3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils Standards met

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About this inspection

4. Suitability of staff, supply staff, and proprietors Standards met

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About this inspection

5. Premises of and accommodation at schools Standards met

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About this inspection

6. Provision of information Standards met

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About this inspection

7. Manner in which complaints are handled Standards met

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About this inspection

8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools Standards met

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Lead inspector:

Stuart Clarkson, His Majesty's Inspector

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Team inspectors:

Barry Yeardsley, His Majesty's Inspector Emma Gater, His Majesty's Inspector Bianka Zemke, His Majesty's Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.

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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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Insufficient evidence

Inspectors were unable to gather reliable enough evidence to grade an evaluation area. This is rare and normally only happens if there are no pupils on roll at the school.

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Insufficient evidence

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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Insufficient evidence

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Insufficient evidence

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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Insufficient evidence

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Insufficient evidence

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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