The Promise School

The Promise School Wardhayes, Simmons Way, Okehampton EX20 1PU

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inspection report:

At the most recent graded inspection, the following areas were identified as needing to improve:

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inspection report:

The school’s expectations for pupils’ behaviour and their attitudes to learning are low. This is exacerbated further by the school’s lack of a consistent approach in how to challenge and respond to pupils’ poor behaviour. The result is a school culture where pupils demonstrate a lack of respect to others, learning is regularly disrupted and the use of derogatory language is commonplace. The school must increase its expectations so that pupils have clear boundaries to encourage positive behaviour and attitudes to learning. Staff must be supported in their understanding of these increased expectations so that they have the confidence and skills to adhere to them.

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inspection report:

The school has not ensured that its staff have the necessary knowledge and skills to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). As a result, pupils do not get the precise, targeted support that they need to learn and develop successfully. Too often, this lack of SEND expertise increases pupils’ barriers to learning so that they show their frustrations in their behaviour and attitudes. The trust must work with the school to enable the SEND expertise that is in place to be shared and understood fully, so that pupils get the provision that they need and deserve.

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inspection report:

The school’s curriculum is not sufficiently developed. Furthermore, the systems to check pupils’ progress through the curriculum and identify gaps in learning are not effective. This hinders pupils from building new learning successfully. The school must develop a well-sequenced and coherent curriculum in all subjects so that pupils can build securely on their prior learning and be fully prepared for their next steps.

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inspection report:

The school has not secured the strategic oversight needed to identify and address weaknesses in its provision quickly enough. As a result, many pupils experience a poor quality of education. The trust must support the school to continue the very recent growth in its capacity, so that it can stem the current decline in its standards, develop staff’s knowledge and expertise and provide pupils with a high-quality education that meets their academic, social and emotional needs fully. Monitoring Inspection report: The Promise School, 23 June 2026 2 The school has not established a shared vision and agreed values to support and foster the development of a positive school culture that is aspirational for its pupils in all that they can achieve socially, emotionally and academically. At present, the school’s current practice is impacting negatively on too much of its community, including pupils, staff and families.

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inspection report:

The trust must work with the school to enable it to swiftly stem the current decline, so that it can transform and provide a high-quality education for its pupils and improve the experience of the school for all.

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Leaders and trustees are taking effective action to improve the school but

continued work is needed to remove the special measures designation.

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The position regarding the appointment of early career teachers will be

considered again during any further monitoring inspection we carry out.

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The position regarding the appointment of early career teachers will be

During the monitoring inspection, inspectors focused on the following evaluation areas:  Leadership and governance  Inclusion  Achievement  Behaviour  Curriculum and teaching

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Leadership and governance

Since the last inspection, leaders, with the support of the trust, have maintained a clear focus on school improvement. Together, they have taken the right actions at the right times. They have strengthened their processes to ensure that they regularly review pupils’ individual learning plans. Leaders have introduced a sequenced and coherent curriculum in many subjects. Consequently, pupils are now in a position to build more successfully on previous learning. Leaders have taken appropriate steps to strengthen the behaviour policy. They have provided staff with useful professional development. As a result, pupils have a clearer understanding of leaders’ expectations. In addition, leaders have ensured that pupils’ transition back to school, in new surroundings, has been as smooth as possible. Most pupils have settled well.

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Leadership and governance

However, leaders recognise that there is considerable work to do. In too many subjects, leaders do not yet have a secure understanding of how successfully pupils are learning. In addition, staff still do not have the depth of expertise they need to deliver the curriculum as intended. Furthermore, not all leaders have developed a sufficiently strategic oversight of their areas of responsibility. As a result, their actions do not consistently lead to improvements in the quality of education that pupils receive. Monitoring Inspection report: The Promise School, 23 June 2026 3

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Safeguarding

At the previous graded inspection, safeguarding was evaluated as being effective.

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Inclusion

Leaders have secured greater rigour in identifying and addressing the needs of pupils. They ensure that staff collaborate with parents to identify pupils’ needs. In addition, leaders work with external providers with increasing success, including alternative provision, to support pupils to overcome barriers to learning. The use of the pupil premium funding is now aligned to school improvement priorities. Leaders review the impact of their work regularly. The steps they have taken are beginning to make a positive difference to pupils’ outcomes. For example, pupils in the intervention class benefit from highly adaptive teaching. This approach responds to pupils’ individual needs and enables them to engage more successfully in learning.

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Inclusion

However, typically, pupils’ individual learning plans are not precise. Consequently, staff do not consistently make needed adaptations to reduce pupils’ barriers to learning. There is currently a disconnect between the ambition and scope of pupils’ education, health and care plans and pupils’ more generalised individual learning plans. Consequently, pupils do not receive the tailored support they need to make the progress they should.

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Achievement

Leaders’ work to strengthen assessment continues appropriately. In phonics, this is further ahead than in other subjects. Leaders know pupils’ starting points and have a clear understanding of pupils’ progress and the gaps in their learning. Misconceptions are identified and addressed. Consequently, pupils build successfully on their previous learning.

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Achievement

However, assessment in other curriculum subjects is in its infancy. Leaders do not yet have a clear understanding of pupils’ starting points. This makes it difficult for staff to address gaps in pupils’ knowledge or understand how successfully pupils are learning. In addition, leaders lack the precise information they need to evaluate the impact of the curriculum. This hinders their ability to identify where further improvements are required.

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Behaviour

Pupils typically benefit from a calm start to the day, which helps them prepare for learning. Older pupils understand leaders’ expectations of behaviour well. They increasingly know it is important to interact respectfully with others. Leaders ensure that transitions between classes are kept to a minimum. This supports pupils to feel supported and ready for what is next. Pupils typically enjoy the opportunity to mix with others at social times.

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Behaviour

Leaders’ work to develop pupils’ attitudes to learning is at an early stage. Strategies used by staff to help pupils engage more effectively in their learning can be ineffective. Leaders acknowledge that they do not yet have a strategic understanding of behaviour across the school. Although incidents are recorded more accurately, leaders do not have a clear view Monitoring Inspection report: The Promise School, 23 June 2026 4 of patterns and trends. This limits their ability to secure consistently positive learning environments.

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Curriculum and teaching

Leaders have ensured the curriculum design across subjects is sequential and coherent. They have set out the important knowledge and skills pupils need to secure over time. Leaders have provided staff with useful training, which has started to improve the way the curriculum is taught. They have ensured that phonics teaching is systematic. Pupils read books that match the phonics sounds they know. Beyond phonics, pupils are exposed to a range of fiction and non-fiction texts. These are often linked to other curriculum subjects, which helps deepen pupils’ learning.

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Curriculum and teaching

Nevertheless, there remains significant work to do to ensure that the curriculum is implemented as leaders intend. At present, the activities that pupils are asked to complete restrict their ability to build and apply important knowledge. In addition, leaders have not given sufficient thought to the best way to develop pupils’ resilience in the areas of learning where they face the most complex barriers. As a result, pupils do not develop the confidence and perseverance they need to tackle learning independently. Furthermore, as it stands, the curriculum is not sufficiently broad. Consequently, pupils have limited opportunities to secure important knowledge and skills in some subjects.

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Additional next steps

Leaders and trustees should continue to work to address the priorities for improvement identified in the last graded inspection report.

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About this inspection

The inspector carried out this monitoring inspection under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005, and it was the second monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require special measures following the graded inspection that took place in June 2025.

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About this inspection

The school’s previous inspection was carried out under the Education Inspection Framework (EIF) at that time. The renewed EIF took effect from 10 November 2025. The areas for improvement identified at the school’s graded inspection and subsequent monitoring inspections have been cross-referenced to the relevant evaluation areas in the inspection toolkit for consideration on this monitoring inspection.

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About this inspection

The purpose of this monitoring inspection was not to determine grades for any of the evaluation areas set out in the school inspection toolkit. The purpose was to identify and report on the school’s progress in addressing priorities for improvement since the school’s previous inspection.

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About this inspection

Since the last inspection, the school has been temporarily relocated to Okehampton College and Okehampton Primary School. There have been several staff changes. Leaders have also faced recruitment challenges. We have considered these factors as part of the monitoring inspection. Monitoring Inspection report: The Promise School, 23 June 2026 5 During this inspection, meetings were held with the principal and other senior leaders, the chief executive officer of the trust, other staff and trustees to discuss the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection.

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Lead inspector

Liz Geller His Majesty’s Inspector Monitoring Inspection report: The Promise School, 23 June 2026 6

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About this school

Type of specialist provision Autistic Spectrum Disorder and Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs Monitoring Inspection report: The Promise School, 23 June 2026 7 and inspects 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 prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked- after-children, safeguarding and child protection.

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About this school

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About this school

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About this school

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About this school

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

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