Lift Columbus

Lift Columbus Oliver Way, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 4ZB

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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 has not ensured that staff know the specific safeguarding risks pupils are vulnerable to. Inappropriate behaviours are not always identified as safeguarding concerns or reported as such. The school must ensure staff know how to identify and report concerns, including for harmful sexual behaviours. The school must ensure that all concerns are accurately identified and addressed.

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inspection report:

Temporary support staff are not sufficiently informed about pupils’ needs, their communication tools or specific safeguarding risks. This means that these staff do not always provide pupils with the support they need. They do not know how to recognise and report some safeguarding concerns. The school must ensure that agency and temporary staff have the information and knowledge they need to identify and report safeguarding concerns and support the pupils they work with effectively.

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inspection report:

The school does not use patterns and trends from safeguarding concerns or staff views to prioritise whole-school safeguarding actions. This limits the school’s ability to mitigate recurring risks. The school needs to ensure that the strategic oversight of safeguarding is in place so that risks are effectively and sustainably addressed.

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inspection report:

Students in the sixth form follow a narrow, unambitious curriculum. They are not suitably prepared for adulthood and/or are limited in the qualification routes they can follow. The school needs to ensure that the curriculum in the sixth form is ambitious and tailored to providing the life skills and/or qualifications students need for their next stage in education and life beyond school.

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inspection report:

The school does not ensure that all pupils study all of the required age-appropriate relationships and sex education and health education curriculum. This means pupils do not learn all that they need to know to stay safe and be prepared for adulthood. The school must ensure pupils receive this important knowledge for their safety. The school must ensure parents are consulted about this curriculum content. Monitoring Inspection report: Lift Columbus, 14 July 2026 2 In some subjects, including reading, the curriculum is not consistently taught as the school intends. This results in some pupils not achieving as well as they should. The school should ensure that the agreed curriculum is implemented consistently well in all subjects.

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inspection report:

The trust and school have not acted effectively to maintain the quality of provision or ensure that arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Some actions are very recent. This means that some parents and staff lack confidence in the work of the school, particularly its work to keep pupils safe. Some parents do not engage with the school. The trust and school must act with urgency to secure the improvements needed and regain the confidence of stakeholders in the work of the school.

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continued work is needed to remove the requires significant improvement

During the monitoring inspection, inspectors focused on the following evaluation areas:  Leadership and governance  Safeguarding  Post-16  Curriculum and teaching

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Leadership and governance

The school has made clear improvements since the previous inspection and monitoring visit. Leaders now provide robust oversight across key areas of the school’s work. Trust leaders have supported these improvements through regular visits, checks and continued professional challenge. Safeguarding has been a priority. Leaders review safeguarding records closely. The safeguarding team meets twice each day with other school leaders. These meetings form the school’s ‘check-in and check-out’ system. Leaders review new information, agree actions and check that support meets pupils’ and families’ needs.

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Leadership and governance

Trust leaders also review records, check the single central record and speak to pupils and staff during regular visits. This helps leaders confirm that the school’s safeguarding culture remains effective. The board of trustees receives regular information about the school. Trustees use this information to question leaders and ensure that improvement continues.

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Leadership and governance

The school has strengthened its work with parents. There is a family liaison officer in place, who is central to daily discussions about pupils and their wider needs. Regular newsletters now provide important updates for families, including information about safeguarding. Leaders recognise that some relationships with parents still need further improvement. This work has started well and continues to develop. Leaders continue to strengthen leadership across the curriculum and post-16 provision so that recent improvements become fully embedded and sustained. Monitoring Inspection report: Lift Columbus, 14 July 2026 3

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Safeguarding

At the previous graded inspection, safeguarding was evaluated as being not effective.

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Safeguarding

The school has made substantial improvements to its safeguarding provision since the previous inspection. Leaders have also embedded the changes introduced following the last monitoring visit. Safeguarding provision now operates effectively across the school. Leaders have established clear systems that help keep pupils safe. Safeguarding records are detailed and show clear chronologies. They demonstrate that leaders identify concerns quickly. They take appropriate action and review the impact of that action well. Leaders also analyse safeguarding information carefully. They identify patterns and themes and use this information to shape staff training and strengthen practice further.

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Safeguarding

Staff receive regular safeguarding training through the year in addition to annual updates. Training focuses on key themes, including harmful sexual behaviour. Staff build their knowledge through discussion and shared learning activities. This helps them apply their training with confidence. Staff record concerns consistently, including low-level concerns. Staff understand the school’s procedures and raise concerns without delay. Staff also describe a robust safeguarding culture where safeguarding remains everyone’s responsibility.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have appropriate arrangements for agency staff. Every member of agency staff receives a safeguarding induction and written guidance on arrival. They review key information about the pupils they will support before entering the classroom. Leaders also make sure that agency staff attend safeguarding and other important training.

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Safeguarding

Leaders maintain close oversight through the school’s ‘check in and check out’ system. Daily meetings include safeguarding, family support and medical leaders so that concerns receive prompt and appropriate attention. The medical lead maintains clear oversight of pupils’ medical needs. Leaders plan medical training before pupils move classes. This ensures that staff have the knowledge they need before new arrangements begin. Medication records show that staff administer medicines safely and accurately.

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Curriculum and teaching

The school has continued to strengthen the curriculum since the last monitoring visit. At that time, leaders had introduced an appropriate phonics programme. Pupils benefited from this work. Some differences remained in how consistently teachers taught phonics. The teaching of phonics is now consistent. Staff use the agreed approach consistently across classes. This includes in lessons, where pupils are at the earliest stages of developing sound and letter awareness. Teachers track how well pupils are learning to read. They use information from this to inform future reading activities. Pupils are learning to read well.

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Curriculum and teaching

Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum. However, some areas of the curriculum do not yet match each pupil’s individual needs and stage of learning closely enough. Assessment does not yet provide leaders and staff with precise information about what Monitoring Inspection report: Lift Columbus, 14 July 2026 4 pupils know, remember and can do. This limits how accurately staff can identify the next steps in learning and adapt the curriculum for individual pupils in these subject areas.

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Post-16 provision

Students in the post-16 phase access the same curriculum as pupils across the school, as all pupils share a similarly diverse range of cognition and learning needs. Consequently, the post-16 curriculum is ambitious. However, it is not yet well matched to students’ precise needs. Students do work towards appropriate accreditations. Leaders have developed opportunities for personal development for students. Students develop independence through regular use of the life skills flat. They gain valuable work-related experience, including roles in the on-site charity shop. Destination information remains positive and preparation for adulthood continues to improve.

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Post-16 provision

The areas for further development in post-16 reflect those across the wider curriculum. The curriculum does not yet match each student’s individual needs and stage of learning closely enough. Assessment does not yet provide precise information about each student’s learning. This limits how accurately staff can identify next steps and adapt learning. Leaders have started this work and continue to refine the curriculum and assessment so that they meet students’ needs more precisely.

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About this inspection

The inspectors 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 significant improvement following the graded inspection that took place in May 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

During this inspection, meetings were held with the executive headteacher, associate principal, vice-principal, representatives from the board of trustees and the representative for the chief executive officer of the trust, to discuss the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection. Monitoring Inspection report: Lift Columbus, 14 July 2026 5

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Team inspector

Alex Tomkins Ofsted Inspector Monitoring Inspection report: Lift Columbus, 14 July 2026 6

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Severe learning difficulties and profound and multiple learning difficulties. Monitoring Inspection report: Lift Columbus, 14 July 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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