Danesgate CommunityOfsted report card, 22 Sept 2026

Danesgate Community

Address: Danesgate, Fulford Cross, York, North Yorkshire, YO10 4PB Unique reference number (URN): 121270

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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 Strong standard

Success at Danesgate Community school looks different for every pupil because every pupil has their own needs and abilities. Pupils, including pupils in the care of the local authority and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make considerable progress from their starting points. Pupils demonstrate rapid academic progress and progress in their personal and social development.

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Achievement Strong standard

Pupils achieve well. Most pupils leave school with a range of qualifications, including GCSEs, vocational qualifications and Functional Skills. Teachers celebrate pupils’ achievements wholeheartedly. Most pupils can demonstrate progress in their mastery of life skills. For example, by being able to cook a meal, manage money or travel independently. Other pupils gain the practical skills they need for adult life, such as working in the community or caring for animals.

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Achievement Strong standard

Pupils enjoy reading, writing and mathematics and make great progress over time. For example, pupils' work shows that they write longer, more descriptive, pieces of writing and answer increasingly more complex maths problems, as they grow in confidence in school.

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Achievement Strong standard

Pupils leave school ready for their next stage of education, training and employment. This is possible because of the achievements and progress pupils make.

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Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

From pupils' starting points, before joining the school, current attendance figures are high and continually improving for both individual, and groups of, pupils. This is notable given the pupils’ different needs. Leaders track attendance carefully. They quickly notice when a pupil’s attendance falls. Leaders investigate the reasons behind absence with care and work proactively with families to put the right support in place. Leaders maintain high expectations and work hard to make sure all pupils attend school as often as they can.

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Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. They are calm and treat adults, including visitors, with respect. Leaders set high expectations and, together with pupils, they establish clear and understood rules. Staff use calm and appropriate language to help pupils take responsibility for their choices. At times, pupils struggle with their emotions. When this is the case, trained staff help pupils to manage their emotions. This usually enables pupils to get back to learning quickly.

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Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

Leaders continue to develop the culture where students feel supported and eager to learn. This caring environment helps children develop good habits and look forward to every day in the classroom.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders act rapidly to recognise the needs of pupils. They gather information from previous schools, parents and carers, and pupils themselves. Leaders use the extensive skill set of

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Expected standard

staff to support pupils' needs well. Leaders continue to shape pupils’ support plans during their time in school. Each pupil has a clear one-page profile that links to their support plan. This is a live document which staff use and adapt effectively. The document shares details on how best to adapt lesson activities. It helps staff access learning for all pupils.

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Expected standard

Leaders recruit staff that reflect their own passion for inclusion. This makes sure that pupils in each class get the care and attention they need and deserve. Leaders work closely with the virtual school, children's social care and other professionals. Leaders notice when pupils' needs change. For example, this often happens when pupils become young carers. Specialist staff give pupils extra emotional support effectively.

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Expected standard

A new 'middle school' class helps younger pupils. It makes the move from primary into secondary learning easier for them. All pupils at the school have special educational needs and/or disabilities and many are disadvantaged. Leaders use the pupil premium in an appropriate and sensitive way to give disadvantaged pupils extra help. Leaders ensure that the funding has an impact. It improves outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Pupils follow curriculum pathways that match their needs and intended next steps. Leaders decide on the most effective curriculum pathways after careful discussion with parents, carers, and pupils themselves. Leaders know the curriculum well. They understand what works well and what needs to improve. Leaders rightly put reading first. This includes where younger pupils learn phonics every day. Staff typically teach phonics well for these pupils.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders also develop mathematics and a wider love of reading across the wider curriculum subjects. Leaders prioritise language and communication well. This helps pupils to access the curriculum in subjects outside of English and mathematics. Leaders also review and adapt the English curriculum regularly, informed by pupils’ needs.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Additional staff add valuable support for pupils in lessons. They help pupils to learn and know more about the subjects taught. Teachers check what pupils know during lessons and through tests well. Staff quickly address any gaps pupils have in knowledge. Pupils remember what they have learned. In catering, for example, pupils name the ingredients and cooking methods they used to make soup. In construction, pupils name the tools they use to shape and finish wood. They follow safety rules carefully.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders have established a culture in which pupils receive respect and high-quality personalised support from staff. Leaders show the importance of this every day. They talk to and listen to pupils closely. As a result, pupils feel valued. Leaders ensure that their decisions are in the best interests of pupils and that they improve pupils’ outcomes academically, pastorally and emotionally. Leaders build genuine partnerships with families, listening to their views and taking appropriate actions to support pupils’ learning and wellbeing. The leaders have an extremely positive relationship with the local authority. They work together to ensure that actions taken have a positive impact on the setting's success.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders share their curriculum vision well with staff and other stakeholders. As the school grows, leaders maintain focussed relationships that underpin all that the school does. Leaders understand the school's strengths and identify appropriate school development priorities. Leaders have high hopes for pupils. This leads to continuous improvement in the quality of provision, such as around pupils’ behaviour and the school’s identification of pupils’ needs.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Staff feel supported and valued, praising leadership and professional development. Middle leaders benefit from curriculum training and support with monitoring and evaluation. Staff at the school unanimously agree that the highly effective relationships serve the pupils extremely well. The 'management committee' is strategic and knowledgeable. The members hold leaders accountable well. Their curiosity about decisions helps them support leaders when needed. This includes examining safeguarding and how the school uses the pupil premium.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Teachers provide well-planned pastoral care for pupils. The pastoral team is skilled and knows pupils and their families well. Support ranges from daily check-ins to support from outside agencies. This helps pupils feel settled and ready to learn.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders have in place a personal development curriculum that meets needs and extends understanding of the world the pupils live in. The curriculum is organised to challenge pupils through discussing difficult dilemmas they may face in life. As a result, pupils are worldly- wise and demonstrate mature attitudes to risks online and in the real world.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education are part of the curriculum and meet statutory requirements. Staff teach RSE in a sensitive and age-appropriate way.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils understand online safety well. They also learn about risks in the community, such as exploitation. Pupils learn about healthy relationships and about respecting people's differences. Pupils gain an appropriate knowledge of these important issues. For example, they recognise that age cannot be a reason for discrimination. Pupils’ have a secure understanding of different faiths and cultures. The pupils say that, at Danesgate, it does not matter what you look like and everyone should be treated equally.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Life skills lessons prepare pupils for adult life well. Pupils learn to buy bus tickets, travel on public transport, and how to stay healthy.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils enjoy the trips the school offers. They visit theatres, travel to London, and learn about the community in York. These are just a few of the exciting opportunities available. Pupils receive effective careers advice. Links with employers and colleges help to raise pupils' hopes for the future. Leaders are working towards a national award for the quality of careers education.

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

Staff know pupils well. Before pupils join the school, staff speak with their parents and carers to understand pupils’ needs and interests. Leaders use this information to determine the individual support that pupils require, including each pupil's class and keyworker. As a result, pupils settle quickly at the school. They work in small groups with adults they trust and this helps them feel safe.

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

Pupils enjoy calm classrooms. Staff use well-established routines that support pupils’ positive behaviour and attitudes. Pupils help to write the rules for their own class. Pupils understand and follow these class rules. When a pupil becomes upset, staff will help the pupil to calm down and return to learning. Staff manage pupils’ behaviour well. Pupils attend school regularly. It is heart-warming to see pupils who have barriers to learning engaging fully in school life.

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

Pupils work towards individual learning and achievement goals. Some pupils work towards GCSEs and vocational qualifications. Other pupils focus on skills for adult life, such as cooking, managing money and travelling by bus. In catering and construction, older pupils talk with pride about their work. They name ingredients, tools, and safety rules with confidence.

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

Pupils who face barriers to learning receive appropriate support from leaders. Staff tailor their help to meet pupils’ needs. Staff also work closely with social workers and other services which help pupils get the right support quickly and contributes to pupils’ happiness.

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

Pupils know how to stay safe online and in the community. Police and youth justice staff teach pupils about local risks, such as exploitation.

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

Pupils develop their individual talents: some take extra catering lessons and others undertake training to become a mechanic. The school celebrates pupils' achievements beyond the classroom. Staff instil a belief in pupils that success is possible for everyone. The school’s links with employers and colleges help pupils to plan their next steps in education, training and employment.

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Next steps

Leaders should continue to check that the diligent plans in place, to help pupils fulfil their aspirations and ensure they are ready for adulthood, are having the desired impact on pupils. Leaders should focus on ensuring the English curriculum is fully embedded and taught as intended, to further enhance pupils' progress in English and empower them to access all areas of the curriculum fully. The school should build further on the bespoke, well-informed, approach it has to inclusion such as sharing the effective practices it uses with others in the education sector.

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Team inspectors:

Philippa Kermotschuk, His Majesty's Inspector Chris Pearce, His Majesty's Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This was the data available at the time of the full inspection, taken from different sources . More recent data may have been published since the full inspection took place.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The inspector(s) used this data during the full inspection on 22 September 2026

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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

This inspection took place on the 22 September and 23 September 2026.

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About this inspection

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

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the Headteacher and other school leaders. They also spoke to pupils, parents and carers.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke to representatives from the 'management committee', the local authority, and the school improvement partners.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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About this inspection

The school currently uses 11 unregistered alternative provisions.

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About this inspection

Headteacher: Christopher Nichols The proportion of pupils with reported special educational needs support at the school.

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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

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