Avalon School

Overview

Avalon School continues to be a good school, with leaders having significantly improved the quality of education, behaviour, and safeguarding arrangements over the past two years. Pupils are treated with sensitivity and care, feeling safe and empowered to express their views in a calm and purposeful environment. The school’s new curriculum is coherent and carefully sequenced, preparing pupils well for adulthood through functional and vocational skills.

Strengths

• Pupils are "known and celebrated as individuals," demonstrating tolerance, respect, and kindness towards one another.
• The curriculum includes "ambitious communication and personal development learning activities" and prepares students for the next stage of education or employment.
• Leaders have successfully raised expectations for learning behaviour, resulting in "calm and purposeful learning environments" and significantly improved attendance.
• Pupils enjoy a wide range of enrichment experiences, such as sensory rugby and the Duke of Edinburgh’s award, alongside opportunities to rehearse important life skills.
• Staff receive specific training to keep pupils with complex needs safe, and leaders provide early help, such as drama therapy or food bank vouchers.

Areas to improve

• Staff do not have secure subject knowledge across all subjects, meaning learning activities do not always provide pupils with opportunities to "secure and deepen their knowledge sufficiently well."
• Leaders need to support staff to improve their subject knowledge to ensure pupils "know more, can do more and remember more over time."
• Leaders aim to embed individual communication plans into practice next year to further develop pupils’ communication skills.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with all safer recruitment checks completed before staff begin working and appropriate checks made for alternative provisions.