Braidwood School for the Deaf

Overview

Braidwood School for the Deaf has “taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.” The school is described as an “inspirational community based on ambition, care and friendship,” where staff and pupils are united in striving for excellence. Leaders are viewed as tenacious in ensuring staff are skilled in communicating with pupils and colleagues.

Strengths

• Staff “expect pupils to get the most from their time” and act swiftly to provide emotional support, resulting in behaviour that is “calm, productive and respectful.”
• The “ambitious curriculum” is carefully planned, allowing pupils to “talk at length, debate and reflect,” which deepens understanding and develops critical thinking.
• Careers provision is “exemplary,” with deaf role models from industry inspiring pupils to see “what is possible and ambitious for them.”
• The school provides well-planned support for mental health, counselling, and special interests, such as the school band and art enrichment.
• Older pupils benefit from frequent opportunities to work alongside hearing pupils, including performing at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

Areas to improve

• Ensure all pupils have regular opportunities to “talk and/or sign at length about what they have learned” to help staff accurately assess understanding and foster independent thinking.
• Provide younger pupils with regular opportunities to “practise their newly gained learning in various situations” with hearing and deaf members of the community.

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.”