Cambridge School

Overview

Cambridge School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection. The school is described as a true community where staff demonstrate "unrelenting ambition" and provide an "excellent package of support" for pupils with complex needs. Leaders have successfully adapted their approach to meet the needs of a changing cohort, resulting in increased engagement and reduced serious behavioural incidents.

Strengths

• Staff hold "extremely high" expectations and use specialist resources to help pupils achieve across a broad range of subjects.
• Pupils are sensitively prepared for life beyond school through real-life contexts, such as independent travel and community visits.
• Attendance is high, with staff showing "patience, consistency and persistence" to re-engage pupils who have been out of school.
• Pupils read with "confidence, accuracy and fluency" and use technical vocabulary to build new skills.
• The school fosters a positive culture where pupils are "strong advocates for the rights of others" and take pride in their work.

Areas to improve

• In a few subjects, including mathematics, the identification of important content is not clear enough, limiting pupils’ deeper subject-specific knowledge.
• The school should ensure the curriculum is set out in a "coherent and well-sequenced way in all subjects" to improve long-term retention.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.