Chatten Free School

Overview

Chatten Free School provides an exceptional education for pupils with complex special educational needs and disabilities, earning an ‘Outstanding’ overall effectiveness rating. The report highlights how the school’s personalised care and innovative curriculum successfully restore confidence in education for pupils who have previously faced significant challenges. Leaders have created a secure environment where pupils feel calm, happy, and supported in their learning journey.

Strengths

• The ‘innovative curriculum’ works ‘exceptionally well’, with communication threads through every pupil’s individualised plan using symbol- or gesture-based approaches that are the ‘right fit’ for each child.
• Pupils make ‘remarkable progress’, developing independence and the ability to communicate their wishes, while their worlds widen to include new experiences like horse riding and residential trips.
• Staff expertise is high, supported by ‘detailed, regular training’, allowing them to sensitively steer pupils and capture ‘small, but important, steps of progress’ through accurate assessment.
• Leaders build ‘positive relationships with families’ to address historical attendance and behavioural issues, using flexible timetables to ensure a steady increase in attendance and calm conduct.
• The personal development programme effectively prepares pupils for community access, teaching essential safety measures and helping them overcome phobias through deliberate real-life experiences.

Areas to improve

• The report identifies no significant areas for improvement.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.