Chiltern Wood School

Overview

Chiltern Wood School continues to be a good school, where pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities enjoy attending and feel safe. The inspection confirms that staff are caring and supportive, fostering a purposeful atmosphere where pupils are kind to one another and well prepared for their futures.

Strengths

• Pupils are “well supported when they find situations to be challenging,” helping them remain calm and manage their emotions.
• The curriculum is “ambitious” with “carefully planned curriculum pathways” that meet pupils’ different needs, including those with profound and multiple learning difficulties.
• Staff “know the pupils in their class very well” and carefully adapt teaching, ensuring personalised goals from education, health and care plans are incorporated into lessons.
• Communication development is a strong foundation, with skilled staff using various methods to help pupils express themselves and reduce frustrations.
• Personal development is prioritised, with pupils participating in trips, school council activities, and learning life skills such as using public transport.

Areas to improve

• The school should ensure staff subject knowledge in phonics is further developed so pupils can build their knowledge coherently, as some are not learning to read as well as they could.
• Systems for checking some pupils’ prior learning need embedding to ensure new learning consistently builds on what pupils already know.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.