Combe Pafford School

Overview

Combe Pafford School continues to be a “good school,” described as “ambitious, harmonious and happy.” Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities “excel” in an environment where staff secure “positive relationships” and ensure learners feel “valued, safe and ready to learn.” The school prioritises securing “positive futures” for its pupils, with many going on to secure “meaningful and sustained employment.”

Strengths

• Staff “get to know pupils extremely well,” enabling effective support when pupils find things “tricky or challenging.”
• The curriculum is designed to prepare pupils for work, with a “carefully planned vocational curriculum” and rich community experiences.
• Reading is “central to the overall curriculum,” supported by a “well-stocked library” and dedicated lessons.
• Pupils “behave very well,” and both pupils and parents report that “bullying is not a problem.”
• Leaders provide “considered training” and governors offer “targeted challenge,” ensuring the school is “continuously improving.”

Areas to improve

• Strengthen the “consistency of the implementation of the curriculum” so pupils learn equally well across all subjects, as some are “not as established as others.”
• Raise expectations in the lower school, where provision is “not as ambitious and coherent” as in the upper school, to ensure pupils secure “foundational knowledge.”

Safeguarding

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