Forest Bridge School

Overview

Forest Bridge School continues to be a good school, providing a nurturing environment where pupils are "happy and proud ambassadors." The curriculum is expertly designed to meet individual needs, fostering independence and high self-confidence through "step-by-step knowledge and skills."

Strengths

• Staff build "positive relationships" and sensitively help pupils manage behaviour and emotions.
• The curriculum is "crafted around pupils’ individual starting points" and EHC plan targets, ensuring learning is manageable.
• Pupils have many opportunities to develop talents, such as music, community volunteering, and cooking.
• Attendance is "above the national average," supported by "nurturing and caring" staff.
• Trustees "support leaders effectively" and challenge them in equal measure, maintaining high staff morale.

Areas to improve

• Ensure all staff are well trained to teach the phonics programme effectively, as "minor inconsistencies" mean some weaker readers do not learn as quickly as they could.
• Ensure teachers help pupils make links with previous learning, as they do not consistently check what pupils have remembered, preventing them from securing knowledge as well as they could.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.