GREENHILL SPECIAL SCHOOL

Overview

Greenhill Special School is described as a “caring and nurturing school” that provides “sensitive support for pupils’ emotional well-being.” Most pupils build “positive and trusting relationships with the staff team” and make “appropriate progress from their initial starting points.” However, the report notes that “attendance issues impact on the rate of progress of a minority of pupils” and that self-evaluation systems are not yet robust enough.

Strengths

• The school fosters an “inclusive ethos where pupils feel safe and valued,” contributing to “positive levels of well-being.”
• Leaders work effectively with “specialist services, including educational psychologists and speech and language therapists” to support additional learning needs.
• The curriculum is “well linked to the interests and aptitudes of the pupils,” with a “strong emphasis on outdoor learning.”
• Leaders ensure “finance does not become a barrier to learning,” enabling pupils to access experiences such as trips to Edinburgh.
• Staff establish “positive working relationships with families” and ensure communication is “consistent and effective.”

Areas to improve

• The school must “strengthen self-evaluation and improvement planning” to ensure they are “robust or precise enough.”
• Leaders need to “improve attendance” to address issues impacting pupil progress.
• The school is required to “respond to the issues raised in the well-being letter.”

Safeguarding

The report states that leaders foster an environment where “pupils feel safe and valued” and that the school supports pupils “effectively beyond the school day and at times of critical need.”