Hamilton Lodge School and College for Deaf Children

Overview: Hamilton Lodge School and College for Deaf Children has maintained its standards over time, despite a period of uncertainty in the recent past. The school is a nurturing environment where pupils feel safe and form trusting relationships with staff. Pupils are extremely positive about the school and think it is a friendly place where they can thrive academically and in developing their life skills.

Strengths:

• The school's 'independence curriculum' is noteworthy, teaching pupils the life skills they need outside of school.
• The curriculum is evolving in light of the changing cohorts of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) who attend.
• Classrooms are industrious places where developing pupils' communication skills sits at the heart of day-to-day work.
• Pupils in danger of falling behind are quickly identified and supported by a multi-disciplinary team of staff.
• The school's wider curriculum broadly matches that of the national curriculum, with a good understanding of life in modern Britain and the world beyond.

Areas to improve:

• In some cases, pupils' learning pathways are not as well defined as they could be as they move through the school.
• The careers education provided for pupils in the secondary phase is in the early stages of development.

Safeguarding: The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.