Harmood School

Overview

Camden Centre for Learning (CCfL) Special School continues to be a good school, providing a supportive environment for pupils with complex social, emotional, and mental health needs. Leaders have successfully adapted the curriculum and approach to nurture this changing cohort, resulting in increased engagement and strong relationships between staff and pupils.

Strengths

• Staff build "strong relationships" with pupils by taking time to understand their complex needs, creating a "strong sense of community".
• Parents describe the support as "fabulous" and "amazing", valuing the commitment of leaders and staff to their child’s success.
• The school offers a "comprehensive and very well-considered range of enrichment activities" and a "well-planned and well-delivered careers programme".
• Leadership and governance are strong, with governors who "routinely test out what leaders tell them" to hold them to account.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective, with a "strong culture of keeping pupils safe" and thorough pre-employment checks.

Areas to improve

• Leaders must embed the new curriculum so that pupils "consistently build on what they know from one lesson to the next in all subjects".
• Staff require better training in teaching reading and phonics to ensure pupils can "access all areas of the curriculum fully".
• Leaders need to ensure behaviour management consistently meets expectations, as "disruptive behaviour and lack of engagement are still evident in some lessons".

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with staff well-trained to identify risks and pass concerns to leaders who deal with them appropriately.