Holly House Special School

Overview

Pupils feel safe and valued in this small special school, benefiting from staff who know them well and provide strong emotional support. While the school has made notable progress since the previous inspection, the quality of education and leadership require improvement due to inconsistencies in curriculum planning and implementation.

Strengths

• Pupils "feel safe" and appreciate the care provided by staff who have "detailed knowledge of pupils".
• "Behaviour and attitudes" are good, with a "culture of respect" resulting in positive relationships.
• "Personal development" is a strength, with pupils accessing activities beyond the academic and learning about difference and tolerance.
• Early reading support is effective, with staff helping pupils become "fluent readers" through frequent progress checks.
• Governors provide "positive oversight and challenge," supporting leaders to balance workload with improvements.

Areas to improve

• The curriculum in some subjects "lacks specific detail" and is not well organised, affecting pupil achievement.
• Staff do not always use information from pupils’ education, health and care (EHC) plans effectively, meaning tasks are not always matched to needs.
• The school does not review the impact of EHC plan provisions "rigorously enough," leading to delayed adaptations.

Safeguarding

The report states that "the arrangements for safeguarding are effective."