Hopespring Sunderland

Overview

Hopespring Sunderland is described as an “inclusive and welcoming place to learn” where staff “carefully weaves learning and high levels of care together.” The report states that pupils, many of whom previously found school challenging, now engage with “enthusiasm” and feel safe within a calm environment supported by “warm and caring professional relationships.”

Strengths

• The curriculum is praised for helping pupils re-engage in learning and acquire “important knowledge and skills to move on to their preferred next steps in learning with confidence.”
• Staff are recognised as “experts in supporting the well-being of pupils,” with daily briefings and training ensuring consistent support for individual needs.
• Pupils benefit from a “broad curriculum” that links to real-life skills, such as using mathematics to build go-karts, and opportunities like work experience and outdoor activities.
• Attendance has improved significantly compared to previous schools, and “almost all pupils go on to further study once they leave.”
• Parents and carers are “effusive in their praise for the school,” feeling it supports pupils well to succeed.

Areas to improve

• In some subjects, the curriculum does not identify with “sufficient precision the key knowledge pupils need to know and remember,” hindering long-term retention.
• The school does not routinely make the most of opportunities to check what pupils know, which “weakens how well the school tracks what pupils are remembering over time.”

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.”