Marland School

Overview

Marland School is judged as ‘Good’ across all inspection categories. The report highlights that staff build ‘positive, caring relationships’ with pupils who have experienced difficult educational histories, helping them to ‘feel settled and re-engage in education’. Leaders maintain high expectations, resulting in some pupils ‘experiencing success at school for the first time’.

Strengths

• Staff use their understanding of pupils’ special educational needs to develop strong relationships, which is described as ‘a strength of the school’.
• Leaders have implemented an ‘ambitious curriculum’ in most subjects, with a particular focus on reading and a ‘well-planned mathematics curriculum’.
• Pupils benefit from a ‘wide range of activities’, including sporting events and outdoor learning, which help them ‘become more confident’.
• The personal, social and health education curriculum is ‘well planned’, ensuring pupils develop an ‘age-appropriate understanding of relationships and sex education’.
• Governors ‘offer effective support and challenge’, and staff appreciate the consideration given to their workload.

Areas to improve

• Leaders have ‘not identified precisely what pupils need to know in some subjects’, meaning learning is not coherent across all key stages.
• This lack of clarity slows pupils’ ability to ‘build their knowledge as well as they could’, requiring leaders to ensure important knowledge is clearly identified and remembered over time.

Safeguarding

The report states that ‘the arrangements for safeguarding are effective’, noting a ‘strong culture of safeguarding’ where staff identify concerns immediately and work well with external agencies.