Old Hall School

Overview

Old Hall School is a specialist community school for pupils with complex needs, including autism and profound learning difficulties. The inspection found that pupils achieve exceptionally well from the early years, with a curriculum carefully tailored to their specific requirements. Leaders and staff maintain high expectations, ensuring pupils are well prepared for their next stages in education and development.

Strengths

• The curriculum is "highly ambitious" and accurately planned to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), with a strong focus on communication and interaction.
• Pupils’ mental health and well-being are supported "exceptionally well," with effective strategies helping them manage emotions and build trust with adults.
• Reading is "highly prioritised," featuring a bespoke system for early stages that enables many pupils to read key texts independently by secondary school.
• Personal development is "exceptional," offering wide opportunities such as forest schools and careers weeks to prepare pupils for adulthood.
• Staff demonstrate core values of "positivity, opportunity, inclusiveness, kindness and togetherness," creating a calm, orderly, and respectful environment.

Areas to improve

• The report identifies no significant areas for improvement.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with an open and positive culture that puts pupils’ interests first.