Royal School for the Deaf Derby

Overview

This ungraded inspection confirms that Royal School for the Deaf Derby has “taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.” The school continues to provide a high-quality education rooted in a “truly bilingual approach,” where British Sign Language and speech therapy are central to learning. Leaders have successfully refined the curriculum and supported staff, ensuring pupils remain engaged and achieve well.

Strengths

• Communication is described as the “golden thread through everything,” with pupils developing strong skills in BSL and speech.
• Staff and pupils share “warm and strong relationships,” resulting in “exemplary” behaviour and a sense of safety.
• The curriculum is “ambitious” and logically sequenced, helping pupils understand deaf culture, history, and their rights.
• Teachers are “passionate and knowledgeable,” using effective strategies like BSL widgets to support learning.
• Reading is prioritised with an “effective approach to early reading and phonics,” enabling pupils to access the wider curriculum.

Areas to improve

• The report states that “occasionally, the activities staff choose do not match the aims of the curriculum,” meaning some pupils do not learn as well as they could.
• The school should ensure the curriculum is “implemented consistently well” to enable strong progress across all subjects.

Safeguarding

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