Shenstone Lodge School

Overview

Shenstone Lodge School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection. The school provides a calm, supportive environment where pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs feel ‘safe, happy, independent and learning’. Strong relationships and high expectations help pupils overcome significant educational barriers and achieve well.

Strengths

• Staff build ‘positive, caring relationships’ through a detailed induction process, ensuring pupils feel valued and understood.
• Behaviour management is highly effective, resulting in ‘calm’ lessons with rare disruption and a significant reduction in suspensions.
• Teachers sensitively adapt English and mathematics lessons, providing feedback that helps address misconceptions quickly.
• The curriculum is ‘broad and engaging’, with impressive work-based learning opportunities in areas like construction and barbering.
• The school maintains strong partnerships with parents through ‘regular communications and calls home’.

Areas to improve

• The teaching of early reading lacks precision and consistency; staff should be supported to teach phonics with greater accuracy and continually check pupil understanding.
• The school has not quality assured the implementation of some subjects as thoroughly as English and mathematics, leading to variability in delivery.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.