St Joseph's Specialist Trust

Overview: St Joseph's Specialist Trust is an outstanding school that provides education for pupils with autistic spectrum disorder, moderate learning difficulty, speech language and communication needs, and severe learning difficulty. The school has a nurturing environment where pupils form trusting relationships with staff and feel happy, safe, and well-supported.

Strengths:

• Pupils receive a warm welcome and form exceptionally trusting relationships with staff.
• Pupils are supported to manage their behaviour exceptionally well, with staff providing sensitive help to regulate their behaviour.
• Leaders have high expectations for all pupils to achieve everything of which they are capable, and academic learning is seamlessly interwoven with therapeutic interventions.
• The school's 'Five Years to Departure' transition plan forms a clear route to future success, and leaders have coordinated an array of local community work experience placements.

Areas to improve: The report identifies no significant areas for improvement.

Safeguarding: The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with leaders prioritising keeping pupils safe, staff being well-trained, and reporting all concerns, no matter how small.