The Hawthorns School

Overview: The Hawthorns School is a special school providing education for autistic pupils, achieving an exceptional standard in many areas. The school has a clear and robust vision, and leaders have established a welcoming and inclusive culture where every pupil is known, cared for, and well supported.

Strengths:

• The school has a strong standard in attendance and behaviour, with a notable impact on positive attendance for pupils with attendance barriers.
• The school has a strong standard in inclusion, providing expert support to remove barriers to learning and engagement, and helping pupils to develop independence and confidence.
• The school has a strong standard in leadership and governance, with a clear and robust vision, and leaders who understand pupils' needs well.
• The school has a strong standard in personal development and wellbeing, placing pupils' personal development and wellbeing at the heart of everything, and providing a well-conceived 'LIFE' curriculum.
• The school has a strong standard in safeguarding, with leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfilling their specific responsibilities and establishing an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility.

Areas to improve:

• Leaders should ensure high-quality implementation of the curriculum across all phases and areas, so that pupils achieve consistently well.
• On a small number of occasions, the delivery of the curriculum is less consistent due to some staff still gaining expertise and knowledge.

Safeguarding: The safeguarding standards are met, with leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfilling their specific responsibilities and establishing an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed.