The Oaks Secondary School

Overview

The Oaks Secondary School continues to be an outstanding school, where pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities flourish. Staff maintain strong, caring relationships and high expectations, resulting in exemplary behaviour and a positive environment that parents overwhelmingly praise.

Strengths

• Pupils’ behaviour is described as “exemplary,” with students moving around the school “calmly and with great respect” and supporting one another.
• The curriculum is “highly ambitious” and carefully adapted to meet individual needs, with meaningful experiences woven in to support understanding.
• Staff are “highly skilled at adapting the curriculum” and work seamlessly with health professionals and therapists to support pupils.
• The school provides an “excellent and highly effective personal development offer,” including enrichment activities like cookery, yoga, and gardening.
• Staff wellbeing is prioritised, with leaders supporting them through reduced workload pressures and an “open-door policy” for sharing ideas.

Areas to improve

• The report identifies no significant areas for improvement.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with staff undertaking extensive training to identify vulnerabilities and reporting concerns promptly to external agencies.