Compass Community School Aylward Park, Aldeburgh & Leiston
Data last updated 11 Sept 2026
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 4 months agoOverall
Ofsted Insights
What This School Does Well
This school excels at making every pupil feel safe, valued and capable of success. Staff are skilled at understanding individual needs and adapting teaching so pupils overcome barriers to learning, with strong progress from catching up with reading to achieving GCSEs. The warm, respectful relationships and consistent support help pupils develop confidence and social skills while enjoying a rich curriculum that includes trips, assemblies, work experience and everyday moments like shared meals.
Key Strengths
- Strong, respectful relationships help pupils feel safe, valued and ready to learn - staff understand individual needs well
- Well-designed, ambitious curriculum that is broad, balanced and includes academic, vocational and therapeutic elements tailored to each pupil
- Excellent reading provision with daily personalised support and a welcoming book nook that makes reading accessible and engaging
- Consistent behaviour management approaches help pupils develop emotional regulation and social skills
- Effective specialist therapy team provides bespoke interventions such as speech and language therapy
Areas for Improvement
- Some staff lack confidence and subject knowledge in certain subjects, resulting in variable lesson quality and limiting pupil progress in places
- New assessment systems are still in early stages of implementation and not fully embedded, which occasionally limits leaders' evaluation of teaching effectiveness across all subjects
Safeguarding
Safeguarding arrangements are effective and the school creates an open, positive culture that puts pupils' interests first.
Extracurricular Activities
Regular park visits, trips, work experience, assemblies, form times, enrichment activities
Compass Community School Aylward Park is a small, nurturing independent special school rated Good overall. It provides education for pupils aged 11-17 with communication and social interaction difficulties, all of whom have Education, Health and Care plans.
At a Glance
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
Class Sizes
0.0
Avg class size
0
Total classes
2024/25 academic year
Getting There
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Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
19%
Available places
9 pupils
48 capacity
39 spare places available
Area Demand Pressure - Aldeburgh & Leiston
Based on MHCLG housing supply data for Aldeburgh & Leiston
Admissions Demand - Suffolk
Places available
8,496
Applications
7,401
Got 1st preference
92.0%
Got preferred school
97.4%
Secondary admissions across Suffolk (2025/26)
House Prices
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SEN Provision
How many pupils have special educational needs, what types of support the school provides, and how it compares to similar schools.
Pupil Demographics
The school's pupil mix - ethnicity breakdown, free school meals eligibility, and English as an additional language. Useful context when evaluating school fit.
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Feeder Primary Schools
Primary schools that likely feed into this school, based on proximity
Compass Community School Aylward Park
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