Elizabeth House School, Middleton

What it's like to be a pupil at Elizabeth House School

Pupils are safe and happy at school. Staff know the pupils well. They provide effective support to make sure that pupils feel settled and part of the school community. Pupils develop confidence and self-belief while they are part of this school. They access training and resources available within their locality. These include learning about climbing or taking part in woodwork and pottery projects. Pupils particularly enjoy learning about different careers that they might want to pursue when they are older, such as plumbing or electrical work. They take part in charity work and other activities within their local community. Pupils do not achieve as well as they could. The curriculum does not provide the support that they need to build knowledge equally well in different subjects. Pupils are not as well prepared as they could be for their next stages of education, employment or training as a result. This is particularly true for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). All pupils at the school face challenges in their lives. Leaders successfully reduce many of the difficulties that pupils face in accessing the curriculum. However, this is less true for pupils with SEND. These pupils do not make as much progress as they could in some aspects of their learning. Pupils get along with each other well. They respond willingly to the routines that leaders provide. Pupils typically maintain positive behaviour throughout the school day. Staff provide effective support when pupils struggle to manage their emotions. Pupils are respectful of people's differences. They learn to embrace the diversity that they may encounter living in modern Britain. Incidents of bullying are rare and are dealt with thoroughly by leaders. Most pupils attend school every day that they can. Leaders provide effective support to improve the attendance of those who find this more difficult.

What Ofsted says the school should do next

• Leaders should ensure that teachers recognise when pupils may have special educational needs and/or disabilities and how to help them learn most effectively.
• Leaders should make sure that pupils build up their knowledge as well as they can, especially in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Leaders should ensure that teachers have the subject-specific knowledge that they need to support pupils' learning equally well across the curriculum.
• Leaders should make sure that teachers check and take into account what pupils already know before moving on to new learning.
• Leaders at all levels should strengthen their systems and procedures to ensure that the independent school standards are consistently met and maintained.

Elizabeth House School excels at creating a caring, inclusive environment where vulnerable pupils feel safe and develop confidence. The school provides excellent personal development and careers education, helping pupils explore different career pathways through practical workshops such as climbing, woodwork, pottery, plumbing and electrical work. Staff know pupils well and provide sensitive, effective support to help them settle and focus on their learning, with pupils showing positive behaviour and strong relationships with each other.

Safeguarding standards are met - leaders have established an open culture where safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed, making pupils safer and helping them feel safe.

Climbing, woodwork, pottery, plumbing workshops, electrical work workshops, charity work, local community activities

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