Summergil House School, Presteigne

Summergil House School is a school in Wales. Welsh schools are inspected by Estyn rather than Ofsted, and its latest report is published on Estyn's website.

Estyn's report on its March 2022 inspection summarises Summergil House School like this:

"Summergil House School is a happy and welcoming school. Its peaceful rural location has an extremely positive effect on pupils’ well-being and provides many opportunities for pupils to take exercise, explore nature and self-regulate when they need to. The school provides a suitably varied range of learning experiences that reflect the wide range of pupils’ needs, abilities and interests. Teachers and learning support assistants know their pupils well and form positive working relationships with them. Over time, this caring support helps many pupils to settle in well and make worthwhile progress from their starting points. Many pupils make beneficial progress in developing their physical skills and most become more independent during their time at the school. However, shortcomings in teachers’ planning and the quality of learning support mean that pupils do not make the progress in developing their literacy, numeracy and digital skills that they are capable of. Although the majority of pupils become more successful learners during their time at the school, a minority do not engage with classroom-based learning consistently enough."

"This is partly because the size and number of classrooms are not sufficient to accommodate the wide range of pupils’ complex needs. In addition, the work of the clinical team in supporting teaching staff with behaviour management and communication strategies is not co‑ordinated well enough. Leaders promote a caring ethos across the school and have established strong working relationships with parents and carers and staff working in the residential setting. Their calm and purposeful leadership has helped the school navigate considerable challenges during the pandemic when the homes were forced to lockdown on successive occasions. Staff from the education and residential sides of the company worked together constructively to provide a caring and supportive community for pupils throughout this period. However, quality assurance and improvement planning processes are not self-critical enough and do not focus well enough on improving the skills of teachers and learning support staff. The school does not comply fully with the Independent School Standards (Wales) Regulations 2003. Compliance with the regulations for registration Independent school inspections are governed by the Education Act 2002 and related regulations: the Independent School Standards (Wales) Regulations 2003."

"These regulations require an independent school to meet an appropriate standard in the following areas: The quality of education provided by the school The school does not meet the regulatory requirements for this standard. Although the school meets most of the regulatory requirements for this standard, in order to comply fully with the Independent School Standards (Wales) Regulations 2003 the school should: • Ensure that lessons are well planned, teaching methods effective, suitable activities used and class time managed effectively [1(3)c] • Ensure teachers show a good understanding of the aptitudes, needs and prior attainments of the pupils, and that these are taken into account in the planning of lessons [1(3)d] • Ensure classroom resources are of an adequate quantity, quality and range and are used effectively [1(3)f] • Ensure teachers provide education which enables all pupils within a class to make progress including pupils with statements and those for whom Welsh or English is an additional language [1(5)] The spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils The school meets the regulatory requirements for this standard. Welfare, health and safety of pupils The school does not meet the regulatory requirements for this standard. Although the school meets most of the regulatory requirements for this standard, in order to comply fully with the Independent School Standards (Wales) Regulations 2003 the school should: • Prepare and implement written policies to promote and safeguard the welfare of children at the school which complies with Welsh Government guidance [3(2)b] • Maintain an admission and attendance register in accordance with the Education (Pupil Registration) (Wales) Regulations 2010 [3(9)] The suitability of proprietors and staff The school meets the regulatory requirements for this standard. Premises of and boarding accommodation at schools The school does not meet the regulatory requirements for this standard. Although the school meets almost all of the regulatory requirements for this standard, in order to comply fully with the Independent School Standards (Wales) Regulations 2003 the school should: • Provide classrooms appropriate in size to allow effective teaching [5(j)] The provision of information The school meets the regulatory requirements for this standard. The manner in which complaints are to be handled The school meets the regulatory requirements for this standard."

Estyn made 4 recommendations: (1) Comply fully with the Independent School Standards (Wales) Regulations 2003, including making a material change to the registration of the school to cover the temporary use of additional teaching space; (2) Strengthen the planning for and teaching of pupils’ literacy, numeracy and digital skills; (3) Ensure the size and number of classrooms meet the needs of pupils; (4) Ensure arrangements for quality assurance and governance focus on school improvement and improving the quality of teaching.

Estyn follow-up status: The school does not require any follow-up activity by Estyn..

There is no railway, tram or Underground station within about three miles of Summergil House School.