£90k-a-year school near Shrewsbury ‘below set standards’
A £90,000-a-year independent school in Shrewsbury was found to not meet all standards when it was checked by a watchdog.
Cruckton Hall School, in Cruckton, received an "additional inspection" by Ofsted inspectors last month to review several aspects of the school's effectiveness.
The school looks after 33 boys aged eight to 19, and annual fees for day pupils are £90,143.
All pupils have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and associated conditions.
Lead inspector Jonathan Keay said that the impact teaching is having on learning is variable across the school.
He says: "There are some strengths in the teaching of mathematics and humanities. However, in some phases, teachers do not adequately consider the aptitudes and needs of pupils.
"As a result, the progress that some pupils make is weak. Teachers’ expectations are not routinely high enough."
The report states that areas for improvement from the previous inspection that relate to important aspects of teaching and learning have not improved enough.
It was revealed that in pupils' books, the majority of work is scribed for pupils by adults - even for older pupils who demonstrate that they have the confidence and ability to write independently.
The report adds: "Risk assessments do not provide enough detail about the risks associated with some pupils’ behaviour and the necessary control measures required to reduce these risks.
"Because of the shortcomings in relation to risk assessments, the school’s health and safety policy is not being implemented effectively."
Positive
But the inspectors did say that teachers frequently present pupils with options of what aspects of the curriculum they would like to focus on and how they will present their learning, and classroom resources are of a good quality.
Staff also have positive relationships with pupils, and they responded positively to any requests or instructions from staff, the report adds.
And any incidents of "restrictive physical intervention" are detailed and recorded.
The Department for Education (DfE) commissioned Ofsted to review several aspects of the school’s effectiveness including the quality of education provided.
The school was judged to be good at its last standard inspection in May 2017.
A spokesman for Cruckton Hall said: "At Cruckton Hall our top priority is providing a high quality and safe environment for all the children and young people we care for and educate.
“The children and young people we work with have highly complex needs and associated challenging behaviours. We work hard to provide them with the care and support they require to develop the academic and social skills they need to succeed in later life.
“Our overall rating remains Good, and Ofsted has recognised our work in terms of the positive
relationships developed with pupils, their engagement with learning, and the high quality of our facilities and learning resources.
“Ofsted did however identify some areas where we can improve our provision and we are working hard to address those points, many of which we had already begun work to improve. This includes the development of a new assessment system that will track pupils’ progress in their academic, social and emotional development. This will be used to ensure all pupils are making strong progress across the curriculum.
“We are committed to continuing to provide a high quality, safe learning and care environment for
our pupils, so that all the children and young people we work with can have the support they need to lead happy and fulfilling lives.”
