“Pupils flourish at this remarkable school.”

This was the finding of Ofsted inspectors who have graded Prior’s Court School’s education provision as “outstanding” for the third inspection in a row.

Inspectors were full of praise in the report which followed a three-day visit to our School provision in February. “Outstanding” ratings were given in all five areas of the inspection – the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision.

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Highlights of the report included:

• “Pupils flourish at this remarkable school.”
• “Pupils benefit from the high ambition that the school has for what they can achieve. The expert teaching and support they receive means that they achieve these ambitions well.”
• “Every part of the school is calm and positive. The precise and effective teaching of communication means that pupils are independent communicators. They can share their views, including their likes and dislikes. This helps pupils to stay regulated and calm. On the rare occasion that a pupil is dysregulated, they receive skilful and patient care from well-trained staff.”
• “Pupils start the school mostly unable to be in the same company as others. The highly adept therapeutic input and pastoral care that pupils receive here has a profoundly positive impact on them.”
• “Pupils are happy. They trust that the adults they work with will take care of them.”
• “The school has created a highly ambitious and appropriate curriculum. It meets the academic needs of pupils as well as their personal development needs. As a result of this, pupils are extremely well prepared for their future.”
• “Teachers expertly use the aided communication stimulation approach in every area of learning. This enables pupils to access the curriculum and succeed.”
• “In the sixth form, the students’ curriculum offer expands into vocational studies. This is an ambitious offer which exposes students to valuable and high-quality work experience. Students have gained bespoke accreditations in a range of vocational areas. These include ground maintenance, barista training, commercial laundry, customer service and baking in the 'Bread and Beyond' onsite bakery.”
• “A sense of calm and focus pervades each classroom and disruptions to learning are very rare. This is because staff, supported by the expert therapeutic and nursing team, create the optimal sensory, physical and communication environment.”
• “The views of staff and parents and carers are captured well and used to inform decisions made about the provision. Staff feel motivated to work here. They appreciate the high level of expert training they receive and how this helps them to meet pupils’ needs accurately.”

Read the full report

This “outstanding” grading follows on from the same ratings given in 2022 and 2017.

Helen Franks, School Principal, said: “This was a simply amazing report to read and the praise in it for the staffing teams at Prior’s Court is fully deserved. Those staffing teams go above and beyond every single day of the week and the Ofsted inspection reflects this. A huge thank you to them and to everyone who played a part in this fantastic outcome.

“We have high ambitions for the young people at Prior’s Court and the amazing successes they achieve is noted in the report.

“I’d also like to thank our Director of Learning, Sue Piper. This was the first Ofsted inspection in many years in which Sue has not been our School Principal, but her support has been invaluable.”

This “outstanding” grading follows on from the same ratings being given in 2022 and 2017.

Prior’s Court School is rated as “good” by Ofsted for its residential care provision, while the four homes in Prior’s Court Young Adult Provision are all rated as “good” by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Read the full report