A South Cumbrian school has been praised by its watchdog in its latest Ofsted report.
Wings School Cumbria, part of Kedleston Group, is a specialist school in Milnthorpe which offers day and residential places for children and young people with social, emotional and mental health difficulties.
Ofsted inspectors visited the school in November and recently published their report. The school was given an overall rating of good, and inspectors said personal development and behaviour and attitudes were outstanding.
The report said: “Pupils told inspectors that they enjoy being at Wings School and that staff keep them safe. Any negative experiences of education that pupils have previously had are soon behind them. Pupils appreciate the support that staff provide.
“Pupils arrive at the school with a range of needs related to behaviour or emotional and mental health. Pupils receive very strong guidance from staff to help them to
improve their behaviour. They develop high levels of respect for each other and members of staff. There is not much bullying, but pupils said that staff respond to it
quickly and effectively.”
Inspectors found that there was an ambitious curriculum in place, although sometimes the curriculum content and sequence of learning was not as clear as it could be.
It added: “Leaders make reading a priority. They check on pupils’ reading ability when they start at the school. Staff identify where pupils have gaps in their knowledge and support them effectively.”
All pupils usually leave the school with qualifications in English, maths and science as a minimum.
The report said: “Leaders identify pupils’ special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well. Staff focus on supporting pupils’ social and emotional needs, with highly positive effects on their behaviour and attitudes. As a result, pupils access learning successfully across most of the curriculum.”
Inspectors found that safeguarding arrangements were effective.
The school said the Ofsted report into its children’s homes found youngsters made excellent progress and there was genuine fondness shown by care staff.
Staff at Wings Cumbria are, the inspectors found, ambitious for all the children in their care. They rated the overall care provision as good.
Principal Donagh McKillop said: “We are naturally delighted with the comments in both our care and education reports. The achievements the inspectors note should be a source of great pride for both the staff team and our young people.
“The young people at Wings Cumbria come to us having previously had very disrupted educational journeys, with many of them additionally experiencing significant challenges in their lives. Our aim always is to help them have the additional care, nurture and stability – as well as excellent educational opportunities – they need to help them reach their full and true potential.”
