Northern House School (Wokingham) Special Academy is one of four schools in the Northern House School Academy Trust. The school is a sponsored academy and became part of the multi-academy trust in January 2017. The multi-academy trust delegates some responsibilities to the local governing body. The school provides up to 69 places for pupils who have social, emotional and mental health difficulties. All of the pupils on the roll have education, health and care plans. Some secondary pupils attend one of eight alternative providers. Five pupils attend Reading Football Club and Heroes for all, or part of, their education. Another 12 pupils attend JAC, Readipop, Pitstop at Haybrook College, Autoskills, Upper Lodge Farm and The Community Furniture Project for part of their education. Leaders from the school work closely with other schools in the multi-academy trust. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is above the national average. This group represents around half of the pupils in the school. Most of the pupils in the school are White British. Almost all of the pupils are boys. Inspection report: Northern House School (Wokingham) Special Academy, 16–17 October 2018 Page 8 of 10 Information about this inspection The inspection took place without notice to the school. It was conducted under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 and was deemed a section 5 inspection on the first day. The inspection was carried out following a complaint made to Ofsted which raised serious concerns. Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector decided that an inspection of the school should take place to follow up the whole-school issues that were raised. Inspectors sought to establish whether leadership and management are effective, whether pupils are safe at the school, and whether pupils’ well-being is promoted well. Inspectors visited all year groups, spoke to pupils and looked at work in their exercise books. Meetings were held with senior leaders, staff, a group of pupils, three members of the governing body and the chief executive officer of the academy trust. The lead inspector spoke to two representatives of the local authority on the telephone. Inspectors spoke to five parents on the telephone. There were no responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View). A range of documents was looked at, including the school’s information about pupils’ achievement, minutes of governors’ meetings and records concerning pupils’ attendance, behaviour and safety.