Staff provide a caring and nurturing environment for pupils. Relationships between staff and pupils are extremely positive. Staff know pupils’ individual needs well. Pupils have a range of difficulties, and staff support pupils to manage all their challenges well. Staff have pupils’ interests at the heart of all that they do. Many pupils have had negative experiences at previous schools. Some have struggled to attend a school or been excluded prior to arriving at Spring Valley. Staff go to great lengths to help pupils fit into the school. Pupils settle into life at school quickly. Pupils feel safe and secure in school. All pupils attend very well. Pupils get on well with each other. They say that sometimes there are ‘squabbles’, but teachers help them to sort things out. Pupils are not worried about bullying. Pupils benefit from a structured approach to school life. Routines help pupils understand expectations and appropriate behaviour. Staff have high expectations of what pupils can do and how they should behave. Pupils work hard to meet these expectations. Pupils understand the school’s rewards system. They appreciate being able to earn points that convert to prizes. Pupils say they like their teachers and their school. Pupils learn about a range of subjects. They enjoy practical activities such as baking biscuits and dissecting a heart. The curriculum is not yet well planned in all subjects so pupils do not learn as well as they could across the curriculum What does the school do well and what does it need to do better? Most pupils have experienced considerable disruption to their education in the past. They arrive at Spring Valley at different points throughout the school year. Leaders’ initial aim is to re-engage pupils in school life. Leaders give priority to physical activity to support pupils’ physical and mental well-being to prepare them for academic study. This is effective in establishing well-needed routines and high expectations of conduct. Pupils respond well. Staff have made a good start to developing pupils’ reading skills. Pupils receive regular phonics sessions. These sessions are well planned and help pupils to build on their knowledge. However, leaders have not established a consistent approach to teaching phonics across the school. Staff have not been trained to teach phonics. Not all staff have the knowledge they need to support pupils’ reading development. Staff promote a love of reading across the school. Teachers read to pupils regularly. Pupils read aloud to adults. Plans are in place to enrol pupils as members of the local library and make regular visits. The school’s library contains a range of appropriate books. Plans are in place to develop this further.