Staff provide a warm welcome to pupils when they arrive at this school. Wellestablished routines help pupils feel safe. Relationships between pupils and staff are secure and trusting. Pupils appreciate that staff know them well and care about them. Staff are attentive to meeting pupils’ needs. Their support ensures that pupils’ attitudes to learning are mostly positive. The school’s atmosphere is calm and purposeful. Pupils make the most of the welldesigned outdoor space. They cooperate well with others. Pupils know that their views matter. They say that bullying does not happen. They know that staff will listen to them if they have any worries. Parents and carers are positive about the school. Typically, one parent praised the ‘support, understanding, compassion and encouragement’ that staff provide. Pupils enjoy activities such as visiting the local museum, shopping in the outdoor market and learning to swim. They know what they need to do to be successful. One pupil reflected the views of others by saying, ‘I have never had such a good experience at school.’ What does the school do well and what does it need to do better? Pupils are supported very well when they join the school. Leaders check pupils’ communication and sensory needs carefully. Staff use this information to make sure that each pupil can access an ambitious curriculum. Teachers pay close attention to pupils’ education, health and care (EHC) plans when designing the curriculum. They provide pupils with plenty of opportunities to meet their specific targets. Pupils settle quickly into school life and begin to flourish. Staff are skilled at using different approaches to communicate with pupils. There is a structured approach to teaching phonics. Teachers frequently revisit the letters and sounds that pupils know. Pupils following the semi-formal curriculum pathway enjoy reading daily. They recall stories they have read by choosing appropriate words to describe the characters. However, reading is not prioritised across the school. Pupils following the formal curriculum pathway do not have consistent opportunities to read for enjoyment. Some of them lack confidence when reading and do not read as well as they should. Each curriculum pathway is logical and well structured. In mathematics, teachers present new subject knowledge clearly and check pupils’ understanding systematically. They help pupils remember new information. For example, pupils accurately identified the differences between median, mode and range using a rhyme. Staff make learning relevant to the real world, such as budgeting for food shopping. Pupils carry out mathematical operations with increasing accuracy and independence.