Special needs school in Dorset making progress but still 'requires improvement
Ofsted say Coombe House near Shaftesbury has been “significantly improving in a short time”
Last updated 2nd Oct 2023
Coombe House School near Shaftsbury has made “good progress” since it was forced to briefly close within weeks of opening 12 months ago.
According to Ofsted the school still “requires improvement” but behaviour, personal development and leadership were all ‘good’.
Managing Director at the Dorset Centre of Excellence, Andy Holder said: “To have the tone of the report be so positive was heartening and it really helps us understand that we're on the right path.”
“The changes have been transformative,” he added: “It is a completely different place in almost every way. The leadership team is almost wholly different to that when the school opened, children are having their needs met and they're building strong relationships with staff.”
The school’s growth is in line with expectations illustrated in the business plan with additional pupils expected to join the 56 already there, bringing the total to 72 by the end of the autumn term.
Eventually Coombe House, as it is now known, could cater for around 280 pupils with SEND.
Coombe House and centre of excellence is on the former St Mary’s School site, which was bought by Dorset Council for around £10 million, but more has been spent since on building works.
Mr Holder told us: “Our top priorities were getting the site safe and the leadership team right which went hand in hand with improving our reputation and how people perceive us locally.”
Pupils were also said to ‘like their new school’ while confidence from the local community has grown.
The Ofsted report acknowledged this, noting that leaders have the confidence of staff, parents and pupils and safeguarding was found to be effective.
However, the latest Ofsted inspection found the quality of education “requires improvement.”
Mr Holder replied: “We focused on getting the school safe, making sure that behaviours and attitudes of pupils improved significantly and ensuring the staff are well trained and the school started to run well.
“Of course, we did an awful lot of work on curriculum, but we didn't focus on that first because there were other things such as safeguarding which are critical and absolute priorities.”
Coombe House is now fully staffed and it is anticipated that its improved reputation will help attract quality staff.
Dorset Council says the Dorset Centre of Excellence project is part of a wider plan by the authority to invest £37.5 million over five years to create more provision for children with SEND in the county.