Special needs high school in Luton rated ‘inadequate’ after first visit from Ofsted inspectors

A special educational needs school in Luton has been deemed ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted inspectors.

A report into Windmill Hill School, in York Street, was published today (April 25) after Ofsted visited the school for the first time since it opened in 2021.

After the visit in February, inspectors said: “The quality of education pupils currently receive is not good enough. Too many pupils do not learn as well as they could. This includes when learning to read. New leaders know this and have started to take swift action.”

Despite this, Inspectors noted the pupils are happy and like the adults who look after them and treat them with respect and dignity. The report read: “ Pupils easily express their feelings verbally, pictorially or through signing. This means they can be understood and are listened to.”

But “there are still instances of unkind behaviour”, which the staff were addressing – and incidents were reducing.

The school, which is part of Creating Tomorrow Multi-Academy Trust, has been through an “unsettled time”, according to the report, which praised the trust for quickly making a “rapid plan for improvement.”

Inspectors said: “New leaders are having a positive impact, but this is still at an early stage. The school knows its main priority is to improve the quality of education.Work has started on introducing a consistent and systematic approach to the teaching of reading. However, this is still in its infancy.”

Kevin Latham, CEO of Creating Tomorrow Partnership said: “Though we are not happy with the outcome, inspectors agreed with our own internal appraisal of the school and supported the plans we were already implementing to rapidly improve the quality of education.

“When Ofsted visited, the changes were recent and had not had time to show their impact. However, we are already in a significantly improved place with regard to our quality of education compared to the day of inspection, and we are pleased the inspectors recognised the swift action taken by the trust and the journey we are on.”

“Since the inspection, significant steps have been taken to address the areas of concern, including rolling out a new reading scheme, fully implementing the planned new curriculum and the recruitment of new teachers. We are fully committed to Windmill Hill School and the team is committed to delivering the very best educational outcomes for every child and continues to work hard every day to deliver sustained progress against the rapid improvement plan.”

Jeannette Payne, chair of trustees, added: “As soon as our quality assurance procedures flagged an issue, we acted swiftly, redeploying our resources and expertise, to ensure that the school is brought back on track quickly.”

The school was criticised for not having a clear reading curriculum. The report stated: “This means that pupils who are capable of learning to read are not being given an effective means to do so. The school needs to ensure that there is a systematic and consistent approach to how reading is taught.”

The school was told to give staff more training on how to adapt lessons to match pupils’ needs. Ofsted told the trust to make more teachers subject leaders to ensure the curriculum is taught as intended.