Outstanding Ofsted result for Norton Disney-based SEND school Witham Prospect School’s residential care
A dedicated special educational needs and disabilities school has received outstanding Ofsted ratings after impressing inspectors.
The social care provision at Witham Prospect School, Norton Disney, was inspected by Ofsted in January, with inspectors rating it as outstanding in all three areas.
The school is currently home to 13 young people aged between 11 and 19, with severe learning disabilities and complex needs.
The Ofsted report commended the school on the “warm, loving and nurturing environment” fostered by the dedicated staff team, highlighting the strong and positive relationships they build with the young people entrusted into their care.
Children at the school get “positive and enriching experiences”, the report stated.
Inspectors also noted the “exceptional progress” made by the children, and the “outstanding levels of care and support” provided.
Included in the report, one parent said: “The progress my son has made is remarkable, they just want him to do well and are behind him every step of the way. They really are amazing.”
Director of care Gemma Collins — one of the six executive directors at the family-run school — said: “The staff team were thrilled when we got outstanding in all three areas — it was a bit of a shock.
“There were three inspectors who came, and I think they were seeing something they like, they were asking lots of questions. It was just ‘wow’.
“To keep the outstanding rating we have to keep improving all the time, so now we have to strategise and see how we can make it even better.”
The outstanding ratings in ‘overall experiences and progress of young people’, ‘how well young people are helped and protected’, and ‘the effectiveness of leaders and managers’, came following a less positive period for the school, which it has worked hard to rectify.
It achieved a good rating at its last inspection, but had previously been rated inadequate.
“We’ve made improvements, we went through a difficult time when we got inadequate a few years ago,” Gemma added.
“It was devastating for us, it’s not what we’re about at all, and we put actions in place to improve it. The follow up inspection was then good.
“It’s been a bit of a journey… mostly making sure we have the right leaders in the right position. I think now we’ve got the right people who are fully signed up to our ethos and values, not doing it on a superficial level.”
The report also acknowledged the staff team’s acute awareness of safeguarding and children’s needs and risks, as well as the steps taken to avoid physical intervention where possible, as well as it’s “aspirational, experienced and suitably qualified” leadership.
