Ofsted praises progress at special school told to improve or close
An Ofsted inspection praised Fen Rivers special school in King's Lynn for progress in addressing failures and providing remote education. - Credit: PA
Inspectors have said a special school previously told that it must improve or face being closed down is taking “effective action” to address failures despite the pandemic.
Fen Rivers Academy in King’s Lynn, which caters for children of primary school, was subject to a remote inspection carried out in February.
A previous inspection in 2019 rated the school ‘inadequate’ after identifying issues including low attendance rates, poor pupil behaviour and a lack of strategic planning.
Ofsted inspector Fyfe Johnston said the school was taking effective action to provide education in the pandemic but that there are still gaps in some aspects of the curriculum from early years to key stage 4.
She said: “Work to develop the school’s curriculum started last year and is ongoing. Leaders have developed subject plans so that pupils can be taught the most important knowledge they need, building on pupils’ prior learning.”
The school, sponsored by the Catch22 Multi-Academies Trust, will expand on to the old St Edmund's Academy site in September enabling it to take pupils of secondary school age pupils as well.