Maintained Special Schools
Early Insights 2024-2025
Teaching and learning
Most pupils in maintained special schools make strong progress due to supportive teaching, inclusive environments, and engaging, real-life learning experiences. Practices that need further improvements include inconsistency in the quality of teaching, underdeveloped assessment, and gaps in progression planning and support for Welsh-speaking pupils.
What’s going well
- Teaching, including the use of support staff, is generally well tailored to individual needs, with staff using varied strategies, assistive technologies, and effective support to promote learning, independence, and positive behaviour.
- A range of communication methods, such as speech, signing, and symbols, is used consistently to help pupils express themselves and access learning.
- Pupils benefit from practical, meaningful experiences that build independence, support work-related learning, and prepare them for adult life.
- The curriculum is increasingly well designed around pupils’ interests and well-being, leading to strong progress, appropriate accreditation, and successful transitions.
What needs to improve
- In some lessons, teaching lacks sufficient challenge, pace, or relevance, and does not fully meet individual learning needs.
- Teaching assistants are not always used effectively, leading to missed opportunities to support and reinforce learning.
- In a few schools, planning for progression in key skills such as literacy, numeracy, and digital competence is underdeveloped and not consistently embedded.
- Limited or outdated assistive technology, along with inconsistent use of visual and sensory supports, hinders accessibility and engagement for some learners.
- In a few schools, support for Welsh first-language learners and clear progression pathways remain limited.
Well-being, care, support and guidance
Overall, pupils thrive in supportive, nurturing environments where strong relationships, tailored support, and meaningful opportunities help them feel safe, valued, and ready for the future. Further improvement is needed to ensure greater consistency in target setting, sensory and behaviour support, equitable post-16 access, and tackling ongoing attendance issues.
What’s going well
- Staff foster warm, trusting relationships with pupils, creating nurturing environments that support engagement, emotional well-being, and behaviour.
- Pupils feel safe, valued, and supported due to positive relationships and robust safeguarding systems.
- Staff understand pupils’ individual needs and use one-page profiles, individual development plans, and specialist interventions effectively, including for complex needs and communication.
- Pupils have meaningful opportunities to contribute to school life through councils, leadership roles, and enterprise projects; their voices are heard and valued.
- Schools work closely with families through regular communication, workshops, and community engagement, strengthening support at home and school.
- Proactive and therapeutic approaches help pupils to develop self-regulation skills, reduce incidents of challenging behaviour, and promote emotional well-being.
- Effective careers advice, qualifications, and transition planning help older pupils prepare for independence and adult life.
What needs to improve
- In a few schools, classroom layouts and sensory regulation spaces are not well-matched to pupils’ needs, limiting independence and engagement.
- In a few schools, inconsistencies in the accuracy, relevance, and monitoring of targets mean that these targets do not always effectively support pupils’ next steps in learning.
- Support for managing low-level challenging behaviours and sensory dysregulation is not consistent across all classrooms and staff.
- A few pupils face limited access to post-16 education within their current setting, leading to inequitable progression opportunities.
- Despite positive interventions, attendance remains too low for a few pupils, especially those with social and emotional needs or medical conditions.
Leading and improving
The leadership and improvement landscape across maintained special schools is characterised by strong, values-driven leadership, inclusive cultures, and committed governance, all of which support positive pupil experiences and staff development. However, challenges remain around capacity, evaluation and planning, the suitability of learning environments, and the consistency of provision in the face of staffing pressures and growing demand.
What’s going well
- Leaders across schools provide calm, strategic direction with a clear vision rooted in inclusion, well-being, and high expectations, often in the face of significant challenges.
- Schools foster nurturing, inclusive environments where pupils feel valued, safe, and happy, supported by strong relationships and positive behaviour cultures.
- Staff benefit from well-structured, responsive professional learning opportunities linked to school priorities, including peer collaboration, external partnerships, and coaching.
- Governors demonstrate strong commitment, with many playing an active role in school life, supporting leadership and financial management effectively.
- Multi-agency collaboration and outreach work enhance support for pupils and promote wider sector improvement.
What needs to improve
- While quality assurance activities are in place, the synthesis, analysis, and use of evaluation evidence are underdeveloped in a minority schools, limiting impact on school improvement planning.
- Rapid school expansion in a few schools has led to overcrowded or unsuitable learning environments, affecting accessibility, independence, and curriculum breadth – particularly for pupils with complex physical or sensory needs.
- In a few cases, governors lack detailed insight into the quality of teaching and pupil progress, reducing their ability to provide informed challenge and support.
- High levels of staff absence and ongoing recruitment challenges are compromising consistency in teaching and well-being support.
- The impact of professional learning is not consistently evaluated.
- Systems for tracking pupil progress, especially in the context of reporting to governors, are sometimes limited in scope or lack the precision necessary to support data-informed decision-making.
Overview of recommendations from inspections
In total, six providers had an inspection, with one being placed into a follow up category. A total of 14 recommendations were given.
- Five providers (83%) received at least recommendations linked to the quality of teaching and learning, one of which was in a follow-up category. Three were asked to ensure effective practice is shared across the school. The provider in a follow-up category was advised to improve the quality and consistency of teaching and to establish a consistent communication system to support pupils’ understanding, expression and engagement.
- One provider (17%) was given a recommendation related to well-being, care, support and guidance. This related to improving the attendance of specific groups of pupils.
- Five providers (83%) were given a recommendation linked to leading and improving, one of which was in a follow-up category. Three were asked to work with the local authority to address issues related to the learning environment, accommodation, public transport or staff absence. Three were advised to strengthen self-evaluation processes. Additional recommendations included strengthening leadership at all levels, sharpening development planning to focus on the impact of whole-school priorities on pupil outcomes and improving the use of school information to inform coherent improvement priorities.
Effective practice identified during inspection
Ysgol Y Gogarth
Inspection report: Ysgol Y Gogarth
Developing Effective Links with Families and the Community: The school’s Family and Community Engagement (FaCE) officer provides strong support to families, including individual attendance support and workshops. Weekly eco-council meetings involving parents help strengthen school-home relationships.
Supporting the Needs of Pupils Through Multi-Disciplinary Working: Multi-disciplinary teams provide speech and language, communication, behavioural, and medical support. Effective collaboration and behaviour analysis contribute to a reduction in incidents and improved emotional regulation.
Ysgol Pen Coch
Inspection report: Ysgol Pen Coch
Provision for Sensory Learning: The school offers well-planned sensory experiences, including hydrotherapy and tactile exploration, tailored to pupils’ individual sensory profiles. These support communication, emotional regulation, and overall development.
Effective Transition Arrangements: Innovative use of virtual reality helps pupils familiarise themselves with their new schools, ensuring successful transitions.
Ysgol Y Deri
Inspection report: Ysgol Y Deri
High-Quality Interventions and Assistive Technology: The ‘Launchpad’ provision and use of VR/gaming technology enhance emotional regulation and provide inclusive access to experiences for pupils with complex needs.
Vocational Curriculum, Outdoor Experiences, and Professional Learning: A strong vocational curriculum and outdoor activities build independence and resilience. Continuous professional development is personalised and high-quality, supporting leadership at all levels.
Greenfield School
Inspection report: Greenfield School
Multi-Agency Solution Meetings [MASC] and Supporting Families: Multi-agency collaboration enables swift interventions through MASC meetings. The weekly “GRWP” parents’ group offers practical guidance and strengthens partnerships with families.
Nurturing Staff’s Professional Development: Professional learning is embedded in the school’s culture, with international collaboration and enquiry-led approaches driving whole-school improvement and leadership development.
Park Lane
Highly effective support for well-being and behaviour: The skilled Pupil Support Team and whole-school, co-ordinated approaches to therapy and other provision contribute very well to exemplary pupil conduct.
Strong, strategic leadership has driven rapid improvement, with a clear focus on curriculum, teaching quality, and professional development: A reflective and accountable culture now underpins the school’s work, supported by robust self-evaluation and targeted staff development.