STAFF at a West Devon school say they are delighted with their recent Ofsted report, which praises the quality of care for students on its two sites. Chelfham Senior School is a residential special school which provides education for boys with severe emotional, social and behavioural needs on its two sites at Bere Alston and Tavistock?s Kilworthy House. There are 68 young people attending the schools ? many of them have experienced difficulty in previous care placements and several have a history of disrupted schooling. All have a statement of special educational needs. Students at the Bere Alston campus follow a full GCSE curriculum with a wide range of extra curricular pursuits. At Kilworthy, students are offered vocational courses and programmes to improve their independent living skills. In their summary, Ofsted inspectors said: ?Chelfham Senior School provides a caring environment where pupils and students become more confident and enterprising young people. The young people behave well. ?The school is successful in achieving its aim to improve pupils? self-esteem through the extensive programme of outdoor pursuits. ?The quality of teaching is satisfactory overall and sometimes it is good. The recently appointed headteacher has introduced many positive changes which are beginning to raise standards further.? The report found that Chelfham provides a broad curriculum supported by a good range of extra activities and has forged strong links with the local community. The school encourages students to have positive attitudes and behave well in lessons and around the school. Inspectors said: ?Teachers have high expectations and their plans make it clear what the class is expected to learn. In the best lessons, teachers maintain a brisk pace and use a variety of resources ? this helpers learners to concentrate.? The inspectors found there were areas for improvement. Assessment information needed to be used to plan teaching more effectively and resources could be improved to teach reading to lower achieving pupils. The school also needed to implement the action plans written following its fire safety audit. Will Crosby, who joined Chelfham as principal in 2004, said: ?All the staff are thrilled that Ofsted has recognised the very positive difference made in the lives of our very challenging young men. ?All staff have very high expectations of our youngsters. GCSEs, vocational experience in the community, supported college placements and an in-depth independent living skills programme all contribute to a culture of individual achievement which is very often missing when they first arrive at Chelfham Senior School.?
