SEND school in Royton told to urgently improve

A SEND school in Oldham that charges up to £95,000 a year has been ordered to ‘urgently improve’ by a government watchdog.

A damning Ofsted report found pupils at Supreme Start in Royton ‘are not safe and often left distressed’ while staff ‘overuse restrictive physical interventions’. 

The specialist school on Roman Road voluntarily closed its doors in February following an inspection to carry out ‘significant and sustained improvements’. 

Charging between £60,000 to £95,000 per pupil, the school was in charge of around 15 kids between the ages of five and 11. All of the children have complex special educational needs or disabilities with education, health and care (EHC) plans. 

But a probe carried out by Ofsted inspector Phillip Walmsley found staff were ‘not equipped’ to handle the complex needs of their charges. 

“Pupils are not safe at this school,” Walmsley wrote in his report. “Incidents of challenging behaviour frequently escalate. Staff frequently fail to de-escalate or manage these situations, including aggressive or violent incidents, because they lack the necessary expertise. This leads to an over-reliance and overuse of restrictive physical interventions, which places pupils under further duress.” 

He added that pupils found the school a ‘stressful and confusing place’ and were frequently ‘overstimulated or distressed by congested classrooms’.  

Walmsley said: “This creates an environment for pupils that is both unstable and unpredictable. It means some families feel their children are better off not going to school, which then negatively impacts pupils’ attendance and wellbeing.” 

Overall, the report found the school had low expectations of its pupils, both in terms of attainment and attendance. Headteachers have overseen ‘large-scale historic shortcomings’, including a lack of accountability among teaching staff and governance. 

The school’s headteacher Rachael Martin told the Local Democracy Reporting Service she ‘fully accepts the findings and has used them as a catalyst for significant and sustained improvement’. 

Martin said: “We are committed to ensuring that when we reopen, our school provides a safer, stronger, and more supportive environment for all children. We are currently awaiting approval from the Department for Education to reopen, and we continue to carry out safe and well checks with families during this period.

“We care deeply about our pupils and our community, and we are determined to deliver the highest standards moving forward. The improvements already made represent a significant step forward, and we are confident that children will return to a much‑enhanced environment.” 
In a letter shared with parents of the school, the head also apologised for the inconvenience of the closure.