Ofsted has found a special needs school in Stevenage is "not delivering good help and care for children and young people," with its residential provision closed due to staff shortages.

Lonsdale School is a local authority maintained residential special school for pupils aged three to 18 with a range of physical and neurological impairments.

Residential pupils should be able to stay between Monday and Thursday for between one and four nights.

However, the residential provision has been closed since November 2022, and had only been able to offer a limited provision since March 2020 "due the impact of NHS staffing pressures on overnight nursing care for children in the residential provision," explained a spokesperson for Hertfordshire County Council.

READ MORE

"This obviously means the school is not providing the service it set out to provide, and not meeting the national standards for residential provision," he said.

An Ofsted inspection report published this month found the overall experiences and progress of children, and the effectiveness of leaders and managers, "requires improvement to be good".

"The residential special school is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people," the report says. "However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted."

The report says school leaders should ensure children participate in community-based activities during residential time.

School leaders should also ensure policies and procedures are up to date, it says, and that any use of physical interventions is correctly categorised and recorded, following a failure to do so.

READ MORE

The county council spokesperson said: "It’s important to be clear that the recent Ofsted report relates only to the residential provision, not the education on offer to pupils.

"The Ofsted inspector agreed with the decision to close the residential provision, however the report requires the school to present an action plan to address the unmet standards in preparation for the next, annual Ofsted inspection.

"The school is developing an action plan and will take action to address each point within the report to ensure it is meeting its responsibilities to meet national standards.

"The residential provision remains closed and the county council is currently considering options for the most effective future use of the accommodation to support education delivery at the school. Proposals are expected in the autumn."