State-of-the-art special school gets outstanding Ofsted report

ONLY months after fully moving into their new state-of-the-art school buildings, Ridgeway Special School has already picked up an ‘outstanding’ Ofsted report.

In September the school officially opened its new doors in the Woodloes Estate in Warwick, situated alongside Woodloes Primary School, after moving from their old buildings near the Percy Estate which had become fairly run down.

A new headteacher has recently joined the team, but despite the turbulent period it still came out with a glowing report from Ofsted, and now has an eye on building for the future.

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Headteacher Karen Gannon said: “It has been absolutely fantastic joining Ridgeway.

“The staff are just so supportive and professional.

“We got an outstanding accreditation from Ofsted in all areas which was very nice. It gives us all confidence and also credibility. “For me coming in as the new head it’s a great opportunity for us. All of the staff are just so enthusiastic to do even more.”

The highly specialist school has 113 pupils aged between eight and 11, with a wide catchment area stretching as far as Southam and Stratford.

There is a very high staff to pupil ratio, with one teacher and three support staff for every class meaning the pupils get a lot of support and attention. There is a wide range of abilities and disabilities at the school, with 40 per cent having an autism diagnosis and many have complex physical difficulties.

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To help the pupils learning is a vast array of cutting edge technologies and facilities including a large hydrotherapy pool, a sensory room, a noise space and language base, and a forest school.

“This has been a big investment from the local authority”, added Ms Gannon. “We’re the last of the Warwick special schools to be redesigned.

“This is the best school I’ve ever worked in. We are a very special school.

“We are very settled on the new site now and I’m looking to extend and expand what we do inside and outside the school.

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“I would like to open up some of our facilities to people outside of the school. We’ve got a hydrotherapy pool - that is something that could benefit a lot of people in the community. Developing our community and business links is definitely something we want to do.

“We are particularly looking to work even more closely with the families of children that are here. We’ve got a lot of scope and will be looking to expand the work we do with other schools.

“It makes such a difference being in a new school and not having to worry so much about the roof needing repairing or maintenance problems.”

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