A TROUBLED SEN school has shown improvement, according to inspectors.

Coombe House School, in Donhead St Mary, near Shaftesbury, was inspected by Ofsted in June.

It has been rated as ‘requires improvement’, though inspectors found new leaders have “significantly improved the school in a short time”.

The inspectors said: “Since the last inspection, the proprietor has considerably strengthened the leadership of the school and the arrangements for governance.

“Leaders have the confidence of staff, parents and pupils.”

Safeguarding was found to be effective with inspectors it “underpins every aspect of school life”.

However, the report said the school’s curriculum was “not sufficiently rigorous”.

“In some subjects and classes, pupils gain knowledge incrementally, following a well-designed sequence of learning, but this is not consistent,” it went on.

“The work given to pupils does not help them to secure necessary foundational knowledge reliably.

“Leaders should ensure that the curriculum helps pupils to build and remember useful knowledge so that they are able to do more in the future.”

READ MORE: Report highlights problems at Coombe House School near Shaftesbury

It said a “small minority of pupils” do not “engage with the curriculum as well as they should”.

But headteacher, Darren Harte, sad he has been pleased with the progress made by the school since his recent appointment.

“I have been very pleased by the manner in which the school community has pulled together to ensure it develops a culture of continuous improvement,” he said.

“This report reflects the hard work of the team and pupils, who rightly deserve the positive comments within.

“Although inspectors agreed that there is more to do, the feedback from our pupils and their families was humbling and shows we are on the right path.”

Overall, inspectors judged ‘behaviour and attitudes’, ‘personal development’ and ‘leadership and management’ as good, but rated ‘quality of education’ as requiring improvement.

Coombe House – run by the Dorset Council-owned Dorset Centre of Excellence – opened in May last year, but was closed shortly after due to a ‘bumpy start’.

Intended to be the authority’s flagship SEN school, it re-opened soon after, with a reduced number of pupils.

To see the full Ofsted report, log on to https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/27/149019.