Ofsted: Good accessibility_new Special School (SEND)

Crosshill Special School

verifiedData: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

person Miss Nicola Pemberton (Headteacher)

corporate_fareOAK LEARNING PARTNERSHIP

location_onDarwen, BB3 1HZ

language Visit Website phone 01254667713

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Ofsted

Good

Inspected 2021

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Students

106

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Age Range

5-18

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Crosshill Special School is a Academy special converter primary school in Darwen, serving ages 5-18. Rated Good by Ofsted.

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School Summary

Crosshill Special School is a special academy in Darwen, Blackburn with Darwen, admitting pupils aged 5-18. It is part of OAK LEARNING PARTNERSHIP. The school has approximately 183 pupils on roll, of whom 48% are eligible for free school meals.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2021. The school's current overall rating is Good. Inspectors assessed quality of education as Good, behaviour and attitudes Outstanding, personal development Outstanding, and leadership and management Good.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 8.2:1. There are no current teaching vacancies.

In the 2024/25 academic year, there were no permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 1.7 per 1,000 pupils per term.

verified Source: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

Academic Performance

verified Data: UK Gov 2024/25

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Specialist Provision Assessment Context

Because Crosshill Special School is a specialist or alternative provision setting, pupils often follow tailored curricula rather than standard national GCSE or SAT benchmarks. National attainment figures below may be suppressed or reflect small cohorts.

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Student Destinations (After Secondary)

This module shows what students did after finishing Key Stage 4 (GCSEs). It reflects how well the school prepares pupils for the real world.

2026

Stayed in Education / Employment

100%

Education (e.g. Sixth Form/College)100%

Apprenticeships0%

Employment0%

Not in Education / Employment (NEET)0%

2025

Stayed in Education / Employment

86%

Education (e.g. Sixth Form/College)86%

Apprenticeships0%

Employment0%

Not in Education / Employment (NEET)14%

2024

Stayed in Education / Employment

100%

Education (e.g. Sixth Form/College)100%

Apprenticeships0%

Employment0%

Not in Education / Employment (NEET)0%

2023

Stayed in Education / Employment

100%

Education (e.g. Sixth Form/College)100%

Apprenticeships0%

Employment0%

Not in Education / Employment (NEET)0%

2022

Stayed in Education / Employment

95%

Education (e.g. Sixth Form/College)95%

Apprenticeships0%

Employment0%

Not in Education / Employment (NEET)5%

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

23 November 2021

Inspection Report

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04 October 2019

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

3 Evaluations

2021-11-23

S5 Inspection EIF

Good

Education

Good

Behaviour

Outstanding

Development

Outstanding

Leadership

Good

verified_user Safeguarding: Met

2014-07-08

S5 Inspection EIF

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

Latest Ungraded: School remains Good (Improving) - S5 Next

2011-07-13

None EIF

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Outstanding

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

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Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Official Department for Education (DfE) data. Suspensions measure temporary removals due to behavior, while exclusions represent permanent removals.

Suspension Rate

2.3%per term

warning Above Average

National average: 0.8% for this term (primary).

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

2.3%(4 pupils)

Spring term 2025

Represents the proportion of unique students suspended at least once in this term.

Permanent Exclusions

0pupils

verified Excellent (Zero)

National average: 1.225% of pupils excluded per term.

Pastoral Context: In the Spring term of 2025, this school served a headcount of 175 pupils. During this period, there were 4 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 2.3%, which is above the termly national average of 0.8%.

View Historical Disciplinary Records (2017–2025)keyboard_arrow_down

Year / Term	Headcount	Suspensions	Susp. Rate	Nat. Avg
2024/25 (Spring term)	175	4	2.3%	0.8%
2024/25 (Autumn term)	176	2	1.1%	0.9%
2023/24 (Summer term)	134	4	3.0%	0.8%
2023/24 (Spring term)	134	4	3.0%	0.7%
2023/24 (Autumn term)	133	3	2.3%	0.8%
2022/23 (Summer term)	106	0	0.0%	0.7%
2022/23 (Spring term)	106	0	0.0%	0.6%
2022/23 (Autumn term)	106	0	0.0%	0.6%
2021/22 (Summer term)	85	0	0.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Spring term)	81	0	0.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Autumn term)	81	0	0.0%	0.5%
2020/21 (Summer term)	70	0	0.0%	0.4%
2020/21 (Spring term)	69	1	1.4%	0.1%
2020/21 (Autumn term)	69	0	0.0%	0.4%
2019/20 (Summer term)	71	0	0.0%	0.0%
2019/20 (Spring term)	71	1	1.4%	0.4%
2019/20 (Autumn term)	72	1	1.4%	0.6%

Source: DfE Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions in England. Data represents termly statistics as published by the Department for Education.

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Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Primary areas of need currently supported by the school. A high number often indicates specialized internal units or high staff experience in these areas.

Moderate Learning Difficulty 55 pupils

Autistic Spectrum Disorder 47 pupils

Speech, Language & Communication 36 pupils

Physical Disability 13 pupils

Social, Emotional & Mental Health 5 pupils

Severe Learning Difficulty 4 pupils

Hearing Impairment 3 pupils

Specific Learning Difficulty 2 pupils

Visual Impairment 1 pupils