Centre is top of the class in Ofsted report

Holbrook Centre for Autism was judged to be “outstanding” by Ofsted in each of its four main assessment areas.

The glowing report was an improvement on November, 2012, when the centre was judged to be good overall for looking after residential pupils who stay overnight.

It is hoped that improvements will now also be reflected in the school’s overall Ofsted report after inspectors found it “required improvement” following an inspection in February, 2013.

Headteacher Julian Scholefield said: “We were really delighted.

“The residential team have been determined to get ‘outstanding’ after being judged ‘good’ last time.

“The greatest enemy now is complacency.

“We cannot rest on our laurels . We need to think of ways we can improve even more and stay outstanding.

“We are hoping that will receive a ‘good’ rating in the next schools report. I think the residential report reflects that the school is going in the right direction and improving overall.”

Twenty-seven pupils currently use the residential service, staying one night a week between Monday and Thursday to learn life skills and using community resources such as the Social Club for people with Learning Disabilities at Hacketts Bar in Belper.

A total of 67 pupils aged between five and 19 attend the centre at Portway, Holbrook.

The report stated: “All residential pupils make excellent progress in developing their readiness for adulthood.

“Pupils follow an accredited scheme of work that enables them to develop skills including cleaning, cooking, managing their money and accessing the community.

“In some instances, there has been significant progress.”