A SPECIAL school continues to be rated as good by Ofsted after an inspection.

Edith Borthwick School, in Braintree, was again rated good after a short inspection last month.

It maintains the rating since its last full inspection almost four years ago in September 2014.

In the report, inspectors addressed changes made by headteacher Dan Woodman, who joined the school in 2016.

It said: “Since your arrival, you have increased the pace of school improvement.

“However, there has not been sufficient support to ensure that checks made on the school’s work are consistently thorough.

“It became apparent during the inspection that some leaders do not have precise clarity about their roles and responsibilities and, as a result, are not undertaking the checks you expect.

“Most notably, although pupils are well cared for on a day-to-day basis, the leadership of a number of aspects of the pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare is weaker.”

Inspectors described safeguarding leaders as tenacious when chasing external agencies if pupils are not getting the support they need.

Writing and the teaching of writing has improved in the school and pupils are well supported when developing their basic writing skills in every key stage.

The report added: “We identified during the inspection there has not been enough quality assurance or review of the recording and administration of staff recruitment.

“As a result, records, including records of the references taken on staff, are not consistently well maintained.

“Pupils arrive at the school having a range of complex needs. Many pupils arrive demonstrating extremely challenging behaviours.

“While you deal with most of these effectively, a significant minority of staff do not feel confident in meeting the complex needs of pupils.”