A Bury St Edmunds special school has said it has plans in place to develop areas highlighted during a recent Ofsted visit.

Priory School in Mount Road, part of SENDAT and Eastern Education Group Trust, was visited by the education watchdog from June 11 to 13 for an ungraded inspection. 

In a published report inspectors said that, from the evidence gathered, the inspection grade may not remain as high as it currently is if it had been a graded visit. 

The school, which has 206 pupils aged five to 19, was last graded outstanding in November 2014 and this remained unchanged following a short inspection in 2018. 

During the visit Ofsted found the school is a "happy place" where bullying and unkindness is rare, pupils get the practical help they need and learn well. 

Praise went to the boarding programme which teaches students independence, as well as reading and personal development curriculums. 

Trips facilitated by the school, including visits to local shops and as far away as Germany, were also highlighted in the report. 

However, inspectors also found that the curriculum does not identify the most important knowledge students need to learn in all areas and, in a few cases, teaching is "not well adapted to support pupils with different levels of prior knowledge and understanding". 

In some areas inspectors also found subject leadership was not embedded well enough and suggested subject leaders should get the "guidance and support they need to fulfil their roles effectively". 

A spokesperson for SENDAT said: "The school, SENDAT and the Trust welcome the report from Ofsted, and were pleased that it identified that “Priory School is a happy place” and that pupils flourish in the school’s safe culture, do well in with their learning and take pride in their work.

"We already had identified the comments raised by the inspection and have plans in place to further develop the curriculum and subject leadership.

"We are being well supported within the wider Eastern Education Group Trust to further develop these and the team are working hard to retain the outstanding grade at the next inspection.

"The impact of the pandemic on all schools, but especially special schools should not be underestimated.

"In addition, Priory has grown significantly in the last few years with two satellite sites developed in response to the county’s need for more SEND places."