OFSTED heaped praise on Uplands Educational Trust when inspectors visited the Greenbridge site earlier this month.

The trust, which works with learners aged between 19 and 25 who have severe or profound multiple learning difficulties and/or complex needs, operates a post-19 Learning Centre, a supported living residential facility and a range of employment and enterprise businesses as well as having close links with Uplands School.

Last Thursday the education watchdog published an ISC  report after an inspection, and praised the work the registered charity does to teach and support young adults with learning difficulties.

In the report inspectors said: “Learners are making good progress towards achieving their learning goals.

“All learners develop a good range of skills through their wellplanned individualised learning programmes and their involvement in the broad range of work experience, either with UET or with employers in the locality. Internally, learners successfully run a coffee shop and a lunch enterprise. They make all the products on sale in the coffee shop, such as cakes and biscuits; they make the lunches and all the drinks. Learners serve the customers and have responsibility for taking the money and giving the correct change.

“Staff carry out detailed and thorough initial assessments of learners’ skills and educational standards. Teachers use the information to create accurate individualised education plans (IEPs).

“Most targets are precise and help learners make progress, but a small minority are too vague.

“Leaders and managers have high expectations of all learners.

“Areas identified for improvement from the observations of teaching and learning provide the focus for the training and development of staff. Formal training takes place three times a year so managers are able to address quickly issues arising from observations.”

The report comes a year after Ofsted rated the attached school, which works with children aged between 11 and 19 with severe (SLD) or profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD), outstanding following an inspection in July 2014.

Following that result a spokesman from Uplands said: “We are delighted to report that we are an outstanding school. Ofsted recognised that the care, guidance and support at Uplands is outstanding.”

To read the ISC monitoring report for yourself visit reports.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/ELS/141504.