The Flagship School

The Flagship School is a small special school for pupils with education, health and care plans, most of whom have social, emotional and mental health needs. Inspectors found the school performing at the expected standard across every evaluated area, with no serious weaknesses identified. Leaders have a clear and inclusive vision, and staff have built warm, trusting relationships that help pupils re-engage with education, attend more regularly, and make secure academic progress from often low starting points. Safeguarding requirements are fully met, and the school has established a positive culture around keeping pupils safe.

Strengths

• Pupils make secure progress from low starting points and become more confident readers, writers and mathematicians.
• Staff provide high-quality, evidence-informed training that builds expertise and supports pupil progress.
• The curriculum is carefully sequenced, ambitious and adapted to pupils' wide-ranging needs.
• Pupils' education, health and care plans are used effectively to remove barriers and target support.
• Pastoral support is of high quality, with precise identification of need and careful tracking of interventions.
• Behaviour is typically calm and purposeful, underpinned by positive relationships and high expectations.
• Attendance is improving through bespoke, individualised strategies that address barriers to attending school.
• Pupils access a wide range of enrichment opportunities, trips, community events and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.
• Careers education is well planned and helps older pupils make informed, aspirational post-16 choices.
• Leaders support staff wellbeing and manage workload effectively, and staff are proud to work at the school.
• Governance is effective, with appropriate support and challenge and successful action on previous statutory weaknesses.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum delivery and adaptation are not yet fully consistent across all subjects.
• Pupils' knowledge of some personal development themes, such as democracy, is less well developed.
• Careers education is in the early stages of implementation and focuses primarily on key stage 4.
• Attendance remains a concern, particularly for pupils who are persistently or severely absent.

In 2024–25 pupils at The Flagship School attended 70.7% of sessions (the national figure for special schools was 87.2%). 60.3% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 35.3%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 21.3% of pupils at The Flagship School were suspended at least once (nationally 5.1%). One pupil was permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 The Flagship School had 7.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for special schools was 6.6). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 50.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.5%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26 The Flagship School had 63 pupils, 100.0% of them with an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 99.5%).

It says it provides for: moderate learning difficulty; profound and multiple learning difficulty; social, emotional and mental health; speech, language and communication needs; multi-sensory impairment; autistic spectrum disorder.

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded special school schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 The Flagship School received £31,930 and spent £38,835 for each of its 61 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £172,000 (-£2,812 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of The Beckmead Trust, income was £37,475 and spending £41,377 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Hastings · East Sussex local authority: places and applications

The Flagship School is part of The Beckmead Trust, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• The Ropemakers' Academy Hailsham
• Beckmead Park Academy Beckenham
• Chaffinch Brook School Croydon
• Beckmead College London
• Ian Mikardo High School London
• Wells Park School Chigwell
• The Sir Geoff Hurst Academy Chelmsford
• The Greenwell Academy Harlow

What is The Flagship School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Flagship School is Expected standard, from an inspection in March 2026.

When was The Flagship School last inspected by Ofsted?

The Flagship School was last inspected in March 2026.

How many pupils does The Flagship School have?

The Flagship School has 63 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Flagship School cover?

The Flagship School for pupils aged 7 to 16.

Where is The Flagship School?

The Flagship School is at The Ridge, Hastings, TN34 2AE.