Pupils feel truly valued by the staff. For many who previously struggled at school, starting at Access is a fresh start. Here, they are welcomed, cared for and feel safe. Most pupils enjoy coming to school. Greeted with a warm smile each morning, pupils are encouraged to take part in a range of purposeful activities to help them learn. Most pupils, who in the past would have refused to join in, show interest in their work and participate willingly. This is because teachers know pupils very well and usually plan suitable work. Pupils understand that staff are determined to help them to manage their behaviour better, and on the whole, staff succeed in doing this. Bullying incidents do occur, but the school deals with these quickly to try to prevent them from happening again. Leaders place huge investment in pupils’ personal development. Sometimes this is at the expense of ensuring that pupils make good academic progress. A few pupils will take themselves out of class and opt out of learning. Sometimes staff will allow this to happen without enough gentle encouragement to re-engage. When this happens, pupils do not achieve as well.