Pupils enjoy coming to this well-organised and friendly school. Though many have been out of education for long periods of time or had poor experiences in previous settings, most settle quickly on arrival. When pupils struggle to attend for whatever reason, everybody works tirelessly to find the right solution, including through the use of an impressive online learning programme. Expectations of behaviour and academic success are high at Portal House. Staff strive for pupils to be successful in all they do. A key feature of the school is an overt drive to motivate and build pupils’ confidence and resilience. As a result, they display positive attitudes to their studies and achieve increasingly well over time. Pupils feel safe here, including feeling that they are safe to make mistakes. They know that staff are there for them when things get tough, or anxieties build. This ethos was summed up particularly eloquently by one older pupil. His view that, ‘The creative liberty in the way we work is a bonus, because there is not an insanely strict mandate in lessons, just as long as we do not disturb other pupils’ learning’, describes the school’s positive learning culture well.