The Hollies is a special school, maintained by Cardiff City Council. It provides day education for seventy-eight pupils aged three to 11 years. All pupils have statements of special educational needs. The majority of pupils who attend the school have a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder. A few pupils have additional difficulties relating to speech, language and communication. Thirteen per cent have physical difficulties and disabilities. All pupils live in Cardiff. Currently there are 55 boys and 23 girls. Of these, 50% are from 17 ethnic backgrounds with 11 different home languages. Currently, no pupils are looked after by the local authority. No pupils speak Welsh as their first language at home. Around a fifth of pupils receive free school meals. This is significantly lower than the all Wales average of 42.8% for special schools. Pupils are taught in classes that are broadly determined by pupils’ need, ability level and age. It is not appropriate to compare the standards that pupils achieve at the school with national averages or to analyse the performance trends of groups over time because of the nature of the pupils’ learning needs. The school was last inspected in June 2007. The headteacher was appointed three years ago. There are two assistant headteachers. One has been in post for seven years and the other for 18 months. The school, commissioned by the local authority, provides an outreach service to all schools in Cardiff. The Social Communication Interaction and Play service (SCIP) provides support, advice and guidance to mainstream schools on implementing appropriate strategies in working with pupils with autism in mainstream settings. This service is was not included in the inspection of The Hollies.