Alternative Centre of Education

Overview

The inspection judged the school’s overall effectiveness as ‘Good’, noting that it strives to improve the life chances of pupils who have had negative prior experiences. Staff build strong, trusting relationships to help pupils settle, resulting in a ‘calm and purposeful environment’ conducive to study. The school meets independent school standards and prepares pupils well for future education or employment.

Strengths

• Staff effectively understand pupils’ complex needs, using this knowledge to build ‘strong working and trusting relationships’ that help pupils feel safe.
• The curriculum is ‘well-sequenced and ambitious’, with staff adept at designing bespoke plans to address gaps in prior knowledge.
• Teachers have ‘strong subject knowledge’ and ensure pupils revise often, helping them ‘embed knowledge in their long-term memories’.
• The school provides a wide personal development programme, including discussions on topical issues and impartial careers guidance.
• Staff feel valued, with ‘reasonable’ workload expectations and supportive leadership.

Areas to improve

• Support for pupils with very low reading and writing skills is not always effective enough to help them catch up quickly, limiting their access to the wider curriculum.
• The school should ensure staff have the necessary knowledge and skills to help these pupils gain ‘foundational reading and writing fluency’.

Safeguarding

The report states that ‘the arrangements for safeguarding are effective’.