Aurora Boveridge College

Overview

Aurora Boveridge College is a specialist independent college for students aged 16 to 25 with social, emotional, and mental health needs. The inspection found the overall effectiveness to be ‘Good’, with ‘Outstanding’ behaviour and attitudes, noting that students feel safe in a ‘calm, nurturing and friendly’ environment.

Strengths

• Staff are ‘enthusiastic, well-qualified and experienced’, helping students develop independence and ‘high levels of respect’.
• The curriculum is ‘challenging and aspirational’, with teachers presenting information clearly in relevant contexts, such as using mathematics for shopping.
• Students make ‘good progress’, with many achieving qualifications and moving on to higher education, apprenticeships, or independent living.
• Tutors encourage confidence through discussions on current issues, and students value the feedback they receive to correct misunderstandings.
• Most students who completed their course increased their independence, with ‘almost all students... successful in securing their first choice of accommodation’.

Areas to improve

• Leaders and teachers should ensure learning support practitioners provide support that enables students to ‘increase their independence over time’, rather than intervening too early.
• Leaders must ensure ‘all students have the opportunity to take part in relevant and meaningful work experience’, as a few currently lack this.
• Governance should ensure leaders ‘monitor closely the impact of actions taken to improve the quality of education’ and measure their effectiveness more frequently.

Safeguarding

The report states that ‘the arrangements for safeguarding are effective’, with staff receiving extensive training and adopting a ‘calm and supportive approach’ that ensures students feel safe.