The Tutorial Foundation

Inspection of The Tutorial Foundation 76 Freelands Road, Bromley, Kent BR1 3HY

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

The Tutorial Foundation successfully helps pupils get back into education. Leaders and staff make sure that pupils are safe and well cared for. However, the quality of education that pupils receive is variable. Pupils do not build up knowledge and skills in all subjects. For full-time pupils, there is little extra-curricular provision.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and staff focus their time on building strong and positive relationships with pupils. They help pupils to put any previously negative experiences of school behind them. Over time, pupils become more comfortable attending school and are ready to learn again.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and staff have generally high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and attendance. Staff use different strategies to promote positive behaviour. For example, pupils enjoy earning points in every lesson. Pupils are keen to accumulate these points and exchange them for rewards. Pupils’ behaviour, attitudes to learning, and attendance improve over time. If bullying happens, staff act quickly to resolve any issues.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff keep in close contact with parents and carers and placing authorities. Parents were typically positive about the school’s work.

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better?

Pupils learn a range of subjects, including a core offer of English and mathematics. Leaders make sure that the curriculum is planned and taught to help pupils develop their reading, writing and mathematical skills and knowledge. Leaders have identified what they want pupils to learn, and this knowledge is set out in a logical and coherent sequence. Teachers mostly follow this sequence and explain concepts well to pupils. They use assessment checks appropriately. Many pupils achieve qualifications in these and a few other subjects, such as science and history. When pupils leave, most have a successful move to a new mainstream or special school, or further education college.

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better?

However, in some curriculum subjects, leaders and staff do not give enough thought to what knowledge and skills they want pupils to learn. Instead, learning can at times be disjointed, and pupils do not have the opportunity to build knowledge securely over time. Sometimes, teachers do not know if the subject content that they are teaching is comparable to the ambition set out in the national curriculum. Some teachers are not subject specialists. Due to a lack of subject training, they sometimes lack expertise in sequencing and delivering a high-quality curriculum.

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better?

Leaders rightly prioritise teaching pupils about the importance of mental health and emotional well-being. They have put in place a strong personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education programme. Pupils regularly learn about British values, equality and safety. They also learn about relationships and sex education, which is 26 to 28 April 2022 provided in line with the statutory requirements. Leaders arrange counselling for pupils who may need it.

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better?

Leaders create opportunities to support pupils’ personal development. For example, pupils prepare lunch for their peers in regular cooking sessions. Pupils also enjoy visits linked to the curriculum. These include, for example, recent visits to a film festival and the Supreme Court. However, arrangements to provide a broad, enriching curriculum are underdeveloped. The lack of extra-curricular options restricts opportunities for pupils’ wider social and cultural development.

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better?

Staff use successful strategies to help pupils to attend school more regularly and to re-engage in their learning. Leaders have improved their approach to managing behaviour so that it better meets pupils’ needs. This includes, for example, the use of restorative conversations with pupils. The number of fixed-term exclusions has reduced. Leaders use a range of rewards to reinforce positive behaviour.

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better?

Advisory board members have helped to support change, for example, in redeveloping the school’s website and restructuring the leadership team. They have also looked at some areas of the curriculum. However, they have not ensured that pupils receive a high-quality, ambitious education in all areas of learning.

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better?

Leaders ensure that the independent school standards are met overall. However, the school is in breach of its registration agreement with the Department for Education (DfE). Too many pupils have been enrolled, including a small number of students aged over 19.

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better?

The school is compliant with Schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is a culture of care at The Tutorial Foundation. Leaders and staff take their safeguarding responsibilities seriously. Staff follow suitable procedures to deal with any concerns that arise. They take effective actions to keep pupils safe. Leaders provide staff with regular safeguarding training and updates. Staff are vigilant about any changes in pupils’ behaviour and follow up any concerns swiftly. They understand the challenges that pupils may face and the possible risks they could encounter outside of school.

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Safeguarding

Through the curriculum, staff teach pupils about staying safe, especially about how to look after their mental health. External professionals, such as the police, work with staff to reinforce pupils’ understanding and management of specific risks, including the risks associated with online grooming.

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Safeguarding

The school’s safeguarding policy is written in line with the latest national guidance and is published online. 26 to 28 April 2022

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(Information for the school and proprietor body)

 Leaders do not provide some teachers with enough high-quality professional training that develops their subject expertise and understanding of pedagogy and curriculum design. This limits the quality of education that pupils receive in some subjects. Leaders and the advisory board should realise their plans to provide more training that will help teachers develop this expertise and understanding. They should also ensure that this training enables leaders and teachers to develop and deliver more-ambitious curriculum thinking. They should focus on ensuring that pupils learn knowledge and skills, in every subject, in a progressive, logical sequence.  Leaders’ arrangements to extend the curriculum are limited. Pupils do not have access to a suitably rich range of extra-curricular activities designed to promote their personal development. Leaders should broaden the school’s extra-curricular offer, providing pupils with a wider range of enriching experiences and activities.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you are the provider and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted . 26 to 28 April 2022

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School details

Unique reference number 135670 DfE registration number 305/6080

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School details

Inspection number 10210717 Type of school Special school and alternative provision

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School details

School category Independent special school

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) £19,188 to £33,460

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School details

Email address sen@thetutorialfoundation.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 12 to 14 December 2017 26 to 28 April 2022

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Information about this school

 The Tutorial Foundation’s intake and main purpose have changed since the previous inspection. The school now operates mostly as a special school, providing permanent full-time and part-time placements for pupils with education, health and care plans. Around half of the school’s pupils do not attend the school’s premises and, instead, receive off-site tuition.  Leaders are in breach of their registration agreement with the DfE. First, the school has approved capacity for 34 pupils. The inspection found that the school has 54 pupils on roll. Of those 54 pupils, less than half are educated on site and more than half attend tuition off-site. Second, a small number of students over the age of 19 have remained on the school’s roll, or been admitted to the school, even though the school’s upper registration age is 19.  At the time of the inspection, information on the school’s proprietor was not recorded correctly on Get Information About Schools (GIAS). Julia Low is chair of

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Information about this school

the proprietor body (J K Education Ltd), not the sole proprietor. The proprietor body is supported by an advisory board.  At the time of this inspection, a very small number of pupils of upper-primary age were on the school’s roll. Leaders stated that these pupils have been admitted on a temporary basis and the school does not intend to admit any further pupils of primary age. The proprietor has asked the registration authority to amend the school’s permitted age range. The school no longer wishes to cater for pupils aged five to 10.  The school makes use of three unregistered alternative providers for a very small number of pupils.  The school’s most recent inspection was its last standard inspection in 2017.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors carried out this inspection under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008. The purpose of the inspection is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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Information about this inspection

The school meets the independent school standards. These are the requirements set out in the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation.  This standard inspection was conducted with one day’s notice.  Inspectors completed deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics, computing and PSHE. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum 26 to 28 April 2022 with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors considered a range of evidence to consider pupils’ safety, personal development and behaviour. They spoke with a range of pupils.  Inspectors met with the chair of the proprietor body, who is also the school’s headteacher, regularly throughout the inspection. The lead inspector had an online meeting with the chair of the advisory board. He also spoke with a

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Information about this inspection

representative from the local authority responsible for placing the majority of the school’s pupils.  Inspectors met with the school’s safeguarding leaders and reviewed a range of safeguarding documentation, including pre-appointment checks on staff. The lead inspector also spoke with the local authority designated officer.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View and the online staff survey.  At the request of the DfE, inspectors considered the themes arising from a small number of complaints they had received.  Inspectors reviewed a range of evidence to check compliance with the independent school standards.

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Inspection team

James Waite, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Jo Jones Ofsted Inspector 26 to 28 April 2022 to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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