Stradbroke

Inspection of Stradbroke c/o TulipCare, 19-20 Bourne Court, Southend Road, Woodford Green, Essex IG8 8HD

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Inspection dates: 22 to 24 November 2022

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Overall effectiveness Good

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

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Overall effectiveness Good

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff and pupils develop strong working relationships. Leaders strive to help pupils address their emotional and mental health difficulties. They also seek to support pupils to overcome their barriers to learning. Leaders and staff create a warm environment where pupils are safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff are well trained and work closely with therapists and other external agencies. Through this, staff gain a deep understanding of pupils’ individual needs and set pupils bespoke personal targets. These are designed to improve pupils’ social skills, emotional well-being and academic knowledge. With patience and care, staff help pupils to make strong progress towards meeting their targets. They prepare pupils well for the next stages of their lives when they leave this school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff deploy consistent and encouraging strategies to manage and improve pupils’ behaviour. This approach is effective in establishing a calm atmosphere. Staff teach pupils how to talk with each other maturely to resolve their disagreements. Should bullying occur, pupils, supported by staff, reconcile their differences. They get to understand how their actions affect others and consider what they should do differently in the future.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are taught about how to help others. For example, they won a bid of £1,000 from the Mayor of London. They used this funding to put together care packages and then distributed these to the homeless and people experiencing mental health difficulties.

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better?

The school caters for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs. Typically, pupils at Stradbroke have had poor and disrupted experiences in their schooling. This is coupled with personal circumstances that make them particularly vulnerable. As a result, their school attendance has historically been low. They lack confidence in learning and have some significant gaps in their knowledge. School, therapeutic and support staff work well in collaboration to overcome these barriers. They focus on building pupils’ confidence and addressing gaps in knowledge. They all endeavour to encourage and help pupils to attend school regularly.

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better?

When pupils join the school, teachers assess what pupils know and where they have knowledge gaps. They use this information, together with their ongoing checks, to tailor and adapt the next steps in pupils’ learning. Any gaps and misconceptions are addressed carefully.

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better?

Teachers prioritise helping pupils to catch up in English, including reading, and mathematics. They know that these subjects are fundamental to pupils’ future success. In addition, a range of other subjects are on offer, and these are delivered through a well-sequenced curriculum. Appropriately chosen resources and methods of instruction help pupils to understand key ideas. Teachers in this small school 22 and 24 November 2022 attend training to enhance their subject expertise. Given the range of subjects on offer, the development of staff expertise remains an ongoing process. This is to ensure that the delivery of the curriculum becomes even stronger.

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better?

Leaders make appropriate adaptations to create a bespoke curriculum for individual pupils. They aim to get pupils to attend lessons regularly and engage positively. These personal programmes of study take account of pupils’ interests, talents and ambitions. Leaders are adept at responding to pupils’ needs. For example, some pupils see their future careers in health and social care. In response, some staff have undertaken higher-education accredited courses in this subject. This ensures that they have the expert knowledge to teach the subject effectively. In other instances, leaders have engaged subject-specific experts in response to pupils’ requests, for example if pupils have aspired to develop their piano-playing skills. As a result of leaders’ and staff’s work to meet and adapt to pupils’ needs and interests, pupils behave well in class. They develop the knowledge and skills that they need for furthering their education.

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better?

Relationships and sex education follows statutory guidance. Pupils are taught about how to lead healthy lifestyles. They have opportunities to try out a wide range of physical activities. These include indoor climbing, trampolining, hiking and Pilates. They discuss and debate current affairs with their teachers. Staff aim to boost pupils’ understanding of equality. They emphasise the need to respect all people, including those with protected characteristics. For example, pupils did a project on the racially motivated murder of Stephen Lawrence, sensitively exploring themes related to discrimination and prejudice. Through the curriculum, pupils are taught about how to form healthy relationships and consent. Pupils also benefit from impartial career guidance and opportunities for undertaking work experience.

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better?

The proprietor is considerate of staff’s workload. Staff feel that expectations of them are reasonable and manageable. They appreciate the proprietor’s open and supportive approach.

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better?

The proprietor ensures that the premises are maintained to a high standard. Leaders make sure that the school meets the independent school standards and other requirements. Their accessibility plan complies with schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010.

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better?

The school does not have a website. All policies, including those related to safeguarding pupils, are up to date with the latest statutory guidance. They are available in hard copy from the school on request.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders gather as much background information as possible at the time of a pupil’s admission from a previous provider. This includes liaising with external agencies who have had contact with the pupil. This means that right from the start, leaders are 22 and 24 November 2022 aware of pupils’ needs and how their welfare should be supported.

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Safeguarding

Staff have regular safeguarding training and frequent updates. They are vigilant and share information regularly and appropriately. Leaders arrange support for pupils as required and in a timely fashion. This includes support available from the school’s clinical psychologist and external agencies, such as professionals from social care and health.

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Safeguarding

Through the curriculum, pupils learn about risk and how to stay safe and seek help.

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Safeguarding

The proprietor has suitable systems in place for vetting staff’s suitability for working with pupils.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 Teachers are committed to their professional development and to gaining expertise in specific subjects. This has supported pupils in achieving well overall. Leaders should ensure that teachers continue to develop and deepen their expertise across the wide range of subjects on offer so that pupils routinely meet their potential across all areas of the curriculum.

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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. 22 and 24 November 2022

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School details

Type of school Other independent special school

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School details

Date of previous inspection 25 to 27 February 2020 22 and 24 November 2022

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Information about this school

 Stradbroke caters for girls with social, emotional and mental health needs. The proprietor also manages a children’s home which is linked to the school.  The school’s last standard inspection took place in February 2020, when the school was judged as requires improvement. Some of the independent school standards were not met.  The school was asked to submit an action plan after its last standard inspection in February 2020. The action plan was judged by Ofsted as not acceptable in December 2020. The school was notified of this outcome by the Department for Education (DfE) in November 2021.  The school had its first progress monitoring inspection in February 2022. Inspectors found the school to be closed. They reported that the school was making use of temporary additional premises at Lilyvale C/O TulipCare, 19-20 Bourne Court, Southend Road, Woodford Green, Essex, IG8 8HD until this site reopens. Retroactively, in March 2022, the proprietor sought permission from the

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Information about this school

DfE to use the temporary site. This was granted in June 2022. The school’s main premises reopened in November 2022. The proprietor intends to relocate the remaining pupils at the temporary additional premises to Stradbroke at the start of the spring term 2023.  School leaders do not make use of any alternative provision.

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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 of 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 the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors checked leaders’ curriculum thinking and planning across a range of subjects. They paid particular attention to English, mathematics and personal, social, health and economic education. This included discussions with leaders and teachers and reviewing examples of pupils’ work. Pupils’ learning and experiences in other areas of the curriculum were also considered.  Inspectors spoke with the head of education (headteacher) and the proprietor. They also spoke with the local authority safeguarding leader, the school’s 22 and 24 November 2022 externally commissioned improvement adviser, a local authority social worker and the school’s clinical psychologist.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documentation, including information related to safeguarding and the checks carried out before the appointment of staff. Inspectors looked at records of pupils’ behaviour.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of documents and policies and toured the two

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Information about this inspection

school sites to check compliance with the independent school standards.  Inspectors had formal meetings with staff. There were no responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View, or the surveys for staff and pupils.

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The school’s progress in meeting previously failed standards

During the inspection we checked whether the school now meets the independent school standards that it was judged to have failed at its previous standard inspection on 25 to 27 February 2020.  The outcome of this part of the inspection is: the school now meets the previously failed standards.

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The school now meets the following standards

 3 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that the teaching at the school– – 3(c) involves well planned lessons and effective teaching methods, activities and management of class time; – 3(e) demonstrates good knowledge and understanding of the subject matter being taught; – 3(g) demonstrates that a framework is in place to assess pupils’ work regularly and thoroughly and use information from that assessment to plan teaching so that pupils can progress.  34(1) The standard about the quality of leadership and management is met if the proprietor ensures that persons with leadership and management responsibilities at the school– – 34(1)(a) demonstrate good skills and knowledge appropriate to their role so that the independent school standards are met consistently; – 34(1)(b) fulfil their responsibilities effectively so that the independent school standards are met consistently.

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Information about the progress monitoring inspection

 This part of the inspection was carried out at the request of the registration authority for independent schools. The purpose of the inspection was to monitor the progress the school has made in meeting the independent school standards and other requirements that it was judged to not comply with at its previous inspection.  This was the school’s second progress monitoring inspection. It was conducted without notice. The DfE requested that the inspector consider whether particular independent school standards contained within parts 1 and 8 are now met. 22 and 24 November 2022

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Inspection team

David Radomsky, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Gary Pocock Ofsted Inspector 22 and 24 November 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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