Oasis Restore

Name of lead inspector: Carolyn Brownsea, His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection dates: 15 and 16 January 2025

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Address:

Head office Sir Evelyn Road Rochester Kent ME1 3ND Monitoring visit: Oasis Restore, 15 and 16 January 2025

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Context and focus of visit

Ofsted undertakes to carry out monitoring visits to all newly directly funded providers of education programmes for young people within the further education and skills sector. This monitoring visit was undertaken as part of those arrangements and as outlined in the ‘Further education and skills inspection handbook’, especially the sections entitled ‘Monitoring visits’ and ‘Monitoring visits to providers that are newly directly publicly funded’. The focus of these visits is on the themes set out below.

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Context and focus of visit

Oasis Restore is a secure 16–19 academy with a purpose to deliver bespoke care and education plans that meet children’s needs. Staff aim to support children to explore harmful habitual behaviours and work on developing their strengths and aspirations. It offers education programmes to prepare them for their next steps in education, training, work or further custody. At the time of the visit there were 16 children aged between 13 and 17 studying education programmes for young people. Four children were of school age and 12 were over 16 years of age. Oasis Restore gained registration on 8 August 2024. Most children study the programme for a very short period of time.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders and managers plan a curriculum that develops children’s knowledge, skills, attitudes and values well.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders recruit highly qualified and experienced tutors and support staff who provide effective support for children’s complex personal, social and learning needs. Therapists help children understand their experiences and express their emotions in healthy ways. Staff work collaboratively to make sure that support enables children to mature and flourish. As a result, children who have had previous negative experiences of education now participate fully.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders and managers have a clear and effective focus on assuring the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Where appropriate, they make swift changes to improve the provision. For example, they have reduced the length of the induction so that children start learning sooner and receive more teaching on this short programme.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders make sure that staff benefit from effective coaching, mentoring and training to improve their practice. For example, leaders provide specialist training in how to Monitoring visit: Oasis Restore, 15 and 16 January 2025 teach children in a secure setting. This enables staff to develop their teaching skills, so they meet children’s needs more specifically.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders ensure children receive the support they need to identify, plan and achieve goals which promote their self-esteem, resilience and behaviours. As a result, most children attend education and they take personal responsibility for planning their next steps.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have put in place effective careers information, advice and guidance (CIAG) tailored to meet the needs of children. Children benefit from well-planned and tailored CIAG that enables them to understand the range of specific opportunities available to them, dependent on their next steps.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have not made sure that the curriculum is broad enough for school-age children. There is insufficient teaching in a range of subjects, including humanities and sciences. Consequently, the academic curriculum does not prepare children sufficiently well for progression to further study in a wider and ambitious range of subject areas.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders recognise that a few key staffing vacancies remain. There are suitable plans in place to fill these posts.

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Reasonable progress

Staff make sure that children access a good range of work-related activities, including hairdressing, hospitality and catering. They also learn about trades such as painting, decorating, carpentry and joinery through engaging taster sessions. Staff encourage children to find out more about different courses in a friendly environment. As a result, children learn about a wide range of different industry areas.

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Reasonable progress

Tutors have planned a broad and effective English curriculum organised around themes. This exceeds the requirements of the qualification. For example, children read about Greta Thunberg when exploring the planet theme. However, the vocational curriculum focuses too narrowly on children’s achievement of the qualification units. In the vocational areas, staff do not set enough activities to improve children’s mathematics and digital skills.

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Reasonable progress

In English and mathematics, tutors make very good use of the results of assessments of what children already know and can do to create personalised learning targets and design interesting learning activities that meet the needs of Monitoring visit: Oasis Restore, 15 and 16 January 2025 children. For example, children engage in aspirational activities such as writing letters to the Prime Minster. Tutors work with children who speak English as an additional language to identify the areas where they have good knowledge and skills, and those areas that require further development.

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Reasonable progress

Tutors use a variety of effective teaching methods to encourage children to participate and complete tasks successfully. For example, in English, tutors provide lively and interesting short video presentations to introduce a topic. This enables children to identify and annotate the key points. Tutors and children engage in interesting discussions that promote oracy development. Tutors use a range of activities to recap previously taught concepts to help them to remember more.

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Reasonable progress

In some classrooms, the number of passive adults far exceeds that of children and the role of practitioners in class is not always clearly linked to supporting learning.

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Reasonable progress

Although the core team meets frequently to review children’s progress on a wide range of indicators, leaders do not identify which children are making slower progress and are at risk of falling behind. This means they are slow to put in place extra support where required.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders create a positive culture of safeguarding. They are rigorous in their approach to the recruitment of new staff. They conduct appropriate pre-employment suitability checks on employees. Staff are suitable to work with children in a secure setting.

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Reasonable progress

Safeguarding staff record concerns about children diligently and monitor the effectiveness of their actions carefully. Where relevant, they consult with external agencies very effectively to get children the specialist support they require.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders and managers have in place appropriate policies and procedures, including a recently introduced ‘Prevent’ duty risk assessment. They use these to reduce the risks to children. Tutors have not made sure that children’s understanding of British values is secure enough. They struggle to explain how these values may apply in their lives. Monitoring visit: Oasis Restore, 15 and 16 January 2025 regulates and inspects 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

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Reasonable progress

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