Brook View School

Inspection of Brook View School Ward Green Lane, Ribchester, Preston, Lancashire PR3 3YB

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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 Good

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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?

Pupils at Brook View School are greeted each day by nurturing staff. They feel cared for, and their interactions with adults show that they feel safe. Pupils settle in quickly when they start at the school. The highly positive relationships that they enjoy with staff help to reinforce positive behaviours. Pupils are supported well to ensure they are calm and ready to learn. Pupils show early signs of being able to manage their own feelings better.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils explore their surroundings and engage well in their education. There is a strong focus on ensuring that they can successfully communicate and express their feelings, choices and preferences. Over time, pupils build their knowledge and skills to achieve the high ambitions that the school has set out for their learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from a range of trips and visitors that help to develop their understanding of the role of others in the community, such as through visiting a local fire station. This helps pupils understand the communities they live in. The school has also introduced a package of ‘things to do before you leave’ to broaden pupils’ experiences. These include creating a mosaic and learning to cook outdoors.

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better?

Pupils’ specific special educational needs and/or disabilities are identified well by the school. Staff take time to assess how pupils learn best. They have a strong understanding of pupils’ needs, personalities, likes and dislikes. Staff use this understanding to ensure that pupils enjoy a broad and rich curriculum. This has been further enhanced by the recent investment in resources to support pupils’ learning.

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better?

Teachers ensure that the curriculum builds well on pupils’ prior learning. They model new knowledge and concepts well and question pupils’ understanding to check what they have remembered. Typically, teachers make good use of these checks to inform pupils’ next steps. However, some aspects of the curriculum are not as well defined in terms of the aspirations and goals that the school wants pupils to achieve. This means that, in a small number of subjects, staff do not have some of the guidance that they need to fully adapt learning to help pupils achieve the very best outcomes.

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better?

The teaching of language and sounds is central to the curriculum and in communicating expectations to pupils. Staff use a variety of communication methods in order to check pupils’ understanding of the curriculum. There is planned repetition to ensure that pupils understand functional language well. The school engages with parents and carers to develop the vocabulary that pupils need to make the most out of their everyday experiences, both at school and at home.

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better?

The school is tenacious in ensuring that pupils attend school as regularly as possible. Where a pupil’s attendance is low, the school ensures that there are good reasons 13 to 15 May 2025 for any absence. As a result, unauthorised absences are rare. Where pupils are persistently absent, the school is assured that these are for valid medical reasons.

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better?

Pupils behave well during lunchtime and other breaktimes. They respect each other’s space and, with the support of adults, move around the school calmly.

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better?

The school has ensured that pupils’ personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education is woven through all aspects of pupils’ learning. Relationships education is effective in helping to develop pupils’ knowledge of what constitutes an appropriate friendship. Pupils are taught well to distinguish between right and wrong. They also learn about valuing and respecting difference. Some pupils show an appropriate understanding of equality through the work that they produce.

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better?

The school’s provision for careers information, education, advice and guidance is at an early stage of development. Although pupils take part in some meaningful activities in their local community, they do not have enough opportunities to apply their skills for life and independence more broadly. As such, they are not as well prepared as they could be for life in modern Britain.

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better?

The proprietor has ensured that the school’s policies, including a safeguarding policy that meets current statutory requirements, are published on the school’s website. The proprietor has also ensured that the school meets the requirements of schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010. There are robust arrangements in place to assure the proprietor that the independent school standards (the standards) are consistently met. For example, routine maintenance checks and reviews of different aspects of health and safety take place on a regular basis.

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better?

The proprietor has ensured that the new leadership team is focused on continuing to improve the school. Senior leaders have successfully rebuilt the staff team, having carefully managed a number of staffing changes in recent years. All staff are on board with the renewed direction that the school is taking, and they feel well supported, including with their workload. For example, assessments of pupils’ needs help staff to focus on developing pupils’ learning.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 Some aspects of the curriculum have not been thought through fully in terms of what the school wants pupils to achieve. This means that staff do not have enough guidance about what pupils need to learn and how they can support them to achieve appropriate milestones. The proprietor should refine the curriculum and support staff to adapt this to meet pupils’ individual needs. 13 to 15 May 2025  The school’s programme of careers education, information and guidance is at an early stage of development. As such, pupils are not equipped with some of the wider experiences, knowledge and skills for future independence that they may otherwise be capable of. The school should ensure that its careers programme better prepares pupils for later life.

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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. 13 to 15 May 2025

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School details

Type of school Other independent special school

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) £89,800 to £131,551

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School details

Website www.cambiangroup.com/specialist- education/our-schools/autism- schools/brook-view-school Email address Rebekah.Dennett@cambriangroup.com

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School details

Date of previous inspection 29 November to 1 December 2022 13 to 15 May 2025

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Information about this school

 The majority of the staff have been appointed since the previous inspection. This includes a new senior leadership team.  The school’s previous standard inspection took place on 29 November to 1 December 2022.  The school does not use any alternative provision.  The school caters for pupils with a range of needs, including pupils who have a diagnosis of autism. All pupils have education, health and care plans. The school is registered to admit up to 25 pupils.  The proprietor’s registered offices are located at Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, EN6 1AG.  The school is located at Ward Green Lane, Ribchester, Preston, Lancashire, PR3 3YB.  The proprietor body is a limited company called Cambian Autism Services Ltd.  There were no students in the post-16 provision at the time of this inspection.

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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

Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.

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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

 Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early communication and language, expressive arts and design, and PSHE. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also looked at curriculum documentation, pupils’ work, visited lessons and spoke to leaders about other subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders and staff; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first. 13 to 15 May 2025  Inspectors conducted a tour of the building, reviewed policies and spoke with

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Information about this inspection

leaders to assess compliance with the standards.  Inspectors gathered parents’ views by reviewing responses, including free-text responses, submitted to Ofsted Parent View. They also spoke to a sample of parents by phone.  Inspectors met with groups of staff and also considered the views expressed through Ofsted’s online survey for staff.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons, looked at records for behaviour and bullying and spoke with leaders and staff.  Inspectors discussed the provision in place for pupils’ personal development.  It was not possible to speak to pupils during this inspection because most are largely non-verbal. This did not impact the quality of evidence gathered or the inspection outcomes. Inspectors spent more time visiting lessons to observe the way in which pupils interact with staff and communicate their preferences and needs. Inspectors also used gestures and signs to communicate with pupils

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Inspection team

Steve Bentham, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Julie Bather Ofsted Inspector 13 to 15 May 2025 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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