Aspire Ap School

Inspection of Aspire Ap School Hall Green Baptist Church, 1250 Stratford Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, West Midlands B28 9EJ

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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?

For many pupils who attend Aspire Ap School, it is a life-changing experience. Most pupils have had a negative experience of education. The caring, supportive staff build positive relationships with pupils. This helps pupils to re-engage with education effectively. Over time, this transforms pupils’ attitudes to learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is a harmonious place to learn. Pupils behave well. Staff support pupils to achieve success, both academically and pastorally. Pupils are happy and feel safe. Staff have high expectations. Pupils work hard to meet these. Staff know pupils and their families well. This helps to develop a holistic view of pupils.

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What is it like to attend this school?

An atmosphere of calm and purpose pervades the school. Staff greet pupils warmly as they arrive. Well-established routines, such as morning breakfast, give pupils predictability. Throughout the day, staff support pupils in interacting with each other. This helps pupils to build relationships and make friends. Over time, pupils learn to understand their behaviours and self-regulate their feelings.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has developed its enrichment offer with pupils’ needs firmly in mind. Residential visits and trips out of school help pupils develop their independence and broaden their experiences. A focus on developing life skills helps to prepare pupils for the next stage of their education and beyond.

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better?

Everyone associated with the school is passionate about improving the lives of pupils. The priority is for pupils to feel safe. Staff get to know each pupil as an individual and focus on getting relationships right from the start. Parents and carers appreciate this. As a result, pupils feel valued and build up trust with the school. This helps pupils to resume their education, following disruption to their schooling.

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better?

The school has designed an ambitious curriculum. Subject plans are well organised. When pupils arrive at the school, thorough assessments take place to identify gaps in their prior learning. The curriculum sets out clear endpoints for all pupils. Staff provide pupils with opportunities to revisit previous learning. For example, in mathematics pupils complete mini quizzes which help them to retain their knowledge over time. However, sometimes, staff do not identify pupils’ misconceptions quickly enough. They do not adapt their learning in light of this. As a result, the needs of individual pupils are sometimes not met. This means that pupils do not build their knowledge as well as they could.

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better?

In some subjects the curriculum sets out precisely what pupils should learn and when they should learn it. This helps pupils build their knowledge well. This means that new knowledge connects to previous learning. For example, pupils learn about different persuasive techniques in English. Teachers share examples of persuasive texts and pupils learn how to write persuasively. However, in other subjects it is not 1 to 3 July 2025 clear what precise knowledge pupils are expected to know and remember over time. As a result, in these subjects, pupils do not learn as well as they should.

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better?

Most pupils in the school have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school carefully identifies pupils’ individual needs. Teachers use a range of strategies to adapt learning to enable pupils with SEND to learn the same curriculum as their peers. However, the targets on pupils’ individual learning plans are not precise. As a result, teachers are not able to support these pupils as well as they need to. Tasks do not always meet these pupils’ individual needs.

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better?

Reading is prioritised across the school. The school assesses pupils’ reading age and ability accurately. Pupils practise their reading fluency and comprehension daily. There are a variety of books available for pupils to borrow, and pupils are encouraged to do so. These books are high quality and age appropriate. The English literature curriculum has been designed around a class novel. Pupils develop a range of reading skills through the study of this text.

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better?

The school’s work to support pupils’ behaviour and attitudes is commendable. For example, pupils are highly motivated to earn behaviour points. These points contribute towards whole school rewards.

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better?

The personal, social and health education (PSHE) programme is wide ranging. Pupils learn about healthy relationships, consent and respect. Pupils are well prepared for British society as they learn about the importance of democracy, equality and mutual respect. Pastoral support for pupils is strong. Pupils feel confident to talk to staff about any worries or concerns they have because they know that staff will help them. They feel a sense of belonging and acceptance of who they are.

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better?

Pupils benefit from careers advice from the school. Careers education is woven into the curriculum, so that pupils are supported to think about their own career pathways.

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better?

The proprietor demonstrates an effective balance of support and challenge in overseeing the school’s provision. The proprietor ensures that all the independent school standards are met. The school complies with schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010.

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better?

Staff are proud to work at the school. They feel that they are well supported by leaders, including in managing their workload. Parents speak very positively about the school. One parent captured the impact the school has had on their child. They stated, ‘The school has given my child a second chance and they have started to love learning’.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 1 to 3 July 2025

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 In some subjects, the important knowledge, skills and vocabulary pupils need to know are not clearly set out in the curriculum. This impacts on how well pupils learn in these subjects. The school should ensure that the curriculum sets out the precise knowledge pupils will learn for future success in these subjects.  At times teachers’ checks on pupils’ learning of the curriculum are not sharp enough. This means that tasks set for pupils are not sufficiently matched to their learning needs. Some pupils’ misconceptions are not picked up and addressed. The school should ensure that checks on learning are used effectively to adapt future teaching, so that pupils make the progress they should.  The targets for pupils with SEND are not written with enough precision. As a result, teachers do not adapt lessons for some pupils with SEND to help them achieve as well as they could. The school should ensure that the targets for pupils

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

with SEND are more precisely broken down and that teachers use these to adapt their teaching, to help pupils with SEND achieve consistently well.

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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. 1 to 3 July 2025

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School details

Unique reference number 139962 DfE registration number 330/6015

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School details

Inspection number 10374908 Type of school Other Independent School

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School details

Proprietor Ecclesia International Church

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) £19,344 to £39,000

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School details

Email address kmills@aspireapschool.bham.sch.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 24 to 26 May 2022 1 to 3 July 2025

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Information about this school

 Aspire Ap School is an independent day school located at Hall Green Baptist Church, 1250 Stratford Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, West Midlands B28 9EJ.  The school is registered for up to 15 pupils.  The school offers places to pupils aged 11 to 16 who are at risk of or have experienced permanent exclusion and/or have social, emotional and mental health issues.  Pupils join the school at various times through a school year for different lengths of time. Some pupils attend the school full time.  Most pupils have been out of education for prolonged periods of time before joining this school.  Pupils are referred to the school by local authorities, mainstream schools and other agencies.  There has been a change in the leadership structure since the previous inspection. The previous headteacher became executive headteacher of this school and another independent day school. A new headteacher was appointed

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Information about this school

for this school.  The school does not use 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 to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  As part of their work to check compliance with the independent school standards, inspectors met with the headteacher and the chair of the proprietary board.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English including early reading, mathematics, and PSHE. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and 1 to 3 July 2025 considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive

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Information about this inspection

culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors considered pupils’ behaviour throughout the inspection. Inspectors also spoke with leaders to consider how they support pupils’ behaviour.  Inspectors carried out a detailed tour of the site and premises to consider whether the school meets the independent school standards. Inspectors considered documents, policies and plans linked to the health, safety and welfare of pupils, including the fire risk assessment, checks on fire safety equipment and site safety.  Inspectors talked with pupils and staff to gather general information about school life. They considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View.  A range of documentation was scrutinised, including school policies, curriculum documents and the school’s website.

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Inspection team

Matt Fletcher, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Lorraine Lord Ofsted Inspector 1 to 3 July 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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