Blooming Tree School

Blooming Tree Pre Prep School

Address: First Floor, Swarn House, 296 High Street, Acton, W3 9BJ Unique reference number (URN): 148807

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met. Insufficient evidence: Inspectors were unable to gather sufficient evidence to judge whether safeguarding standards are met.

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Achievement Exceptional

Many pupils have faced significant challenges in education before joining the school. Here, they are exceptionally well supported to develop, grow and thrive.

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Achievement Exceptional

Pupils achieve well due to the unwavering commitment of leaders. Nothing is considered a barrier, but rather just a challenge to overcome. Behavioural barriers are addressed at each stage to help unlock pupils' learning and communication.

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Achievement Exceptional

Pupils develop their communication, social understanding, emotional regulation and independence extremely well. Progress in reading, early mathematics and vocabulary development is evident in pupils’ ability to recall prior learning, attempt tasks independently and engage purposefully with adults.

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Achievement Exceptional

Pupils work systematically through their individualised programme. They achieve and flourish as they do so. Pupils are increasingly well prepared for their next steps, developing independence, communication and improved tolerance for sensory and learning demands. They learn the skills needed to be able to take part in wider society. This supports pupils as individuals, but the approach also supports their families.

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Attendance and behaviour Exceptional

The school has very high expectations around attendance. Leaders are clear that for their work to have maximum impact, pupils must be in school every day. Leaders' support and rigour in understanding each pupil's 'story' ensures they have the information they need to remove any barriers that impact attendance, for example support with dressing in school rather than at home to avoid lateness. As a result, pupils have very high attendance. This is particularly noteworthy as many pupils have had difficulties accessing education before joining Blooming Tree Pre Prep School.

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Attendance and behaviour Exceptional

Leaders focus astutely on teaching positive behaviour and removing barriers linked to pupils' special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders have established a culture where pupils learn to be highly resilient and proud while interacting and communicating effectively. Behaviour is managed through highly structured responses based on responding to pupils’ emotions.

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Attendance and behaviour Exceptional

Staff know exactly how to support pupils to manage their feelings and emotions. They help each pupil to relate to others in an age- and stage-appropriate way. For example, some pupils are supported to begin to make friendships, while others learn how to play alongside their peers. Play and learning activities are also used effectively to develop pupils’ social skills. As a result, the learning environment is calm and orderly. Movement around the school during the day is smooth and efficient, reflecting consistent adult support and well- established expectations. When pupils have moments when they find it difficult to follow behaviour expectations, staff respond skilfully, enabling pupils to calm down, relax, get back on track and re-engage with their learning.

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Curriculum and teaching Exceptional

Leaders have a deep understanding of pupils' starting points and individual needs. This has shaped the school's distinct curriculum so that learning is very well designed. Any adaptations needed are precise and swift. They are focused on removing barriers and embedding learning to help pupils to thrive.

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Curriculum and teaching Exceptional

On joining the school, staff have a thorough induction and training to ensure they have the specialist knowledge required to deliver the curriculum. The academic curriculum includes communication, early reading, vocabulary and number fluency and teaches wider curriculum knowledge as and when it is appropriate. Leaders are ambitious that all pupils will learn this important content. For example, leaders have made astute adaptions to their delivery of phonics teaching to deliberately teach speech sounds to also enable their nonverbal pupils to begin to communicate verbally.

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Curriculum and teaching Exceptional

All of this academic learning is seamlessly interwoven into the specialist curriculum. This includes therapies, the well-organised teaching of expected behaviours and the strategies to help each individual pupil learn to manage themselves well. Staff use a range of techniques, such as well-organised prompting and reinforcement, to build understanding and promote independence.

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Curriculum and teaching Exceptional

Staff check pupils' understanding repeatedly across each activity, every day. They address gaps in knowledge and misconceptions sensitively and deliberately. Pupils build on their prior knowledge and can remember and do more over time. This very precise assessment ensures that all learning is embedded and understood before pupils move on to new concepts. Staff also take the time to make sure all learning is transferred and understood across a range of contexts.

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Inclusion Exceptional

All pupils who attend Blooming Tree have special educational needs and/or disabilities. They are placed at the school as part of their education, health and care plans. The majority of pupils face multiple barriers to learning linked to their diagnosis of autism. Many are nonverbal or preverbal. Leaders support pupils to think about their significant barriers as 'bumps' in the road to be overcome. Leaders leave no stone unturned in successfully supporting all pupils to do this and ensure they thrive and flourish.

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Inclusion Exceptional

Staff have a deep understanding of each pupil’s needs and put in place precise adaptations across all learning contexts. Training is delivered by expert leaders who provide coaching and modelling to ensure the consistency of the one-to-one teaching. The school’s sophisticated approach to assessment enables staff to track even the smallest steps of progress the pupils make through the curriculum. Detailed daily behaviour and learning responses are recorded and analysed for every pupil to ensure all decisions are informed by patterns over time rather than isolated moments. This informs the content, adaptations and next steps for pupils' individual programmes.

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Inclusion Exceptional

Pupils who are nonverbal or preverbal access learning through a variety of well-matched and effective communication systems. Therapeutic practices, consistent routines, sensory regulation strategies and well-matched behavioural approaches are embedded across the provision.

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Inclusion Exceptional

Inclusion reaches beyond the school day. The school's work further supports families with strategies, modelling and help to access key services as and when needed.

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Leadership and governance Exceptional

The proprietor and those responsible for leadership provide a highly effective school. The quality and precision of leaders’ work has significant positive impact on achievement, behaviour and pupils' wider development. Leaders know their strengths and have very well- considered areas they wish to continue to develop to maintain the impact of their offer. They understand their statutory duties, and the independent school standards (the standards) are met securely and consistently. Regular audits and reviews with an external consultant have provided the proprietor with guidance and reassurance around the standards. Oversight is rigorous and robust and decisions are focused solely on what is best for pupils and the impact on their overall development. Staff share this commitment and ethos.

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Leadership and governance Exceptional

Leaders are experts in their field. They train staff extremely well and model their expectations clearly. Professional learning for staff is viewed as helpful and responsive. As a result, there are well-embedded systems and high levels of staff confidence across all roles. Workload and wellbeing considerations are visible in staff structures, training and the shared responsibility for behaviour support. Staff describe a culture of support where help is always available and workload is manageable. They have pride in the school’s strengths, its safety for pupils and its impact on pupils' learning.

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Personal development and wellbeing Exceptional

The personal development offer is bespoke and part of pupils' individual offer. There is no 'one size fits all', but rather a highly strategic and impactful suite of therapies and learning sequences to support pupils from their starting points. Astute consideration is given to the prior learning that each pupil needs to access. Personal, social and health education themes, including work about relationships, are integrated into routines and social interactions. These are delivered thoughtfully and strategically once pupils are able to engage with and understand the content. For example, the school's stranger danger programme is only delivered when pupils have developed an awareness of others and danger.

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Personal development and wellbeing Exceptional

Communication, self-regulation, independence and resilience are developed well. This is achieved through well-organised routines, reward systems and well-designed movement breaks. Pupils practise cooperation, making choices, social interaction and persistence within supported activities. Therapies linked to pupils' education, health and care plans are embedded into each pupil's offer. This is done, for example, through programmes centred around developing communication, precise movements, speech and language.

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Personal development and wellbeing Exceptional

The personal development offer reaches beyond the school to provide support for families and to ensure that pupils receive consistently effective support and responses when at home. For example, the school offers coaching and modelling for parents and carers through home visits, toilet training, and therapies so pupils can 'tolerate' a haircut or take medication.

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Personal development and wellbeing Exceptional

The school's holistic, developmental approach to pupils' personal growth successfully develops communication, independence, emotional safety and self-advocacy. Over time, pupils are gradually supported to understand change, develop social skills and participate confidently in new and unfamiliar environments. This starts pupils on their journey to being able to be part of society and life in modern Britain. It also makes a transformational difference to both pupils' and their families' lives.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils are happy and feel safe at Blooming Tree Pre Prep School. They attend exceptionally well, enjoy learning, participate willingly and learn to demonstrate pride in their achievements. All pupils flourish here, thriving socially, emotionally and academically. The precision of leaders' support for pupils has a transformational impact on their lives.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Across the school, pupils experience a calm, predictable and highly structured environment where their communication, sensory and emotional needs are understood exceptionally well. On arrival each day, pupils are met warmly by familiar adults and supported into class through consistent routines that promote safety and belonging. Supportive yet firm adults build trust and cooperation. Pupils are settled, confident and eager to begin their day.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Each pupil is supported by a one-to-one teacher who delivers their individual and highly- tailored learning programme throughout the day. Bullying is very rare. If there are concerns, however, these are dealt with swiftly and effectively through the school's behavioural teaching structure. During lessons, and through the precise support of their teachers, pupils develop communication skills, social confidence and independence. They move smoothly from free time to whole-class teaching, managing their emotions positively and showing high levels of trust in their key adults. The high-quality supervision and tailored support ensure pupils feel protected. They show through their engagement that school is their ‘safe place’.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils are taught to communicate through a range of speech and communication methods, gestures and behaviours. Staff respond immediately and sensitively to all communication, enabling pupils to express their needs, show their learning and share their preferences.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this standard inspection under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008, and checked the school’s compliance with 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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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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Independent school standards

Independent school standards are either met or not met for each category. Inspectors spoke with the proprietor, who is also the headteacher, the curriculum leader, the designated safeguarding lead and other members of staff during the inspection.

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Independent school standards

The proprietor is Easy Steps Ltd. The founder is Aliki Koriki, who is also the headteacher of the school.

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Independent school standards

The school operates from Swarn House, 296 High Street, Acton W3 9BJ.

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Independent school standards

The school's website is www.bloomingtree.co.uk.

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Independent school standards

The school is a special school that caters for pupils with a diagnosis of autism. All places are commissioned by pupils' local authority as part of an education, health and care plan.

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Independent school standards

The school caters for the following special educational needs: autistic spectrum disorders, social, emotional and mental health difficulties, moderate learning difficulties, severe learning difficulties, profound and multiple learning difficulties, and speech, language and communication needs.

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Independent school standards

The school is an Applied Behaviour Analysis School.

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Independent school standards

The school's fees are £38,000 to £63,000.

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Independent school standards

The school uses no alternative education providers.

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Independent school standards

The school offers provision for children in the early years. This has, however, not been graded as there are too few children. The early years offer, however, has been fully considered within the other grades.

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Independent school standards

Proprietor and headteacher : Aliki Koriki

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Independent school standards

1. Quality of education provided Standards met

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Independent school standards

2. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils Standards met

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Lead inspector:

Samantha Ingram, His Majesty's Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils Standards met

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Facts and figures used on inspection

4. Suitability of staff, supply staff, and proprietors Standards met

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Facts and figures used on inspection

5. Premises of and accommodation at schools Standards met

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Facts and figures used on inspection

6. Provision of information Standards met

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Facts and figures used on inspection

7. Manner in which complaints are handled Standards met

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Facts and figures used on inspection

8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools Standards met

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Facts and figures used on inspection

All standards have been met. This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Insufficient evidence

Inspectors were unable to gather reliable enough evidence to grade an evaluation area. This is rare and normally only happens if there are no pupils on roll at the school.

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Insufficient evidence

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Insufficient evidence

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Insufficient evidence

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Insufficient evidence

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Insufficient evidence

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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