Imperial Oak School, London

What it's like to be a pupil at Imperial Oak School

The school is a nurturing place to be. Pupils arrive at school smiling and keen to start their day. They are greeted by a staff team that is encouraging and motivated to help all pupils. The staff team builds respectful and trusting relationships with pupils. Staff get to know pupils well. This contributes to pupils feeling happy and safe. Some pupils have experienced disruption to their education before joining the school. Staff take time to understand pupils' interests. They use this knowledge to personalise resources and strategies to help pupils settle into their new environment. In many cases, staff are quick to help pupils regulate their behaviour. Staff mostly use effective strategies to help pupils manage their emotions and express themselves appropriately. Leaders, including the proprietor, are developing systems that will help them to monitor pupils behaviour and attendance more robustly. However, these systems are not routinely embedded and, as a result, some pupils' personalised supports are not robust and leaders' oversight is underdeveloped. The school is ambitious for all pupils to access the same curriculum. Leaders want pupils to benefit from experiences that prepare them well for adulthood. Leaders are taking steps to develop provision that meets pupils' diverse needs. For example, they have thoughtfully developed a range of sensory spaces in the school. This includes providing opportunities for pupils to safely explore climbing, water play and cooking. However, there are some inconsistencies in the delivery of the taught curriculum. This is because teachers are not routinely clear about what all pupils already know and can do. Pupils are provided with planned opportunities to develop essential life skills. They are encouraged to use cutlery appropriately. They learn to attend to their personal hygiene routines and build strategies to manage their emotions. Pupils take part in assemblies, which helps to promote pupils' understanding of fundamental British values. Staff support pupils to develop their communication skills. Pupils explore their creative interests through music and art. These experiences contribute to pupils' growing confidence and help them to recognise and develop their talents.

What Ofsted says the school should do next

• Leaders should ensure that they accurately identify pupils' starting points on entry to the school, so that teachers can build effectively on pupils' prior knowledge and skills to enable pupils to achieve well.
• Leaders should ensure that teachers have the pedagogical knowledge and expertise to teach the curriculum. They should ensure that teachers adapt teaching, activities and resources, where appropriate, so that all pupils can learn the content of the curriculum.
• Leaders should embed systems to gather important information about attendance and behaviour. Leaders should ensure that this information is analysed effectively so that decisions and actions for improvement are well informed.

Imperial Oak School demonstrates a clear commitment to supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities through experienced leadership and strong partnerships with local authorities. The school has established comprehensive safeguarding arrangements and robust staff recruitment procedures to ensure pupil safety. Both proposed sites are well-maintained, suitably equipped with specialist spaces including sensory rooms and therapy areas, and have appropriate facilities to support the increased number of pupils.

Safeguarding is effective with appropriate policies aligned to statutory guidance, regular staff training on identifying concerns, and thorough induction programmes that reference vulnerabilities of pupils with SEND.

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