The Anchor SENDfriendly Centre, London

What it's like to be a pupil at The Anchor SENDfriendly Centre

Pupils settle quickly in this nurturing school. They benefit from calm, predictable routines and a patient, consistent approach from staff, when they need extra help. Staff build trusting relationships with pupils and work closely with families to understand pupils' needs. As a result, pupils feel safe and valued. This is of particular importance given that many of the school's pupils have been to a number of schools before arriving at this one, and in many cases have experienced challenges, including with attendance. Here, leaders work closely with families to ensure that pupils attend well, which they typically do. Pupils behave with kindness and respect towards others. Staff model positive behaviour and use gentle, well‑judged prompts to help pupils to manage their emotions. This helps to ensure that pupils can focus on learning the intended curriculum. Pupils are well supported to form healthy friendships and learn how to recognise prejudice, discrimination and bullying. When they have any concerns, staff act quickly and effectively. This helps pupils to feel confident that adults will keep them safe. Leaders are ambitious for all pupils to enjoy both personal and academic success. Overall, they check pupils' progress carefully and adapt provision so that barriers to learning and wellbeing are reduced. Pupils typically build knowledge securely from their starting points and develop the knowledge and skills that they need for their next steps. Leaders place particular emphasis on helping pupils, including students in the sixth form, to prepare for adulthood. Pupils experience a broad curriculum that extends beyond the academic. From the moment they arrive at the school, staff encourage pupils to develop independence and confidence. For example, younger pupils choose and prepare their own breakfast daily, while students in the sixth form learn to plan safe, independent travel. Pupils are encouraged to share their aspirations and their views about how their special educational needs and/or disabilities should be supported by professionals.

What Ofsted says the school should do next

• Leaders should more closely analyse the extent to which pupils have learned all subjects in the curriculum, so that they can more precisely identify learning aims for pupils and further improve their achievement.
• Leaders should more robustly track the careers education, information, advice and guidance pupils have had and use it to ensure that more pupils and students in post-16 engage in comprehensive careers provision, including work experience.

The Anchor Centre excels at supporting pupils with complex needs to attend school regularly and make genuine progress. Staff create a warm, trusting environment where pupils feel safe and are supported with personalised plans tailored to their individual needs. The school is genuinely inclusive, using specialist approaches and reasonable adjustments to help all pupils access learning and develop the independence and life skills they need for adulthood.

Safeguarding standards are met - leaders have established an open culture where safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed.

Music therapy, drumming workshops, visits to art galleries and museums, visits to local parks, cooking, enrichment clubs, library visits, shopping trips, local cafe visits

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Bus Stops