Aspire Ap School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 1 July 2025

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. 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. 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. 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.

What the school should improve

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

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)