Aurora Brooklands School Receives Ofsted ‘Good’ Grading

Young people from across Lancashire, including Sefton, Lancaster and Morecambe, as well as from Rochdale in Greater Manchester, attend Aurora Brooklands School because of the specialist education it provides.

In its report, Ofsted said: “The school places great importance on pupils’ mental wellbeing. With the help of staff, pupils demonstrate impressive resilience in overcoming past challenges and focusing on their learning and their futures.”

Principal Sarah Gregory said Ofsted’s ‘good’ grading was confirmation that the school was on the right road but added that there was more work to be done.

“Receiving Ofsted’s judgement is a real golden moment because it means we’re now ready to start the next part of our journey,” she said.

“However, we’re very much focused on continuous improvement. It’s great to be recognised as ‘good’ in everything we are doing at the school but now, our challenge is to be even better – and bigger!”

There are currently 62 pupils at Brooklands aged between nine and 16 and it’s Sarah’s ambition to increase the school roll to 80, its full capacity.

Describing the school as having, “high expectations of what pupils can achieve”, Ofsted’s gradings were: 
•    The quality of education: Good
•    Behaviour and attitudes: Good
•    Personal development: Good
•    Leadership and management: Good
•    Overall effectiveness: Good
 

The report also recognised efforts made by the school to develop its curriculum, stating that “pupils benefit from a curriculum that is tailored to their needs and interests. This helps pupils rebuild confidence. They achieve well and are proud of their accomplishments.” 

Sarah said: “I’m really proud that our curriculum is meeting our young people’s needs, because their needs are so much more diverse. We have a real focus on therapeutic practice, de-escalation, understanding the children’s triggers and developing the right relationships that mean we can pre-emptively give children the tools they need to manage themselves before they’re needing to use their behaviour for communication.”
 

Sarah said there was very much a sense of ‘family’ at Brooklands, something recognised by the inspectors, who said: “Pupils feel unconditionally accepted and valued at this school. Strong relationships between staff and pupils help pupils to feel safe and happy.”

It’s been a big team effort. The staff have worked really hard and I couldn’t have asked more from them.”

Aurora Brooklands School in Preston is an innovative centre of excellence providing a holistic education offer and therapeutic support across the North. We support young people aged 9 to 16 who face various challenges associated with social, emotional and mental health needs.