A school for children who have suffered bullying is celebrating after it was praised in its first ever Ofsted inspection.
Red Balloon Learner Centre, in Windsor Road, Worthing, was rated good by the schools watchdog following the inspection.
The independent school, which opened in September 2022, was inspected in December last year.
Some children have their places at Red Balloon funded by their local authority through an education, health and care plan, which is why it is regulated by Ofsted.
In the report into the inspection, published on January 29 the school, which teaches 19 pupils aged between 11 and 18, was rated good in all four categories: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management.
Red Balloon was praised for providing a “lifeline” and “route back into education” for pupils who have had very negative experiences of education or have been out of school for an extended period.
The report, written by inspectors Alice Roberts and Alan Johnson, said: “Pupils told inspectors they felt listened to and heard. This enables pupils to learn successfully alongside their peers and to redevelop their sense of belonging and self-worth.
“The school is very successfully reintegrating pupils who have previously disengaged from education. When pupils first begin to attend, staff and leaders at all levels work to reassure pupils that their feelings of safety and their well-being come first.
“Leaders have developed a strong personal development programme that forms a vital part of the school’s education offer. This encompasses regular wellbeing sessions, a range of therapies, personal, social and health education, and relationships and sex education.”
Pupils are “achieving well” and the curriculum is well planned for most subjects.
In the strongest subjects, teachers have a keen awareness of what pupils already know.
In a small number of subjects, the curriculum has not yet been fully redeveloped to take account of the starting points of pupils at an earlier stage of learning to read and write.
“Leaders are aware of this and are redeveloping the underlying curriculum in some subjects to ensure that they enable teachers to align their teaching with the individual starting points of all pupils,” the report said.
Kim Anderson, the head or Red Balloon Worthing, said: "We are thrilled with our first Ofsted report which reflects the amazing dedication of our staff and volunteers who have worked tirelessly alongside our learners to support them and encourage them to re-ignite a love of learning. We are extremely proud of our young people who have made such fantastic achievements in such a short period of time."
Volunteers are an integral part of daily life at Red Balloon and we are so grateful for everything they do to support our learners. If you would like to volunteer at Red Balloon Worthing then please contact Lucy Jackson by email at lucy.jackson@rbet.ac
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