Aspire AP School is an Alternative Provision Independent School that was initially established in 2012 in partnership with award winning charity Transforming Lives for Good.
We believe that every young person should know that they are precious,
distinctive and gifted and that they are capable of achieving both now and in
the future.
Working in partnership with local organisations, communities and individuals is
the key to unlocking exceptional education and assistance for our pupils and
their families.
We have a distinct Christian ethos and in practice, the values of respect, care, love, acceptance and belonging for all will be promoted and supported among our staff, students and across our community.
Our Mission is to offer appropriate and relevant courses in various subject areas that will:
To address young people's social, emotional, and learning requirements while encouraging self-efficacy. To engage young people in learning and higher order thinking so that they can think more skillfully than they would otherwise.
To allow young people to manage their emotions, communicate with others effectively and eventually regulate and boost their own learning. Assist in reintegration into a mainstream school or onto further education or employment.
This is an excellent institution. A curriculum that is broad, varied, and fascinating stimulates students. It places a strong and successful emphasis on developing students' spiritual, moral, social, and cultural awareness. As a result of strong instruction, students achieve good development, often from quite low starting places. They perform well on external examinations.
Mrs Viviene Royal has 25 years secondary teaching experience in a mainstream setting having previously taught in inner city schools in both Bradford & Birmingham, before becoming Headteacher of Aspire AP School in January 2019.
Our objective is to provide educational and therapeutic support so as to enable young people to reengage in schooling. The academic and therapeutic curriculum aims to address underlying barriers to learning that some of our students may encounter, thereby addressing gaps in their education. In addition, we seek to provide a curriculum that extends their knowledge and develop their skills, taking into account the local context of the school.
We support students in improving their literacy and numeracy skills through the key areas of English and Maths. A love of reading is important in the development of extensive vocalubalrly and we seek to undertake this through our reading programme. In addition, we strive to support our students become better thinkers through our Thinking Skills programme by focusing on the four key areas of Problem-Solving & Decision-Making; Information Management; Effective Inquiry and Creative Thinking.
Aspire AP School meets the Independent School Standards by providing students with opportunities to learn in the following areas: literacy, mathematics, science, PSHE/ Citizenship, Humanities, Sports, Cooking and Creative Arts.
If you would like to see a thorough breakdown of academic performance or results, please contact the Head Teacher, who will gladly provide it to you. Our school aims to teach young people about civic and cultural development, which includes essential British values. We encourage equal opportunity and diversity for staff and students, and will not accept discrimination.
Aspire AP Staff work hard to keep the students safe from radicalisation and extremism by being open to dialogue about these challenges and responding quickly and appropriately to vulnerable students.
* Closed Half Term 25/10/21 to 09/10/21
Friday 17th December 2021* Closed Half Term 21/02/22 to 25/02/22
Friday 8th April 2022* Closed Half Term 121/02/22 to 25/02/22
* Closed Half Term 30/05/22 to 03/06/22
At Aspire AP School, we work with students who may have special educational needs and/ or social, emotional and behavioral challenges. Our regular staff training ensures that our team are trainined and equipped to work with the wide range of students with varying needs in addition to prodiucing teaching activities which is well differentiated and supports different learning styles.
Our small group sizes and high staff-to-student ratios create an environment conducive to nurturing. This means that we can customize the curriculum and degree of support for each student, allowing them to learn and succeed.
Our school environment is well-structured and has distinct boundaries. Aspire AP School establishes agreed-upon behavior guidelines with students, which are outlined in a "contract" that everyone signs at the start of the placement. Using our Behavior for Learning Assessment, staff, parents, and young people identify and establish targets in areas that they find challenging. Support is then provided to help them develop.
Staff use strategies to promote and regularly recognize positive behavior and clear and consistent sanctions for inappropriate behavior. Students are taught that their actions have consequences and in many cases, they begin to change their behavior as a result. Students are always supervised while in school. Unless excused, students are expected to attend all sessions (morning and afternoon). We believe that high attendance is essential for success and working in partnership with our students and families, we support them to address any obstacles that they may face with reagrds to regular attendance.
Aspire AP School is registered with the Department of Education as an independent school and is subject to Ofsted inspections under the Education Inspection Framework. In our most recent inspection in February 2018, Ofsted rated us as a GOOD school once again!