Vanguard School - Kenington, London

Woundering now that are all those children who have abused and bullied the kids if their still their. Reading everything is so clear they need to be in a more specialised setting. One thing that made me change my mind was all the open days were for after school hours and not during school hours and everytime I asked to view the school during when the children where their I was told this can not be done as it wil mess with their routine which is sorry bullshit I have viewed so many special schools and all where during when everyone was in school.

Isn't their anything good about vanguard their education food activities teachers transport the school building other children.

I also went and 3aited outside the school gates on their home time and to be honest they all looked clam but never judge a book by its cover.

Hello I have DM you

I am happy to speak to you about this place but not publicly. Please DM me and happy to chat on phone

I know a number of parents with children at Vanguard who say that their children went backwards between year 6 and year 7 and made no progress there after. I'd avoid if you can

This is shocking. I actually considered this school but did not want to take a chdncevon sn unestablished head. Are the trustees aware? I used to work with one of them so I may contact her if not.

Do you mind me asking what the nature of the abuse was?

Surely a case of all that happening to your child cannot be just investigated internally!! I agree with you there is absolutely no safeguarding at the school at all. Everything is brushed under the carpet or like you say dealt with internally. No child should be subjected to what goes on at the school. I agree i think the only way to out the school and get anything done is to get the media involved. Things have to change for the sake of the children at the school.

As you know i took my son (grandson) out because he was bullied very badly. I’m sorry to hear that nothing has changed there. I agree that quite a lot of the staff there should not be working with our children. I was led to believe that the safeguarding team had all changed since the problems i had, but i see they are still there. If you want to move your child you will need to ask for an urgent EHCP review, ask whoever is your child’s EHCP officer at Southwark council. Have a meeting with the head and the safeguarding team and Southwark but don’t back down. They tried to tell me that things would change for him there, but there was no way anything would change, so i stuck to my guns and they agreed the move, very reluctantly as it doesn’t look good on them. Also contact the chair of the governors and raise your concerns and make a formal complaint, they then have to look into it.

Hello my son has just started and I hate it. What school did your daughter eventually find as I feel I need to know where to send him before asking him to move. Also how did you facilitate the move? Who do you speak to?

I thought the school had got better with the New Head………..sounds like nothing has changed 😡

I would strongly advise against sending your child to the vanguard school, Loddard street Kennington. The school is not fit for purpose, withdrew my child in May 2023
after a serious sexual assault took place. A toxic culture which is perpetuated by the new principal who knows what has gone on but has decided to keep the status quo with certain members of staff that should not be working with children. All the brilliant staff are long gone.. out of control students, assaults and bullying like I have never witnessed before.. January 2023 after a damming ofsted report, Liberty trust has taken to over and The national autisic society no longer supports the school…

Hi not sure if message was for me or original post but I live in Waterloo/ Blackfriars SE1 area.

Hi. Which area are you in?

My son is due to start this school against my better judgement. I am teacher at a main stream comprehensive and was really dismayed at the Ofsted and empty promises when I first visited the school. My fear is that I know he will be left behind with potential bullying at a main stream so I felt I had no other viable choice than vanguard.
Reading the previous messages has placed me again in a malaise. I can only beg with all the available gods that this new super head can turn it around. I refuse to purchase full uniform as I don't know how long he will be there. I am learning other syllabi in preparation of home schooling a route I don't want to take.
I will welcome any further insight and additionally can share anything to help other families with their decision.

Thanks that's what I thought. I think I have other options closer to home that I will prioritize, though I wish the leadership there had the same vision

VickiMcD75- my daughter had a horrendous time at Vanguard. BUT the new headmaster Stuart Parker Tyreman came in and did a very impressive salvage job with her education, allowing her to sit enough GCSEs to hopefully get into her college of choice (fingers crossed for the result day on the 24th). We had such an abnormal relationship with the school that I can't really recommend it but we really felt the new headmaster was very smart, understood the issues we had very quickly and put solutions in place for our daughter with immense efficiency. But there is no doubt there is an enormous job ahead before the school is the place of excellence it needs to be but I think the headmaster is more than capable of getting the school there. Would I send a child to the school now? I think I would but with the caveat that A LOT of communication is needed with the management team. And I would monitor the situation very carefully. Hope that helps.

The scheool has been under new management since Feb 23 si I would be interested to know how many of these issues are current. I was impressed by the head and the vision at the open day. It's a question if whether I want to risk my child in a not yet established settings

Oh my I was supposed to be viewing this school but from seeing all these messages I am a bit concerned. How on earth is teachers working in a SEN school not noticing anything. This shows they are not clearly doing there job properly and not looking out for the students. They should really understand some of the students really can’t control what they do or say. I am now huffing about should I send my child there or not as I do not want to experience any of this happening to her. I do not want my child to come home not saying anything to me and I’m thinking everything is normal. The ofsted report also had me worried why it is so terrible. They should really consider to do their job properly before the school ends up shutting down. If anyone has anything else to add about the school please private chat me if you like as I would like to know before sending my child there. Thank you

decent school the teachers act so strict to kids who are Austic and the Teachers the have no clue about autism but the good things I heard from my son is that the lesson are more easy then his old school and he doing more work and he made close friends he struggle a bit when his favourite teacher left.