Aurora Cedars School is characterised by the warm and trusting relationships between pupils and adults. Staff have carefully created an environment in which pupils are respected, listened to and valued. As a result, pupils feel safe and soon begin to flourish. Pupils joining the school often have had difficult previous experiences and disruption to their education. The school takes time to get to know its pupils and uses the individualised transition period to make sure that it understands exactly what pupils do well and what support they may need. As a result, by the time they attend full time, pupils get the right help from staff, alongside high-quality therapeutic support. The school has begun to adapt its curriculum to better match the needs of pupils. However, in some subjects, curriculum planning and implementation do not match the high ambitions of leaders. As a result, some pupils do not always achieve as well as they could. The school puts pupils’ best interests at the heart of what it does. It has developed a strong personal development curriculum that makes sure that pupils are prepared well for their next steps. One pupil summed up the views of many by saying, ‘I didn’t have a future before I came here, now I have been given the skills and the tools to make a future for myself.’