Clervaux Garden School

Inspection of Clervaux Garden School Clow Beck Eco Centre, Croft On Tees, Croft On Tees, North Yorkshire DL2 2TF

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Inspection dates: 26 to 28 November 2024

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

Clervaux Garden School is set in extensive grounds. These are used effectively in order to give pupils daily opportunities to work the land, care for the animals and reconnect to nature and themselves.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, who all have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), have often not been in education for a considerable time prior to starting at the school. Staff recognise that this presents pupils with challenges as they re-enter education. They seek to find individual pupil’s interests, then create learning around them. Pupils have many and varied opportunities to access a vast range of activities. These include working with the farm animals, growing and harvesting the crops, working in the blacksmith’s forge or learning to make pottery.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff are caring. They build positive relationships with pupils. Pupils say that they feel safe here and all adults in the school understand them well. The school’s practical, skills and therapeutic education (PSTE) curriculum is used effectively in order to promote pupils’ self-confidence. When pupils are ready, they then access academic learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave exceptionally well here. They recognise the importance of listening and following rules in order to use the tools in the farm or craft areas. At times, if pupils are finding it hard to manage their behaviour, staff are highly skilled in utilising the outside space to help pupils to calm and refocus.

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better?

The school works closely with the Ruskin Mill Trust. They have a shared vision of using holistic education to overcome pupils’ barriers to learning. The school is ambitious for pupils to learn about their place in the world. The PSTE curriculum teaches pupils to connect practical activities, emotional well-being and thinking together. They want pupils to recognise how they can make a positive contribution to their community.

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better?

For many of the pupils, education has previously presented emotional barriers that they struggle to overcome. The school’s PSTE curriculum supports pupils to gain interest in learning again through working the land, caring for animals and creating practical items from iron, clay or textiles. The learning is designed by teachers and skilled craftspeople. Staff support pupils to build knowledge and skills over time. This leads to impressive outcomes. Pupils create beautiful pottery, grow fruit and vegetables and manipulate ironwork in the forge. They make useful items for the school and themselves. The school ensures that every adult working with pupils is highly trained in SEND, health and safety and safeguarding pupils.

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better?

The academic curriculum is also designed to support pupils to reconnect with learning. Gaps in pupils’ prior learning are quickly identified. Teachers create bespoke timetables of academic lessons, which are interspersed with PSTE sessions. 26 to 28 November 2024 In some subjects, further refinement is needed to ensure that the curriculum supports staff to make learning more accessible to each pupil. The school recognises this and is using expertise from within the school and across the trust to address this.

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better?

There is also more to do to join the academic and the PSTE curriculum together. While, in some subjects, pupils do explore mathematical, historical or geographical learning through the PSTE curriculum, this is not always coherently implemented. In some sessions, there are missed opportunities to ensure that academic learning is revisited and explored further in the practical sessions.

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better?

The school places great importance on communicating. A storytelling session is planned regularly. Staff share recommendations for books and pupils enjoy talking about books they have read. Staff carefully check pupils’ phonics knowledge on entry to the school. Individual learning plans identify gaps in knowledge around phonics and reading. These are addressed using the school’s chosen phonics programme. Resources are carefully chosen to interest pupils. However, some pupils do not have enough opportunity to read regularly enough to develop fluency. Therefore, some pupils are not making sufficient progress in this area.

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better?

Expectations for behaviour are extremely high. Pupils’ behaviour improves due to the consistent application of the school’s policies. If pupils struggle to regulate their behaviour, staff hold restorative conversations with them. Pupils thrive on the clear expectations and kind, caring interactions with staff.

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better?

The school’s approach to enable pupils to rejoin learning after long periods out of education is impressive, but some pupils still struggle to attend for full days. However, attendance for most pupils improves over the course of the school year. No stone is left unturned as the school seeks to encourage pupils back to learning, for example arranging a star-gazing night to encourage pupils to visit the school or arranging learning in different settings.

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better?

The school’s determination to encourage pupils to ‘find their own place in the world’ is exemplified in the exceptional personal development curriculum. The personal, social, health and economic curriculum helps pupils learn about the world beyond the school. Pupils speak with a depth of understanding around important learning in areas such as British values or relationships, health and sex education. The ‘Clervaux Knot’ weekly assembly, around the firepit, encourages pupils to discuss important topics such as Black History Week. Pupils enjoy many varied enrichment activities, such as working with artists and theatre visits.

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better?

Pupils receive excellent career advice and are given meaningful work experiences. The school encourages pupils to be aspirational about their future. Visits to place of work and visitors to the school are carefully chosen to raise pupils’ aspirations.

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better?

The proprietor board works closely with the school. They encourage the whole school community to enjoy learning. Staff are positive about the professional 26 to 28 November 2024 development opportunities they are given. One parent described the school as ‘transformational’ due to the way the school is supporting their child to thrive.

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better?

The school has secure systems in place to ensure that the independent school standards are met. This ensures that the school’s statutory duties are carried out fully, including compliance with schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010.

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better?

At the time of this inspection, the school had requested a material change to their registration.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 Some pupils at the earliest stages of learning to read do not get sufficient opportunities to overcome gaps in their reading knowledge. This means that they lack fluency in reading and do not make swift progress. The school should ensure that it puts in place an effective programme of support to help these pupils achieve greater success.  In some subjects, the school has not identified how important academic knowledge will be taught coherently through the school’s chosen curriculum model. This means that the intended curriculum is not always implemented as leaders intend and gaps in pupil’s knowledge are not checked. The school should ensure that the curriculum in all subjects specifies what pupils should learn and that lessons are designed to support pupils to build up academic knowledge as effectively as other knowledge taught through the wider curriculum.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school. 26 to 28 November 2024

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School details

Unique reference number 147298 DfE registration number 815/6048

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School details

Inspection number 10342147 Type of school Other independent special school

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) £73,460 to £161,117

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 14 to 16 July 2021 26 to 28 November 2024

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Ruskin Mill Trust. This is a national charitable trust that runs other special schools and colleges for pupils and adults with complex needs.  The school caters for a wide range of special educational needs and/or disabilities, including autism, moderate learning difficulties and social, emotional and mental health needs.  All pupils at Clervaux Garden School have an education, health and care plan. The school offers academic learning which sits alongside a specialist, craft and land- based curriculum called Practical Skills Therapeutic Education.  The school is set in a rural location but easily accessible from local towns. The extensive grounds include a working farm, a blacksmith’s forge, a pottery and other craft buildings.  Within the main school site, there is an upper school building.  The school is in the process of developing a second provision in Darlington town

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Information about this school

center. This will be used to give pupils the opportunity for further craft learning and work experience.  The school does not use alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors carried out this inspection under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008. The purpose of the inspection is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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Information about this inspection

The school meets the independent school standards. These are the requirements set out in the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  During the inspection, meetings were held with the principal, the deputy headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator, and other leaders of specific provisions or subjects. Inspectors also met with the designated safeguarding lead, along with other leaders in the trust, including the director of schools.  Meetings were held with the chair of the proprietor board, who is also the deputy chair of Ruskin Mill, as well as a board member for the school. Inspectors also met with other members of the trust and school staff. Inspectors also considered the views of two of the local authorities who commission places at the school.

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Information about this inspection

26 to 28 November 2024  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading and English, mathematics, personal, social, health and emotional education and the practical, skills and therapeutic curriculum, linking to humanities. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers and crafts people, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also reviewed some curriculum plans, policies, and other documentation regarding other areas of the curriculum.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  To check compliance with the independent school standards, the inspectors

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Information about this inspection

reviewed records linked to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils and the welfare, health and safety of pupils, along with any complaints held about the school and other record-keeping systems. The lead inspector also undertook a tour of all school buildings.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around school throughout the day, including lunchtime and breaktimes. Inspectors discussed pupils’ experiences at the school in meetings. Some of these meetings had a member of school staff present.  Inspectors reviewed a wide range of documents relating to school improvement, behaviour, health and safety and arrangements to safeguard pupils.  Parents’ views of the school were considered through their responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for parents, Ofsted Parent View. We also considered staff surveys.

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Information about this inspection

The school’s proposed change to the maximum number of pupils.

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Information about this inspection

The school has applied to the Department for Education (DfE) to make a ‘material change’ to its registration. At the DfE’s request, we checked whether the school likely to meet the relevant independent school standards if the DfE decides to approve the change. This part of the inspection was carried out under section 162(4) of the Education Act 2002.

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Information about this inspection

 The outcome of this part of the inspection is: the school is likely to meet the

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relevant independent school standards if the material change relating

to the school provision is implemented.  The proprietor board applied to the DfE for the material change to consider a change to the maximum number on roll from 25 to 35 pupils.  The proprietor board and the school leaders have a clear rationale for making the material change.  The school’s premises are spacious. The school has considered how best to utilise the new upper school building and a second off-site provision to support pupils 26 to 28 November 2024 with complex needs. The premises can accommodate ten additional pupils with ease.  The school completes the relevant health and safety checks to ensure the safety of pupils. Risk assessments are in place to ensure that pupils and staff are safe.  The school ensures that arrangements are made to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils at the school.  The school continues to keep the single central record up to date to detail the checks that are made on staff before their appointment. All staff receive annual

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Inspection team

Andrea Batley, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Aejaz Laher Ofsted Inspector 26 to 28 November 2024 to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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