Brantwood Garden School

Inspection of Brantwood Specialist School 1 Kenwood Bank, Nether Edge, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S7 1NU

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Sixth-form provision 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?

The school has a friendly and tranquil environment. Both pupils and staff enjoy its community feel and the opportunities for outdoor learning, that are provided by the spacious and well-maintained grounds.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s approach emphasises developing the whole individual. This is reflected in its ‘hands, head, heart’ approach to education. All pupils engage in practical learning, such as making jewellery and stained glass or, when on the farm, tending to animals or working in the forge. In addition to pupils learning new skills, this enables them to contextualise what they learn in other subjects. For example, by applying their knowledge of mathematics and geometry. Pupils enjoy their learning largely and achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils join the school at varying times during the academic year. Some do so after periods of time out of education or disrupted past experiences. Staff work to get to know pupils quickly. They understand the importance of forming positive relationships. These support pupils to be confident in lessons and to realise the schools’ expectations. Consequently, pupils are able to engage more fully in their learning. Pupils feel secure to discuss their concerns with staff, trusting that they will act to resolve these.

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better?

Before pupils join, the school gathers detailed information about their special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and their previous educational experiences. This continues as pupils become settled in the school environment. The school uses this information to develop a personalised curriculum for each pupil. These are adjusted to the stage and prior knowledge of each pupil. Staff understand the needs of individuals well. They use the information that the school provides to tailor the curriculum and their teaching, ensuring that pupils are well supported. If appropriate, pupils complete nationally recognised qualifications, achieving well from their starting points.

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better?

In lessons, pupils are calm. They form trusting relationships with their teachers. Staff have strong knowledge of the subjects that they teach. Teachers in the school’s wider curriculum subjects, such as stained-glass design, are experts in their crafts. Staff use their knowledge to model new learning clearly. They use questions to check on pupils’ understanding effectively. Sometimes, pupils are not afforded sufficient opportunities to consolidate their learning. When this happens, pupils struggle to secure knowledge and sometimes cannot recall what they have learned previously. This slows their progress in subsequent learning.

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better?

Reading is a high priority in school. Most pupils arrive as proficient readers. The school quickly identifies those pupils who need additional support. It ensures that pupils receive the help that they need. In a small number of cases, this includes 1 to 3 July 2025 learning phonics, although again, sometimes this learning is not consolidated securely.

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better?

Pupils generally behave well in school. Behaviour typically improves over time as pupils become more settled in the school. Occasionally, pupils’ behaviour falls short of the school’s expectations. Staff know pupils well. They use agreed strategies to help pupils to regulate their behaviour effectively. More serious incidents, such as bullying or incidents resulting in suspensions, are relatively rare.

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better?

Improving the frequency that pupils attend is a priority for the school. Currently, rates of absence are too high. Although the vast majority of pupils’ attendance improves markedly after joining to the school, these gains plateau quickly for some pupils and improvement slows. The school works alongside families to identify and remove barriers to regular attendance. However, the impact of this work to realise long-term improved attendance is inconsistent.

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better?

Pupils benefit from opportunities that enhance their learning beyond the curriculum. For example, some pupils form the school council. The school provides opportunities for pupils to attend educational visits, such as to local theatres to strengthen their understanding of the curriculum. The school celebrates pupils’ successes regularly, including by arranging for their work to be displayed in local art showcases.

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better?

Pupils are well prepared for adulthood. They receive a strong careers education and guidance offer. This helps them to understand what they may want to do when they leave the school. Many older pupils enjoy work experience that allows them to trial such opportunities. The school ensures that, wherever possible, pupils progress to further education, employment or training.

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better?

All pupils learn detailed and appropriate personal, social and health education (PSHE) and relationships and sex education curriculums. Through these, pupils learn vital knowledge, including how to manage risks online and the characteristics of healthy relationships. The school has adapted these curriculums to make them appropriate to the age and prior knowledge of pupils, including those in the sixth form. It routinely reinforces learning about how to keep safe, such as when teaching pupils about risk in craft and farming lessons. However, some pupils have an insecure understanding of aspects of the PSHE curriculum. Although pupils treat others respectfully, this is particularly true of their knowledge about other faiths and cultures. Pupils’ understanding of people and cultures different from themselves lacks depth.

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better?

The proprietor has ensured that the school continues to meet the independent school standards (the standards). The proprietor has established systems of governance that enable the quality of the school’s work to be checked on by others in the trust. This provides ongoing assurance about the school’s effectiveness.

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better?

School staff are close-knit and supportive of each other. They enjoy working at the school and caring for the pupils who attend. Most staff feel that school and trust leaders engage positively with them. However, a small minority remain less positive, 1 to 3 July 2025 including about the school’s communication and the impact of decisions on their workload.

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better?

The school fulfils the requirements of schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 Sometimes, pupils are not provided with sufficient opportunities to consolidate their learning. Where this happens, pupils do not consistently develop a secure understanding of what they have been taught and sometimes struggle to recall this in future lessons. The school should ensure that approaches to teaching reinforce the most important knowledge and skills, enabling pupils to learn these securely.  Initial attendance gains when pupils join the school are not built on consistently. Too many pupils are regularly absent. These pupils miss important learning and develop gaps in their understanding. The school should ensure that its attendance strategy is securely embedded and that its work results in sustained improvements in pupils’ attendance.  Some pupils’ understanding of aspects of the PSHE curriculum, including their knowledge of other cultures and faiths, is inconsistent. This means that these

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

pupils lack a detailed understanding of others in society with different experience to themselves. The school should ensure that pupils develop a secure understanding of the curriculum, including other faiths and cultures, to better prepare them for life in modern Britain.

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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. 1 to 3 July 2025

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School details

Unique reference number 136936 DfE registration number 373/6002

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School details

Inspection number 10391758 Type of school Other Independent Special School

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School details

Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed

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sixth form

Email address enquiries@brantwood.rmt.org

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sixth form

Date of previous inspection 7 to 9 June 2022 1 to 3 July 2025

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Information about this school

 The school operates from three sites. These are located at: Brantwood School, 1 Kenwood Bank, Nether Edge, Sheffield S7 1NU; Brantwood School, Tintagel House, 2 Meadow Bank Rd, Nether Edge, Sheffield S11 9AH; and Eyam Edge Farm, High Cliffe, Eyam, Hope Valley S32 5QT.  The school is part of the Ruskin Mill Trust. This is a national charitable trust that runs other special schools and colleges for adults with complex needs.  The school’s curriculum is based on Ruskin Mill Trust’s Practical Skills Therapeutic Education approach which has been inspired by the work of Rudolf Steiner, John Ruskin and William Morris.  All pupils at the school have an education, health and care plan. In the majority of cases, the primary area of need is autism.  All current places are commissioned by one of the five local authorities, Barnsley, Derbyshire, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield, that the school currently works

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Information about this school

with.  The school uses two registered and four unregistered alternative provisions.  Although the school is registered to accept pupils from seven years old, currently all pupils are in Years 7 to 13 and are 11 years old or above.

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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 evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  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.  The lead inspector met with members of the board of trustees, leaders from the Ruskin Mill trust and the proprietor. 1 to 3 July 2025  During the inspection, inspectors met with the principal. They also met with other senior and middle leaders, including those responsible for safeguarding, behaviour, attendance and personal development.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English (including reading),

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Information about this inspection

mathematics, design and technology and PSHE. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also reviewed samples of pupils’ work in other subjects.  Inspectors looked at a range of documentation regarding the support pupils with SEND receive. They looked at the quality of the provision for pupils with SEND in lessons.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation, including key policies as well as the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plans.  Inspectors looked at a range of information regarding behaviour. They observed the behaviour of pupils in classrooms and at social times.  To check the school’s compliance against the standards, inspectors completed a tour of each of the school premises as well as reviewed a sample of risk

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Information about this inspection

assessment and maintenance documentation.  The lead inspector spoke to representatives of Sheffield local authority.  An inspector spoke to leaders at one of the providers of alternative provision used by the school.  The views of pupils and staff who responded to Ofsted’s surveys were considered.  Inspectors considered the views of parents and carers through the responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for parents, Ofsted Parent View.

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

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 is 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. This was the first time that the school has applied to make this proposed change.  The school has requested an increase in capacity of 5 pupils, to take their maximum capacity from 55 to 60 pupils in total.  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.  Part 3, paragraphs 7, 7(a), 7(b), 11, 12, 14, 16, 16(a) and 16(b) - The school has established a safeguarding policy that references current statutory guidance. Staff have received training on safeguarding and know how to implement this effectively. 1 to 3 July 2025 - The school is well maintained. The proprietor has established suitable policies and practices, such as in relation to health and safety. These, and related risk assessments, are well implemented. They support staff to ensure the safety of pupils.  Part 4, paragraphs 18(2) to 18(2)(e), 18(3), 19(2) to 19(2)(d)(ii), 19(3),21(1) to 21(3)(b), 21(5) to 21(5)(a), 21(5)(c) - Leaders have a secure understanding of their responsibilities in relation to the recruitment of staff. Many staff at the school have completed safer recruitment training, as well as wider safeguarding qualifications. - The school has ensured that all required pre-employment checks are

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relevant independent school standards if the material change relating

completed before staff begin their employment at the school. It intends to continue to do so for any additional staff recruited to support the additional pupils proposed.  Part 5, paragraphs 23(1) to 24(1)(b), 24(2) to 29(1)(b) - The school is spacious and well maintained. At each of the three sites, the school has ensured that suitable facilities are in place for pupils’ education, recreation and well-being. This includes a suitable medical room in each location.  Part 8, all paragraphs. - Leaders have a clear understanding of the standards. They have ensured that these were met during previous inspections and continue to be met at this inspection.

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Inspection team

Thomas Wraith, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Marian Thomas Ofsted Inspector 1 to 3 July 2025 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 children looked after, 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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