Mill House School

Inspection of Mill House School Old Hall Farm, Whitestitch Lane, Meriden, Warwickshire CV7 7JE

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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?

Pupils arrive at Mill House School with a sense of purpose, excitement and eager to learn. They have a range of difficulties including social, emotional and mental health needs. Many pupils’ prior experience of education is negative and disjointed. Staff quickly get to know the pupils. They foster strong and respectful relationships. Pupils know that staff care deeply about them. Staff use their expertise to understand pupils’ needs and support them effectively. This helps pupils to re- engage with education, grow in confidence and develop highly respectful attitudes towards others.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is aspirational for all pupils. It has high expectations of what they can achieve academically. The personalised curriculum supports pupils to succeed in their learning. As a result, pupils achieve well and are extremely well prepared for the next stage in their education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is deeply committed to the personal development and well-being of its pupils. It ensures that pupils benefit from the rich and varied offer. This includes regular visits to a local residential home where pupils build positive relationships with the residents and staff. Pupils speak with pride about their roles and responsibilities. For instance, pupils relish spending time with the ponies and mucking out the animals. These opportunities build pupil’s confidence, strengthens their communication skills and widens their horizons.

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better?

Leaders, including the proprietor, have a clear vision for excellence. They are passionate about improving the lives of the pupils. All pupils have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school accurately identify pupils’ needs and provides a bespoke curriculum and effective plans to support them academically and socially. This enables all pupils to successfully learn in an environment in which they feel safe.

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better?

The school has designed an ambitious curriculum. It has identified the most important knowledge they want pupils to learn and remember. The school identifies gaps that pupils have in their knowledge and adapts the curriculum to address these. For example, staff ensure that pupils are secure in their understanding about the features of rivers before they learn about how they shape landscapes. However, some staff do not use the information from the checks that they make about pupils' learning well enough. On occasions, they provide pupils with unnecessary support which hinders opportunities to develop independence and some pupils do not move on to new learning when they have mastered concepts. This prevents some pupils from building the depth of knowledge they need.

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better?

Reading is a priority for the school. Pupils and staff know that reading is an essential life skill. For pupils at the early stages of learning to read, staff support them effectively to segment and blend words. Pupils have books that supports them to 24 to 26 June 2025 read with increasing fluency and confidence. More established readers enjoy a broad range of diverse texts. They speak confidently about the range of authorial techniques used for effect. Pupils use technical language effectively when describing parts of a story. However, some pupils have not yet secured the fundamental knowledge that they need in order to write with fluency and accuracy. This impacts on the quality of pupils’ writing across the curriculum.

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better?

The school’s work to develop pupils’ character is commendable. The carefully crafted personal development programme supports pupils to develop resilience and build their self-esteem. Opportunities to develop independence and life skills are integral. For example, pupils learn how to purchase items in a shop, interact with customers and learn to manage in a social situation. Pupils benefit from independent careers advice. The school’s termly ‘drop down days’ enables pupils to explore a range of different occupations and consider their options for the future. For some pupils work experience and voluntary work is part of their curriculum. All of this supports pupils in their choice of pathways in readiness for when they leave.

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better?

Attendance is a high priority for the school. Some pupils are highly anxious about being in a school setting based on their previous experience. The school and pastoral team work closely with families. This has made significant improvements in attendance for some pupils.

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better?

Pupils are exceptionally positive about their experience at Mill House school. They value the support and understanding that the staff provide. Pupils also support one another. For example, pupils listen with interest to one another before responding and contributing to class discussions. This results in a positive, calm and productive learning environment.

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better?

Staff are proud to work at the school. They feel valued and heard. The local advisory board have an accurate understanding of the school and provide challenge and support to leaders. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. Many refer to their experience as ‘life changing.’

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better?

The proprietor has a strong oversight of the work of the school. Systems and processes ensure that the school securely and consistently meets the independent school standards. The school meets the statutory requirements 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)

 In some subjects, assessment information is not used effectively to respond to gaps in pupils’ knowledge. This affects how well pupils make gains in knowledge. The school should ensure that teachers have the expertise they need in order to 24 to 26 June 2025 use assessment effectively across the curriculum to enable pupils to access learning in the depth they are capable of.  The curriculum does not support some pupils to secure the important foundational knowledge that they need to be successful in their transcription skills. As a result, some pupils struggle to write grammatically accurate sentences with fluency. The school should ensure that pupils are secure with foundational knowledge and apply this in their writing across the 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. 24 to 26 June 2025

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School details

Type of school Other Independent Special School

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School details

Proprietor Special Educational Services Ltd

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School details

Headteacher Jon Morris (headteacher) Claire Fyfe (executive headteacher) Annual fees (day pupils) £63,000 to £120,000

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School details

Email address c.fyfe@millhouseschool.co.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 12 to 14 July 2022 24 to 26 June 2025

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Information about this school

 Since the school’s last inspection in July 2022, the school has increased its registered number of pupils on roll from 20 to 40 in 2023. This material change took place in 2023.  The school operates from one site, Old Hall Farm, Whitestitch Lane, Meriden, Warwickshire CV7 7JE.  All pupils have an education, health and care plan.  The school does not use any alternative provision.  The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information and engagement about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.  The school provides education for pupils with high levels of anxiety associated with autism spectrum disorder and/or early trauma.

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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 leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics and humanities. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, looked at the curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupil’s work.  Inspectors also looked at curriculum plans and spoke to leaders about some other subjects.  Inspectors held discussions with the sole proprietor and executive headteacher, representatives from the local advisory board, headteacher and other members of staff.  The inspectors observed pupils during social times, looked at pupils’ work and spoke with pupils about their learning.

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Information about this inspection

24 to 26 June 2025  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 toured the premises to check for compliance with the independent school standards. A number of key documents were also reviewed, including policies relating to admissions, behaviour, curriculum, complaints, health and safety and safeguarding.  Inspectors took account of the responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for pupils and staff. Inspectors also considered responses to Ofsted’s online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View, including free-text comments. Inspectors also spoke to some parents face to face and on the telephone.

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Inspection team

Wendy D'Arcy, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Mark Cadwallader Ofsted Inspector 24 to 26 June 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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