Birchwood

Inspection of Birchwood Bowen Road, Folkestone, Kent CT19 4FP

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Previous inspection grade Good 1 and 2 July 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils receive a fresh start when they join the school. Most pupils who attend Birchwood have previously had some negative experiences of education. The school builds pupils’ resilience and self-belief effectively. Staff provide effective support that helps pupils feel understood and valued.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Clear and consistent routines create a safe environment and reinforce the school’s high expectations. Pupils rise to meet these expectations because they are motivated to succeed. They take responsibility for their actions, supported by staff who help them learn from their mistakes. Pupils say the school has done its job for them, and they feel well prepared to return to mainstream education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Lunchtimes and social times are joyful occasions where pupils interact with peers and staff positively. Pupils’ voices shape important decisions, including menu choices, trips and visits. For some pupils, this is an empowering experience, where they feel welcomed and listened to.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff support pupils to achieve personalised targets, overcoming barriers to success. Pupils learn to enjoy school as staff make learning purposeful. Therapeutic support enables pupils to recognise and manage their emotions in constructive ways. The school provides a calm, orderly and positive environment where pupils can learn. Many achieve suitable qualifications that they can build on in the future.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school has designed the curriculum thoughtfully. The curriculum reflects the school’s ambition of helping pupils re-engage with education quickly and successfully. Pupils develop foundational skills in reading, writing and mathematics effectively. A range of therapeutic and vocational-based subjects, such as employability training, complements this core curriculum. Most pupils gain meaningful qualifications that prepare them for their next steps in education or training.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Although the school aims to offer pupils a short-term placement, too many pupils remain for extended periods. This can limit their ability to study the full national curriculum. In the past, the school, local authority and management committee did not clearly communicate their expectations about how quickly pupils should return to mainstream or specialist education. They are now taking decisive action to address this. Expectations are clear. Staff carry out robust and regular reviews to assess each pupil’s readiness to transition. An increasing number of pupils now successfully reintegrate into mainstream or specialist settings.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

When pupils join the school, staff identify any additional needs promptly, including those related to special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff design well- developed plans to help them understand how to meet pupils’ needs. For example, pupils who require support with reading receive effective and targeted help. This enables them to read and write with improved fluency and confidence. 1 and 2 July 2025

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Teachers demonstrate expertise in their subjects. They use their knowledge to plan learning that stimulates interest and discussion. Occasionally, teaching does not reflect pupils’ varied starting points. As a result, the learning can be too challenging or lack sufficient support. At times, teaching progresses before pupils have securely grasped the necessary knowledge. This limits achievement for some pupils, including those with SEND.

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The school has established rigorous processes to promote strong attendance. Most pupils attend regularly because they value the education and support on offer. The school works sensitively with parents and carers and professionals to overcome barriers to attendance. Staff consistently uphold high expectations for behaviour. Clear routines help pupils understand what staff expect of them. Suspensions are rare because staff intervene quickly to help pupils regulate their behaviour.

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The school’s personal development programme teaches pupils how to stay safe and healthy. Visits from charities and local services enhance pupils’ understanding of important current issues, such as alcohol and drugs misuse. Pupils debate societal dilemmas, such as ethical perspectives on animal testing, respectfully. Trips abroad, theatre visits to London and residential trips expand pupils’ cultural awareness. Talking therapies help pupils express their worries and support their mental health. Pupils receive effective careers guidance, which helps them form ambitious plans for the future.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Teaching is not consistently adapted to meet pupils’ needs. Sometimes, the learning tasks that staff design do not enable all pupils to achieve as well as they could. The school should ensure that teachers have the expertise they need to adapt teaching in response to pupils’ different starting points and needs. This will ensure that pupils learn well and are fully prepared for their next steps.  The school’s ambition to be a short-term provision is not fully realised. Some pupils spend extended periods of time at the school and do not access the breadth of the curriculum that they would be entitled to in mainstream education. This creates gaps in some pupils’ learning in readiness to return to mainstream education. The school should continue to develop the support provided to help pupils successfully return to mainstream or specialist education when they are ready to do so. 1 and 2 July 2025

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How can I feed back my views?

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.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 1 and 2 July 2025

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School details

School category Maintained pupil referral unit

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 8 and 9 May 2024, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is a pupil referral unit. All pupils on roll are dual registered at Birchwood and their mainstream placing school. Pupils remain on roll for varying lengths of time.  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.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade. 1 and 2 July 2025

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 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.  The inspectors met with the headteacher, other school leaders and teaching staff. The lead inspector met with the chair, vice-chair and a member of the management committee. The lead inspector also met with representatives of the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics, religious education and personal, social and health education. For each deep dive, the inspector 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. The lead inspector also listened to some pupils read aloud to familiar adults.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors reviewed the single central

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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.  Inspectors reviewed and scrutinised a range of the school’s documentation, including leaders’ plans for improving the school, minutes of management committee meetings and records of attendance and behaviour incidents.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school site. Additionally, they spoke to pupils about their experiences of school life. Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View. They also took into consideration the online staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

Michelle Payne, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Caroline Clarke Ofsted Inspector 1 and 2 July 2025

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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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