Fairfield House School

Fairfield House School

Address: 57-59 Warburton Lane, Partington, Manchester, M31 4NL Unique reference number (URN): 136239

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met. Insufficient evidence: Inspectors were unable to gather sufficient evidence to judge whether safeguarding standards are met.

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Achievement Expected standard

Leaders' recent actions to strengthen the curriculum and teaching have borne fruit. Benefiting from curriculums that closely match their needs and starting points, most pupils make steady progress. However, a lack of clarity about what pupils should know in a few areas of the curriculum hinders them from acquiring some knowledge as securely as they could.

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Achievement Expected standard

Communication is central to pupils' development, and in the main, they learn suitable ways to express their feelings, preferences and thoughts, depending on their needs. Progress is evident in positive relationships and in how secure and settled pupils typically feel in school. Even so, leaders recognise the need to continue to embed strategies to further enhance pupils' ability to communicate.

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Achievement Expected standard

Leaders thoughtfully prepare pupils for their next steps in education or adult life. To that end, pupils are supported to develop independence, for example by learning to prepare simple snacks, through work experience opportunities, or by beginning to contribute to their personal care.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Most pupils have very high rates of attendance. Nevertheless, when this is not the case, leaders are resolute in their determination to overcome any barriers to pupils attending regularly. This includes working with external organisations to secure appropriate resources or additional support when necessary. Leaders carefully monitor pupils' attendance and are proactive about ensuring that it remains high.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Leaders have recently reviewed their approach to managing behaviour so that it more closely matches pupils' developmental, communication and sensory needs. In addition, leaders provide a thorough programme of professional learning, which has increased staff's expertise in understanding pupils' behaviour and responding appropriately. As a result, staff recognise if pupils feel anxious, upset or uncomfortable and take suitable action. Daily briefings have helped to establish a reflective approach, where staff continually review pupils' behaviour and adapt support accordingly. Pupils develop positive relationships with staff, which help them to feel at ease. Typically, pupils engage well with learning.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Leaders ensure that pupils regularly spend time with each other and go out into the community. For instance, pupils on each site eat lunch together and all pupils participate in trips and enrichment activities. This encourages pupils' social development. Staff recognise that these experiences can be challenging for pupils, and they keep a watchful eye to ensure that interactions are calm and cordial.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have an astute understanding of the quality of the curriculum and teaching. Recently, they have adapted the curriculum so that it more closely reflects pupils' needs and starting points. There is a firm emphasis on pupils' emotional and physical development, alongside academic learning.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

For the most part, leaders have provided clarity about what pupils at different developmental stages should learn and be able to do. Pupils are taught individually, so that learning is carefully tailored to their needs. They benefit from consistent routines. Staff increasingly use suitable strategies to deliver the curriculum and to check what pupils have learned. However, in a few areas of the curriculum, there is a tendency to focus on the activities that pupils will complete, rather than the knowledge or skills that they should acquire. This means that staff do not consistently emphasise important knowledge when designing learning activities or checking pupils' understanding.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders are committed to developing pupils' capacity to communicate. However, strategies to promote communication are not fully embedded and there is some variability in the impact of these on pupils. Stories, songs and rhymes are a regular feature of each day and pupils enjoy these. Where pupils can learn phonics, handwriting or numeracy, staff support them well to do so.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders have a thorough understanding of pupils' special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and other barriers to their learning or wellbeing. Leaders are tenacious advocates and work closely with an array of external professionals to ensure that pupils receive the support that they need. In addition, leaders regularly communicate with parents and carers to create a shared understanding of how best to support their child. This provides continuity for pupils between school and home.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders have a wealth of relevant expertise about how to support pupils with SEND and have recently used this to review the suitability and quality of the provision that is in place. Therefore, leaders have ensured that the strategies that staff use to help pupils to develop physically and academically, to regulate their emotions and to communicate are matched to each pupil's needs. An ongoing programme of professional development ensures that staff typically use these well. Nevertheless, leaders recognise that strategies to support pupils to communicate are not fully embedded.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders have ensured that there is clarity about the small steps of development that pupils should make. Leaders regularly review pupils' progress towards these milestones and adapt support if needed.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Since the last inspection, the proprietor has taken decisive action to halt a decline in standards. New leadership appointments have increased capacity and expertise. Leaders and the proprietor share a thorough and accurate understanding of the school's provision. They have identified where change is needed and sensibly prioritised what needs to be done. As a result, leaders have successfully improved pupils' learning and overall experiences. In addition, the proprietor has strengthened its systems to ensure that the independent school standards continue to be met over time. A key factor in improving standards has been a thorough programme of professional learning for staff. In addition, leaders are role models of high expectations and expertly demonstrate how to support pupils effectively. This has helped to ensure that staff have the expertise needed to meet pupils' needs well, to understand and respond to their behaviour

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

and to teach effectively. Staff appreciate the consideration that leaders have given to their workload in a time of much change. Staff are highly supportive of leaders because they see the positive difference that recent changes are making to pupils.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

External professionals note leaders' tenacity in advocating for pupils. Leaders work closely with parents and carers to share common approaches to supporting pupils in school and at home. This provides pupils with consistency and contributes to their feeling secure in school. Frequent communication with staff ensures that parents can celebrate their child's achievements. Parents appreciate the progress that their children make, both developmentally and academically.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders provide a suitable programme of personal development, which is carefully tailored to pupils' needs. At the core of this programme is an emphasis on helping pupils to develop greater independence. For some pupils, this means taking a role in their personal care, while for others, it is about learning to prepare basic meals or engaging in work experience opportunities. Leaders identify ambitious, yet realistic, targets for each pupil and ensure that they provide the support that pupils need to achieve them. As a result, pupils typically develop the skills that they need for their next steps in school and beyond.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders have recently reviewed the curriculum for personal, social, health and economic education. They have precisely identified what pupils at different stages of development should know, and staff frequently revisit this important learning across the curriculum. For instance, the concept of individual liberty is linked to self-advocacy and learning to make choices. Therefore, pupils are increasingly equipped with the skills and tools needed to communicate their preferences to staff and are regularly given opportunities to do so. Similarly, pupils learn about appropriate touch and how to communicate consent. In the main, as leaders' revised curriculum embeds, pupils develop a secure understanding of this important learning.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils participate in a range of enrichment opportunities, including learning how to care for the animals and cultivating crops on the farm site, engaging in music or art activities and participating in trips. These experiences help to develop pupils' confidence, including in social settings. Leaders dismantle any barriers to participation, so that all pupils benefit.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pastoral support is comprehensive. Staff know pupils very well and are alert to any changes in their demeanour or behaviour. Individual safe spaces, sensory support and co-regulation strategies are used well to meet pupils' emotional and wellbeing needs. Leaders liaise with external professionals to ensure that the support that they provide continues to be effective.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

A culture of care and nurture abounds in this school. It is reflected in staff's warm interactions with pupils, which are playful and patient. Pupils are incredibly well cared for. They forge close bonds with staff that help them to feel comfortable and at ease. Daily routines help pupils to know what to expect. Staff know pupils well and are alert to any indications that they feel anxious or unsettled. When needed, staff provide suitable support to help pupils to feel calm and to engage well in their learning.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils benefit from leaders' emphasis on developing their independence. This learning is closely tailored to each pupil's starting points. For example, some pupils learn to contribute to their own self-care, while others are supported to use public transport safely and confidently.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils typically engage well in their learning. They respond very positively to staff's praise when they demonstrate what they know and can do. Leaders have recently strengthened the curriculum and ensured that learning opportunities more closely match pupils' needs, starting points and interests. As a result, pupils make steady progress through the curriculum over time.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils enjoy the wide array of enrichment opportunities on offer. Some help to take care of the chickens and donkeys and tend the vegetable patches on the farm. Others regularly visit the local library, where they listen to stories or enjoy singalongs. Pupils are taught individually, but also have opportunities to spend time with each other. For instance, pupils recently visited a local aquarium and enjoyed a 'water sports' day. Leaders go to great lengths to ensure that all pupils can take part. Parents and carers particularly value these opportunities. They said that their children achieve things in this school that they had not been capable of before.

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Next steps

Leaders should continue to ensure that the important knowledge that pupils should learn is defined precisely in all areas of the curriculum so that staff can emphasise this knowledge through learning activities and when checking what pupils know and can do. Leaders should continue to embed strategies to develop pupils' communication so that staff consistently use these highly effectively.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this standard inspection under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008, and checked the school's compliance with 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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Independent school standards

Independent school standards are either met or not met for each category. Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty's Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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Independent school standards

Inspectors spoke with the headteacher, the proprietor, other leaders and staff. An inspector also spoke with representatives of two virtual schools.

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Independent school standards

Inspectors only inspected the education provision at this school.

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Independent school standards

The name of the proprietor is Samuel Cope.

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Independent school standards

This is a special school that caters for pupils between the ages of 8 and 25 with autism, severe learning difficulties, complex health needs and challenging behaviours. All pupils have an education, health and care plan.

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Independent school standards

The school operates on two sites. The second site is located at The Farm Project, Higher Thorns Green Farm, Castle Mill Lane, Ashley, Cheshire WA15 0QZ.

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Independent school standards

A large proportion of leaders and staff have joined the school during this academic year. The current headteacher has been in place since September 2025.

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Independent school standards

The school does not currently make use of any alternative provision.

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Independent school standards

The fees currently charged are £56,000 to £123,265.

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Independent school standards

The school's email address is education@fairfieldresidential.co.uk

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Independent school standards

1. Quality of education provided Standards met

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Independent school standards

2. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils Standards met

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Independent school standards

3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils Standards met

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection. All standards have been met.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

4. Suitability of staff, supply staff, and proprietors Standards met

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Facts and figures used on inspection

5. Premises of and accommodation at schools Standards met

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Facts and figures used on inspection

6. Provision of information Standards met

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Facts and figures used on inspection

7. Manner in which complaints are handled Standards met

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Facts and figures used on inspection

8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools Standards met

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Facts and figures used on inspection

All standards have been met. This data is from 14 July 2026

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Insufficient evidence

Inspectors were unable to gather reliable enough evidence to grade an evaluation area. This is rare and normally only happens if there are no pupils on roll at the school.

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Insufficient evidence

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Insufficient evidence

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Insufficient evidence

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Insufficient evidence

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Insufficient evidence

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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