The Place Independent School

The Place Independent School

Address: Hill Farm, Belvoir Road, Bottesford, NG13 0EA Unique reference number (URN): 142939

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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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Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

Many pupils join the school with records of poor school attendance. Some pupils arrive afraid of going to school and having been out of school for long periods of time. Nonetheless, pupils understand the importance of attending school regularly and strive to reach leaders' high expectations. When pupils start struggling with attendance, leaders and staff act quickly before the situation gets worse. They build strong partnerships with parents, carers and external agencies to ensure that pupils receive whatever support they need to attend school. Leaders and staff work with impressive determination. They develop innovative approaches to securing improvements. As a result, pupils who struggle to attend make notable improvements.

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Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

The school's well-established, positive ethos permeates everywhere. When pupils join the school, leaders and staff provide highly effective support so that pupils learn how to manage their negative emotions and regulate their behaviour. Pupils who were previously excluded from schools learn the social skills and learning habits needed to flourish. As a result, pupils learn the importance of learning and follow the routines that leaders and staff put in place. Similarly, when pupils fall out with each other, staff provide immediate support to ensure that issues do not escalate or become bullying.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Pupils flourish in the school's remarkably inclusive environment. Leaders and staff adopt innovative approaches to remove challenging barriers. These ensure that pupils can learn and achieve. Leaders are constantly devising new, even more effective, methods to improve pupils' experiences.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Prior to pupils joining the school, leaders develop a thorough understanding of pupils' needs. Leaders forge strong relationships with parents, carers and external agencies to understand and plan provision that meets pupils' needs. Leaders proactively invest in any necessary expertise or resources so that the school is completely ready for new pupils. Staff understand and consistently follow leaders' guidance about how best to support pupils' needs. As a result, pupils have positive experiences when they join the school.

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Inclusion Strong standard

With precise detail, leaders track the effectiveness of the school's support. Leaders are alert to pupils' changing and emerging needs. They make swift changes when necessary to ensure that pupils receive highly effective provision.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders provide the resources and support that disadvantaged pupils and children in care need to access the full curriculum and enrichment opportunities. Many of these opportunities are life-changing, such as trips overseas. Leaders also provide effective support for these pupils' families so that they have the best possible chance of success.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The proprietor has ensured that the school continues to meet the independent school standards. The proprietor, governors and leaders have the expertise and experiences needed to ensure that the school maintains, and improves even further, the current high- quality provision.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders demonstrate an impressive moral purpose to enable highly vulnerable pupils to recover from past turbulent experiences and reengage with education positively. Staff share leaders' vision for the school and are rightly proud of their work. Leaders have created a highly effective team of staff. At the heart of the school is the agreed commitment that staff and pupils can improve what they do. As they do for pupils, so leaders have a detailed understanding of what staff do well and can improve. Leaders put in place the training staff need to improve their work. Leaders also measure progress closely to ensure that training achieves positive results. As a result, many staff have secured further qualifications, enabling them to reach promoted positions, including senior leadership roles at the highest levels.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Staff morale is very high. They appreciate the support leaders give staff to maintain reasonable workload. They also value the way leaders look after staff's wellbeing. This includes having mental health first aiders and opportunities to discuss aspects of work that can be personally challenging.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Governors ensure that they receive the information they need to understand how well the school is operating. They hold leaders accountable for their work and ensure that improvements are made when something does not meet governors' high expectations.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders have incredibly high aspirations for pupils' personal development. Pupils strive towards and reach their personal goals. Leaders create bespoke personal development plans which take into account each pupil's exact needs. Leaders and staff relentlessly work to remove any barriers pupils face, whether due to financial disadvantage or special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

The school's pastoral care is highly effective. It systematically enables pupils to take the steps they need to overcome any social, emotional or mental health challenges they face. For example, pupils who find building positive relationships difficult are supported to learn how to care for animals. Over time, these pupils learn how to apply what they learn about caring for animals in their own social experiences. The success of the school's pastoral care is most noticeable in the way older pupils show poise, confidence and resilience after making mistakes.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Alongside the pastoral care, staff teach pupils how to stay safe, healthy and function as a citizen in modern society thoroughly. Pupils learn the features of healthy relationships, including physical intimacy. Pupils also learn what to do when relationships become difficult. Staff ensure that pupils consider their own beliefs about themselves and the wider world and how these affect the way they behave. Pupils learn how to value other people's lifestyles and beliefs. Staff support pupils to speak with sensitivity about controversial social issues.

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Expected standard

In the secondary curriculum, pupils are given high-quality careers advice and guidance to help them think about and shape their future careers. Leaders have built strong partnerships with local businesses, colleges and universities to ensure that pupils thoroughly explore their options. Staff provide the support pupils need to make positive transitions. After pupils leave secondary education, the school remains in contact with pupils to provide ongoing support until the transition is thoroughly embedded.

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Achievement Expected standard

Pupils achieve a range of useful qualifications in their different curriculum pathways. Leaders and teachers provide the necessary support so that disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities learn the curriculum well. These pupils achieve ambitious outcomes. Pupils in primary education learn the curriculum well so that they can make a good start to secondary education. By the end of secondary school, pupils are well prepared with the qualifications they need to take positive next steps in adult life. However, pupils' achievement of GCSE qualifications has been less successful than leaders would like.

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Achievement Expected standard

Because of the improvements made to teaching, pupils typically learn the foundational knowledge they need in reading, writing and mathematics. Those at an early stage of reading become fluent readers. However, some pupils have less well-developed understanding of some areas of mathematics and writing.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders ensure that pupils learn a broad and balanced curriculum that combines both academic and applied learning. The pathways in the curriculum are ambitious and well matched to the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders have also planned the curriculum so that pupils learn in logical steps and build what they know over time.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Teachers follow leaders' curriculum plans and typically teach the curriculum well. They know pupils' specific needs. Teachers arrange effective learning activities to enable pupils to learn what they should. Teachers typically check what pupils know and can do. They provide timely support when pupils misunderstand or forget key knowledge.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have a very detailed understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of teaching at the school. When they find something that is not working well enough, leaders quickly invest in training and time for teachers to make the necessary improvements. Leaders have notably improved the teaching of foundational knowledge. In reading, for example, pupils at an early stage of reading are well supported to learn what they need to read fluently and access the curriculum. There remain, however, elements of writing and mathematics that teachers are less proficient in teaching.

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

Pupils join the school after turbulent experiences in education. At this school, they learn how to overcome the social, emotional and mental health challenges they face. Pupils thrive in this caring school community where staff are passionate about improving pupils' life chances. To this end, staff help pupils to develop a sense of self-worth. Pupils gain confidence and realise their value as people.

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

The highly positive relationships between staff and pupils are noticeable on arrival in the mornings. Pupils warmly greet staff as they start their day at school. Pupils learn how to build positive relationships with their peers. Many develop lasting friendships that continue beyond the school day. Highly attentive staff ensure that pupils do not experience bullying. When relationships become strained between pupils, staff put effective measures in place to prevent escalating emotions and unwelcome behaviour. Pupils feel safe and well supported at school. Because pupils enjoy and do well at school, they want to attend.

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

The excellent personal development programme at the school ensures that pupils are very well prepared for adult life. All pupils make positive next steps into employment, education or training. Similarly, pupils explore the wider world through the curriculum and the impressive enrichment. They discuss current events thoughtfully. All pupils have the opportunity for world travel, including visiting places in the UK and abroad. All pupils also develop interests and talents through the school's extensive extra-curricular provision.

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

Pupils benefit from the improvements leaders have made to the quality of the curriculum and teaching. Pupils experience typically well-taught lessons. Staff put measures in place to fill gaps in knowledge that pupils arrive with due to challenges in education before joining the school. As a result, pupils learn the curriculum well. They all achieve 5 qualifications appropriate to their abilities by the end of secondary education.

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Next steps

Leaders should continue the improvements made to the quality of teaching, particularly the teaching of foundational knowledge, so that pupils' achievement continues to improve.

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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

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Independent school standards

Independent school standards are either met or not met for each category. 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

The inspection took place from 15 to 17 September 2026.

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Independent school standards

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 chief executive officer (CEO), who is also the chair of the governing body. Inspectors also spoke with the executive headteacher, the head of school, members of the senior leadership team, teachers, support staff and pupils during the inspection.

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Independent school standards

This school is registered as a special school. All pupils have education, health and care plans, with the primary need being social, emotional and mental health.

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Independent school standards

The school uses no alternative provision.

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Independent school standards

The school has undergone a significant change since the last inspection. In January 2026, the executive headteacher and the head of school took up their posts.

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Independent school standards

The school has 72 pupils on roll. The school is registered to admit 80 pupils.

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Independent school standards

At the time of the inspection, the school had 2 students in the sixth form. This means that inspectors did not have sufficient evidence to reach a grade for this area.

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Independent school standards

The proprietor is Edison Education and Care Limited. The CEO and chair of the governors is John Anderson.

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Independent school standards

The school's e-mail address is charlotte@theplaceindependentschool.co.uk

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Independent school standards

The school has another site at 7 Jericho Lane, Barkestone NG13 0HF.

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Independent school standards

1. Quality of education provided Standards met

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Independent school standards

All standards have been met. 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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Independent school standards

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

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Independent school standards

5. Premises of and accommodation at schools Standards met

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Independent school standards

6. Provision of information Standards met

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Independent school standards

7. Manner in which complaints are handled Standards met

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Independent school standards

8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools 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.

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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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