Birch Wood (Melton Area Special School)
Catchment Area, Reviews and Key Information

Primary & Secondary
Post 16
Special school
PUPILS
224
AGES
4 - 19
GENDER
Mixed
TYPE
Community special school

Can I Get My Child Into This School?

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This pupil heat map shows where pupils currently attending the school live.
The concentration of pupils shows likelihood of admission based on distance criteria

Source: All attending pupils National School Census Data, ONS
0116 3056684

This School Guide heat map has been plotted using official pupil data taken from the last School Census collected by the Department for Education. It is a visualisation of where pupils lived at the time of the annual School Census.

Our heat maps use groups of postcodes, not individual postcodes, and have naturally soft edges. All pupils are included in the mapping (i.e. children with siblings already at the school, high priority pupils and selective and/or religious admissions) but we may have removed statistical ‘outliers’ with more remote postcodes that do not reflect majority admissions.

For some schools, the heat map may be a useful indicator of the catchment area but our heat maps are not the same as catchment area maps. Catchment area maps, published by the school or local authority, are based on geographical admissions criteria and show actual cut-off distances and pre-defined catchment areas for a single admission year.

This information is provided as a guide only. The criteria in which schools use to allocate places in the event that they are oversubscribed can and do vary between schools and over time. These criteria can include distance from the school and sometimes specific catchment areas but can also include, amongst others, priority for siblings, children of a particular faith or specific feeder schools. Living in an area where children have previously attended a school does not guarantee admission to the school in future years. Always check with the school’s own admission authority for the current admission arrangements.

3 steps to help parents gather catchment information for a school:

  1. Look at our school catchment area guide for more information on heat maps. They give a useful indicator of the general areas that admit pupils to the school. This visualisation is based on all attending pupils present at the time of the annual School Census.
  2. Use the link to the Local Authority Contact (above) to find catchment area information based on a single admission year. This is very important if you are considering applying to a school.
  3. On each school page, use the link to visit the school website and find information on individual school admissions criteria. Geographical criteria are only applied after pupils have been admitted on higher priority criteria such as Looked After Children, SEN, siblings, etc.

How Does The School Perform?

Good
NATIONAL AVG. 2.09
Ofsted Inspection
(28/06/2018)
Full Report - All Reports

Special schools provide a unique and distinctive educational environment to meet the needs of the pupils in their community. Undertaking standard tests may not be appropriate and we do not show performance data for special schools.

View exam results via the link below and contact the school to ask about measuring pupil progress.

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90%
NATIONAL AVG. 93%
Happiness Rating

Ofsted Parent View

6.8:1
NATIONAL AVG. 19.9:1
Pupil/Teacher ratio
30.2%
NATIONAL AVG. 17.7%
Persistent Absence
1.3%
NATIONAL AVG. 22.0%
Pupils first language
not English
37.2%
NATIONAL AVG. 25.9%
Free school meals
Grange Drive
Melton Mowbray
LE13 1HA
01664483340

School Description

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have addressed the areas for improvement from the previous inspection together with the priorities from the monitoring visit which took place in May 2017. Since your appointment in August 2016, you have provided exceptionally strong leadership and created a very positive culture throughout the school. As a result, most pupils have a very positive attitude. They are generally happy, well settled and attend regularly. Together with leaders and governors you have successfully managed a number of significant changes. These have included new appointments within the leadership team, the development of the provision for pupils who have autistic spectrum disorder and a review of policy and procedures to ensure that pupils are safe and any incidents of inappropriate behaviour are managed well. You and the leadership team have an accurate view of the school’s effectiveness. Governors and leaders know the school well and have a robust plan in place to address the priorities you have already identified. You lead by example, demonstrating your absolute determination to ensure that the school is the very best it can be for pupils to succeed. Your work to distribute leadership more widely is highly effective. This has helped staff feel even more valued and have greater ownership of the school’s work. Staff are very positive about the school and feel that they are well supported by school leaders. The leadership team has developed effective systems to check regularly on the quality of teaching. This has ensured that any ineffective or poor teaching is dealt with through swift identification, support given and timely actions taken. Leaders are, therefore, driving up the quality of teaching with a shared determination for the school to become a centre of excellence. You have created a calm, orderly and purposeful learning environment. As a result, pupils behave well and show respect towards adults and one another. Pupils were happy to share their work with us and displayed a pride in their achievements. For example, they were keen to show recent photographs of themselves practising to perform at the Curve Theatre in Leicester. Parents and carers are generally very positive about the school and the difference it has made to their child’s well-being and progress. Comments include, ‘They always take very good care of my son; I know he is in safe hands’ and ‘My daughter has made fantastic progress this year; I am kept well informed.’ Safeguarding is effective. Leaders and governors have carefully considered all safeguarding procedures and practice. This has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose, training is up to date and records are appropriately detailed. Staff are well briefed and have a clear understanding of their responsibilities. They are alert for any signs that a pupil may be at risk, and the school’s records show that staff are vigilant and report any concerns promptly. Checks on the suitability of staff are rigorous. A key message driven by leaders, that safeguarding is at the heart of the school’s work and top of the agenda for all staff, is clearly evident and demonstrated across the school. Incidents of inappropriate behaviour are rigorously recorded and monitored. As a result of staff training, records show a significant decline in the number of incidents across the school, with restraint now rarely used. Inspection findings We followed a number of lines of enquiry to check the education provided by the school. Our first two lines of enquiry were to review how well teachers check on the progress that pupils make to achieve the outcomes in their education, health and care plans, and how effectively leaders report on this progress during annual reviews. These were priority areas from the monitoring visit which took place in May 2017. We scrutinised the pupil passports you and leaders have devised in response to this priority area, together with the whole-school system to track pupils’ progress, case studies for individual pupils and education, health and care plan targets. Parents we spoke with said that the system helped them to have a good understanding of their child’s learning.

Birch Wood (Melton Area Special School) Parent Reviews



90% Parents Recommend This School
Strongly Agree 80% Agree 10% Disagree 0% Strongly Disagree 10% Don't Know 0% {"strongly_agree"=>80, "agree"=>10, "disagree"=>0, "strongly_disagree"=>10, "dont_know"=>0} Figures based on 10 responses up to 28-06-2018
Strongly Agree 80% Agree 10% Disagree 0% Strongly Disagree 0% Don't Know 10% {"strongly_agree"=>80, "agree"=>10, "disagree"=>0, "strongly_disagree"=>0, "dont_know"=>10} Figures based on 10 responses up to 28-06-2018
Strongly Agree 50% Agree 40% Disagree 10% Strongly Disagree 0% Don't Know 0% {"strongly_agree"=>50, "agree"=>40, "disagree"=>10, "strongly_disagree"=>0, "dont_know"=>0} Figures based on 10 responses up to 28-06-2018
Strongly Agree 70% Agree 20% Disagree 10% Strongly Disagree 0% Don't Know 0% {"strongly_agree"=>70, "agree"=>20, "disagree"=>10, "strongly_disagree"=>0, "dont_know"=>0} Figures based on 10 responses up to 28-06-2018
Strongly Agree 60% Agree 30% Disagree 10% Strongly Disagree 0% Don't Know 0% {"strongly_agree"=>60, "agree"=>30, "disagree"=>10, "strongly_disagree"=>0, "dont_know"=>0} Figures based on 10 responses up to 28-06-2018
Strongly Agree 30% Agree 40% Disagree 10% Strongly Disagree 0% Don't Know 20% {"strongly_agree"=>30, "agree"=>40, "disagree"=>10, "strongly_disagree"=>0, "dont_know"=>20} Figures based on 10 responses up to 28-06-2018
Strongly Agree 60% Agree 30% Disagree 0% Strongly Disagree 0% Don't Know 10% {"strongly_agree"=>60, "agree"=>30, "disagree"=>0, "strongly_disagree"=>0, "dont_know"=>10} Figures based on 10 responses up to 28-06-2018
Strongly Agree 60% Agree 10% Disagree 0% Strongly Disagree 10% Don't Know 20% {"strongly_agree"=>60, "agree"=>10, "disagree"=>0, "strongly_disagree"=>10, "dont_know"=>20} Figures based on 10 responses up to 28-06-2018
Strongly Agree 60% Agree 30% Disagree 0% Strongly Disagree 10% Don't Know 0% {"strongly_agree"=>60, "agree"=>30, "disagree"=>0, "strongly_disagree"=>10, "dont_know"=>0} Figures based on 10 responses up to 28-06-2018
Strongly Agree 70% Agree 20% Disagree 0% Strongly Disagree 10% Don't Know 0% {"strongly_agree"=>70, "agree"=>20, "disagree"=>0, "strongly_disagree"=>10, "dont_know"=>0} Figures based on 10 responses up to 28-06-2018
Strongly Agree 60% Agree 30% Disagree 10% Strongly Disagree 0% Don't Know 0% {"strongly_agree"=>60, "agree"=>30, "disagree"=>10, "strongly_disagree"=>0, "dont_know"=>0} Figures based on 10 responses up to 28-06-2018
Yes 90% No 10% {"yes"=>90, "no"=>10} Figures based on 10 responses up to 28-06-2018

Responses taken from Ofsted Parent View

Your rating:
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