Darwin School is a small special school that is registered to admit 20 girls aged between eight and 18. It provides an education for those with a range of social, emotional, behaviour and mental health needs. All current pupils are in Years 9 to 12. Sixth-form numbers are too small to be reported on. Although the school is registered to admit primary-aged pupils, it has not done so for a number of years. Pupils usually stay at the school for one year, before moving on to other placements. The school is owned by the Cambian group, which is a company that specialises in Inspection report: Darwin School, 10–12 July 2018 Page 7 of 10 providing a range of specialist children’s services, including therapy support. All pupils are identified as needing a therapeutic approach to meet their emotional, mental and learning needs. The school works with three alternative providers. Renu Academy specialises in hair and beauty programmes, Edge-ucationoutdoors organises physical education courses and Bright Owls offers courses in modern foreign languages. The school’s last standard inspection was in February 2016. Inspectors judged the overall effectiveness to be inadequate and many independent standards were not met. In November 2016, one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) undertook a progress monitoring visit to evaluate the progress the school had made in meeting the independent school standards and other requirements. HMI judged that all previously unmet standards were met. The school subsequently requested a material change to increase the pupil numbers from 12 to 20. In January 2017, inspectors found that the school was likely to meet the relevant standards if the material change was implemented. There have been no significant changes since the progress monitoring visit in November 2016. However, between February and November 2016 there were many changes of staff, including the appointment of a new headteacher.