Ivy Cottage is a small independent special school catering for residential students which provides education for boys and girls aged from 11 to 16 years. It was registered in July 2012 and this is its first inspection. The school admits students who have severe social, emotional and behavioural difficulties which prevent their attendance at a mainstream school. Some students display extremely challenging behaviour. Students typically join the school with a history of disrupted education. Half of the students currently attending the school have a statement of special educational needs and all are in the care of the local authority that places them. In addition, some students have autistic spectrum disorders. The teaching staff are led and managed by a headteacher who oversees seven other schools. The senior leadership and management team includes the headteacher, two managers and two directors. The school aims ‘to raise self-esteem and to promote positive behaviour, so that students achieve a place at a college of further education or employment, and to work in partnership with parents and carers’.