We are absolutely delighted to share that Ingfield Manor School’s Acorns provision has been judged Outstanding across all areas in our most recent Ofsted Social Care inspection, which took place in June 2025.
The inspection focused on three key areas, and the school achieved an Outstanding judgement in all of them:
- The overall experiences and progress of children and young people
- How well children and young people are helped and protected
- The effectiveness of leaders and managers
The report celebrates the highly personalised support our students receive, our nurturing and inclusive environment, and the collaborative strength of our transdisciplinary approach. Inspectors praised the school for its unwavering commitment to student voice, independence, and emotional wellbeing, noting:
“The residential special school provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the school contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people.”
Principal James Winchester said:
“We are incredibly proud of this outcome. It reflects not just the work of a single area, but the collective commitment, care and professionalism of our entire team. I want to give special thanks to Tracey Francis and Rebecca Sherwood for their outstanding leadership of our residential provision, Acorns. It’s important to say this outcome is not just about one part of the school: this is a whole team achievement. From therapy and education to nursing, residential, admin, support and leadership — the whole collective effort made this possible.”
The full Ofsted report is available to view here
We would like to thank all our staff, families and partners for their continued support — and most of all, we’d like to thank our students, whose resilience, humour, and enthusiasm continue to inspire us every day.
