Special schools

Pupils may be placed and funded in independent special schools by Children's Services directorates within local authorities (LAs) or by joint arrangements which also involve the pupil's health authority. They are rarely placed and funded by their parents. Pupils may have come to the school as the result of a tribunal hearing. Some proprietors of residential schools offer a package which includes education and care.

Where pupils are being placed in out of borough children's homes (CH), LAs now have a statutory duty to plan with the receiving authority an individual educational placement for each child before they actually move. Sometimes pupils are placed on an emergency basis where the social worker has been unable to find shelter for the night for the child and such an educational placement could not be established, in which case the LA has four weeks in which to set one up. Inspectors should check carefully that all children in such situations are receiving their entitlement to full-time education.

Approval

The school information and self-evaluation form (SIEF) asks that special schools indicate on the front page whether they have approved status. Inspectors should mention the approved status of the school in the 'information about the school' section of the report. Schools may seek approval at any time after their registration. The granting of approval is at present conditional upon the school meeting all of the regulations and the majority of its teachers having qualified teacher status (QTS). Approval will usually require a recent section 162A inspection. Approved schools are not charged for inspections. LAs need to seek consent from the Secretary of State for Education - in practice from the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) - for the placement of each pupil with a statement of special educational need (SEN) in schools which are not approved. Consents are granted readily if the pupil comes within the stated remit of the school and does not take its numbers over those agreed. These consents are not required for placements in approved schools. Inspectors need to seek confirmation from the school that all such placements have the consent of the DfES - in particular where children with statements are placed in children's homes which provide on-site education.

Non-maintained special schools

There are 78 non-maintained special schools. These are run by non-profit-making charities or trusts and are eligible for significant capital grants from the DfES. They are currently inspected as if they were LA-maintained schools, that is section 5 arrangements, and can be declared to have serious weaknesses, or be put into special measures. An independent school may apply for non-maintained status if it meets the funding and governance conditions and this will be granted if it achieves similar standards to those in LA-maintained schools and in approved independent schools. There is no requirement that the school must meet all the regulations, but major failings would preclude the school from acceptance. The DfES seeks advice on the school's suitability for non-maintained status from Ofsted; an HMI visit may be necessary unless there has been a recent section 162A inspection.

Other types of special schools

A small number of schools provide specifically for abused and abusing children. Reports on such schools may possibly not be published. This is at the discretion of Ofsted and the DfES in order to protect the pupils. Where reports are published, the nature of the intake will not be described specifically in the 'information about the school' section, and the school's address may not be printed in the section 162A report. In these cases, a note from the lead inspector containing the information, and marked 'in confidence' should be sent via Ofsted to the DfES.

A very small number of schools include or educate only pupils who are forbidden to have contact with their parents and whose parents are kept unaware of the location of the school. These schools are required to meet all the regulations concerning the availability of information for parents, complaints procedures and so forth, but their circumstances may otherwise require some flexibility and understanding on the part of the inspector. Parent questionnaires may be filled in by staff at the pupil's children's home or by representatives from the placing local authority.

Schools for pupils with severe communication problems may re-issue the pupil questionnaire printed in Bliss Symbolics or another pictogram system. This is quite acceptable, although such adapted questionnaires are not available from Ofsted. Inspectors should not feel any concerns about requesting the presence of an interpreter from the school team in order to interview individuals or groups of pupils.

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