Berrylands School Receives Positive Pre-Registration Inspection Report
- May 27
- 2 min read
We are incredibly proud to announce that Berrylands School has now received its pre-registration inspection report from Ofsted, with the report concluding that the school is “likely to meet all the independent school standards” when registered. The report is expected to go live on the government website next week.
For us, this is far more than a regulatory milestone. It is the result of years of belief, hard work and determination from a huge number of people who refused to give up on young people who simply needed something different from education.
Berrylands School has been built around a simple but important idea: that children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs deserve more than survival in education. They deserve safety, connection, dignity and real preparation for adulthood.
The report recognised this clearly, describing our approach as:
“Rooted in nurture, trust and emotional safety.”
It also highlighted that:
“Pupils’ wellbeing will be a core priority from the outset.”
That matters deeply to us because emotional security is not an “extra” at Berrylands School, it is the foundation everything else is built upon.
Inspectors recognised the strength of our therapeutic and individualised approach, noting the school’s:
“Strong focus on individualised learning, emotional wellbeing and therapeutic support.”
Berrylands School is not designed to feel like a traditional institution. Learning happens across outdoor spaces, small-group environments, shepherds’ huts and specialist therapeutic areas. The report recognised the calm and supportive nature of our environment, describing it as a:
“Safe, comfortable and supportive environment.”
The report also highlighted our outdoor and relational approach to education, recognising how pupils will develop:
“Creativity, leadership and teamwork.”
We know that qualifications matter. Reading matters. Maths matters. Preparation for adulthood matters. But we also know that for many young people, those things only become possible once they feel emotionally safe enough to engage in learning again. This school has been built for those young people.
We want to thank every parent, staff member, professional, supporter, believer and young person who has helped us reach this point. There have been moments where this journey has felt huge, complicated and at times exhausting, but the mission has always stayed the same: creating an environment where young people can rebuild confidence in themselves and in education. Special thanks must go to our staff team, whose compassion, persistence and belief in relational practice sit at the heart of everything we do.
We are also hugely grateful to the local professionals, schools and families who trusted Forest Schooling UK long before Berrylands School formally existed. Most importantly, we want to thank the young people themselves. They are the reason this school exists.
This report is not the finish line. It is the beginning.
