Silverwood School

Silverwood School, which opened in September 2020 after merging three predecessor schools, has shown overall good performance across various domains including education quality, behavior, and leadership. The school provides a nurturing environment that promotes strong relationships between staff and pupils, helping them achieve ambitious outcomes despite the challenges of amalgamation and the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the majority of staff feel confident in delivering a well-sequenced curriculum tailored for pupils with special educational needs, inconsistencies remain across campuses, affecting some students' learning experiences.

Strengths

• Strong focus on pupils' wider development and self-awareness.
• Nurturing relationships between staff and pupils.
• High aspirations for each pupil, helping them overcome barriers to learning.
• Ambitious curriculum designed collaboratively across campuses.
• Effective support for teaching reading, including promoting reading for pleasure.
• Opportunities for pupils to enrich learning through various extracurricular activities.
• High expectations for behavior rooted in the school values.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent implementation of total communication approach across the school.
• Some administrative errors in staff safeguarding records.
• Not all pupils learn in line with high expectations due to inconsistent staff practices.

In 2024–25 pupils at Silverwood School attended 92.2% of sessions (the national figure for special schools was 87.2%). 22.8% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 35.3%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.0% of pupils at Silverwood School were suspended at least once (nationally 5.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Silverwood School had 6.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for special schools was 6.6). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.2% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.5%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26 Silverwood School had 532 pupils, 99.6% of them with an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 99.5%).

It says it provides for: specific learning difficulty; moderate learning difficulty; severe learning difficulty; profound and multiple learning difficulty; social, emotional and mental health; speech, language and communication needs; hearing impairment; vision impairment; multi-sensory impairment; physical disability; autistic spectrum disorder; other difficulty or disability.

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded special school schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Silverwood School received £28,996 and spent £28,862 for each of its 533 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £98,000 (£183 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Devizes · Wiltshire local authority: places and applications

What is Silverwood School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Silverwood School is Good, from an inspection in October 2023.

When was Silverwood School last inspected by Ofsted?

Silverwood School was last inspected in October 2023.

How many pupils does Silverwood School have?

Silverwood School has 532 pupils on roll.

What age range does Silverwood School cover?

Silverwood School for pupils aged 4 to 19.

What are Silverwood School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 0% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Silverwood School?

Silverwood School is at Rowde, Devizes, Wiltshire, SN10 2QQ.