Following Ofsted's visit to The Brier School on Tuesday 14th February and Wednesday 15th February 2023, we are thrilled to announce that for the fifth time in a row The Brier School has been given an 'Outstanding' inspection report. 

"A big thank you for all of our parents and carers for your support and kind words. It means a lot to have a community that is caring and understanding of all the work involved. The Brier is truly an exceptional school with dedicated wonderful students and staff. I look forward to the exciting future ahead!" Mr Stanton (Headteacher). 

Please click here, to visit our Ofsted page where you can find the official 'Ofsted Inspection Report'. 

This term The Brier School has been successful in achieving the Basic Skills Quality Mark, which focuses on the teaching and learning for English and Maths skills. 

We have also been reaccredited as a Centre of Excellence for the Inclusion Quality Mark. The report states “The Brier School remains a truly inclusive school. Such a culture is not accidental –it is the result of a combination of effective leadership, highly skilled practitioners, rigorous processes that are consistently applied, and exceptionally high levels of ambition for pupils. All activity is focused on improving the quality of education for pupils by tackling the significant barriers they face.” More information on the Inclusion Quality Mark can be found at https://iqmaward.com/news/the-brier-school-achieves-centre-of-excellence-status

These are great achievements for the school and ones we are very proud of. 

Here at the Brier we are deeply saddened by the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and are sending our deepest condolences to the Royal Family.

Our book of condolence is available in reception for those who would like to contribute.

A national bank holiday has been announced for Monday 19^th September. Therefore, following Government guidelines school will be fully shut to all students and staff on this day. School will re-open as normal on Tuesday 20^th September.  

In recognition of the outstanding provision that The Brier School has and continues to provide to special educational needs and disability children, we have been privileged to become a contributor to the only official book published in celebration of Her Majesty The Queen’s 70 glorious years on the throne.

The Official Platinum Jubilee Pageant Commemorative Album, published for the Platinum Jubilee Pageant, was launched in the elegant art deco surrounds of Claridge’s ballroom in central London on 5 June 2022.

Produced by publisher St James’s House and written by royal authors Robert Jobson and Katie Nicholl, with contributions by Tom Parker Bowles, this beautiful hardback publication features more than 200 photographs of Her Majesty from throughout her life and charts the trials and triumphs of The Queen’s 70 years on the throne.

Richard Freed, Founder and CEO of St James’s House, opened the event with a speech that paid tribute to The Queen and outlined St James’s House’s long history of producing official publications for royal celebrations. The launch event was attended by more than 450 guests, who witnessed history in the making during a live screening of the jubilee celebrations. And as the event progressed into the evening, St James’s House COO Craig Vye hosted Q&A sessions with Robert Jobson, Katie Nicholl and Tom Parker Bowles.

Providing a unique window into Her Majesty’s decades of service and one of the most extraordinary lives of this or any other era, the book also features a select number of outstanding individuals and organisations from across the country, the Commonwealth and beyond. As a contributor to the book, our very own Mr Stanton was invited to be a guest at Claridge’s ballroom and witness the book launch and all other jubilee celebrations first-hand.

Her Majesty The Queen: The Official Platinum Jubilee Pageant Commemorative Album is available to order at www.stjamess.org/shop.

Since their meeting in the year 2000 at a playgroup for children with additional needs, Suzanne and Tracy of Singing Hands have made it their mission to raise awareness of the wonderful world of signing with Makaton. Their incredible journey was spawned out of the realization that exposure to signing in conjunction with speech was beneficial to the verbal skills of all children. From baby and toddler singing classes to educational concerts to workshops for professionals, Suzanne and Tracy and the Singing Hands team have been enriching the lives of many with their unique and enthusiastic approach. Their success has led them to receiving MBEs in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours 2021 for Services to Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

On Sunday 27th February, Suzanne and Tracy visited the Brier School and delivered a fantastic Makaton event. The event was organised by our wonderful PTA group Friends of the Brier. On hearing about the event, the response from our school community was tremendous with tickets selling out in no time. The day was a complete success with fun, laughter, singing, dancing and even a marriage proposal.

Many thanks to Suzanne and Tracy and the Singing Hands team, our amazing Friends of the Brier and everyone who helped to make the day special.

During the summer of 2021 work began on transforming our existing pond area into a memorial garden with a water feature for one of our former pupils that sadly passed away during the summer of 2019. The garden would also be home to a bench in memory of one of our mini bus drivers who also recently sadly passed. 

We are please to announce that over the February 2022 half term the memorial garden was completed and is now ready for our pupils to use as a quiet area to sit and relax in at break times. 

Inclusion Quality Mark (IQM) provides schools with a nationally recognised framework to guide their inclusion journey. The IQM team help schools evaluate and measure how they are performing; empowering them to improve and grow.

Over 200 UK schools have been awarded IQM Centre of Excellence status. This award recognises those IQM Inclusive Schools which continue to demonstrate a commitment to outstanding levels of inclusive best practice. Centre of Excellence status provides an opportunity to build on current capacity with ongoing support from the IQM team.

On 8th November 2021 The Brier School were assessed by IQM and retained its Centre of Excellence status.

"Brier is a truly inclusive school. It has a remarkable blend of skilled staff, strong and effective processes and exceptional leadership that together have created an extremely strong and positive culture."

Click here to view/download the assessor’s evaluation report in full.

During the last week of our 2020 - 2021 school year we were finally able to enjoy a Prom evening to say farewell to current and previous Year 11 students. It was wonderful to see both years groups celebrating their time together at The Brier School and that we wish them a successful and happy future.

Government Initiatives IQ is an independent report on government initiatives and on public sector excellence. The Brier School has recently been recognised by Government Initiatives IQ as a top performing and improving school. In doing so we have been awarded the prestigious opportunity to appear in their publication. Click on the link below to view the article in full.

Click here to read the publication in full.

The Brier School has received so much praise in recent years the Government wants to use its success as a blueprint for other institutions.

Click here to read the full story.