Muntham House School

Since 2019, Harry Anderson MA (SEN) MEd BEd NPQH. Started in mainstream secondary schools before being drawn to ‘working with challenging children’ and a spell at the Beckmead Trust schools in Croydon, followed by deputy headship at Mount Tamar, a

A day and weekly boarding school for boys, mostly autistic or ADHD, some with social emotional mental health or trauma needs. All have EHCPs and local authority funding. School welcomes parents from a wide range of LEAs to visit, but starts the

At 18, students leave for FE colleges. Brindsbury, Chichester, Plumpton are local options, but many return to their own LEA. School has great success securing apprenticeships or work placements, connected to work experience trials in year 13. A few

Classes are arranged by level, not age, with up to six children in primary and no more than eight in secondary, with at least one teaching assistant and the possibility of one-to-one if needed. The younger children enjoy a topic-based curriculum,

Generous staff to student ratios, some with SEND specialisms, including trauma informed teachers and plentiful LSAs, some providing one-to-one support. In one classroom we saw as many staff as students. All staff are trained in special needs and

In the DT coach house, we saw young inventors in aprons and overalls, painting DVD stands of their own design. Plus a prototype hoverboard propelled by a leaf blower, while a suitably oily workshop next door contained half-built motorbike engines

The spacious grounds provide pitches for football, cricket and rugby. Huge portraits of basketball players look out from the outdoor courts, while an indoor sports hall has space for six teams to compete.

A fleet of minibuses enable trips out,

Three floors for boarders at the top of the main building, each named after nearby castles and grouped by age. Youngest pupils on the top floor sleep under superhero duvets in small dorms of four. Other rooms have singles or two beds, wardrobe and

A stylish new therapy centre, looking more like a spa-treatment suite, provides holistic support in-house. ‘It does focus on the whole person,' said a mother. Specialist clinicians fulfil EHCP requirements with individual (and some group) sessions in

The head feels that the ‘environment adds to the culture of the school – no exclusions, no damage’. In addition, ‘high expectations’ and other encouraging slogans are painted prominently on classroom walls, complemented by a system of rewards with

Increasing numbers of day children are filling the primary classes, though most boarders are older. Head has a vision to build a primary-specific boarding cohort. Children arrive in taxis from a wide range of LEAs, majority from Sussex or Surrey but

All LEA funded.

A school that nurtures the individual through sensitivity, expertise and an exciting hands-on curriculum to discover the best in each child – and all this in the splendid grounds of a Sussex country house.