A special school catering for children on the autism spectrum has been given its first Ofsted report.

The Snowfields Academy, which is split across two sites – at Bearsted and Cranbrook – was rated “outstanding” in every category.

All the pupils at the school, run by the Leigh Academies Trust, have an EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan).

Snowfields at Popesfield Way, Weavering, opened in September 2020 as a brand-new purpose-built special school, while the Cranbrook annex opened on the site of the former High Weald Academy off Angley Road in September 2022. Between them, they have 176 students.

The inspection team visited over two days in June and has just published their report.

They found that: “Pupils at Snowfields Academy are rightly proud of their school.

“They talk openly about feeling ‘accepted’ and ‘comfortable.’”

The culture of the academy was praised with inspectors noting: “The warm, friendly, supportive culture of the school is tangible.”

Of the leadership, Ofsted said: “Leaders and staff have the highest ambitions for what pupils can achieve.”

The school was rated “outstanding” in its quality of education, students’ behaviour and attitudes, personal development and management.

Ofsted said: “All staff are experts in teaching and supporting pupils with autism.

“Teachers deliver activities in ways that engage pupils fully and get the best from them.”

The school’s principal, Dee Pickerill, said: “I would like to express my thanks to our wonderful students who inspire us all each and every day.

“With the right nurture and aspiration, and working together with families and students, we can achieve every students’ right to take their place in society, achieve and excel, and live well with their autism.”

Simon Beamish is the CEO of the Leigh Academies Trust. He said: “This is a magnificent achievement at Snowfields’ first inspection.

“Having launched in the pandemic and then opening a second campus two years later, nothing more could reasonably have been expected of staff and pupils.

“We are delighted.”

The full Ofsted report can be found here.

Leigh Academies Trust is a non-profit making charitable company, based in Strood.

It operates 30 academies with a total of 20,000 students