APTCOO - A Place to Call Our Own
North Farm House, Worksop Road, Budby, Newark, NG22 9EXOpen in maps (opens in a new tab)
APTCOO - A Place to Call Our Own is a special school in Newark for ages 5 to 19. It is one of the 364 schools in Nottinghamshire. Its latest Ofsted rating is Good, from an inspection in July 2025.
Ofsted inspection
Inspected 8 July 2025, report published 9 September 2025
- Overall effectiveness
- Good
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Met
What Ofsted said
From the inspection on 8 July 2025
APTCOO is a safe and caring environment for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils feel happy and say they are very well cared for. They enjoy attending because of the strong relationships they have with the staff. Pupils are proud of their school. Staff have a united passion for pupils to achieve their highest potential. This high ambition means that staff go 'above and beyond' to support all pupils to succeed. The school promotes an environment where all pupils are highly valued by staff. Pupils respond to this by showing the same value and care for each other. Pupils are polite, considerate and welcoming to visitors. When pupils struggle with their emotions, staff provide highly effective strategies that allow pupils to regulate and then return to their learning. The school has been particularly effective in supporting highly anxious pupils to attend school, because of the high-quality nurture and pastoral support it provides. Pupils benefit greatly from working in the school's outdoor environments. They have developed the school grounds to increase biodiversity. They enjoy looking after the school's animals. Pupils have lots of opportunities to develop their talents and interests.
What the school should improve
- The school is in the early stages of improving teachers' pedagogical knowledge to enhance the teaching of the curriculum. As a result, pupils do not always benefit from carefully crafted lessons, where the key learning remains the focus. The school should ensure that the agreed pedagogy is securely implemented across the school, so that pupils benefit from lessons that consistently build their knowledge and skills.
- The targets set for pupils do not consistently identify what success for those pupils looks like. This limits staff's ability to check that these pupils are making as much progress towards the larger outcomes stated in their EHC plans as they could. The school should ensure that all pupils' targets have the necessary precision and focus to enable staff to support pupils to achieve as well as they can.
Pupil numbers and mix
19 pupils on roll, with places for 30
Schools near APTCOO - A Place to Call Our Own
| School | Distance | Ofsted | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yeoman Park Academy | 6 miles | Ofsted judgements: Outstanding | 0% met the expected standard |
| Stubbin Wood School | 6 miles | No Ofsted inspection | Not published |
| Horizons Academy | 7 miles | No Ofsted inspection | Not published |
| Dawn House School | 7 miles | Ofsted judgements: Outstanding | Attainment 8: 3.1 |
| R.E.A.L. Independent Schools Mansfield | 7 miles | Ofsted: Good | Attainment 8: 3.8 |
School details
- School type
- Other independent special school
- Sector
- Independent
- Age range
- 5 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Ms Michaela Ledsham
- Phone
- 01623629902
- Address
- North Farm House, Worksop Road, Budby, Newark, NG22 9EX
- Local authority
- Nottinghamshire
- URN
- 145949
School details from Get Information about Schools, 17 September 2026. Ofsted outcomes published to 31 August 2026. Pupil mix from the school census, 2025/26.