Rivacre Brook, Ellesmere Port
Rivacre Brook is a special school for pupils aged 7 to 18 in Ellesmere Port.
Data last updated 26 Oct 2026
Rivacre Brook in detail
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other special schools to Rivacre Brook are Hope Corner School (1.4 miles, Good); The Cavendish High Academy (1.4 miles, Outstanding); Thrive Education and Wellbeing (1.9 miles); and Weston Point College (2.2 miles, Good, selective).
Hope Corner SchoolThe Cavendish High AcademyThrive Education and WellbeingWeston Point College
Who goes there
Almost every pupil at Rivacre Brook has an education, health and care plan (23 of 23 in 2026).
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Runcorn East Rail Station, about 1.3 miles away in a straight line.
11 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is NORTON ARMS, 60 metres away.
The area around the school
In August 2026, police recorded 242 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, public order offences and anti-social behaviour. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Cheshire West and Chester (71), as is usual near a town centre.
Sources: DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 1 year agoOverall
Ofsted Insights
From Ofsted's June 2025 inspection report.
What This School Does Well
Rivacre Brook excels at helping pupils who have struggled in mainstream education re-engage with learning. The school takes time to understand each child's individual needs and creates a nurturing, calm environment where pupils feel safe and supported. Staff are skilled at identifying gaps in knowledge and designing activities to help pupils catch up, while also offering a rich range of experiences including sports, music, gardening, vocational opportunities and exciting educational visits.
Key Strengths
- Personalised support helps pupils settle in and build trusting relationships with staff, making them feel safe and happy
- Strong reading programmes with effective phonics identification systems that motivate previously reluctant readers
- Well-designed curriculum covering life skills, PSHE, relationships and sex education, and careers guidance that prepares pupils well for adulthood
- Nurturing staff create calm classrooms where pupils with complex emotional needs can focus on learning
- Wide range of enriching activities and educational visits that develop pupils' talents and interests
Areas for Improvement
- Some learning activities in a small number of subjects do not enable pupils to learn important content as effectively as they could
- Curriculum in some subjects lacks information about key knowledge from key stage 1, making it harder for teachers to prioritise addressing gaps in pupils' knowledge
- Staff subject knowledge needs strengthening in some areas to deliver the curriculum more effectively
Safeguarding
Safeguarding arrangements are effective, with clear systems in place that put pupils' interests first.
Extracurricular Activities
gardening, boxing, music, car mechanics, museums, theatre shows, outdoor adventure activities, football, board games, climbing apparatus
Rivacre Brook is an independent special school for pupils aged 7-18, all with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The school is rated Good overall and helps pupils who have previously had high levels of absence to re-engage with learning and catch up on missed work.
At a Glance
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby schools
Keep up with Rivacre Brook
Getting There
Bus Stops
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 9
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 2
- Children hurt
- 2
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 9 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 2 serious and 7 slight.
2 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 2 on foot.
2 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Cheshire West and Chester is 7 (the median across 184 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
72%
Available places
23 pupils
32 places
9 spare places
as recorded on GIAS
Area Demand Pressure - Ellesmere Port
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Ellesmere Port
Across Cheshire West and Chester council
Places available
4,194
Applications
3,482
Got 1st preference
95.0%
Got preferred school
98.9%
All secondary applications across Cheshire West and Chester council (2026/27), not just this school.
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
0
SEN Support
23
EHC Plans
100.0%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Rivacre Brook is not approved under Section 41 of the Children and Families Act 2014.
Source: GIAS, Department for Education.
Pupils by Need Type
No need-level breakdown available
Pupil Demographics
Key Indicators
23
Total Pupils
17
Boys
6
Girls
2026 academic year
Feeder Primary Schools
Primary schools that likely feed into this school, based on proximity
Rivacre Brook
Showing 10 of 15 linked schools
Questions parents ask about Rivacre Brook
How many pupils go to Rivacre Brook?
Rivacre Brook has around 23 pupils on roll.
Does Rivacre Brook have specialist SEN provision?
Rivacre Brook is not approved under Section 41 of the Children and Families Act 2014.
How do I apply to Rivacre Brook?
Rivacre Brook is an independent school and runs its own admissions rather than going through the local authority. Contact the school directly for entry requirements, assessment dates, fees and any bursaries.
How many road collisions happen near Rivacre Brook?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 9 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 2 serious and 7 slight. 2 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 2 on foot. 2 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Cheshire West and Chester is 7 (the median across 184 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Rivacre Brook?
Rivacre Brook is at Westways, Hooton Park Lane, Ellesmere Port, CH65 1AN.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)