Heart of the Forest Community Special School
Speech House, Coleford, GL16 7EJ
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 4 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Lucyna Mansfield
- SEN provision
- VI - Visual Impairment, OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, PD - Physical Disability, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Forest of Dean
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 145
- Pupils on roll
- 160
- URN
- 134190
- Local authority
- Gloucestershire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01594822175
About this school
Heart of the Forest Community Special School is a community special school in Coleford. It teaches children aged 4 to 19 and has 160 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Requires improvement
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 3 | 9 | 11 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | - | 0% | 0% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | - | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | - | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in maths | - | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | - | 0% | 0% |
| Average scaled score in reading | - | - | - |
| Average scaled score in maths | - | - | - |
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 9 | 12 | 13 |
| Attainment 8 score | - | - | - |
| Progress 8 score | - | - | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | - | - | - |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | - | - | - |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | - | - | - |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | - | - | - |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Heart of the Forest Community Special School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Gloucestershire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 58.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 56.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 59.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 16.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 13.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 14.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 128 |
| 2023/24 | 131 |
| 2024/25 | 143 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 48.12%
- English as an additional language
- 3.5%
- Overall absence
- 14.51%
- Persistent absence
- 41.22%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Monmouth Schools Pre-Prep & Nursery6.3 miles
Welsh schools · Monmouthshire
-
Kymin View Primary6.4 miles
Welsh schools · Monmouth
-
Monmouth Comprehensive School6.7 miles
Welsh schools · Monmouthshire
-
Monmouth School6.8 miles
Welsh schools · Monmouthshire
-
Haberdashers Monmouth School For Girls6.9 miles
Welsh schools · Monmouthshire
Other schools in Coleford
- Berry Hill Primary School Primary
- Clearwell Church of England Primary School Primary
- Coalway Primary School Primary
- Ellwood Primary School Primary
- English Bicknor Church of England Primary School Primary
- St John's C of E Academy Primary
- Five Acres High School Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Heart of the Forest Community Special School teach?
- Heart of the Forest Community Special School teaches children aged 4 to 19. It is a special school in Coleford.
- Who is the headteacher of Heart of the Forest Community Special School?
- The headteacher of Heart of the Forest Community Special School is Mrs Lucyna Mansfield, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Heart of the Forest Community Special School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Heart of the Forest Community Special School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Heart of the Forest Community Special School?
- Heart of the Forest Community Special School has 160 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 19.
- Is Heart of the Forest Community Special School full?
- Heart of the Forest Community Special School has capacity for 145 pupils and 160 on roll (110%), so it is at or above its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Heart of the Forest Community Special School a faith school?
- No. Heart of the Forest Community Special School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does Heart of the Forest Community Special School have?
- The schools register lists Heart of the Forest Community Special School's special educational needs provision as: VI - Visual Impairment; OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; PD - Physical Disability; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty; PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Heart of the Forest Community Special School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 0% in 2023/24 and 0% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is Heart of the Forest Community Special School's absence rate?
- Heart of the Forest Community Special School's overall absence rate is 14.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Heart of the Forest Community Special School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Heart of the Forest Community Special School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 1 July 2026.