The local authority-commissioned report found that staff at Gatehouse residential school in Milton Keynes used restraint as a "first resort", instead of attempting to deal with pupil behaviour using alternative methods.
Pupils were also locked in classrooms frequently. One parent complained that a teacher punched their son in the stomach.
Teachers said that both the deputy and head teacher subjected them to intimidation and bullying.
The review also accused Ofsted of failing to identify bad practice at the school.
It said: "It is surprising that such a serious defect was not identified."
The head, deputy head and chair of the board of governors have now left, so an interim team is running the school.
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