Secondary

My son has come such a long way, thank you!
– Parental Survey October 2021

The Secondary part of the school is made up of Key Stage 3 (KS3), Key Stage 4 (KS4), Key Stage 5 (Sixth Form), the STEPS pathway and Offsite/Observation & Assessment provision (Nursery at Rainbow Centre & classes at The John Wesley, Great Chart and The Towers). We have 21 classes in total that are led by a class teacher and a team of Learning Support Assistants (LSAs). Each Key Stage is overseen by a Key Stage Manager. The classes are organised according to the needs of the children and their age range as a guide.

Different curriculum pathways across the school, help us to organise the children into class groups, according to their needs. These pathways include CLICK, STEPS, Thematic Life Skills, Sensory Life Skills and Secondary Life Skills. The curriculum is bespoke to each pathway and is based on the needs of the individual child. Every child’s learning is created using their outcomes and targets from their Educational, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), our own frameworks for Communication, Reading, Writing and Maths, as well as developmentally appropriate life skills. We use a system called Earwig to track progress against EHCP outcomes. We celebrate all children’s successes, no matter how small.

Our four school values of Spread Happiness, Be Independent, have respect, Connect as a community are at the heart of our thinking and we endeavour to promote these values throughout the school day and beyond.

Communication is integral to all our classes, and we have the benefit of an on-site Speech and Language Team. They are able to work with children on an individual or group basis and support the class team with children’s individual needs. As a school, we use Makaton signing as much as we can throughout the school day, as well as individual communication plans, such as PECS and VOCA.

We have access to extensive outside spaces, including woods, forest school, fields, orchard, sensory garden and a multi-use games area. We also have inside spaces to utilise, such as, halls, sensory room, gym, and hydro pool for those children who require individualised interventions. In addition, we have close community links with local food establishments, supermarkets and Horse-riding stables, to provide external experiences, whilst promoting our Wyvern values.