Unlike many mainstream schools, we don’t adopt a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Instead, we provide a developmentally sensitive educational programme which is personalised to reflect each pupil’s interests, strengths, and individual barriers to learning.

A high teacher/pupil ratio of two qualified teachers per class of 6-8 pupils means that we’re able to offer each child individual attention and support. Most of our pupils will have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) setting out the additional support that they require to meet their needs. Our teaching staff are skilled in helping every child to make the best possible educational progress, whatever their starting point.

Our curriculum has been carefully designed to help overcome the significant impact of early childhood trauma on young people’s learning processes. It is informed by the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) developed by Dr Bruce Perry (one of the world’s leading child trauma experts).  NMT is not a specific therapeutic technique but an approach to structuring the application of interventions in a way that best meets the needs of each child.

The NMT approach starts with a core assessment involving a review of each child’s relational history and an assessment of their current functions to develop a ‘map’ of developmentally appropriate interventions.  This assessment, together with a review of a young person’s EHCP outcomes and relational history, is then used to assign each child to one of four curriculum pathways. Each pathway allows for individualised access to the National Curriculum with the ultimate aim of ensuring that every child develops the skills necessary for them to achieve the greatest level of independence and fulfilment in their adult lives.