Progress School provides highly-specialist primary, secondary and Post-16 educational support for young people aged 7 to 19 years old. We specialise in supporting students with autism, communication needs, moderate and severe learning disabilities, and challenging presentations of behaviour.
A bespoke package of learning support
Every element of the educational programme at Progress School centres around the individual needs of the young people. For example, we offer:
- A range of structured teaching and learning approaches
- Learning delivered in individual classrooms and/or group-learning environments
- Individual timetables for each student, built around their interests
- Opportunities to learn in the community every day
- Learning through sensory activity and sensory regulation
- A range of communication support systems
- An optimally stimulating environment
Targeted teaching groups
In many schools, young people are streamed into age-based classes. Here at Progress School, we believe there is a better approach for our young people. We group students together into phases, based on their social communication needs, sensory needs and learning abilities.
A flexible curriculum
Progress School offers an innovative curriculum which is tailored to the individual student’s needs. At Key stages 1, 2 and 3, students follow a topic based curriculum which promotes a broad and balanced coverage of all National Curriculum subjects. At Key stage 4 students pursue courses of study in relevant National Curriculum subjects and this is also enhanced by other opportunities for vocational and career options and Duke of Edinburgh.
A therapeutic learning environment
All students at Progress School have an Education, Health and Care Plan. Often our young people have experienced difficulties in previous mainstream, generic special schools and specialist school placements. Some have previously been excluded from school or had problems at home because of their complex and challenging needs and behaviours.
Our in-house multidisciplinary team uses a broad range of therapies, techniques and support systems to ensure our services meet young people’s individual needs and are available whenever required. By doing this, we are able to give students the best chance of academic success and support them in overcoming issues which may previously have caused placements to break down.
Continuity of care
Progress School takes an innovative approach to the way in which students are supported. We employ a key worker system so that a named member of staff has responsibility for overseeing the holistic needs of each child. We liaise closely with families to ensure that we utilise their knowledge and understanding of what works well for their child. We also use communication systems to allow home and school to inform each other of any issues which may have arisen and may present a problem for the child.
Students who live in our children’s homes are brought to school by their support staff who then work in school throughout the day. This ensures that each child has a continuity of staff team and prevents unnecessary staff changes. It also ensures that the same support systems are used at home and at school.