Autistic Provision

Autisic Provision

The Walker Building

Welcome to the Walker Building. Karen Burton and Val Lee manage the autistic provision.

Other members of the staff include:

Teaching Staff

Val Lee, Andrew Pearson, Kim Patterson, Carole Bennet, Ainsley Cole

Support Staff

Debbie Hales, Irene Wase, Claire Aylott, Gareth Patterson, Shawn Appleton, Lynda McCallum, Marti Cully, Peter Henry, Gemma Langley

Receptionist

Kelly Strain

The Building

A brand new purpose built provision was completed in June 2009 to house students with autism. The building, constructed along the same architectural lines as the Stephenson and Sheraton Buildings, provides accommodation for students aged between 11- 16 who have autism.

Special features of the building include low arousal furnishings and lightings, spacious classrooms to incorporate individual work spaces and a multi use hall.

Currently the building houses 5 classrooms each staffed by a teacher and a teaching assistant. Students follow the national curriculum in classes grouped by ability and age; they will have the majority of their lessons in the Walker Building but will access specialist classes for subjects such as science, technology and PE. The first groups of students from Abbey Hill and Westland’s moved into the building on Monday June 29th and have settled in remarkably well.

As this building opened we have just received confirmation that we have been successful in our inspection from the National Autistic Society and gained National Accreditation for the 5th time. This accreditation is a quality mark to show that Abbey Hill School & Technology College provides a quality of provision for people with an autism spectrum disorder by:

• providing a unified standard of excellence in both policy and practice
• presenting a systematic framework for continuous self-examination and development; and
• ensuring that services registered with the programme are given guidance and support in order to meet the established criteria required for accredited status.

Curriculum

Students from the autistic base access a number of subjects at the Stephenson Building working with some of our SLD/MLD students.

Subjects include:

Maths,English,Science, PSHE, Food Technology, Media Studies, Art, Humanities,PE, ICT

Exam Courses Include:

ASDAN COPE,Entry Level Maths,English, Art, ASDAN Bronze Award in Independent Life Skills,Food Hygiene,GCSE foundation stage in some subject areas

Partnerships

The Walker staff work with a number of partners including:

SSAT,National Autistic Society,Whats Cooking Kids, Film Club.Org, Local Foods Grant

The new building also includes a range of access for the local community including:

Youth Clubs, The Main Project, Stockton Parent Support