Welcome to Abbey Hill School and Technology College

Welcome to this newly designed web site for Abbey Hill School & Technology College. We are delighted to be able to showcase all aspects of our organisation using the latest and most up to date technology.

As Executive Head Teacher of Stockton Borough First Federation, I am delighted to welcome you to the Abbey Hill School and Technology College website. Along with Westlands School, Abbey Hill comprises the Stockton Borough First Federation – two special schools with their own distinct identities within a shared management and governing structure. Together, they serve a population of 420 students aged 5 to 19 with a broad range of learning difficulties, making the Federation one of the largest SEN provisions in the UK.

The local authority is responsible for all admissions to the schools though we do accept referrals from other local authorities in the region via Stockton Borough Council. Our task is a simple but challenging one – to improve the learning outcomes and lifelong opportunities for our children and young people through working in partnership with others.

Abbey Hill is managed on a daily basis by Clare Devine, Head of School, who is well placed to tell you more.

Elizabeth Horne

Executive Head Teacher

Abbey Hill School provides for young people between the ages of 11 - 19 who have special needs in learning. The majority of students have a statement of Special Education which describes their specific learning difficulty and identifies the resources and provision needed to assist them as individuals.

Abbey Hill has three buildings on its site each providing for a specific group of students:

• Stephenson Building For 11 - 16 year old students
• Sheraton Building For 16 – 19 year old students
• Walker Building For students on the autistic spectrum aged between 11 – 16

In addition we have a gym, access to an on site swimming pool, and to support our environmental work, an outdoor classroom and two polytunnels.

We run a number of different curriculum models in the school to meet the needs of the different groups of children, however all students have access to the National Curriculum and an Enrichment Curriculum.

The Enrichment Curriculum runs on a Wednesday afternoon for every student. Students have a choice of activities ranging from ice-skating to orienteering, aroma therapy through to rebound therapy. It is a very popular session for the students not least because they can choose which activity they would like to do.

The school has been very successful in gaining specialist status and has benefited tremendously from the increase in resources we can provide as a result. We are specialists in Technology and Applied (Vocational) Learning giving students the opportunity to participate in a diverse range of activities using high-tech resources and supported by specialist staff.

We are very proud of the fact that Abbey Hill is a nationally recognised Higher Performing School and hope you will enjoy your journey through our website which includes a range of information for parents and carers from details about the school and its curriculum to news of our community partnerships.

Clare Devine

Head of School