By Gavin Mackintosh-
A new special school for children with an autism diagnosis has opened in South West England.
Brookthorpe Hall in Brookthorpe has opened due to the growing demand for a special school educational placement and the age intake starts at seven-years-old through to 16-years-old.
The school which has a high ratio of staff with one teacher and one teaching assistant allocated to up to six pupils. The Head of School says education is highly valued, creativity is celebrated, diversity is embraced and every individual is encouraged and challenged to be the best that they can be.
Autism is often diagnosed by a paediatrician or a psychiatrist with experience in seeing children with autism. The causal factors underlying autism are not clearly known, but it is known to be largely genetic. Children born to much older parents are generally more prone to autism than children born to young and middle aged parents.
However, some autistic children inherit the condition from their parents, who may have had them relatively young, but were themselves born to older parents.
Another characteristic of autistic children is a focus on a particular area of interest or a repetitive activity they enjoy. They may also have physically repetitive movements of the body like hand flapping or spinning, particularly when they are excited or anxious.
According to established research, autistic children are also generally exceptionally intelligent, but often set back by undesirable defects like dyslexia and other complex problems.#
Billionaire, Elon Musk, is known to be autistic, but one of the most talented and innovtive human beings in the world.
Head of School Joy Price-Bish said: “Brookthorpe Hall School is helping to address the current shortage of available places for autistic young people. We are working closely with Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire South and Bristol Local Authorities (LAs), and have additional enquiries from Wiltshire and Worcestershire LAs.
“Our aim at Brookthorpe Hall School is to provide a nurturing and stimulating environment that meets the needs of each individual pupil. Working together to build a learning community that provides young people with the support, resources and environment needed to ensure that every pupil achieves their full potential.
“Brookthorpe Hall is set in beautiful grounds surrounded by countryside, and is located a short distance from Gloucester. The interior has been beautifully adapted to suit the needs of our pupils with calming décor in the main areas, and smaller areas or learning labs offering more stimulation – for example the art rooms and art gallery – which are decorated with pupils’ work – and also a “Relax and Reset” room and a carefully designed sensory space.
“A high staff-to-pupil ratio with one teacher and teaching assistant for 5-6 pupils, a strong pastoral team to support and differentiate access in the classroom, and a clinical team including occupational therapy and speech therapy ensure the needs of all pupils can be met.
“Option Autism’s autism strategy ‘Ask, Accept, Develop’ recognises that despite underlying shared traits, every autistic child or young person is unique in their own way. Some are cognitively talented, others may have a significant learning disability; this strategy enables our staff appreciate the individual abilities of every child.
“Through a shared celebration of neurodiversity we have created an academic experience that meets the needs our individual pupils, providing robust pastoral support, great communication systems and an engaging curriculum. All our pupils are consulted about their choices and preferences.
“Staff are also trained in Trauma Informed Practice – which is currently being rolled out across all Outcomes First Group schools – so everyone is well equipped to help pupils address underlying complex trauma, experienced during childhood or in previous school placements.
“Our location also offers lots of options for our Enrichment Programme, from opportunities for pupils to access local activities, for example at the leisure centre, to trips out into the surrounding area. We recently had a very successful visit to the Cotswold Wildlife Park.
“Understanding each young person as an individual, and building positive relationships is key to removing barriers that have previously prevented our young people from engaging in education. Some pupils have come from mainstream schools which were unable to meet their needs, resulting in extended periods of time out of school, others have been home-schooled as a result of their high anxiety.
“One of our Year 8 boys had spent a very limited time in school over the past four years, however since arriving at Brookthorpe Hall in September, he has managed one hundred percent attendance. We discovered he was a huge fan of football and gave him the responsibility of organising our football team, choosing and ordering the kit and equipment and training the younger players. By recognising his strengths we can support him in overcoming his challenges.
The academic development and overall progress in the school will also be the subject of research by academic professionals associated with The Eye Of Media.