School Organisation


We organise our 245 learners into 3 school phases:

Lower school - comprised of 8 classes of learners aged 3-9

Middle school - comprised of 7 classes of learners aged 9-14

Upper school - comprised of 8 classes of learners aged 14-19

Class size varies between 8 and 14 learners. The level of staffing provided in each class is high and will depend on the needs of the students in each class; there is a minimum of 4 staff (1 Teacher and 3 Teaching Assistants).

Learners can be welcomed into our school at any time during the academic year as we have no fixed yearly intake. A suitable integration programme for each learner will be arranged with the learner, parents and where appropriate their educational placement/pre-school.

We offer a range of lunch clubs, with at least two running every day. A selection of the current clubs on offer are Computer club, Lego club and Activall club. They are very popular with our students and provide an excellent opportunity for them to develop a range of social skills.

Most of our classes in lower school take part in weekly swimming lessons at a local swimming pool, either Halstead or Coggeshall, and the learners are transported to the pool by coach.

At The Edith Borthwick School, our aim is to provide a learning environment for every learner that is personalised, inclusive, safe, enjoyable and challenging with appropriate support and guidance to enable them to develop skills for life. Our aim is to give learners the skills to live as independently as possible in their life beyond school.

 

Beliefs

At The Edith Borthwick School, we believe that everyone should;

  • Enjoy learning and achieving

  • Show care and concern for themselves, others and the environment

  • Treat others with respect and dignity and accept and tolerate others and their individual differences

  • Be safe, healthy and happy and be a valued member of the community

  • Develop self-confidence and self esteem

  • Put students and their families at the heart of everything we strive for

 

Strands of learning

We believe that there are five essential areas for Learning. Our intention is that these are part of everything that we do here at The Edith Borthwick School. Learning happens across these areas and the headings are:

  • Independence

  • Communication

  • Cognition and Learning

  • Physical and Sensory

  • Social and Emotional

 

The curriculum is further spilt into other areas of learning:

Functional Skills – Reading, literacy, Numeracy, English, Maths

Creative Development- Music, art, drama, dance

Physical Development- PD, Swimming, Rugby, Football, Rebound, Physio, Hydro

Independent Living Skills- PSED, SRE, RE, Food Preparation, Enterprise, Personal Care

Community Awareness- Travel Training, Community visits, Recycling, Gardening, Personal Safety and Road Safety

Science and Technology- ICT, D & T, Science

Reading skills are a key focus across the school with access to set reading schemes, dedicated reading/phonics sessions. The early learning of reading is promoted through the use of Jolly phonics, sensory stories, auditory books, iPads and Kindles as students move through the school.

We aim to encourage good communication with parents/carers and each learner has a Home/School book which is shared between home and school. The school has an open telephone policy and parents are able to phone and speak to staff about any concerns issues they may have. There are opportunities during the year for parent/teacher consultation and these happen in the Autumn and Spring terms. One Plan/Transfer Review meetings are held on an annual basis. We also have a Family Worker team who can offer further support if required.

We take advantage of the local community and each class will have access to Community Access on a regular basis. Visits might include trips to the library, local shops to practise money skills, local farms etc. Day trips take place on a regular basis and may be linked to the termly topic.

As a school, we take part in, and support, many national events such as Children in Need, Jeans for Genes, Comic Relief and Sport Relief, Harvest for the Hungry and Wear it Pink.