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Welcome to our School

Our children and young people are at the heart of everything we do.

A very warm welcome to Oakley School. We are the district Special School for children and young people from 3 to 19 years with a wide range of special educational needs located in our Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge (post-16) sites

Our Mission: Children and Young People at the heart of all we do.

Our Ethos: Work Hard, Be Kind, Have Fun & Stay Safe

Our Vision: To give all our children and young people opportunities to engage, explore, discover and develop their independence – to become confident, resilient, happy and well prepared for a positive and meaningful future.

At Oakley School we are ambitious for our pupils and offer a rich Creative Curriculum that is personalised and offers learning in school as well as in the community. Our skilled and dedicated staff team work very hard to make learning motivating, interactive, challenging and fun, whilst ensuring that all our children and young people feel safe, valued and self-confident. We promote “Skills for Life and Independence” so that when pupil leave Oakley School they are prepared for the next phase in their lives and have the best opportunities.

Pupils' wellbeing and engagement is central to all our decision making and how we structure our school and the interventions we use.

Our Wider Curriculum offers excellent enrichment activities including: lunch and after school clubs, curriculum trips and residential experiences in the United Kingdom and abroad. These opportunities provide pupils time and experiences to develop their life skills in new places and with different people in preparation for their next steps.

We work collaboratively across our school community with our Families, Therapists, NHS Colleagues and other professionals and external organisations to support and meet the needs of our pupils.

We hope that you enjoy your visit to our website, and that you find the information you are looking for. Please feel free to contact the school directly with any queries you may have. If you would like a paper copy of any of the information on our website, we would be happy to provide it, free of charge. Email office@oakley.kent.sch.uk

or call us on 01892 823096.

It is my privilege to be the Headteacher at Oakley School and we welcome you to visit the school so you can meet pupils and staff to experience our very special school.

Sam Perryman
Headteacher

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Our Universal Offer

All pupils attending Oakley School have a differentiated curriculum, to meet their individual needs and their Educational, Health and Care Plan Outcomes and Targets. We achieve this by providing a Universal Offer that all parents and carers can expect their child(ren) to receive while they are at Oakley School. Some pupils will also need some targeted and specialist support t meet specific needs with highly specialist input. These may be provided via special learning interventions and / or by therapists, (Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy and Physiotherapy).

 

Skills for Life and Independence is central to our Universal Offer.

We achieve this by developing:

  • Self-help and independence skills
  • Personal care schedules and personalised routines
  • Specialist and adapted equipment, including cutlery, cups, pens, writing slopes

 

A specialist learning environment that is adapted to meet the needs of pupils.

This includes:

  • Class sizes of approx. 10 pupils.
  • Highly skilled staff to meet pupils’ SEND.
  • A Creative Curriculum that is differentiated and personalised to meet the needs of all pupils.
  • An environment with specialist facilities: Life Skills rooms, Sensory Integration rooms, Multi Use Games Area (MUGA), Magic Carpet, Forest School, Soft Play, Playground spaces in each Phase.

Social, Emotional and Mental Health.

Strategies include:

  • Use of Zones of Regulation to support emotional regulation and wellbeing
  • Access to Thrive interventions
  • Interoception

 

 

Sensory Integration strategies develop fine and gross motor and coordination skills.

We achieve this by using interventions such as:

  • Clever Fingers
  • ACTIVATE
  • Handwriting and visual perception
  • Typing and using technology to record work in class

 

 

Sensory based strategies to support sensory integration.

This includes:

  • Sensory Circuits
  • Sensory Diets
  • Weighted blankets/vests and jackets
  • Sensory resources to maintain attention and engagement

 

A Total Communication approach is consistently used across the school so that pupils are provided with the best possible communication environment to utilise and develop their functional communication.

Strategies are shared with class teams and families to promote communication and the generalisation of skills, such as:

  • Speech development
  • Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)
  • Makaton
  • Attention Autism (Attention Oakley)
  • Voice Output Communication Aid (VOCA)
  • Communications Books
  • Visually supportive information

 

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