Our vision is ‘‘to empower every learner and embrace every strength through the provision of a nurturing educational environment, allowing them to prepare for fulfilling futures.’
Situated in Bowburn, Durham, our school building has been refurbished and re-designed to the highest standard to meet the needs of our wonderful pupils. We are ambitious about what each of our pupils can achieve, regardless of their starting point, and take pride in recording, sharing and celebrating the progress they each make as individuals.
As a school we use a range of best practice strategies and interventions to deliver highly individualised learning opportunities for our pupils, combining core National Curriculum subjects within an overarching, bespoke autism-specific curriculum. Our curriculum is broad and varied and provides pupils with rich learning experiences that are highly personalised.
Strawberry Lane has been developed with the needs of autistic young people in mind, from the autism specific colour scheme, to the quiet reflective spaces, to the sensory rooms and the classrooms. There are a range of break out teaching spaces for therapeutic work and 1:1 sessions. There are a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces which support young people in relation to their sensory needs. The school is a quiet and calm space with outdoor areas for play and movement breaks.
Our school’s holistic approach is underpinned by developing ‘positive behaviours for learning.’ Learning behaviours can be considered as the skills necessary for pupils to learn effectively within the classroom setting. Pupils diagnosed with Autism can find the typical learning environment more challenging so require additional support to develop these skills. However, by developing and strengthening these behaviours, pupils can become more motivated and determined, becoming lifelong learners in the process.