Statement of Intent

Thomas Bewick School is a specialist school for autistic children and young people aged 4-19 years and all pupils have an Education, Health and Care Plan.

All pupils at Thomas Bewick School face particular challenges linked to their autism and have varying levels of difference in the areas of communication, social understanding, flexibility of thought and sensory processing, which in turn creates some significant barriers to learning.

Within our specialist setting, it is not possible to identify the degree to which achievement is affected by socio-economic background due to each pupil’s complex needs and learning difficulties. Those who attract the pupil premium funding do not therefore stand out as ‘lower attaining’, however we do acknowledge that those who are most disadvantaged due to socioeconomic background may not always have the same opportunities, experiences and outcomes as their non-disadvantaged peers. Whilst our strategy prioritises our most disadvantaged pupils, the intention is to use our pupil premium funding allocation to improve outcomes for all pupils in the school, through the implementation of a range of whole school interventions and initiatives.

Our curriculum is unique in that it provides opportunities for personalisation so that we can address the learning barriers that each individual pupil faces. In forming our strategy, we have considered very carefully any additionality that we may need to provide to aid a pupil’s achievement and/or development alongside our existing provision, which is already specifically focused on the needs and barriers to learning that autism presents.

We are conscious that many of our pupils lead quite isolated lives outside of school, so our strategy and wider plan for ‘education recovery’ therefore incorporates a focus on supporting the social, emotional and mental wellbeing of pupils alongside more academic curriculum initiatives.

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