Autism Provision
There are different Curriculum Pathway Journeys across Heltwate and Heltwate St George’s. These are: Engage, Explore, Develop, Discover and Stepping On.
Pupils are placed onto a curriculum journey that best suits their needs and their aspirations, while also meeting their learning styles.
Across the school we have provision for pupils with ASC. We work on developing the students’ social, emotional, and self-regulation skills by equipping them with strategies needed to engage with the teaching and opportunities offered. We hope to enable them to learn and develop to the best of their abilities.
Staff provide chances within the curriculum for students to develop social understanding, and this happens by taking the children to visit places in the community, supported by social stories. We create opportunities to engage with members of the public in places such as libraries, shops, and museums.
The children learn how to conduct themselves in these public places, which then also supports the development of their communication and basic functional self-help skills.
Calm spaces are provided for the students to use as and when required to enable them to self-regulate. An emphasis on communication is an integral component across the school. We work on the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECs), British Sign Language (BSL), and we teach the children how they can use this as their communication method. We ensure that verbal language is kept to a minimum to avoid sensory and language processing issues, so language is supported with symbols, (Communication in Print), to fully meet with the needs of our pupils.