At Woodside we are proud of our Autistic Spectrum Provision (ASP)  for children with a diagnosis of autism, which enables our pupils to be part of a thriving school community while receiving additional support.

Each pupil has a statement of educational need from the local authority. Every pupil within the ASP is on roll in a mainstream class and spends time there according to their abilities and needs. Wherever possible, the pupils will join their class for lessons and activities and are included in class trips and other projects.

The aim of our ASP is to create a calm, happy and structured environment in which  children feel secure and can develop their skills. We recognise that autism is a lifelong condition and appreciate that the children will face different challenges during their time with us, all of which we will help them to address.

In addition to developing pupils' academic skills, key areas of focus for us also include teaching communication and social skills in context, developing the children’s emotional understanding, helping them to deal with stressful situations, and enabling them to understand and function in the world we live in to the best of their abilities, and as independently as possible.

No single approach or method is used in the base; we use a variety of teaching approaches and methods, depending on the needs of the child.  These include the SCERTS framework, aspects of TEACCH, PECS, Intensive Interaction and Social Stories.

The ASP has a broad curriculum including literacy and numeracy, life skills, tasks related to individual personalised  targets, fine and gross motor skills, communication and social skills, art, sensory play, cooking, swimming and horse riding. Peers from class are invited to the base to play, take part in groups, and to join in activities with the children. They have a very important role in modelling appropriate interaction and behaviour. Individual programmes are planned based on up-to-date and ongoing assessment.

We recognise the importance of working in partnership with parents. We liaise closely with families via phone, meetings, email and communication books.