Richmond Hill School is located within a quiet, established residential area on a prime site bordered by parkland yet within easy reach of the town centre.

We were designated a school for primary aged pupils with severe learning difficulties and complex needs in September 2000.

 We welcome children and their parents into a small community that can offer a combination of education and care with high levels of staffing that enable us to meet the very special and individual needs of our pupils and their families. Our aim is to provide a warm and caring atmosphere that is a pre-requisite for successful learning but also for the school to be a dynamic, exciting and challenging place to learn.

 The school is very spacious and with large classrooms that are fully resourced.  In addition we have rooms designated for drama, soft play, multi-sensory lessons, food technology, ICT and a library.

We have a special annex for use by parents with our family worker.

Outside areas include a large playground equipped with bikes, go-karts and scooters, a field with cycle track, climbing equipment, swings, a sandpit, a gardening area and a wooden assault course.

We have two minibuses which are used for used for supporting the curriculum outside the school grounds.

 Structure


Pupils are taught in small class groups of similar aged children. The school is organized into three year bands 1/2, 3/4 and 5/6. In each class there is a class teacher supported by a nursery nurse or senior teaching assistant and an appropriate number of learning support assistants. The ratio of staff to pupils is determined by the level of needs of the pupils.

At Richmond Hill we believe that staff and children learn together and we are committed to an on-going programme of continuous professional development.

We are also supported by an extensive network of agencies including Speech and Language therapists, Social Services and health professionals in line with the Every Child Matters agenda.

Curriculum

At Richmond Hill we follow the National Curriculum differentiated to meet the needs of the individual.  We follow QCA guidance and use the Equals Schemes of Work to support planning. Our children learn by ‘doing’ and our curriculum places emphasis on the acquisition of skills, strategies to encourage communication, developing independence and creativity.

We organise our foundation curriculum into cross curricular topics to make it more appropriate for our children and also more exciting, dynamic and fun.

Personalised Learning is at the core of our work in school and we use Makaton signing, symbols/pictures/photos to support learning and PECS to ensure that every child has an appropriate strategy to communicate.