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  • Swalcliffe Park School Trust
    Swalcliffe
    Banbury
    Oxfordshire
    OX15 5EP
  • Head: Rob Piner
  • T 01295 780302
  • F 01295 780006
  • E [email protected]
  • W swalcliffepark.co.uk/
  • A special independent school for boys aged from 11 to 19 with autism spectrum disorder
  • Read about the best schools in Oxford and Oxfordshire
  • Boarding: Yes
  • Local authority: Oxfordshire
  • Pupils: 69; sixth formers: 37
  • Religion: None
  • Fees: Usually or always funded by the LA

    Children whose places are fully funded by the local authority and have an EHCP will not pay VAT on school fees.

  • Open days: By invitation
  • Review: View The Good Schools Guide Review
  • Ofsted:
    • Latest Overall effectiveness Outstanding 1
      • 16-19 study programmes Outstanding 2
      • Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding 2
    • 1 Short inspection 3rd July 2019
    • 2 Full inspection 13th May 2015

    Short inspection reports only give an overall grade; you have to read the report itself to gauge whether the detailed grading from the earlier full inspection still stands.

  • Previous Ofsted grade: Outstanding on 18th January 2012
  • Ofsted report: View the Ofsted report

What says..

All students have a diagnosis of high-level autism; some also have ADHD, Tourette’s, dyspraxia or dyslexia. Combines the national curriculum with an independence curriculum covering eg staying safe online and in the community, using public transport, cooking, preparation next steps. Classes are tiny, maximum six, determined by learning level, personality and social functioning. A USP of the school is its ‘Quality of Life’ framework which focuses on the issues that students and their families say are most important to them. The information is gathered via weekly…

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What the school says...

Swalcliffe Park is a specialist residential and day school for boys aged 10-19 who have needs arising from their autism spectrum conditions. Across the educational day and residential settings, the school emphasises the development of students communication, independence, self-management and personalised achievement. It has received five consecutive 'Outstanding' Ofsted ratings.

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What The Good Schools Guide says

Principal

Since 2019, Rob Piner (40s), previously vice principal for five years. Started out in farm management following his degree in agricultural science with business from Harper Adams, later doing teacher training at Reading, then taught at East Cowes Primary School, Redborne Upper School and Calthorpe Park School. Initially attracted to teaching ‘for the love of the subject and inspiring people to learn.’ SEN beckoned only later, mainly the ‘accessing education’ and ‘behaviour management’ aspects. Mostly office based these days, but the boys are clearly fond of him and parents call him ‘nurturing’ and ‘very open to feedback – his door is always open.’ ‘He made me feel like I could finally breathe – that he and his staff just understood,’ said one. Not a chap to rest on his laurels – ‘we are always...

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Please note: Independent schools frequently offer IGCSEs or other qualifications alongside or as an alternative to GCSE. The DfE does not record performance data for these exams so independent school GCSE data is frequently misleading; parents should check the results with the schools.

Who came from where

Who goes where

Special Education Needs

Swalcliffe Park School is a non-maintained special school that provides residential education and care for boys aged 11 to 19. All young people referred to the school will have a Statement of Special Educational Needs. The majority of our students will have a diagnosis of Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties or Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Our main aim and purpose is to provide a child-centred, non-confrontational, caring and supportive, integrated care and educational service for young people whose educational and social welfare needs cannot currently be met within a mainstream school.

Condition Provision for in school
ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder Y
Aspergers Y
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders
CReSTeD registered for Dyslexia
Dyscalculia
Dysgraphia
Dyslexia
Dyspraxia
English as an additional language (EAL)
Genetic
Has an entry in the Autism Services Directory Y
Has SEN unit or class
HI - Hearing Impairment
Hospital School
Mental health
MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment
Natspec Specialist Colleges
OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability
Other SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty
PD - Physical Disability
PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health
SLCN - Speech, Language and Communication
SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
Special facilities for Visually Impaired
SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty
VI - Visual Impairment

Interpreting catchment maps

The maps show in colour where the pupils at a school came from*. Red = most pupils to Blue = fewest.

Where the map is not coloured we have no record in the previous three years of any pupils being admitted from that location based on the options chosen.

For help and explanation of our catchment maps see: Catchment maps explained

Further reading

If there are more applicants to a school than it has places for, who gets in is determined by which applicants best fulfil the admissions criteria.

Admissions criteria are often complicated, and may change from year to year. The best source of information is usually the relevant local authority website, but once you have set your sights on a school it is a good idea to ask them how they see things panning out for the year that you are interested in.

Many schools admit children based on distance from the school or a fixed catchment area. For such schools, the cut-off distance will vary from year to year, especially if the school give priority to siblings, and the pattern will be of a central core with outliers (who will mostly be siblings). Schools that admit on the basis of academic or religious selection will have a much more scattered pattern.

*The coloured areas outlined in black are Census Output Areas. These are made up of a group of neighbouring postcodes, which accounts for their odd shapes. These provide an indication, but not a precise map, of the school’s catchment: always refer to local authority and school websites for precise information.

The 'hotter' the colour the more children have been admitted.

Children get into the school from here:

regularly
most years
quite often
infrequently
sometimes, but not in this year


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