Strathmore School

Strathmore School is a happy, thriving, oversubscribed and growing special school for children and young people aged 4-19 with severe and complex learning difficulties including those with an additional diagnosis of autism and/or physical/sensory disabilities. We are committed to supporting all of our learners to achieve, enjoy, be stimulated and challenged to fulfil their potential. Our well qualified and dedicated staff have high expectations of our learners, and we all have the highest expectations of ourselves.

We are a forward-thinking school committed to investigating and providing learners with the most relevant and innovative learning opportunities and resources available. We re-located in 2016 to fabulous new purpose-built facilities that we share with inclusive-minded mainstream schools. We are located across four sites within Richmond - SRR Campus (4 to 19), Grey Court Campus (11 to 19), Russell Campus (4 to 11) and Darell Campus (4 to 7).

Our small schools and small class sizes ensure that all learners benefit from a consistent and supportive approach from all staff, including therapists, and are given every opportunity to thrive and develop as individuals. Our constant focus is always on what will make the biggest impact for the individual learner. We understand how important choosing the right school is for your son or daughter, and we appreciate the trust parents place in us to care and support their children and whilst we are over subscribed and full, we hold termly parent and carer tours to support you with your journey.

We ensure that all our learners have the opportunity to follow a curriculum that is individual, differentiated, engaging and meaningful. Curriculum themes run termly and opportunities for meaningful inclusion with our co-located school are always maximised when appropriate. At Strathmore School, we have developed our own curriculum framework that we call the Strathmore Developmental Curriculum Framework. All classes follow this Strathmore framework which supports an integrated approach to early learning and care. It gives all professionals a set of common principles and commitments to deliver quality early education and childcare experiences to all children. Please see more information here:

We place the learners at the heart of our curriculum and use the main principles found in excellent early years practice and use a model of continual provision. We set up our classrooms and learning environments into zones (e.g. sand, water, exploration, role play) where learners are free to explore and develop their skills with the expert support from the class teams. These zones are all carefully planned on a fortnightly basis by the teacher and the class teams and meet the individual learning needs for each pupil. We constantly review how the zones support learners to progress and look for opportunities to extend independence skills and personalise learning as much as possible so that our children and young adults are 'switched onto learning.'

In-between the continuous provision that is expertly set up in each classroom and outdoor learning areas, the learners have 'inputs' that focus on teaching the skills they require for developing their individual maths, literacy, social and emotional and relationship development, sensory and physical and communication skills. These inputs are fun, motivating and practical and are differentiated for different groups of learners. Strathmore has a range of specialist strategies that are used to support learning. We are continually developing our expertise and are very proud of the varied tools in our 'Strategies Tool-Box' that support our children and young adults to progress.

Learners have a balance of structured and play-based learning as well as outdoor and physical activity. Strathmore places great emphasis on 'learning by doing', and we ensure that our learners are as physically active as possible both inside the school and in the local communities.

Our 14-19 learners have opportunities for work experience in the local community. Learners work at developing their functional and independent living skills in order to prepare them for their journeys post-Strathmore, whether that be in a college placement or a supported employment position. This is done through carefully planned sessions and includes the use of our two bed flat at our Grey Court campus and in our food tech rooms at both secondary campuses.

The whole school follows a termly theme which is set to be broad so that paired classes across all three campuses can personalise the themes to motivate their individual cohorts. We promote 'learner voice' as much as possible and ask our children and young adults to take a prominent part in choosing their own projects or sub themes within the larger term theme. Our school councils meet regularly to make key decisions about events within our terms and these are planned for within the learning zones e.g. trip to local restaurant or cinema.

We track learning through an online assessment tool called Earwig. This is a tool where staff photograph and video learners making progress at school. Parents can log in and see evidence and are also able to upload photos and videos from home, ensuring there is clear communication and generalisation of skills at both home and school.

Our curriculum makes strong links with the local community, with a mix of well-prepared visits and a focus on social, cultural and spiritual enrichment. We welcome a thriving team of peers from other schools to join learners within school.

In February 2024, Ofsted stated that Strathmore has ‘an ambitious and bespoke curriculum that support pupils to achieve well. The content and order of the curriculum help pupils to develop their communication, literacy and mathematic skills very well.’ This shows the positive impact of the previous three years of work to create, implement and embed our Strathmore Developmental Skills Framework.

We are aspirational for all our learners, and this is reflected in the personalised EHCP outcomes. Ofsted said in February 2024, ‘The curriculum is personalised so that everyone can work towards achieving their targets on their education health and care (EHC) plans. For example, in the early years some children learn about capacity using sand, water and containers. This learning is built on with older pupils following recipes to make cakes for the café and stocktaking in the tuck shop.’