Welcome to Heathside School's Web Site

Click on photos to follow links School Diary

West Suffolk College Students fund raising Our link with the Gambia Pupils enjoying the outdoors

Welcome to the Heathside School website. I hope that you enjoy browsing through the website and that it gives you a flavour of what the school has to offer the children and their families. We are proud of the achievements that our children make and the feedback we receive from parents, carers, visitors, the Local Authority and Ofsted supports our view that Heathside is a good school where children feel safe and can enjoy learning.

Heathside is a local authority primary school and nursery for children with severe, profound and complex learning difficulties. The special educational needs of our pupils include a wide range of communication, physical, profound and multiple learning difficulties.

As a school we work closely with colleagues from many other disciplines. Whilst recognising our different roles and responsibilities, we strongly believe that a well co-ordinated multi-professional approach provides the best level of support to meet the special educational needs of our pupils. A team philosophy is a strength of the school. This supportive network includes all the adults working with the pupils on a daily basis. The common purpose for everyone is the same – to provide the highest quality of education for all pupils. Our Charter, “Children First”, expresses our commitment to educate pupils in a challenging yet caring and sensitive way, respecting their rights as children. “Children First” is our starting point in everything we do.

The school is situated next to Ipswich Hospital but is a totally separate provision from the hospital. We are fortunate to have our own indoor swimming pool, a soft play area, a multi-sensory studio, a hall, two minibuses, and a recently improved playground area. We have bases for physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and a nurse’s room as well as the usual classrooms. We have 75 pupils on roll and classes are organised into two teams: Lower Team for Nursery and Key Stage 1 pupils, and Upper Team for Key Stage 2 pupils.

There are currently four classes in the Lower Team and four classes in the Upper Team. A teacher and either Nursery Nurses or Special Support Assistants staff each class. The pupils are taught in a number of different ways including class groups, small groups and individually. Like all other primary schools we base our work with the children around the Foundation Stage Curriculum and National Curriculum. Staff are very creative in interpreting the guidelines and presenting a varied curriculum to the children in a manner that is appropriate to their needs. In addition to the academic side of the education we provide there is a big emphasis on developing social and self help skills. We use many resources within our local community and aim to contribute as fully as possible in community life.

We have good links with many of the local primary schools and often join them for activities throughout the year. Many of our children have a dual placement within their local pre-school setting or primary school. The dual placement can vary in length from half a day up to three days depending on the needs of the child.

Where we feel there is a need we aim to develop specialist provision for particular groups of children. Like many other schools we have seen an increase in the number of children with autism attending the school. To better meet their needs we have introduced the TEACCH approach in one specialist class, the Picture Exchange communication system (PECS) across the school and have worked closely with parents and carers to ensure the success of these approaches. Similarly, we have introduced the M.O.V.E. (Movement Opportunities Via Education) programme for children with physical and mobility difficulties. M.O.V.E. aims to maximise the independent movement that children are capable of through the use of carefully worked out programmes supported by a variety of specialist equipment.

The majority of our pupils move to Belstead School, at the age of eleven, though transfer to other schools may take place at any time dependent on the needs of the children. Children join the Nursery from three years of age.

We aim to work closely with parents and carers and involve them in all aspects of their child’s education. We have regular coffee mornings, open evenings, events and activities to which parents and carers are invited. Each child also has a home-school diary which enables contact to be maintained between home and school.

We are proud of the achievements we have made over the years and always welcome visitors to the school.

Odran Doran

Headteacher

Click here for the Prospectus
Click here for our Children's Charter
Click here for the School Profile