Preparation for Adult Life
A key purpose of the base is to support children and young people to develop skills during key stage 3 and key stage 4 so that they can:
- Choose to access post 16 mainstream provision eg colleges or sixth forms and manage the mainstream environment successfully
- Form friendships and develop a social network
- Cope with a wider range of environments and self-manage their sensory and self-regulation needs accordingly
- Develop more independence eg short local travel, accessing local social facilities, making considered decisions
- Think about their future and plan for what they need to develop to achieve it
Support for this aim is through:
- Tutorial system, where children meet their tutor and work with support staff each morning, getting them ready for the day and addressing any immediate issues as well as delivering key aspects of the social and communicative curriculum
- Use of specialist programmes aimed at supporting the development of social and communicative awareness for those with autistic conditions
- Access to mainstream social and extra-curricular facilities, with support, to develop and practise coping strategies and interact with a wider range of their peers
- Adaptation of the base curriculum, using opportunities within English, Humanities, Art, PE and Technology in particular to develop skills and understanding
- Planning individual small tasks and steps each term to support personal development and confidence. This will mean moving out of the “comfort zone” with support at times, but is an important part of growth and maturation for a child.
- Increased exposure to mainstream staff during key stage 3 and 4