The Lower School Department – known as Discovery – is for our developmentally young pupils who are beginning their learning journey through the school. Discovery is made up of Robins, Penguins, Wrens, Puffins and Parrots classes where pupils are delivered an individual and multisensory curriculum to support the early stages of learning.

Pupils are aged between two and half years to ten and are placed into the class groups according to their age and need. The children are given a high level of adult support so each pupil is nurtured, challenged and given every opportunity to experience our school.  

The adventure begins in the classroom where pupils work with experienced staff to enable the development of effective communication skills as well as to interact effectively with their peers, forming positive relationship with others. Lessons are creative, colourful, sensory, exploratory and most important of all a lot of fun. The learning does not stop in the classroom as pupils are able to investigate the sensory room, cook up a storm in the food technology room, scale mountains in soft play, take part in sensory integration in the Aviary or settle down for a read in the library.

We make extensive use of alternative and augmentative communication systems, sensory presentation and strategies such as PECs, PODD, Prox talkers and switches. We provide our pupils with opportunities to encourage and develop their communication and independence skills throughout each day.  

Pupils receive input and support from appropriate therapy provision to support learning including occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, Reiki, ELSA and music therapy. Alongside this, we offer a variety of different teaching strategies and approaches in order to meet the range of needs of our pupils. These include Phonics, Rainbow Road, Waldon, Intensive Interaction, Numicon, Words First, Makaton, Senseology, Attention Autism, Symbols Making Sense, massage stories, hydrotherapy, Move, sensory integration and TEACCH.

Pupils in the Discovery department follow Asdan Modules which lead to accreditation at different stages of their school career. Key stage 1 (Years 1-2) pupils work on Stepping Stones 1 and Key stage 2 (Years 3-6) work on Stepping Stones 2. Pupils complete a portfolio of work to demonstrate their learning and then receive recognised certification as a record of their achievements.

Discovery department is the first step on the learning pathway through the school where no two days are the same and every day is filled with fun and learning.