Facilities & Approaches

Facilities 

The Sherwood Park Campus is a purpose built school to cater for the specialised learning needs of children and young people with severe learning difficulties, children with physical disabilities with complex access needs and those who also are autistic. There is consideration to the sensory needs of the learners and for the most part the Park Campus is a sensory rich environment. The campus is wheelchair accessible, fitted with ceiling track hoists and there are appropriately adapted changing, hygiene and toileting areas. 

The school has a library,  life skills room and large hall equipped with a rebound trampoline. Outdoor areas include an early years play ground, wheelchair accessible swings, trampolines and roundabout, a multi-purpose games area, sensory garden and a discovery forest. 

There is a purpose built sensory room, a dark room, ColorScape room, soft play room & therapy gym all with access to suspended equipment. There is also a jacuzzi and fully accessible swimming pool. 

We have just completed a full accessibility study in Spring 2025 and we are currently scoping major plans to fully adapt our building to improve the facilities and add much needed space. 

Children can access the facilities on our other Campuses which include the Sensory Gym & indoor and outdoor climbing facilities on our Sherwood Hill campus and our Forest School and horticulture area on our Sherwood Manor Campus. 

For this cohort there is a focus on equipment and resources that are adapted for children and young people with sensory and motor difficulties, soundfield systems, switch adapted toys and adaptive ICT equipment, sensory-motor equipment, rebound trampoline and highly specialist communication systems, including eye gaze.

Approaches

Learners are provided with regular, planned opportunities to use and apply their skills across all curriculum areas and across settings. They have regular access to community environments and support is given to parents and carers so that they can generalise their skills and learning. 

In addition to our whole school approaches and interventions:

For pupils on our Maple and Pine pathways, we prioritise health, well-being, communication, complex access support and freedom from pain and discomfort in order that this cohort can learn best. The approaches and interventions used include:

• Sensory rich experiences - Sensology, Sensory Journeys, Story Massage, Music & Movement 
• Principles of neurodevelopmental therapy and rhythmical movement
• Well-being and regulation focused plans for promoting positive physical and mental health
• Regulation profiles using the process of Self Reg
• Robust augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems (e.g PODD, Eye Gaze), TASSELS and objects of reference 
• Environmental and task adaptations e.g. switches, access modifications, complex access equipment
• Assistive technology
• 24 hour postural management and splinting 

For pupils on our Holly and Chestnut Pathways, we prioritise the development of co & self regulation, communication and life skills. The approaches and interventions used include:

• Interaction and play focused interventions including intensive interaction and DIR-Floortime
• Regulation profiles using the process of Self Reg 
• Sensory interventions including sensory circuits, Therapeutic Listening, Sensory Stories
• The Curiosity Approach and Attention Autism
• Robust augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems (e.g core vocabulary boards, Proloquo-2-Go, LAMP words for life), Makaton, objects of reference 
• Transactional supports including; visual timetables, ‘now, next & then’, visual schedules
• Environmental and task adaptations & video modelling
• Social stories, Comic Strip Conversations & Talking Mats
• Assistive technology 
• 24 hour postural management and splinting where required

Our Accessibility Plan provides full information on the accessibility of the Park Campus and future plans.