ASC Centre
Grove Road Primary School ASC Centre
A Specialist Resource Provision for children with Autistic Spectrum Conditions (ASC)
Why attend a Centre?
For people on the Autism spectrum, appropriate intervention and structured support can really make a difference to a person’s life. With understanding, time and patience, skills can be maximised and the individual helped to achieve his/her full potential. To enable us to develop the whole picture of the young person we are working with, it is imperative that we work closely with the family. The expertise of the family unit is essential to the success of the whole child.
As Autistic spectrum conditions encompass such a wide range of needs, so we use a range of imaginative approaches for intervention.
Grove Road ASC Centre – Rainbow Class
The ASC Centre at Grove Road caters for 18 children who present with an ASC. It covers an age range from 4 to 11 years. The staffing is made up of one teacher and 6 Learning Support Assistants. Not all of the children are present in the centre at one time. Many are integrated fully, back into their mainstream classroom with adult support for some of the week. Some of the children will access the centre to have a particular lesson supported. We are guided by the needs of the current cohort of children.
The centre also has a dedicated speech and language therapist and an occupational therapist . This is for all children who have therapies as part of their EHC Plans in the ASC centre. These therapists contribute towards reports and annual reviews.
The organisation of a child’s day is supported by the use of visual timetables. We have the use of the smart board to offer further visual support but we are mainly guided by individual children’s schedules which are clearly displayed and discussed in their classrooms.
Our focus is on successful integration and inclusion in the mainstream classroom. The amount of time a child will spend within a mainstream classroom is specific to each child and is regularly reviewed to ensure success.
A place in our Rainbow Centre can be discussed at a child’s Annual Review by their school SENDCO. Each child’s paper work is then collated by the Hounslow SEN case workers and submitted to a panel. we strongly recommend visits to our school and the Rainbow centre to see if we are the right setting for your child.
Places are subject to availability, not just overall, but with reference to the child’s year group. Having a mainstream place in our school does not automatically mean that a child will have a place in the centre.
Criteria for Admission
General Description of Need:
This Centre is for children with long-term difficulties in the autistic spectrum affecting their access to the curriculum. There should be involvement from agencies including educational psychology, and CAMHS or the Child Development Team, confirming a description of ASC.
Cognition/Ability Range:
Children between 4-11 years with an ability within the broad average range. They may present with an uneven cognitive profile.
Learning:
There should be evidence that the child’s autistic spectrum condition is affecting their learning so that the child is likely to need additional support in curriculum subjects for some of the time.
There should be a need for a differentiated curriculum, adjusted for the child’s particular type of learning style.
There should be evidence that the child is able to learn visually.
The child should be able to manage the demands of a mainstream environment with some support where necessary and should be able to manage some independent learning.
The child should be able to benefit from a balance of mainstream and small group teaching.
There should be evidence that the child is able to learn with mainstream peers.
Communication:
The child could have difficulties with communication such as: limited non-verbal or pre-verbal communication skills, difficulties with verbal comprehension, understanding abstract language and non-literal language, restricted, unusual use of language.
Spoken language should be the child’s main method of communication.
The child needs regular support from a speech and language therapist working alongside skilled HLTAs to develop their communication skills and/or use of language.
Social Interaction:
The child could have difficulties with social interaction such as: not initiating or avoiding contact with others, inappropriate social and emotional behaviour.
The child could need regular specialist support to develop their social understanding and social skills.
Behaviour:
The child could have difficulties with thinking and behaviour such as: restricted imagination and inflexible thinking such as repetitive rather than imaginative play, fixed or limited areas of interest, difficulty coping with unplanned change.
There could be evidence that the child’s autistic spectrum condition is affecting their social and emotional development such that it is causing anxiety or social problems.
Self-help Skills:
The child should have broadly age appropriate self-help skills (in relation to toileting, feeding etc.)
Exit Criteria:
The child is able to manage in a mainstream school with little to no support.
The child shows more significant difficulties indicating that they are likely to need a greater input or more intensive specialist support.
Useful Contacts
