About us
Helen Allison is a positive, friendly school that has been bringing out the best in children on the autism spectrum for over 50 years. We provide a stimulating, high quality education that helps each child reach their full potential.
Welcome to Helen Allison School
Helen Allison is a positive, friendly school that has been bringing out the best in children on the autism spectrum for over 50 years. It provides a stimulating, high quality education that helps each child reach their full potential, keeping them safe with well trained and enthusiastic staff. Children are cared for on two sites, split by stage of development and need rather than age specifically.
The school teaches students in a “through school” model utilising Primary, Middle, Secondary and Post 16, split into classes of students of ability and social/emotional ability rather than age. All students attending the school are funded via their respective local authorities on either a standard or enhanced package. Students often travel long distances to attend the school with the majority utilising local authority arranged transport. Students can be admitted at any point throughout the year and must have an EHCP with a primary diagnosis of ASD.
All classes have a dedicated and qualified teacher who plans their curriculum and is the first point of contact with parents. There are separate specialist teachers delivering PE, Creative Arts, Modern Foreign Languages and Food Technology. All students have access to the on-site psychology, speech and language and occupational therapy departments with therapies being delivered both directly and indirectly. Both the educational and therapy teams design individual curriculums for every student in conjunction with NAS guidelines.
The Helen Allison School is a truly inspirational place for young people to learn and flourish. They are seen as unique individuals with exceptional talent and potential and it really is an honour and pleasure to work with our students on a daily basis.
We look forward to welcoming you to our school community.
School facts
- Primary, Secondary and Post 16
- Girls and boys
- 83 places
- An average of eight students in a class. Classes are matched in terms of peer relationships and ability.
- Teaching and caring for children on the autism spectrum since 1968.
- On-site Psychology department, Assistant Psychologists, Principal Speech and Language Therapist, Specialist Speech and Language Therapist, Speech and Language Therapy Assistant, Lead Occupational Therapist, Occupational Therapist and Occupational Therapy Assistant
What makes us different?
At Helen Allison we specialise in autism. We stand out because every person who cares for and educates your child in our school is fully trained in autism.
We understand how autism affects your child, and we have over 50 years’ experience and knowledge to draw on to help them to learn, thrive and take their full place in the world as adults.
Whatever the learning capabilities of your child are, we will help them make progress and achieve qualifications, from entry level literacy and numeracy to A levels and other Level 3 qualifications.
The school has a well-established and highly specialist on-site therapy team. Our transdisciplinary team deliver an outstanding and highly effective service to support our children and young people. Our teaching staff, support and care staff and therapists work together every day. We are a team. Your child knows every one of us well, and we all know your child well too. It’s one of the reasons we’re able to make such a big difference in your child’s life.
The multidisciplinary approach ensures that we can provide a bespoke package of intervention to meet the ever changing needs of our students. Therapeutic approaches and interventions are embedded into the daily lives of our students and form part of their waking day curriculum.
Specialist interventions on offer include but are not limited to: Intervention using the Sensory Integration approach, Lego Therapy, Therapeutic Listening, Rebound Therapy, Sensory circuits, Schools Massage programme, Social communication groups, language groups and The Bridges curriculum.
We’ve put in place some exciting collaborative therapies at Helen Allison. Our speech and language and occupational therapists have identified children’s sensory needs and prescribed a sensory diet where appropriate. We have used this alongside an innovative programme of Therapeutic Listening®. Many students also benefit from daily sensory circuits to alert, organise and focus them for the day ahead.
Our aim is to equip every pupil with strategies to overcome their barriers to learning; to nurture each young person’s talents and interests and to develop their self-esteem and well-being. We are committed to ensuring that children’s’ anxieties and sensory differences are recognised, understood and fully supported.