Fern House School and College

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01829 741869

It is a privilege to be the principal of iMap School and Fern House School and College.

I have a plethora of experience in both mainstream and SEND schools and I’ve held a variety of senior leadership roles including Headteacher. My vision is to create a happy, warm, welcoming school community that supports all our young people to grow and develop in a safe, nurturing environment. Our children will have so many talents to share and discover as they progress through our school and college.

View our Fern House School and College Policies >

Fern House School and College offers a bespoke curriculum that is tailored to each individual’s needs, preferences, qualities, abilities, interests, challenges, and learning styles. With a low arousal structured school environment, we provide learning spaces adapted to meet sensory preferences that are personalised for each pupil. We take the utmost care in the personal well-being of each student and members of our school community.

At the centre of our approach are our core values: Understand, Empower, and Aspire. These values underpin the school curriculum, extra-curricular activities, policies, and procedures.

Our specialist-trained staff have technical knowledge and Understanding of evidence-informed approaches associated with good autism practice, and we are able to adapt these approaches so that we can provide our bespoke, person-centred support and education.

This Empowers students to excel in whatever strengths that they have and supports them through any difficulties. With a focus on long term results and success, we encourage reflection with the students on their past achievements as well as future achievements and Aspirations.

ABOUT US SCHOOL INFORMATION CURRICULUM USEFUL RESOURCES

Our new school and college is part of the iMap Centre group, this is the second iMap school. Fern School and College is based in a beautiful site in rural Cheshire. Our school and college will provide high quality inclusive education for young people with Autism, complex learning, communication and sensory integration needs. Our curriculum support is personalised to ensure that each student can achieve their academic, social and life skills potential. We offer education provision from the age of 7 to 19 for up to twenty-five pupils.

We promote excellent personal development and academic achievement alongside progression in communication skills, choice, independence and social skills. Our education team work to create a structured learning environment where students can reach their full potential.

The school and college strive to provide a curriculum that is diverse and stimulating, often finding new ways to engage our learners. Our school and college aim to engage with the local area as much as possible, and this has been explored through Coffee Mornings, Charity fun days and work experience.

We aim to create levels of independence for all our pupils, and we focus on upskilling them in their living skills, from cooking, paying bills, traveling on public transport, applying for jobs, to even creating a mock polling station to allow them to vote.

Fern House School and College Prospectus >
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We are an independent school inspected by OFSTED. We have not yet had our first inspection. When we have you will find the report here.

There are no academic results due to the school not being opened. When the school opens the academic results will be published.

Term Dates 2025-2026

Our curriculum:

Intend

To empower each individual to achieve their aspirations
To enrich through a broad, balanced curriculum
To provide skills, knowledge and understanding
To achieve individual EHCP outcomes
To prepare students for life following education at Fern House School and Collage

Implementation

We are adaptable and cater to a wide range of abilities within the school population,
We are person-centered, intuitive, and responsive to individual needs and ‘spikey profiles’,
We provide full access to the national curriculum, scaffolding appropriately to enable all,
We deliver and monitor through highly qualified teaching staff and teaching assistants,
We provide routine, use concrete language, direct teaching, and provide minimal sensory stimulation.
We provide frequent and regular opportunities for students to repeat, retrieve and generalise knowledge and skills across contexts,
We offer opportunities for real-life application of knowledge and skills to prepare pupils for increased independence,
We are sensitive to differences in sensory stimulation and communication,
We see and play to the strengths of neurodiversity.

Impact

A constant cycle of planning, do, and review informs our intent, implementation, and impact. Therefore, the assessment of our impact is the essential key to identify the success of our intent and implementation. We establish this through a variety of means.

- Where appropriate, the success of accreditation and qualifications,
- Confidence and self-worth assessed through student voice and multidisciplinary meetings,
- Communication skills gained evidenced through regular pupil review meetings,
- Life skills measured by the opportunities our students access post Fern House School and Collage,
- Emotional regulation, identified through our PBS-informed tracking systems with guidance from our clinical lead.

Additional useful resources:

National Autistic Society (autism.org.uk)

https://geometrydash.io

How to help your autistic child with day to day life - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

Home - BBC Bitesize

Fun English games for kids | LearnEnglish Kids - British Council