Cherry Oak School

[EduCativ]

Cherry Oak is a special day school for pupils aged 4 to 11 years who have special educational needs and/or disabilities arising from cognition and learning difficulties including severe learning difficulties and speech, communication, and language difficulties. We are part of a Federation with Victoria School and College which gives us many opportunities for collaborative work and sharing good practice.
We are very proud of our fantastic pupils and are very fortunate to have such a dedicated, skilled, and creative staff team which includes teachers, classroom support staff, administrative support staff, ICT staff, site staff lunchtime supervisors, and bus guides. Pupils are supported by NHS health and therapy services.
Judged as ‘outstanding in all areas at our last Ofsted inspection, we are constantly striving to make further improvements to benefit our pupils and the broader school community. Every child truly does matter at Cherry Oak and is at the heart of all we do.
Cherry Oak is a small school and we develop close relationships with our pupils and their families so that we can work together to meet the needs of individuals. We are lucky to have a dedicated team of adults working hard to support children in all aspects of their school life.
We believe in working hard to give our young people the very best we can and we value everyone as the individual they are. We have a strong focus on developing pupils’ spiritual, moral, social, and cultural awareness and pride ourselves on the care and guidance we offer to our families. Our vision is To increase each pupil's knowledge and understanding of the world, so that his or her full potential may be achieved.
We value every pupil as an individual. We treat them with respect and dignity and support them to achieve and build their self-esteem. We include our pupils and their families in decision-making that will affect them and strive to support the development of the whole person.
Whilst embracing the national curriculum frameworks for the different age groups, the school’s main priority is to address the specific barriers to learning so that the pupils’ sense of well-being is improved and they can take advantage of learning opportunities and achieve their potential. Communication and language, social interaction and imagination, and independence skills are taught through a range of teaching and learning approaches across the school.
The pupils’ sensory difficulties are addressed by the staff with the support of the occupational therapy team a sensory profile assessment is carried out which informs individual pupils’ sensory diets. Awareness and understanding of the sensory issues related to autism have enabled us to make huge improvements to the well-being of individual pupils.
Pupils of all ages at Cherry Oak enjoy a wide range of physical and sporting opportunities both in school and out in the community. We believe that regular and frequent exercise can allay some of the difficulties and frustrations young people with learning difficulties and autism experience and has a positive benefit on communication, interaction, and learning. Regular activities include swimming, horse-riding, and PE.
Extending our pupils’ learning into the community and increasing awareness and coping skills in a range of environments is very important to us. Regular and frequent visits support the transfer of skills across different settings and increase opportunities for pupils to socially interact with a wider group of people. In addition to using local facilities, pupils visit leisure and soft play venues, farms, the city-center, cinemas, and restaurants.
The Department for Education has reinforced the need “to create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.” We value each child’s communication whatever the mode. We have an extremely active School Council, the members of this are elected by the pupils each year, meet regularly and influence aspects of school development. Rule of law At Cherry Oak good behavior is an expectation. Staff provides a consistent environment throughout the school day helping pupils to understand that actions have consequences.
We believe that education extends beyond the school building and that it is important to facilitate opportunities for our pupils in the community. We also encourage our parents to be part of school life as much as they are able. Tolerance of different faiths and beliefs Cherry Oak is a very diverse community and we value and respect everyone within our community equally regardless of their ability, race, gender, faith, or culture. We celebrate diversity by providing curricular opportunities to broaden our pupils’ experiences and awareness of others.
Our assemblies encourage our pupils to find out about other cultures and communities as well as their own. They follow themes which include helping others, friendships and working together we also celebrate national and world events as well as religious festivals from a variety of cultures. At Cherry Oak, we all work closely with parents, carers, and other professionals to ensure that our pupils are happy, well cared for, and are helped to learn the skills they need to live a fulfilling life as part of their community.

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