West Heath School

Co-educational Day & Boarding Senior & Sixth Form

Founded

1998

Principal

Mrs Photini Bohacek

Age Range

6 – 20 years

Total Pupils

150

Day

£60,564

Residential supplement from

£40,952

Special Needs

AttDD, ADHD, ASD, ASP, BESD, DEL, EBD, SCD, SEBD, SPLD, SpeechLD

Who we are

West Heath is an Ofsted Outstanding and award-winning Charity set up specifically to support vulnerable children for whom maintained SEN and mainstream schools were unable to meet need. The School designation of Social, Emotional and Mental Health only goes a short way to describing the complexity of our students. We offer a broad curriculum as well as 'Heart' our Therapeutic Centre, Steam Lab (in conjunction with Lego Education) and our Forest School. We have up to 150 places, 29 of which are Residential, and our setting is based on a 32-acre site in the Heart of Sevenoaks, Kent.

Who we support

Students referred to us will have seen their mainstream provision break down, some having worked their way through several specialist providers unable to meet need or effectively engage with the young person. Others may have come from the Health sector, having been resident in a mental health provision. The SEN diagnosis of our student group is varied, many have a diagnosis of an Autism Spectrum Condition; all our students face challenges with their social communication and interaction with the social world in which they live.

How we support

Our focus is on education, both in terms of academic and personal development. Barriers to learning and the challenges, are met and worked through rather than avoided. This is through a range of strategies being put in place to continually support students ongoing development. We have a range of therapies on site, working directly with students to meet needs identified from professionals. Therapy is embedded into our curriculum, with Speech and Language, Self-Science and STEAM Lab lessons forming part of the weekly timetable. We have created a number of different learning environments and approaches enabling students to successfully access their education and to make learning achievable.

What can you study?

We follow the National Curriculum and have a range of GCSE/NVQ options in Upper School. Our facilities are extensive including a professional catering kitchen, sports facilities including tennis courts and swimming pool, expressive arts, including a studio and textiles room. We also offer options including Duke of Edinburgh, Animal-based studies including Equine and Princes Trust. Study is not limited to the subjects we offer on site; students work toward studying at college with support before finally making the transition to independent study.

The environment

Our school has several different and engaging environments for learning. All our class sizes are small, with a maximum of six per class in Lower and Middle School and eight per class in Upper School. Those attending Colleges will be supported by our staff based in our Partner colleges to attend mainstream lessons with the option of a smaller space to revert to if needed. Students who have Higher needs and are unable to meet the challenges of a general school structure will be based within our Heart Provision. We also have a very successful Educated Offsite Provision which caters for those students that require educational stimulation in alternative environments such as Land based activities, Horse Riding etc.

After West Heath

We are pleased to say that the majority of our learners have positive and successful outcomes. Some of these include our students returning to study in a mainstream environment, graduating from University, gaining full time employment or simply being better placed to meet the personal challenges that had previously been barriers to their becoming active members of society.