Moor House School & College

Our vision is of a society where speech and language disabilities do not prevent a young person from achieving his or her learning and communication potential, building an independent life and contributing positively to society.

Moor House is a Non-Maintained Special School and College, a registered charity and a world class centre of excellence, consistently rated outstanding by Ofsted. It provides specialist education, therapy and residential care for children and young people with speech and language needs, increasingly referred to as Developmental Language Disorder (DLD).

We provide a nurturing environment where experienced teams care for the educational, emotional and developmental needs of each student, preparing them for a safe, happy and fulfilling life. Moor House provides integrated teaching, therapy and residential care services for students with DLD.

Each student is surrounded by a multi-disciplinary team, supporting their learning and emotional well-being with intensive speech and language therapy, specialist literacy intervention, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and psychotherapy. Students receive one-to-one and small group teaching and bespoke therapy, and have access to a range of activities to develop new skills and build friendships.

This enables students to reach their highest educational and communication potential, and also to develop much higher levels of independent living skills, self-expression, and self-esteem.

Learning

Students are taught in small groups by teachers with experience working with children with language difficulties. Adapted language and specialist teaching strategies are used so that students can understand and develop the language that they need for learning.

Speech and language therapists (SLTs) work closely with teachers to support each child's difficulties and strengths. Teachers plan and deliver lessons collaboratively with SLTs to help students develop curriculum language.

Curriculum and Progress (School)

An adapted National Curriculum is taught and tailored to the students' strengths while helping them with areas of difficulty, and there is a particular emphasis on English, literacy, life skills and social skills.

We deliver exceptional outcomes for DLD children, helping our students to make outstanding academic progress, narrowing the gap significantly between themselves and their mainstream peers. Students take qualifications that match with their skills and level of development. We offer GCSEs in English Language, English Literature, Mathematics, Science, ICT, History, Fine Art and Ceramics. We also offer Functional Skills qualifications in English and Maths, vocational qualifications such as Home Cooking Skills at Levels 1 and 2, the AQA Unit Award Scheme in Science, and Entry Level qualifications in subjects such as English, Maths, ICT, DT and Music.

College (Sixth Form) Curriculum

Our objective is to support students to gain vocational qualifications, make confident and appropriate life choices and to be prepared for the next stage of their adult life. Specialist staff support students to access local partner college courses in Art and Design, Child Care, Media Studies, Floristry, Construction, Catering, Sport, Performing Arts and Animal Management, from Foundation and Level 1 in Year 12 to Level 4 at the end of Year 14.

We provide specialist support to achieve additional qualifications in Maths and English and develop important skills for life and employment, through individual study programmes and after college support.

Speech and Language Therapy

SLTs work throughout the day with students, individually, in groups, as well as in the classroom where lessons such as English are jointly planned and delivered.

Each therapist has a small caseload of children and gets to know their abilities and personalities. The intensive therapy programme may focus on learning skills, developing strategies to communicate, and support the student to understand their own strengths and difficulties. We teach skills for talking in everyday situations, language for lessons, social skills, friendship skills and independence. 

We have developed specialist evidence based methods such as Electropalatography (EPG), Shape Coding by Susan Ebbels® and signing with grammatical markers.

Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapists (OTs) work on life skills to help students develop their independence in areas such as handwriting, touch typing, doing up a tie or shoe laces, travel or cooking skills. Strategies are provided to develop sensory processing in lessons to manage and improve attention control.

We have a dedicated Team of OTs and a fully equipped OT suite which includes sensory integration equipment. The therapists communicate regularly with parents about their child's progress.

Residential Care

Our residential community provides single room facilities within our beautiful Village; three newly built student houses, located around a communal square for relaxing after school.

The students frequently describe their house as a 'home from home' and their wellbeing is assured by their key workers, who look after students' emotional welfare and provide a range of therapeutic strategies after school in a happy, stimulating and caring environment.

Our Residential Care continues to be rated "Outstanding" by Ofsted who noted: 'Children and young people thrive in this residential setting … (they) blossom in their confidence and self-esteem. Those who have had very poor school experiences and, in some cases, have refused school, look forward to their return to the provision after the weekend. Children and young people who stay in the residential setting feel safe and secure. There is an excellent approach to supporting children and young people towards independence'.

Moor House Research and Training

Our pioneering institute for training and research into DLD informs our therapeutic practice and teaching methods. Our therapists engage in cutting edge research in all areas of speech and language, working with Universities and sharing knowledge with other professionals through journals and presentations. Moor House is deservedly highly regarded by academics and specialists in the field.

For information on our research, please see moorhouseschool.co.uk/research

For information on our training, please see moorhouseschool.co.uk/courses

Moor House also provides a range of outreach, information and training services in all aspects of speech and language disabilities for parents and the wider community.