The School Day and Term Dates

The School Day

Our school day begins with transitions from transport and breakfast club. Structured lessons begin at 9.15am and end at 2:30pm followed by supported transport home.

Our timetabled lessons include, maths, English, ICT, science, history, geography, PSHE, PE and social skills development. There lessons are taught on rotation in small groups, ranging from 4 children to 8 children in a class. Our skilled staff support learners with personalised learning interventions in the core subjects of maths, English and ICT.

Learners can also access therapeutic sessions with a trained counsellor, and work with our therapy dog. Pastoral interventions are woven into the school day through whole class, small group work and one-to-one sessions depending on the individual needs of the child.

Each learner at our school has a Personalised Learning Programme, which is tailored to their specific needs and includes things such as developing citizenship, interests such as sports, art, needlecraft, and life skills like road safety.

Snack and lunch times are structured and supervised with a focus on healthy eating and independence. Learners are encouraged to join lunchtime clubs that offer extra-curricular learning and an opportunity to socialise with other year groups. Break times are seen as important learning moments to develop social and other skills.

Food at The Orchard

Each week, learners are provided with a visual menu to support them in making their own food choices for the week. A hot meal option is offered each day, but if the learner prefers they are able to select alternatives including wraps, sandwiches, pasta, or a jacket potato, with a variety of fillings.

Uniform

Learners are allowed to wear their own clothes to school to ensure their comfort, however, clothing must be appropriate for a learning environment.  We ask for learners to be dressed appropriately for activity on the days they have PE.

Term Dates

Our term dates for the current academic year can be downloaded for future reference by clicking below.