Welcome to the Access Centre

Welcome to Lyde Green Access Centre. The Access Centre is a specialist provision for children with Autistic Spectrum Conditions (ASC) It is situated in Lyde Green Primary School. It is the only provision of its kind in South Gloucestershire for pupils in Reception and Key Stage one.

We focus on providing an individualised, highly specialised curriculum for our children.

Many of our children have complex learning needs and many may be pre-verbal.

We are a self-contained specialist provision with no expectations for any mainstream inclusion although we have the luxury of being able to facilitate this, at times, should we feel this appropriate and beneficial. This is decided on an individual basis and in talks with parents.

About us

All our children have an EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan) and are referred via the Local Education Authority. We have places for 16 children.

Children are usually with us for 3 years, leaving at the end of KS1. (Year 2) Over the course of the 3 years we build a precise picture of how each child learns and their academic potential enabling us to find the best provision to meet those individual needs going forward.

The children have a small class base of 4 and they work with this group for the majority of the day.

They are taught in small groups, 1:1 and are developed as independent learners. We recognise and value all our children as individuals, each with their own strengths, abilities and needs.

We are committed to offering the best possible provision for all our children. We provide a stable, secure and nurturing environment in which they can flourish and achieve their potential.

We provide not only small classes but also highly trained, specialist staff in environments set up according to TEACCH principles; they are specifically planned to reduce sensory distraction and give a calm, highly structured atmosphere.

Many children with ASC have unusual responses to sensory stimuli and can become overwhelmed so we offer a low arousal environment. Displays, furniture and noise are kept to a minimum.

Curriculum

In the Access Centre children are taught from a theme based approach using an adapted Early Years Profile initially. We use a child centred approach using individual areas of interest to create a motivating personalised learning pathway.

Throughout the day we provide opportunities for varied learning styles including child led learning, adult led group sessions, 1:1 learning station tasks and tasks to develop independence along with our specialised intervention programmes. We aim to develop academic skills alongside social and emotional skills.

A key focus is on teaching effective forms of communication and we offer a total communication approach. We recognise Autism is a lifelong condition and therefore aim to support children to develop ways of managing the challenges they will face while keeping anxieties low.

Admissions and Transitions

All children allocated a place in Lyde Green Access Centre are referred to us via the SEN team at the local Authority. It is important that your child feels secure and happy when starting with us so we have in place an induction process which includes home visits, visits to current settings, informal visits to us and part time schooling to start with.

Once you have accepted the place we will contact you and arrange to meet with you and your child. We will also provide you with a welcome pack with parent information as well as information to help prepare your child, including photos of the environment and staff.

We aim to keep the transition process as comfortable and relaxed as possible to keep anxieties low.

Interventions

Part of providing a supportive learning environment is selecting and using appropriate interventions to help children access the curriculum and enable them to develop ways to function in the wider community and everyday life.

We place very strong emphasis on the development of both communication and social skills and offer the following interventions.

Ø TEACCH
Ø PECs
Ø Makaton
Ø Sensory activities
Ø Positive behaviour strategies from Team Teach
Ø Musical interaction
Ø Sensory integration activities
Ø Social scripts
Ø Attention Autism
Ø Interactive interventions
Ø Tac pac

In addition to these interventions we work closely with multi-professionals including Speech and Language therapists, Occupational therapists, the school nurse, dieticians and paediatricians.