We are very pleased to open our Kite Class in September 2026. Kite Class will support children who have a diagnosis of Autism, an Education Health Care Plan that identifies needs that are best met in a small group setting and who live in our local community. Places for our resource base are allocated via the SEND team at Wigan Local Authority. All requests should be made through them. 

If you are a parent of a child who will be attending Kite class- welcome to the Beech Hill Family!

Introduction:

The purpose of our Specialist Resource base is to provide a highly staffed, purposeful environment providing a specially designed curriculum of experiences and opportunities so each child can make progress in all aspects of their development whilst being part of a school community within an inclusive mainstream primary school. The staff who work in the base have had specific training to support the children in Kite Class.

Inclusion looks different for every child. Each child has a specially designed set of experiences and interventions based on the child's stage of development rather than their age.

Curriculum:

Information will be gathered from baseline assessments alongside information from the EHCP and previous settings which will guide staff as to where to start your child's learning journey with us. Most children will initially follow a pre-formal curriculum which is an engagement and sensory based set of experiences tailored to the children's needs. This curriculum is built around four key strands:                                                                                                                                                                             Communication and interaction: developing children's ability to communication for a purpose (intent)                                              Sensory cognition and learning: building up understanding of cause and effect  through sensory exploration                          Physical and movement skills: encouraging spatial awareness, body movement and physical wellbeing                               Personal, social and emotional wellbeing: helping children feel safe, secure and valued 

From there they will move into the pre formal plus stage and then onto a semi-formal curriculum. This builds on previous experiences and bridges the gap between early sensory exploration (pre-formal) and subject-based learning (formal). It is designed for learners who may be neurodivergent (have a diagnosis of Autism and sometimes also ADHD) who have developed basic communication and cause-and-effect understanding, but still require a highly practical, contextual, and functional approach to learning. This curriculum is also built around key strands.                                                                                                                              Communication, language and literacy:  expanding functional communication to express choices, needs, and opinions.    Functional cognition and mathematics: developing practical problem-solving and mathematical concepts used in daily life.    Personal, Social and health education(PSHE): building self-awareness, personal care routines, and emotional regulation.     Physical development and life skills: improving motor control, safety, and community awareness.                                                    Creative and sensory expressive arts: encouraging self-expression and creative engagement without the pressure of a finished product.

Each child’s learning journey will look different but there is a clear focus to ensure that all pupils are working towards their targets identified in their EHC plan.For all children specific interventions will be timetabled into their school day to help support and develop their learning and personal skills.Interventions and focused teaching programmes will be delivered either on a 1:1 or in a small group and include:-

•  Colourful Semantics                                                                                                                                                                                              •  Curiosity Programme                                                                                                                                                                                          •  Attention Autism                                                                                                                                                                                               •  Intensive interaction                                                                                                                                                                                           •  Messy Maths                                                                                                                                                                                                       •  Communication Group                                                                                                                                                                                      •  Sensory Circuits                                                                                                                                                                                                 •  Music Interactions                                                                                                                                                                                              •  Speech and Language Programmes

Assessment:                                                                                                                                                                                          Assessment will be focused on each individual child. They will be tracked and assessed through observation and assessment activities and their progress recorded using the BSquared assessment tool which breaks learning down into smaller steps.

Most children are distracted more by what they see than what they hear. Our workstation space helps our children to concentrate when they are working on a 1:1 with an adult.

The Roost:

The Roost is a place where your child can go to if they need to become grounded and reconnect.  It is to enable your child to have time to cope with any challenges. It is a safe, secure space where children can have some alone time, or release any energy depending on what they need to regulate their emotions and feelings.

Transition into Kite Class:                                                                                                                                                                              Some of the children in Kite class will transition from classes within the mainstream classes at Beech Hill Community Primary School. Other children will transition from other Primary schools or Nurseries in the local area. A child's transition into the Resource base is very clearly structured. Once a place has been confirmed, parents and the child are invited into school to visit. Staff from Kite class will also go and visit your child in their current setting and speak with key members of staff. This may be on numerous occasions if we feel this would be beneficial. We will also attend any relevant meetings.       

Your child will start initially on a reduced timetable. We will build up in stages until your child is attending full time. We will do this as soon as is possible. This may look slightly different for each child depending on their identified need and personal circumstances.

Working with other professionals:                                                                                                                                                                 The staff team will work in collaboration with other professionals as identified in your child's EHCP. Outside agencies may include:   

Speech and Language                                                                                                                                                                            Educational Psychologist                                                                                                                                                                                CAMHS                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Occupational Therapy                                                                                                                                                                                                Physio                                                                                                                                                                                                                  School Nurse                                                                                                                                                                                                       Social Care     

                                         

 

Communication with families:                                                                                                                                                                                It is very important that we work together as a team to support your child's development. Staff are available at the beginning and the end of the day. Please share any information with staff in the morning so that staff can help your child to have the best day possible for example s/he has not slept or they haven't eaten well. Staff will share information about your child's learning journey on Class Dojo.You can then see what your child has been learning in school each week and can add your own photos and observations of things that you have been doing together at home. This could be the completion of an activity suggested by the class teacher, an activity such as dancing or swimming etc. or even the celebration of a family event or outing.

  

Getting to know you meeting:

You will find a copy of the presentation shared with you at the Getting to know you meeting below. In the presentation you will find top tips to help your child transition smoothly into Kite class and to support good days in school