John came to Arc School Ansley having been in a number of failed school placements with break-downs attributed to the needs arising his autism spectrum condition.

On arrival at the school John was a very rigid thinking person. While he was previously supported in an SEMH school, unfortunately they couldn’t meet his needs and as a result he was becoming aggressive to staff and pupils there.

To maximise John’s chances of success, we worked through a very long and carefully worked process of transition from that school to ours. When he first came to the school, it was with a perception that he would be a person who wasn’t going to be able to tolerate being in the school environment very much at all and therefore started on two days a week.

Then, over the year, the school have had him gradually increase that time in very gradual increments. Now John is in school full time and studying for a number of GCSEs. He is a very positive role model to new students. He does very well with all technical work, he performs well in any music performance and supports the school. He is a very supportive young man of his peers and a joy to be with.

The ASC environment has provided him with a setting and the understanding of his needs and the school have worked with him very carefully over time. The team have also worked directly on supporting John around some of his sensory needs which inhibited what he felt he could wear and what he could not wear.

This came after careful and sensitive work with John and he is proud and happy with his achievements in this area.

Of note also is that he has been on his first ever school trip – to a very busy and bustling city centre over Christmas. This went brilliantly and he continues to thrive at the school.