Developing Skills for the Future!
We aim to give our children as many opportunities and experiences to develop real-life skills so that they can feel as prepared as possible for the future.
Our Arc Oakbridge School in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, is an independent special school providing education for young people who are on the autism spectrum and have complex needs.
The location is perfect for maximising opportunities for developing independence skills and visiting a range of places/facilities nearby such as the library, the markets, museums, shops, the theatre and also offers the chance to practice travelling around the local community by bus and tram.
The school has a dedicated Life Skills Programme in place led by Emily Clare, Class Teacher. We caught up with Emily to find out more about the bespoke offer
Emily said: “We are using the AET (Autism Education Trust) Progression Framework to determine a focus each half term for the children, this half term the focus has been communication and interaction. The children have helped plan and run a Macmillan Coffee afternoon. They visited supermarkets and cafés nearby to research the price of different cakes and drinks and they of course also enjoyed some taste testing too.
As a group, we have also explored the area around school, which is called The Jewellery Quarter. We have started learning about the history of the area, investigating the types of shops locally and have even visited The Pen Museum (which has been a huge hit!).
We have focused on building independence, improving road safety and awareness, and also building confidence when visiting new places and talking to new people.
Future focuses in Life Skills will include:
- Social understanding and relationships
- Independence and community participation
- Healthy Living
- Learning and engagement
- Interests and routines
We are looking to build links with local groups and volunteers which will give more opportunities for the children to experience new places, meet new people and to build positive memories with their peers. We believe this will help us to prepare pupils for opportunities, responsibilities and experiences in later life.
This all sounds fantastic; we can’t wait to find out more next half term.
The team would be more than happy to speak to you about Arc Oakbridge on 0800 024 6985 or [email protected].