Outreach for Schools

At The Hawthorns we understand that every autistic child has an individual learning profile and may experience challenges for engaging with learning. We also know that every child with autism has a personality to be accepted and celebrated.

To get the best out of our pupils and support them to thrive and learn, we are dedicated to getting to know and recognise our pupils as individuals, building positive and trusting relationships and using a combination of evidence-based strategies to engage, learn, make progress and build relationships.

It can be confusing and demanding trying to support a pupil with a neurodivergent profile when teaching a large class of neurotypical young people. As part of our outreach commitment, we can help and offer strategies and advice; we offer a free outreach service which can support a school to face the challenges by listening and observing and then, working with the school to explore approaches and strategies.

The best results are seen when a whole school is committed to working together with a strategic approach.  So, please do contact us if your school leadership are determined to make a difference and we will happily discuss your situation as a first step.

Please be aware that there is an increasing demand for this service, and we have an exceptionally busy year ahead as we move into our brand new school in January, but we aim to return calls and emails within 48 hours.

Visits to The Hawthorns

As part of our commitment to extending good practice, we are also keen to offer visits into The Hawthorns for fellow professionals of the schools we are working with.  This is invaluable to support the theory and to bring the work to life as part of embedded practice. We know you’ll appreciate the potential impact of these visits on our pupils, so we will plan this carefully together.

Just a note: We offer parent tours on a Tuesday morning which do get very booked up in advance. If a teacher or Senco wishes to accompany a parent at your school who is genuinely seeking a place at a special school, we welcome that offer for families.  It is often a difficult process, and we know families value the support. We do restrict visits to 2 adults. Please talk to us if you wish to discuss.  

SENCo Meetings

Once a term we will hold a meeting for SENCos so that schools understand our cohort and our provision. Finding the right school for a pupil is difficult and SENCos have found these meetings informative so they can support families as well as deepening their own professional knowledge.  

In these meetings we offer a quick tour of the school, an outline of our curriculum, strategies and approaches and opportunities for Q&A.  

It also starts to build a mutually supportive network, plus we learn a lot from other schools; always learning!  Please see the diary page for dates set for the year but do note they may have to change according to moving dates.

Contact Details

Kathryn Sheffle, Assistant Headteacher, Gemma Green, Advanced Teacher for Outreach, or Diane Rigg, Headteacher, in the first instance on 01245 207607 or email us at  admin@thehawthornsschool.com