We are a wonderful primary learning difficulties (LD) special school based in North Hertfordshire on a well-maintained site with extensive grounds
“LIVE, LAUGH AND LEARN TOGETHER”
Woolgrove School is Hertfordshire’s largest primary special school for children aged 4 to 11 years with Learning Difficulties as a main presenting need. This means that they are working at a level significantly below other children of the same age. Many of our pupils have complex needs such as autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and speech and language communication needs (SLCN). They all have Education Health Care Plans (EHCPs) and our maximum capacity is for 125 children. We are situated in Letchworth and our pupils come from North Herts and Stevenage, with a few from bordering local authorities. Children can join us at any point from the age of 4 to 11 and all admissions are managed by the local authority.
Woolgrove is a happy, nurturing school where the children are at the heart of everything we do. We have a caring, creative and hard-working team of staff who do their utmost to work in partnership with parents/carers and a range of professionals to achieve the best outcomes for all our pupils.
“School is a special place for special children, where everyone is nice, we have lots of friends and we have fun.’”– Pupil
“My son always has an amazing time and is excited to go to school, his progression is coming on leaps and bounds can’t thank the school enough!”– Parent
“I am extremely happy with the school. They have always given my son and our family their full support with anything they possibly can. Nothing has ever been too much trouble. Our son is thriving at the school and enjoys being here greatly. He is always well supported and encouraged to try new things.” – Parent
Classes are arranged by learning styles (pre-formal, semi-formal and formal). They are small and have a high staff:child ratio. There are five different pathways the children can follow according to their age, ability, learning style and individual needs. Each pathway follows a modified and personalised holistic curriculum. A broad curriculum is followed according to the ability of the young person, keyed into their areas of strengths and interests. Our aim is to personalise the learning to meet the individual needs of our pupils whilst ensuring that the lessons are fun and engaging.
We can guarantee that no two days are ever the same at our school! We have a “can do” approach to learning and achieving whilst providing an exciting and enriching curriculum that meets the individual needs of our pupils. Our focus is to provide them with the life skills and knowledge they need to prepare them for life beyond Woolgrove. We value the uniqueness of each child and take great pride in celebrating all their achievements both inside and outside the school. The school was awarded the Aspiring Award by the National Autistic Society in May 2019 in recognition of our commitment to understanding and delivering autism provision.
We are very lucky to have lots of amazing outside space. Our fabulous grounds include a seven acre wildlife area, giving our pupils the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of outside activities, as well as two spacious playgrounds, a sensory garden and outside areas for most of our classrooms. We have two well equipped sensory rooms and two soft playrooms as well as a dedicated sensory circuit room. We use our two minibuses to take the children out and about in the local community as part of our curriculum.
If you would like to find out more about our school please call the office on 01462-622422 to arrange an initial virtual meeting on Teams with either me or one of my deputies. We will then be able to offer a face to face visit if you would still like to know more. Please be aware that we are currently experiencing a lot of requests about our school due to the high demand for school places.
Lisa Hall, Head Teacher
