Wider Ambition welcomes academically able students aged 9 to 16+ who need the nurturing environment and educational approach associated with our specialism in autism, anxiety and related needs.
Students at our settings will normally have an Education, Health and Care Plan. We welcome students with or without a formal diagnosis, whose assessed needs are consistent with our approach.
We aim to maintain a calm and predictable environment at all our settings, enabling anxious students to feel secure. As a result, we are unable to accept students whose presentation is likely to make the environment unpredictable for their peers.
Our provision is designed for students who, in the right environment, could be expected to be able to access an age appropriate curriculum. Placements are only offered to students who are likely to be able to access our hybrid approach to curriculum delivery for GCSEs and A Levels. Our admissions process looks for evidence of underlying academic ability, as our curriculum is designed for students who are expecting to achieve results at or above the mainstream average.
We recognise that our students have often missed periods of education and we are careful to identify and reduce gaps in learning. In Key Stage 4 and 5, students may be offered the opportunity to learn outside their chronological age range, if gaps in learning would otherwise be expected to adversely affect their access to qualifications.
Our students have been unable to thrive at a mainstream school and have often missed significant periods of schooling. They typically require a more personalised approach to learning and integrated therapeutic support within the school curriculum.