PLEASE NOTE ADMISSION TO THE ASC RESOURCE BASE IS THROUGH THE SEND PANEL ONLY. School cannot offer places.

If you wish to consider an application for a place in the base please talk with your current SENCO and SEND Case Worker.

Holway Park School Autism Centre

On the ASC Centre at Holway Park Primary school, you will find two classes. Our ASC centre has 16 learners with a diagnosis of ASC and EHCP, who are allocated places by Somerset SEND panel. Our learners may also have significant barriers to learning, so the ASC centre offers a bespoke curriculum to endeavour to meet the variety of curriculum needs. In addition, the ASC Centre works closely with all parts of the mainstream school, to include appropriate inclusion opportunities to further enhance the provision for our learners with autism.

The ASC Centre is well equipped with a sensory based play sensory room and a Multi-Sensory Space. Learning takes place with two classrooms. In addition, there is a low stimulus work space, the channel which offers a more open plan learning area for our learners who find classroom learning challenging. The centre also has a contained outdoor learning space.

Furthermore, the ASC Centre benefits from other spaces around the mainstream school, including a larger sensory room, a school hall for indoor P.E. activities, Oasis for quiet relaxation time, woodland area, trim trails and playground and wider school fields.

Every child deserves the best possible start in life. We recognise for learners with an ASC diagnosis, there are many barriers to learning, so we aim to overcome this by observing what the children can do and supporting them to fulfil their potential and become independent learners through the provision of a balance of child initiated and adult led experiences. Through play and high quality sensory experiences, our children explore and develop learning, which help them make sense of the world. 

The ASC Centre provision focuses on practical, play based, experiential learning opportunities. Within both classrooms on our centre, we are led by the child's interests.

Using a creative and innovative approach we are able to build on pupil's prior learning, experiences and existing knowledge and skills.  

Learning through experiential activities with “In the moment learning approaches”, is at the heart of our practice, which is balanced with routine and structure. We have a focus on communication and work hard to develop effective communication transactional supports. We do this by following the SCERTS framework, Prizant et al, (2003) This guides us to use the appropriate transactional supports to enhance all children’s Social communication and their ability to Emotionally regulate.  

Pupils have access to a range of highly engaging indoor and outdoor play opportunities throughout the day which enables the children to develop their independent, Personal Social and Emotional and play skills within the school environment.