Crane Park Primary ASC Centre

Welcome to the ACE Zone

Our ASC Centre is placed in the heart of Crane Park Primary and aims to offer a personalised educational programme for our children within the mainstream setting of our inclusive school, so that both their learning and social skills will have the chance to thrive. We build close relationships with our children and their families, working together to optimise their progress and tailor their learning to harness their interests and meet their needs. Each member of the unit works as a team around the child, and alongside occupational and speech and language therapists we aim to provide a curriculum that builds communication and social interactional skills, as well as independence and life skills.

The ASC Centre is made up of three classes: World Class, which has Reception and Key Stage 1 children, Universe Class, which is for pupils in Years 3 and 4, and Galaxy Class, which is for Key Stage 2 pupils in Years 5 and 6). All the pupils who join us in ASC have an EHCP and they all either have, or are on the pathway towards, a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC).

Criteria for admission:

• Children will have an Education, Health and Care plan.

• Children will be aged between 4-11 years with an ability in some areas within the broad average range.

• Children will benefit from progressing towards spending some time in the mainstream classroom.

• Children should be able access a modified national curriculum.

• ASC may have affected children’s learning in other parts of the school day but in a specialist setting it is expected that children will make appropriate progress in some areas.

• Education Psychologist may have advised that child is suitable for specialist centre

• Some children may have global development delay as a secondary need.

The provision is not suitable for children who have been identified with severe learning difficulties, challenging behaviour and/or extremely limited functional cognitive skills.

Provision is not suitable for children who have had social, emotional and mental health identified as a primary need.

Hounslow Local Authority will consult with the school before securing individual placements and will consider the school’s comments before deciding whether to name the school on an Education, Health and Care Plan.

Our Centre is a suite of three teaching rooms across two self-contained corridors which have secure access. In between the teaching rooms we have a separate playground/outdoor learning area, with a sensory kitchen and a small trim trail. We use an adjacent field for sport and social games. Inside the unit there is also a soft play area. All our teaching areas have adjacent toilets.

Our Curriculum

In the ACE Zone, we follow the National Curriculum where possible at the appropriate level. We broadly follow the school’s schemes of work for English, Maths and wider curriculum subjects, but tailor these to meet the interests and skill levels of our children. 

Children will benefit from being taught in well-structured small groups, which follows the TEACCH principles and offers consistency, routine and a focus on independent skills with a high level of visual support. We have adapted our teaching rooms to be as distraction free as possible, and offer breakout spaces to support our children to focus and engage with their learning activity.

Afternoon learning is focused on the development of language, social communication, social skills and interaction and techniques to support our pupils’ emotional regulation and management of feelings. Many of our pupils have sensory needs which may mean incorporating movement breaks, or various other interventions into their day. We make sure our learning is meaningful and offers practical experiences and exploration; we focus on developing independence and life skills. Our classes have trips into the local community focused on developing road skills, awareness of personal safety.

What is TEACCH?

In the ACE Zone we incorporate aspects of the TEACCH approach into our lessons and the organisation of our day. The aim of TEACCH is to develop independence through structure.

Physical Structure:

This focuses on setting up the classroom to provide a clear physical structure which enables the learner to make better sense of their environment and to support their understanding. Physical structure can help to minimize distractions and define activities and expectations which will enable the learner to anticipate and engage.

Visual Structure:

Each class has a time table to make it clear to the learner what is happening throughout the day. Each pupil also has their own individual schedule. This helps to provide structure to the day, reduce stress by making it clear what is to happen throughout the day, and improve understanding. In the ACE Zone we also focus on developing independence. Pupils have independent work trays and special zones designated for independent work, which helps to set the expectation that this is where pupils work by themselves. The pupil’s complete simple activities and work to a familiar system.

Our Integration Offer

The ACE Zone is designed to meet the needs of children who would benefit access to integration opportunities, whether socially, in a mainstream classroom or both. We aim for all our children to join the whole school for every lunch session and assemblies, as well as to play on the mainstream playground regularly. The children participate in the mainstream P.E. sessions run by visiting specialist coaches from Brentford FC, supported by ACE Zone staff.

Our children also have the opportunity to go on the out-of-school visits and trips being run by their mainstream year groups; this includes the Year 6 residential weekend, which we try to encourage for all our pupils. They are always accompanied by ACE Zone staff.

For pupils who can manage the academic demands and pace of mainstream teaching, we aim to offer integration into a curriculum subject which is an area of strength for the child. This may be English, Maths or science. We consider carefully each pupil’s needs and abilities when arranging these programmes. The majority of pupils will be supported by an ACE Zone teaching assistant in mainstream.

Daily Routine

Some pupils are brought to and from school by Borough transport each day. The school day begins at 8.45 with an outdoor session; this helps the pupils who have been on the minibus for a while. Some pupils have some occupational therapy work at this time. At 8.55 the pupils come in and each group has a morning circle time. We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage and the National Curriculum, adapting as appropriate for our children. We teach some topics as in the rest of the school to allow opportunities for inclusion in class and school trips.

Break Times

Playtime and lunchtime are at the same time as in the main school. Most pupils eat their dinner in the dining hall and some in the ACE Zone. Pupils play on the main playground and some play on the ACE Zone playground.

Specialist Input

We have a Speech and Language therapist who works part time in our Centre. She works with pupils 1:1 or in small group sessions. We also have a part time Occupational Therapist who works with the pupils to address fine and gross motor skills or any sensory issues.

Communication with parents and carers

We have our own entrance into the ACE Zone and all team members are present at the beginning of the day to greet and settle the children – and at the end of the day, to give feedback and news to parents. For pupils who come to school on transport, communication with parents is managed through home school books. In addition, parents/carers are encouraged to visit the Centre or to telephone staff at any time. Each child has a termly Individual Education Plan, an Annual Review meeting is held to review the EHCP and set new objectives. Parents will receive half termly curriculum information and a weekly school newsletter.

End of Day

The school day finishes at 3.15pm.

Ramp access

Our school has ramp access to all classrooms and school halls and has pathways suitable for wheelchair users throughout our site.