ASD Resource Base

A specialist provision to support children who have a diagnosis of Autism.

At Billesley Primary School we recognise that some children with ASD can find the world a  confusing and bewildering place, which can make school life very challenging. The aim of our Resource Base is to provide the very best education possible and to equip our children with skills, knowledge and life-affirming strategies to be successful in school and beyond.

The Billesley Primary Curriculum thrives on meeting the individual needs of all our pupils through our tailored, concept-based approach to learning. Our curriculum starts with our children; observation, discussion, listening and reflection. Bespoke planning,  adaptive teaching and ‘hands-on’ learning opportunities provide our children with a wide variety of rich and diverse learning experiences to achieve their individual educational targets, alongside acquiring the skills and knowledge to equip them to reach their fullest potential and gain the necessary independence, confidence and resilience for the future.

We have high aspirations for all children in the Resource Base and follow the National Curriculum, which is appropriately differentiated and tailored to meet each child’s individual learning needs. Using a wide range of pedagogical approaches and ASD-specific strategies, we fully immerse children in their learning, ensuring they are active participants who grow into confident, successful learners. A key curriculum focus is the social, emotional and communication needs of our pupils, as well as developing their independence and appropriate learning behaviours. We follow a range of programmes to develop these important skills and children have regular opportunities to rehearse them through life-skills learning, educational games, collaborative tasks and daily reward and reflection time. In addition, we promote integration in all areas of school life and where appropriate provide the necessary opportunities and support for our children to learn alongside their mainstream peers in the classroom. Each child’s integration journey is individual and supported by the Resource Base staff working alongside the mainstream class teacher. 

We endeavour to provide our children with as broad and balanced an educational experience as possible. For some of our pupils, we have weekly cooking lessons, social skills sessions, as well as regular opportunities to work in our garden. Working collaboratively, planning and completing projects and rehearsing social experiences and behaviours whilst playing games and working together are important learning experiences. Off-site learning enables the life skills we teach in school to be put into real-life contexts, such as catching the bus to the theatre, taking the train to the museum and even clothes shopping in Primark.

For other pupils, nurturing and developing their communication and interaction is of paramount importance and as such our primary objective. Their curriculum is highly specialised with daily, tailored opportunities for outdoor learning and exploration, art and resources play, gross and fine motor opportunities, sensory light room immersion, alongside daily physical activity and specialist ASD interventions. 

 The Resource Base provides children with an ‘ASD friendly’ environment in which to learn and thrive. Using a range of visual supports we enable children to access their space as independently as possible. Our classrooms and learning environment are carefully constructed to promote a sense of calm and distraction-free learning.

Staff are regularly trained, have excellent subject knowledge and understand how best to support the children in their daily care. In addition, we work closely with a range of outside agencies including, Behaviour Support and Training, PSS, Educational Psychologists, Communication and Autism Team and Sensory Support.