At Blossom House Wimbledon, our pupils flourish when following our functional curriculum, which is delivered within a total communication environment. At Blossom House Wimbledon, all forms of communication are equally valued, including signing, speech and the use of AAC devices.
Our ethos is focused around three core values: self-advocacy, working towards independent living and vocational fulfilment. These skills are developed through a pupil-centred, holistic curriculum which is delivered by specialist trained academic and therapeutic staff. As with all Blossom House Schools, relationships are at the heart of what we do, which enables the dedicated staff team to ensure that all pupils feel safe, valued and ready to learn.
Learning at Blossom House Wimbledon occurs through short structured sessions which are interspersed with opportunities for play. This helps support the pupils’ engagement as their significant attention and listening needs can act as a barrier to learning if they are required to sustain attention for longer periods. By organising sessions in this way, the teachers and therapists are able to extend the child’s typical play routines, narrative and social interaction skills. This structure also enables pupils to regulate their sensory systems and ultimately increase pupils’ self-esteem, enjoyment or learning and access to lessons.
At Blossom House Wimbledon, pupils follow the Equals curriculum, which places great emphasis on community involvement and developing pupils’ sense of belonging, as well as their access to- and awareness of- the wider world. Pupils have classroom-based sessions alongside community visits, which are designed to enable pupils to experience their learning topics practically. These visits also provide pupils with opportunities to develop skills such as travel training, organising and personal safety, as well as enabling pupils to use their maths and literacy skills in a functional way. This allows pupils to generalise the skills they learn in the classroom within a functional context.
As in all our provisions, both teachers and therapists work collaboratively to plan and deliver sessions to ensure that all pupil needs are being met. Therapeutic learning is embedded within all sessions; however, pupils also receive specialised therapy sessions delivered by specialist SLTs and OTs, as well as Physiotherapy, where required.
