About Us
Five Acre Wood School main site, is situated in Maidstone, the County town of Kent and is just a few minutes from the town centre. We share a campus with an academy secondary school, a primary free school, a private nursery, a local church and a gym.
Our Oxford Rd site houses our R.E.A.D.Y. Learning Approach and A.P.P.L.Y. key stage 4 pupils. The F.O.C.U.S. Learning Approach classes are based at our Snodland satellites. Each site has bespoke facilities for our pupils. To find out more about our satellite provision please click here.
We have over 870 pupils who represent a wide range of additional educational needs within the profound and multiple learning difficulties, severe learning difficulties, complex needs, behaviours of distress, sensory impairments and autistic spectrum. We cover an age range of 4 – 19 years and the school is currently organised in seven learning approaches – N.E.S.T., S.E.N.S.E., A.P.P.L.Y., V.I.E.W., E.N.G.A.G.E., F.O.C.U.S. and R.E.A.D.Y. There is a further learning approach, R.E.A.C.H. This approach links with one of the other approaches for curriculum with an increased focus on emotional wellbeing. All of our pupils have an Education, Health and Care Plan.
Our staffing compliment is over 500. We are supported by an NHS school nursing team, NHS physiotherapists and have our own therapy team (Speech and Language Therapists and Occupational Therapists), Social Worker team and family liaison team. We also work with consultant paediatricians, teachers from the sensory service, educational psychologists, specialist community nurses, disabled children’s team and respite services.
Parents/ carers and families are very important partners in our school and we have daily contact plus a range of events and meetings throughout the year.
We offer bespoke training through Leading Education and Achievement For all (LEAF).
We are an IQM Flagship School.
We are a lively school with a friendly and supportive staff and we are constantly seeking to continue to develop the school for the benefit of our pupils.
