Churchward School is a unique special Free School for students aged 11-19 years with Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) and/or Social Communication Interaction Difficulties (SCID). Churchward School opened in September 2018 in a temporary specialist centre with the intent of moving to a permanent school site, custom built for Churchward School students, in 2020. Meanwhile, the temporary accommodation has been renovated by the Department for Education to create an appropriate and flexible learning environment for Churchward School to develop in its first stages of opening.

History

Churchward School was approved by the Department for Education in 2016 with the intention of providing life changing opportunities for some of the most challenged young people in our community. With bespoke educational packages and highly specialist staff, Churchward will equip students with the skills to enable them to make appropriate life choices, achieve their aspirations, build and maintain social relationships and accomplish excellent outcomes.

Why Churchward?

The name Churchward School was chosen by our stakeholders including staff, students and Governors.

Churchward School is proud to be a part of the Brunel Academies Trust where it can benefit from shared resources and expertise from other Special SEN Schools across Swindon.  The Brunel Academies Trust is named after the Great Western Railway Engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. This lead us to choose the name ‘Churchward’ which makes reference to the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway, George Jackson Churchward.

Vision: Recognising Strengths, Gaining Skills, Achieving Success

Mission

Churchward is an inclusive and aspirational community where, built on absolute integrity, learning for life is holistic and specifically tailored to the needs of young people with social and communication challenges.

Through our personalised approach and high expectations we strive to ensure all students really achieve their potential helping to create positive young people equipped with life and work skills for a sustainable and fulfilled future.

Aims

• To establish a community that will explicitly develop communication skills, social interaction, self-regulation and flexibility of thought.
• To ensure students exceptional progress through delivering high quality, specialist, consistent teaching and learning.
• To provide specialised learning environments that respond to individual and accommodate the sensory needs of our students.
• To promote the life values of independence and interdependence.
• To develop characteristics of perseverance and resilience.

• Do you have a passion for changing the lives of students with Special Educational Needs?
• Are you ready to work in a fun and challenging environment?

If you answer ‘YES’ then we would love to hear from you!

Send us your CV now to hr@brunelsenmat.org.uk and let us know what sort of role you’re looking for.

Churchward School is part of the Brunel Academies Trust.

The Brunel Academies Trust is a 0 - 25 multi-academy trust specialising in the special education sector. The Trust has the experience, skills and expertise to focus on special education enabling the development of diverse quality provisions while maintaining high standards and performance which will improve the life chances and outcomes of children and young people with SEND.

The Trust’s vision is to deliver this aspirational specialist approach through a “boutique” MAT which values and recognises the need for each specialist provision to be creative and unique to ensure they meet the individual needs of the children and young people.

Each of our provisions are committed to the BAT vision and have firmly embedded the core values in all they do.