ADDRESS: Bidston Village Road Bidston United Kingdom
WEBSITE: www.theobservatoryschool.wirral.sch.uk/
HEAD TEACHER: G Chiswell ( [email protected] )
CONTACT PERSON: Sarah Gower ( [email protected] )
WEBSITE: www.theobservatoryschool.wirral.sch.uk/
HEAD TEACHER: G Chiswell ( [email protected] )
CONTACT PERSON: Sarah Gower ( [email protected] )
SCHOOL INFO
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The Observatory School is an additional needs school for children with Social and Emotional difficulties.
There are 72 pupils in the school aged between 10 and 16. We have smaller class sizes than a
mainstream school to enable our pupils to focus and to get the right support in their lessons. . We
have 6 teachers and 8 teaching assistants, our staff are all highly trained in working with pupils with
SEN and with pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. A majority of our pupils are from
disadvantaged backgrounds with a majority of pupils parents being unemployed, we have 82% of
pupils receiving free school meals. Our pupils rarely have the opportunity to go on holidays or even
trips with their families due to their parents not be able to afford to take them. We have a school
charity where we have raised money to take our pupils to different countries. So far we have been
lucky enough to go to France, Spain and Iceland. These are adventures our pupils will never forget
and they often talk about them in school, they also give them ambition to want to travel when they
leave school, thus encouraging them to work hard when they leave us. Without these trips our pupils
would not get the opportunity to travel to another country. eTwinning has been an amazing
opportunity for our pupils to work with pupils from other countries. The school is an Etwinning school
and the coordinator is an Etwinning and British Council Ambassadress, and so far we have won 5
eTwinning awards .We have now employed a French speaking teacher who is going to work with
pupils to teach them the French language. We work very hard to include our pupils in events and to
give them the opportunity to socialise with other young people. This is very important to us. Often our
pupils can feel isolated due to their needs and the stigma that comes with having a SEN. We want
the best for our pupils and to ensure that they are ready for the next steps of their lives when they
leave us. Our school has been working on collaborative European projects for 5 years now and we
have been very successful. We have achieved over 5 awards and had an article written about our
achievements in the local and national press. We have been involved in many media projects. Our
most successful was our ‘Worlds Wettest Classroom’ where our pupils had lessons on a sailing boat
- The work the pupils did, achieved recognition from the BBC and they even made a short
documentary about us, which was broadcasted all over the world! We can offer SEN support and
behaviour management support in a unique and interactive way.The English school have English as
their first language therefore there is the opportunity for others to learn from them. They are also SEN
specialists with their staff being highly trained in working with pupils who have additional needs.
Particular expertise are working with pupils on the Autistic Spectrum and pupils with ADHD. They
can offer support and training to other teachers.
There are 72 pupils in the school aged between 10 and 16. We have smaller class sizes than a
mainstream school to enable our pupils to focus and to get the right support in their lessons. . We
have 6 teachers and 8 teaching assistants, our staff are all highly trained in working with pupils with
SEN and with pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. A majority of our pupils are from
disadvantaged backgrounds with a majority of pupils parents being unemployed, we have 82% of
pupils receiving free school meals. Our pupils rarely have the opportunity to go on holidays or even
trips with their families due to their parents not be able to afford to take them. We have a school
charity where we have raised money to take our pupils to different countries. So far we have been
lucky enough to go to France, Spain and Iceland. These are adventures our pupils will never forget
and they often talk about them in school, they also give them ambition to want to travel when they
leave school, thus encouraging them to work hard when they leave us. Without these trips our pupils
would not get the opportunity to travel to another country. eTwinning has been an amazing
opportunity for our pupils to work with pupils from other countries. The school is an Etwinning school
and the coordinator is an Etwinning and British Council Ambassadress, and so far we have won 5
eTwinning awards .We have now employed a French speaking teacher who is going to work with
pupils to teach them the French language. We work very hard to include our pupils in events and to
give them the opportunity to socialise with other young people. This is very important to us. Often our
pupils can feel isolated due to their needs and the stigma that comes with having a SEN. We want
the best for our pupils and to ensure that they are ready for the next steps of their lives when they
leave us. Our school has been working on collaborative European projects for 5 years now and we
have been very successful. We have achieved over 5 awards and had an article written about our
achievements in the local and national press. We have been involved in many media projects. Our
most successful was our ‘Worlds Wettest Classroom’ where our pupils had lessons on a sailing boat
- The work the pupils did, achieved recognition from the BBC and they even made a short
documentary about us, which was broadcasted all over the world! We can offer SEN support and
behaviour management support in a unique and interactive way.The English school have English as
their first language therefore there is the opportunity for others to learn from them. They are also SEN
specialists with their staff being highly trained in working with pupils who have additional needs.
Particular expertise are working with pupils on the Autistic Spectrum and pupils with ADHD. They
can offer support and training to other teachers.