Mayfield School

School Information

About

Mayfield School is situated on the outskirts of Whitehaven, a small Georgian Town on the Solway Firth, in West Cumbria. It has easy access to the Lake District and the Scottish Borders.

Mayfield School is an all age special school for children and young people with special educational needs. We see ourselves as a school of the future offering our children and young people excellent resources and learning opportunities.

The building, originally designed as a Junior Training Centre, became a school in 1971. This was extended in 1998 with further development in 2001 and is currently undergoing new refurbishment work.

We operate two departments.

• Lakes (9 classes) - for Early Years Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1, 2 
• Mountains (7 classes) - Key Stage 3, 4 and Post 16 students

The school is led by a leadership team of Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher, SENCO and 1 Assistant Headteacher. Teaching staff include full-time and part-time teachers, supported by a team of Higher Level, Senior Teaching and Teaching Assistants, an Office Manager and 2 Business Support Officers, a Network Manager and a Pool Attendant.

Other professionals work in the school and whilst we encourage them to feel part of the whole school team; they are employed by the Health Authority/Social Care, and as such work in other establishments. 

We have input from Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, and Speech Therapists, all of whom have a special interest in people with learning disabilities and who work very well together recognising that we are all part of a team.  We also have access to the teachers of hearing, visual and sensory impairment, as well as behaviour intervention teams, these services are available from the Local Authority (LA).

Our teaching record is strong and the staff are our main asset.  The teaching in school ranges from good to outstanding.  Nothing less is acceptable, as we believe our pupils deserve the best.

Like most Special Schools we offer our pupils a curriculum which embraces the National Curriculum yet continues to place a high emphasis on personal, social and moral education. We like to think we are offering the best of both worlds which not only gives our pupils very highly structured teacher led programmes of work but also opportunities for a more open style of teaching and learning to take place.

The 14-19 group of young people are engaged in the National Curriculum and other age appropriate education challenges. These include
. Key stage 4 - ASDAN Transition Challenge
. Post 16 - ASDAN Personal Development Programme, Towards Independence and Employability

We take an active role in the 14-19 delivery system to ensure our young people have a broader entitlement to the curriculum and qualification choices. While staff work closely as departmental teams with both departments having its own head, there is the flexibility within the organisation which allows and encourages different projects.

Our pupils are grouped according to age. This means all classes have a range of disabilities from severe to profound and multiple, alongside pupils with more challenging behaviours. All pupils however access the curriculum at their own level.