Type of service: Day schools, Schools

The name of the centre for children with special needs is The Tydeman Centre. The Tydeman Centre is a specialist secondary phase unit for students aged 11 to 16 years attached to The Malling School in Kent. From September 2015 the centre caters for post 16 learning with access to both vocational and International Baccalaureate courses. Up to 20 children with speech, language and communication needs are admitted to the Centre each year (2 groups of 8). All students must have a statement for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), speech and language disorder or dyslexia. Admissions are managed by Kent Local Authority (LA) but parents are welcome to visit the Centre or attend one of our Open Days. For the first two or three years students are taught the majority of their lessons by specialist teachers within the Centre. The time spent in the Centre is gradually reduced with the expectation that students will be included within the mainstream school for the majority of their studies in Key Stage 4 (KS4) with opportunities to continue studies in Key Stage 5 (KS5). A team of experienced assistants are available to support as appropriate. Each student has a personal Centre tutor responsible for their academic progress, pastoral welfare, individual tutorial programme and liaison with parents, school staff and other professionals. Volunteers may be accepted to work with the pupils. The principles of the Structure, Positive (approaches and expectations), Empathy, Low arousal, Links (SPELL) framework are included within the provision provided by The Tydeman Centre..

Aimed at: Adolescent , Child , Young person

Specialisms: Has autism-specific elements