Our vision

The National Autistic Society Academies Trust (NASAT) was established to enable the National Autistic Society to deliver its vision, purpose and commitment to autistic people being able to live the life they choose - through getting the support, education and training they need.

The National Autistic Society has a vision of:

A society that works for autistic people.

Vanguard School is a centre of expertise and excellence, able to facilitate the education of 78 students aged 11-19 with a diagnosis of an Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) and an Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan.

The Vanguard School’s vision is:

To prepare our learners for life beyond school through specialist education that works for autistic children and young people.

The purpose of our school is to help prepare young people to make a successful transition into adulthood with the confidence and the necessary skills to live as independently as possible and participate in their local community. We seek to increase achievement and independence to give our students the best possible opportunity to gain employment or access further education and enable them to go on to live the life they choose. We aim to provide autistic students currently not receiving an effective or suitable education, access to high quality specialist provision.

The school’s name ‘Vanguard’ denotes a group of people leading the way to advance thinking. A key aspect of our school is to advance thinking in what autistic students can achieve and contribute. As such we work to build social capital and collaborate with core stakeholders to secure opportunities for our students, extending their experiences and future possibilities.

We know we are achieving our vision through being able to demonstrate the following impact:

Our mission

In order to achieve our aims, our mission is to:

• have high ambitions for all students to fulfil their potential.
• demonstrate a clear ethos of respecting each young person.
• build on students’ strengths and capitalise on interests.
• build on the extensive knowledge and experience of the National Autistic Society to be pioneering and innovative.
• be regarded as a regional resource.
• provide a curriculum that enables students to overcome barriers to learning and develop social skills.
• provide each student with a personalised learning programme.
• enable our students to become independent adults, integrated in their local community.
• put significant emphasis on community-based learning and shared activities with partner schools.
• ensure all planning is outcome focused, person centred and co-produced with the student and their parent/carer.
• provide students with a safe learning environment.
• establish experiential teaching, training and learning opportunities.
• increase chances of local young people with autism to gain further education, training and paid employment, engaging in extended interests beyond school and living safely in the community.
• provide training and education for other internal and external stakeholders.
• establish mutually beneficial relationships with partners in the community. such as higher education, local business, local charities and other organisations.

Our values

The vision and mission are distinct to Vanguard school. The school shares the National Autistic Society's organisational values: