The Peartree Centre is a Specialist Resource Provision for children with social communication difficulties (including autism) and moderate learning difficulties. Every child who attends the Peartree Centre and their families are part of the Stanley Primary School community. Our school moto is ‘Learning with Confidence Together’ and we apply this to the children in Peartree as they learn within the centre and across the wider school.  

Our Setting and Staffing

Places at the centre are organised into three classes:

Squirrel Class is for children in reception to year 2. Hedgehog and Fox classes are for children in years 3 to 6. Our classrooms provide low-distraction and low-arousal focused learning environments. We also have spaces to develop social interaction and play skills. Calm 'snugs' provide quiet spaces for the children to use at times when this is needed to support their regulation.
Children are supported by high staff to pupil ratios: each class is led by a qualified teacher, supported by teaching assistants. Staff are trained in effective strategies to enable them to support and teach autistic children effectively. We work closely with the Occupational Therapist, and Speech and Language Therapist to develop a holistic therapeutic approach.

Our Curriculum

We follow the Early Years and National Curriculum, teaching all subjects, which we appropriately differentiate to meet the individual needs of children. Alongside this, we follow the SCERTS framework, to provide a Social Communication and Emotional Regulation curriculum. These two areas are highly prioritised at the Peartree Centre, so that children are able to communicate and interact with others and be able to interact and learn as a result of regulating their emotions. Children attending the Peartree Centre are also part of a mainstream class in their year group. They attend mainstream lessons and activities based on their individual needs and stage of development.

Our key beliefs are that:

• Each child should be nurtured, treated as an individual and feel part of a safe, caring and positive learning environment.
• Each child should have their views listened to and taken into account.
• We have high, yet realistic, expectations for every child and we will do everything we can to support them in reaching their potential.
• Children learn and develop best when they develop strong and trusting relationships with adults.
• All 'behaviours' have a purpose, which need carefully analysing so that underlying needs can be properly met.
• It is vitally important to work collaboratively with parents, support their priorities and communicate regularly about what their child is learning at school and how they are progressing.
   

Our vision is for our children to:

• Develop key academic, self-care and independence skills.
• Be able to regulate their emotions so that they are able to meaningfully engage with others, with learning and with the world around them.
• Be able to communicate effectively with others, to get their needs met and to develop meaningful relationships.
• Be well prepared for the next stage of their education.

Admissions

New admissions are allocated by Achieving for Children, not the school. Those attending Stanley Primary School are not given any priority for places at the Peartree Centre. 

We are currently at capacity and do not expect to be offering new places until September 2024 at the earliest. We are therefore not currently offering tours of the centre. We expect to restart tours for prospective parents from Autumn 2023.