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Strategies including Choice Mats and Talking Walls help young people comment
on their lives, communicate their likes and dislikes in a number of areas as well as
enabling them to express who they would like to work
with to support them. Young people are able to add
pictures, symbols, photographs and small objects which
helps to create a concrete and visual system through
which the young people can express themselves.
Some young people are able to attend their Looked After
Child or Annual Review for a short time. The aim is to
enable them to present their choices to the key people
making decisions on their behalf and give them greater
involvement in the planning and implementation of their
care at Prior's Court School.
There is also an independent visitor who visits every term.
Due to the level of understanding our young people have, it can be very difficult
for the advocate to directly question the young people about how happy they are
with their care and education. Prior's Court 's Independent Visitor observes
different aspects of the students' lives to ensure their choices are supported
within the school.
"Staff encourage children to lead healthy lifestyles and to understand what this
means for them. Excellent joint working with nursing and therapy teams ensures
that children have their physical and emotional well-being needs met." - Ofsted
Care inspection 2019
6. Specialist expertise
What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by the
school?
Since it opened, Prior's Court has developed significant expertise in working with
young people with complex autism and a team of staff who are experienced and
committed to its autism-specific approach.
One of the key benefits of choosing a special school such as Prior's Court is that
the staff are specialists in autism understanding and best practice and therefore
able to unite this knowledge with the needs of the individual child, to enable
them to make sense of the world around them and make significant progress.
The school places a strong emphasis on training and has built a team of highly
trained, dedicated staff and specialists who work closely with families and
professionals to create a co-ordinated and consistent programme of education,
heath, care and wellbeing.
Full details of staff qualifications are available from Prior's Court School.