School Environment

Classes and House Provision Groups

At Uplands School each of our 19 classes is a member of one of our three houses: Stanton, Lydiard or Avebury.  This supports students’ sense of belonging as they engage in activities together such as assemblies and performances.

Students are taught in mixed year group classes aimed at stage not age but will either be in a Key Stage 3 /4 class or a Key Stage 5 class.  Whilst each class is grouped with students of similar levels of need, the house groups are much less defined and will have a mix of classes with varying need. Our class sizes are small – currently ranging between class sizes of 7 and 11.

All Houses share the same aspiration of developing independence and interdependence and will collaborate both in-house and externally with other houses to reinforce this.

 KS - KeyStage

 School Environment

At Uplands School we are proud of our welcoming environment and resources; students have access to range of spaces such as outside break-out areas, a small garden area, a hall, a soft play area, sensory rooms, an adventure playground, a bike playground, field and outside gym.  In the adjoining multi-agency unit we also have access to a hydrotherapy pool.

We recognise the importance of the physical environment to help support and promote learning. We aim to maintain an environment which is calm and ordered in such a way so as to reduce anxiety and aid concentration. Classroom displays are not excessively stimulating in order to support students’ attention and concentration.  However, we recognise our wider responsibility, within reason, to challenge the boundaries and tolerances of students to develop flexibility of thought and change within the environment.

The classroom environment will differ in each classroom dependent on students’ needs within that class to ensure students’ engagement, learning and sensory needs are met.