The Willows at Dickens Heath CPS opened in 2018.  It operates as part of Solihull’s continuum of provision for pupils’ who have a diagnosis of autism. We are a 14 place Additional Resource Provision (ARP), which is a provision within a mainstream school, designed to provide specialist and targeted support for children with autism, therefore, needs in the areas of:

• Communication and interaction
• Social understanding and relationships
• Sensory processing
• Interests, routines and processing
• Emotional understanding and self-awareness. 

The ARP team consists of teachers and teaching and learning support assistants who have great knowledge skills and expertise in supporting pupils with autism.

Pupils in the ARP will access the ARP and their linked mainstream learning environments. The purpose of the ARP is to provide safe, nurturing and engaging environments, where children can receive targeted learning and personal development support, to enable them to access their mainstream class. The aim is for pupils to spend at least 50% of their timetable within mainstream, as independently  as possible, including times without 1:1 support. This will prepare them for transition to a mainstream secondary school or another ARP.