Rowan Wood School is a new all through special free school for children and young people aged 4-19 who have been diagnosed with autism and severe language and learning delays, working significantly below age-related expectations. 

Rowan Wood is a special free school which will provide 240 places, for children of both sexes in the age range 4-19 with autism.  Rowan Wood will operate as a split site school, with secondary and post 16 site opening in 2025 and primary in 2026.  The school will build to the published admission number (PAN) over several years.  

The Compass Partnership of Schools is not the admitting authority.  Children and young people are placed in our school by the Local Authority through the EHCP process.   

Rowan Wood’s curriculum has been carefully designed to meet the holistic needs of children and young people so that they thrive, are successful and lead fulfilled lives as valued and valuable members of their communities. Children and young people sit at the heart of the curriculum at all phases, as active learners who develop independence, autonomy, and control.  There is a focus on elements essential for children and young people with autism, including communication, regulation, independence, digital skills, and preparing for adulthood. As children and young people move into Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5, they will develop their strengths and interests with accredited learning and work opportunities.  The curriculum is organised to ensure that individual learning needs, defined in education health and care plans (EHCPs) and through careful assessment, are prioritised. Therapeutic provision is integrated into the curriculum using a universal, targeted and specialist model. Lead therapists are involved in strategic planning to ensure that this is deliverable. The curriculum is delivered through a range of specialist teaching approaches, designed for children and young people with autism. 

Admissions criteria are as follows: 

Admissions to Rowan Wood School are governed by the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice and places are decided by the Local Authority’s Special Educational Needs Admissions Panel.  

Children and young people must have a diagnosis and primary need of autism. 

Children and young people must have highly complex needs due to their autism i.e. educationally their autism and associated learning difficulties must present as a major barrier to them accessing a mainstream education and they can only benefit from highly specialist autism specific interventions and high staff / pupil ratio. 

Children and young people will have a current Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) naming the school or will actively be going through the process of applying for an EHCP with needs which align with the school’s admission policy. 

The following are examples of children and young people with autism and severe language and learning delays: 

• Children and young people will be pre-verbal or have significant difficulties with communicating basic needs.  

• Children and young people will be severely challenged by their autism and additional needs in a range of possible areas including sensory processing and life skills.  

• Children and young people will not be meeting age related expectations due to their autism severe language/learning delays.  

• Children and young people may have extreme sensory challenges for most of the school day and they may be extremely motivated to follow their own (possibly sensory) agenda. 

• Children and young people may have extreme difficulties in social motivation, which frequently prevents the pupil or young person from engaging with most or all social activities.  

• Children and young people may display challenging behaviour which other schools find difficult to effectively accommodate. (In this instance challenging behaviour is defined as "culturally abnormal behaviour(s) of such intensity, frequency or duration that the physical safety of the person or others is placed in serious jeopardy, or behaviour which is likely to seriously limit or deny access to the use of ordinary community facilities. 

The absence of said behaviours does not exclude placement at the school nor will the presence of these behaviours in higher functioning students necessarily result in a place at the school.  

Rowan Wood School will not meet the needs of children and young people who have: 

• Complex medical and personal care needs  

• A primary need of Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) 

• Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA)  

• Global developmental delay (GDD) without a diagnosis of autism 

Admissions to the School  

For a child to be admitted, the school must be named, by a local authority, in the child’s education health and care plan (‘EHCP’).  

Parents/carers wishing their children to benefit from our provision should ask their local authority to contact Royal Borough of Greenwich SEND Assessment and Review Team.  

Children may currently be in a SEND placement, or they may be in a mainstream placement with SEND support. The process is the same regardless of the current placement.   

For further information about Rowan Wood school, and the process for obtaining a place here contact The Compass Partnership of Schools via        contact@willowdene.compassps.uk  or Royal Borough of Greenwich SEND Assessment and Review team via  special-needs@royalgreenwich.gov.uk