Welcome to the website for Hamilton School. I have been Headteacher here for a couple of years now and am immensely proud to be in a position where I have the opportunity to make a difference to our pupils’ lives and those of their families.
At Hamilton School all pupils have a diagnosis of Autism and all pupils have an EHCP. We are currently undergoing the exciting transformation from a Primary Special School to an all age Special School for pupils from 4 up to 16. This has always been a dream for us as we firmly believe it is beneficial for our pupils to be able to have the continuity and security that staying in the same provision throughout their Primary and Secondary education can provide. We are now working on our curriculum to ensure it fully encapsulates our vision of being Inspirational, Aspirational and Transformational.
On our website you will find a lot of information about our curriculum, values and approaches. We have a large staff team here at Hamilton. All staff are dedicated and committed to providing the very best education for the pupils. We have a very personalised approach to our curriculum. We tailor the learning to the needs of the individual pupils. We have regular training sessions for staff that are bespoke, in order to help us meet these needs. This ensures that all staff’s knowledge on key areas such as Autism, Communication and Interaction and behaviour management, is kept as up to date as possible in order to equip them to support the pupils the best they can in their learning. We keep a strong focus on the learning for the pupils and staff have high expectations in order to support them to achieve the best they possibly can. PSHE is a big focus for pupils here at Hamilton and we have developed a tailored PSHE/ RSE curriculum which ensures that we are teaching the pupils important life skills alongside the more core subjects. Across the school it is important to us that the curriculum equips pupils with the skills needed to reach their full potential when they leave school.
We continually assess our learning environment to ensure that it is as Autism Friendly as possible. There is a high level of structure and routine in place for all pupils across the school. We use elements of TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children) and SCERTS (Social Communication, Emotional Regulation, and Transactional Support) in our classroom practices. We use Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) to support the communication of pupils who are unable to make their wants and needs known verbally. Opportunities for communication development is key and embedded in all lessons throughout the school day. Input from the Speech and Language Therapist and Occupational Therapist is also embedded into daily classroom practice. This may be general advice or specific advice for individual pupils. Teaching styles are adapted to ensure the needs of the pupils in each classroom are addressed as well as ensuring there is some consistency across classes where it is needed.
Pastoral support here at Hamilton is very important and we have a highly supportive pastoral team that works closely with parents to ensure that help is given where needed. During school holidays, we feel it is important to support our families as much as possible by providing holiday clubs, which are subsidised by our ‘Friends of Hamilton Charity’. We also work closely with Seven Up to provide after school provision as well as additional provision during the weekends and school holidays.
We are part of a Co-operative Trust with 7 other Birmingham Special Schools and various other partners. Through the Trust we have the opportunity to work with other schools as a way to enrich the work we do in school as well as share good practice with others.
Please click on the link below to find out more about our ‘Vision and Values’. If you wish to contact the school, please do not hesitate to get in touch. We are happy to answer any queries about the school or arrange visits.
Katie Williams
Head Teacher
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