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Chaigeley School, Warrington, has a unique history among our schools. It began welcoming students in 1946 to offer special provision to help children who had been traumatised by World War Two.

Since then, students with behavioural, emotional, and social difficulties have found support at Chaigley School. It is an independent, co-ed day and residential special needs school for students between 8 and 16 years old.

Visit the Chaigeley School website

Academic life at Chaigeley School

There is a wide choice of subjects for students to enjoy at Chaigeley School. The school takes pride in the way it is able to realise the potential of all students. The curriculum allows each student to achieve their personal best and have unique support for their needs.

Chaigeley School values the diversity of every person in their school. They offer equal opportunity to all and constantly work to develop each student and member of staff.

Lower school

Key Stage 2 is fully catered for in the Chaigeley’s Lower School. Students learn key skills in speaking and listening, reading and writing, and mathematics. Students have daily reading lessons and are given lots of opportunities to engage with a variety of cross-curricular subjects.

The school places emphasis on emotional growth at this stage and offers a home-like atmosphere that has proven very beneficial for learning. Lessons are carefully planned and have clear boundaries that allow students to relax and feel at ease with the structure of their day.

As well as English, maths and science, students enjoy activities in design technology, art, music, crafting, ICT, and physical education. They’re also regularly taken on trips that are relevant to different subject topics to expand students’ experiences and consolidate their learning.

Upper school

The upper school builds on the knowledge students attain in the lower school. They continue lessons in English, maths and science and can choose additional topics based on their interests. In Key Stages 3 and 4, individuality really begins to flourish.

Chaigeley School runs an ASDAN course for the upper school to allow students to develop important life skills for success after school. They’ll take modules in communications, sport and leisure, home management, the environment, number handling, and health and safety.

Students are also encouraged to take modules in work related learning and college taster sessions. These sessions are tailored to helping students prepare for life after Chaigeley and include advice for success in higher education, where to look for employment opportunities, tips for writing applications, and interview techniques.

Students undertake a 2 week work experience position which can be extended if required. There’s also a great interest at Chaigeley School for the Duke of Edinburgh Award to gain accreditation for hard work and exceptional dedication.

Learning support at Chaigeley School

Chaigeley School offer a fantastic range if support for students with special educational needs and they’re expanding their provision all the time. Students have access to Pupil Support and Therapy Services at all times, through both timetabled and drop in sessions.

small group therapy at Chaigeley school

On site therapy

Students have access to therapeutic support to help them with their emotional, social and behavioural difficulties. Sessions can be one to one, in pairs, or in small groups, depending on their needs.

The school also has provision for speech and language therapy for students who struggle to communicate. Students can also get involved with play therapy to help them better express themselves through play.

teacher working with a female student at Chaigeley School

Dual registration

Often, Chaigeley School will use dual registration to best support their students. This allows young people to get the tailored support they need while at Chaigeley, but to retain links to mainstream schools. This would typically involve a member of the Chaigeley team accompanying the student during their time in the external school.

Chaigeley also offers supported mainstream placements to enable their students to fully transition into a mainstream school. Students are re-integrated into the school of your choice, spending increasingly more time there each term. Chaigeley staff will accompany the student and help them develop their confidence in the new setting.

harvesting peas at Chaigeley School

Mental health and emotional wellbeing

Chaigeley School are developing a whole school approach to help promote resilience and improve emotional wellbeing. This will allow them to prevent mental health problems from arising and to offer early support if they do.

The school uses different activities to educate students about mental health and wellbeing and to show that there’s always support available. The school has the latest resources to be able to support both students and parents/carers in managing mental health conditions.

Boarding

Students are welcome as either day or boarding pupils. Chaigeley can provide accommodation for up to 24 students at any one time. It has the specialist support and knowledge on site to provide the very best care.

The team at Chaigeley regularly undertake training in the most up-to-date practises in pastoral care. There is also a strong culture of safeguarding in the school.

Living and studying on site with the clear routines has been incredibly beneficial to students in the past.

Get in touch to learn more about boarding

Admissions

Students are welcome to start at Chaigeley School at any point during the year. After you supply all the required information, the admissions process can take as little as three days to complete. You will need to supply:

  • Contact information of parents, carers and/or social workers
  • Copy of the students’ current statement of Special Educational Needs (SEN) or their Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP)
  • Copy of their last school report with any attainment levels
  • Contact details of previous school
  • Copy of any exclusion notes from previous school, if relevant
  • Copies of the last Looked After Children’s (LAC) review document, if relevant

You’ll then visit the school with the prospective student and the referral process will begin.

Learn more about admissions

Fees and funding support

Fees apply for education and boarding at Chaigeley School. Contact the school directly to find out what these are.

Chaigeley offers a pupil premium to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds. They created the grant to offer funding in the three key areas:

  • Raising the attainment of disadvantaged students and closing the gap with their peers
  • Supporting students with parents in the armed forces
  • Providing funding for Looked After Children (LAC)

Find out more about The Pupil Premium Grant

Arrange a visit

If you would like to learn more about Chaigeley School or would like to start an application, get in touch with the school.

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