Our School

At Sunningdale we believe that every child is an individual. They are ‘them’ and are unlike anyone else. As a result of this the goals and aspirations that every child and their family have are also individual. We see each child as their own person and we work hard to understand their individual needs so that they can work towards their goals.

Our vision for our pupils is encapsulated in the phrase, “Be More…”. We want every child to ‘be more’. That is, we want every child to be more in whatever way is important to them. They might want to be more communicative, they might want to be more active, they might want to be more creative, be more engaged, be more happy, be more comfortable, be more flexible, be more resilient, be more sociable or any and all of the above at the same time.

In practice we make this work by using a highly personalised planning system supported by our specific Personalised Learning Plans (PLPs). We use these to set very small stepped targets across a range of areas so that pupils make consistent progress towards their aspirational targets outlined in their Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

The school prides itself on its unique use of engagement motivators that support innovative curricular, planning and assessment systems designed to underpin our focus on individualised functional learning and preparation for life beyond school.

We are a community of over 110 staff, over 160 families and a whole range of stakeholders that range from our own parent carer group, Be More Connected, and our local governing body right through to the SENhub.org, Together for Children, Evidence for Learning and national bodies such as the Federation of Leaders of Special Education (FLSE), the National SEND Forum and even government bodies such as DfE and Ofsted.

As part of our extended partnership work we also host visits from departments’ for education, schools and education trusts from all over the world. This has included visitors from countries as far flung as Chile, New Zealand, Singapore and the Caribbean, as well as those closer to home from Ireland, the Isle of Wight, the Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, Wales and various parts of England. Organisations that wish to visit the school are able to do so by booking onto one of our Curriculum Sharing and Development Days via SENhub here. 

We also deliver a range of Continued Professional Learning and Development (CPLD) opportunities for teachers and other professionals including a range of programmes on behalf of organisations such as the Northern Lights Teaching School Hub, Equals, the Education Development Trust and Evidence for Learning.