Primary
Ripplevale School, Rochester offers a nurturing environment for young learners aged between 6 and 11 years within a well-established, small classroom of no more than ten learners.
Children enjoy coming to Ripplevale School, Rochester to learn and develop friendship making skills. School attendance is consistently good.
“You are the best teachers and friends. I am very, very happy to be at school. Everyone is nice to me.” Year 4 Student
Staff are vigilant in ensuring children’s health, safety and well-being, and all learners have access to a range of therapies, intervention and class based support which include Occupational Therapy, Speech, Language and Communication Therapists and Emotional Wellbeing support.
The courses provide young people with a greater range of choices in Year 12 within further and higher education. Those young people who continue to need the specialist provision within Trinity are able to stay on to the College provision.
Secondary
Ripplevale School, Rochester continues to offer a nurturing environment for young learners in Years 7 and 8, recognising the anxieties that transition from Primary can pose.
Within Year 9 young learners enter a Transitional Programme which takes a step by step programme of learning, leading to nationally recognised accreditation in Year 11.
At Year 10 learners make their first choices for study, with a range of one and two year courses within a variety of subject choices, including:
Core Subjects:
English (iGCSE, ELC)
NCFE Certificate of English (ELC, L1, L2)
Functional English (ELC, L1, L2)
Mathematics (GCSE, ELC)
NCFE Certificate of Maths (ELC, L1, L2)
NCFE Functional Mathematics (ELC, L1, L2)
NCFE Information Technology Qualification (L1, L2)
NCFE Functional ICT (ELC, L1, L2)
OCR Science (GCSE, ELC)
OCR Science in the Workplace (OCR L1, L2)
OCR Religious Education (OCR ELC)
NCFE Personal and Social Development (NCFE L1)
ASDAN Bronze, Silver and Gold Award Cross Curricular Programme
ASDAN Certificate of Personal Effectiveness (L1, L2)
ASDAN Wider Key Skills including Improving Own Learning; Problem Solving and Working with Others (L1)
ASDAN Employability (ELC, L1, L2)
NCFE Occupational Studies (NCFE L1, L2)
OCR Physical Education (ELC)
Choice Subjects
OCR Food Technology
OCR Design Technology
NCFE Catering and Hospitality (L1, L2)
NCFE Retail Studies (Occupational Studies) (L1, L2)
OCR Languages (ELC, GCSE)
Art and Design (Trinity College London, Arts Award ELC, L1, L2)
OCR Geography (ELC)
OCR Child Development (ELC)
Sports Leaders Award (L1, L2)
OCR Psychology (GCSE)
History (GCSE, ELC)
History Project (GCSE)
OCR iMedia (L1)
NCFE Business and Administration (ELC, L1, L2)
NCFE Land Based Studies (Occupational Studies) (L1, L2)
NCFE Travel and Tourism (Occupational Studies) (L1, L2)
NCFE Art and Craft Design (L1, L2)
NCFE Performing Arts (L1, L2)
All learners in Year 10 and above have progressive pathways which identify their current study programmes and their position within that course.
Access to ongoing therapies, intervention and support is identified in the learners personalised learning programmes.
The courses provide young people with a greater range of choices in Year 12 within further and higher education. Those young people who continue to need the specialist provision within Ripplevale School, Rochester are able to stay on to the College.
Academy
The Academy is for students from Year 9 – Year 11 wishing to study GCSEs.
We recognise the Importance of the personal, social, and emotional skills programmes in order to support your child in achieving future independence and access to inclusion.
Although often overlooked, emotional sensitivity is a common issue for people on the high end of the autism spectrum, resulting in intense emotional reactions to a range of triggers compared to the rest of us, which are challenging for mainstream provisions to manage and inevitably affect the autistic young person with feelings of failure and negatively feeling different.
Working with your child, the Emotional Wellbeing Team will support with a personalised approach to behaviour, emotional resilience, anger management and together they will explore a range of strategies and therapies which can help for life.
Fixation on particular subjects or ideas can be an issue for high functioning autistic learners. This is not wholly a negative trait, particular interests in subjects or ideas can inspire the young person to great feats of accomplishment. Therefore, working with these traits in a positive way can support study and preparation for GCSE. Being within the Academy, positive fixations will be used to support the teaching and learning. The key to success will be small classes where the students are known and understood by the teachers.
Autistic students are typically devoted to routines and another hallmark is a strong dislike of change. Our Academy will provide a highly structured timetable of study for GCSE subjects. However, as study continues, the work within personal social and development studies will explore how students can approach change, recognising that transitional planning is key to support success.
Ultimately a good balance of GCSE studies and support for the development of social, emotional and life skills will provide your child with the all-round skills and qualifications they need to open doors to the next educational offer.
The GCSE courses available through the Academy include:
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English Language
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English Literature
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Mathematics
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Science – physics, chemistry and biology
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History
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Geography
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Religion
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Psychology
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Modern Foreign Language
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Media Studies
GCSE equivalent courses available
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Art Bronze, Silver (GCSE equivalents) Gold (A level equivalent)
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Information Technology Qualification Level 1 and 2 (GCSE equivalents) Level 3 (A level equivalent)
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Personal and social development (ASDAN certificate of personal effectiveness Level 1 and 2)
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Employability and Occupational Studies (NCFE)
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Mental Health Awareness (NCFE)
Pupil success will be measured by the achievement of GCSEs, and their ability to join mainstream 6th forms or further education colleges once they have completed their GCSEs.