Torfield School
Torfield is a Community Special School for pupils aged between 4 – 11 years with Autism, Language and Communication and Associated Learning Difficulties.
The school is in Hastings on two sites with Foundation and some KS 1 pupils on the Early Years Centre Site in Parker Road and KS1/KS2 pupils on the main site in Croft Road.
We are an attractive and well resourced school with high staffing ratios. We are fortunate to have good speech and language provision and access to a range of therapies. We also work closely with a multi agency team and were the first school in East Sussex to gain accreditation from the National Autistic Society which is an endorsement of our specialist knowledge and provision.
Our main site is large with extensive land at the back of the school, a multi use games area that is shared with the local community, a sensory garden, an indoor swimming pool and various small playgrounds. The Early Years Centre is on the site of Elphinstone Primary School and is also the base for the Torfield Inclusion Team who provide specialist ASD guidance and support to mainstream schools. Also at the Early Years Centre is a well resourced training base where courses are offered for parents, teachers and other professionals.
The majority of our pupils come from Hastings and St Leonards, although a few pupils come from further away such as Battle, Hurst Green, Rye and Peasmarsh. East Sussex County Council provide transport for those children who live further than three miles away from the school or who have specific difficulties coping with other forms of transport or walking.
All pupils referred to Torfield have statements of special educational needs . All the children have learning difficulties and the children work within P levels or at the early stages of National Curriculum levels. The school follows the Foundation Stage Curriculum with our Reception and KS1 children. Pupils in KS2 follow a modified National Curriculum.
At Torfield we use educational visits to support the curriculum and we have two minibuses that are used for these. Our older KS2 children go on an annual residential trip which they enjoy enormously.
There is a strong focus on maintaining good relationships between home and school. There is a newsletter to parents at least every two weeks and we hold three parents’ evenings per year. Parents are invited to whole school events such as concerts and festivals, We also have an active Friends of Torfield who organise fund raising events and have raised significant sums of money. Each month there is a parents’ group and professionals are invited to talk at this group about specific issues. We also offer parents free training that can include ICT, Makaton, First Aid, Autism and Challenging Behaviour. The Speech and Language Therapists work closely with parents and provide social stories and visual support materials as required.
We have two Parent Information Contacts (PICs) who signpost parents to services and attend the monthly parents’ support group. They also produce a parents’ newsletter.
We welcome visitors to the school. This can be arranged through the School Office on the main site.
