In the world of special educational needs, the transition from ‘unreachable’ to academically qualified is rarely a matter of luck. As AHS Headteacher Rory Vokes-Dudgeon explained in an earlier article, for neurodivergent students to thrive, we need to personalise their learning experience. An integrated approach to education, therapeutic support and pastoral care offers a framework to achieve this.
Integrated education bridges the gap between different professional disciplines which are involved in supporting young people with SEN, ensuring that educational, therapeutic, and pastoral inputs are aligned. In an integrated model, each discipline plays a distinct yet interdependent role, strengthening the impact of the others and collectively enabling outcomes that would be unlikely to be achieved through isolated interventions alone.
At AHS, we’ve seen firsthand how integration increases opportunities for flexibility, differentiation, and personalisation of provision, as resources and expertise are embedded and available universally.
Although all of our students follow the same overarching time table during their school day, which is aligned to the National Curriculum, integrated practice allows us to tailor this to individual preferences and profiles. Our last case study focused on a year five student with autism, ADHD, social communication difficulties and anxiety, who benefits from targeted social and emotional support in and outside of lessons.
This case study looks at a GCSE student with autism and dyslexia, who also has additional needs resulting from a congenital brain condition. He joined Abingdon House School after an extremely difficult primary experience characterised by a rigid reliance on paper-based tasks and a lack of differentiated instruction. He reported feeling “misunderstood,” often left to stare at the wall in isolation while the curriculum remained inaccessible. His handwriting was poor, often creating a physical barrier to expressing his cognitive ability.
After joining AHS, this student’s introduction to specific SEND technology served as the primary catalyst for change. He became one of the first students at AHS to fully integrate voice-to-text software and screen readers into his daily learning. He moved away from paper-based constraints to use assistive technology as his normal way of working. Here’s a typical daily timetable for this student, and the ways we tailor his support and learning throughout the day:
Assistive technology reducing barriers to learning
For this student, assistive technology isn’t just an add-on used in certain classes – it is incorporated into all lessons and available in academic, creative and vocational subjects. These tools form part of the student’s formal access arrangements for exams, ensuring his grades reflect his intellect rather than his processing speed. He described this shift from paper-based to assistive learning as being like “night and day,” noting that “accessibility changes everything.”
Personalisation in elective subjects helps this student engage and reduces barriers to learning. For example, in art & design, he has opted for a research project which involves creative practice and a digital presentation about famous artists and art movements. The presentation provides space for the student to explain how his own work connects with and takes inspiration from established art styles, leveraging his analytical strengths and ensuring his dyslexia does not preclude him from high-level creative inquiry.
Wellbeing, confidence and independence
In addition to the use of assistive technology, collaboration between occupational therapy and pastoral teams support independence and practical exam and revision techniques. By merging wellbeing strategies with study skills, we are able to address “blank page syndrome” and the anxiety associated with formal testing. This approach stabilises the student’s mood and bolsters his confidence, allowing him to engage with the curriculum more consistently.
Following OT-led sessions on life skills in previous years, this student is welcome to spend lunch time off-site, practicing key life skills around independent travel, time management and budgeting. By prioritising autonomy, we support this student’s confidence with decision-making and self-regulation outside of the classroom, preparing them for life beyond school.
Oracy skills for academics and beyond
A focus on oracy—the practice of structured speaking—is essential for both academic and social skills. We use the “speak first” method to support this student to externalise complex thoughts before attempting to structure them in text, removing the cognitive bottleneck often found in dyslexic learners. Oracy skills are essential for this student to access his speech-to-text tools, and his work with speech and language therapists supports voice projection, clarity of pronunciation, and structure and organisation of speech.
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This case study looks back at the experience of an AHS alumnus. Following six years of targeted, integrated support, this student successfully achieved GCSEs in Mathematics and English, alongside BTEC qualifications in Sport and Art & Design as well as other level two qualifications. These results are a major departure from the trajectory predicted by his previous school.
This student’s progress demonstrates that when speech and language principles, occupational therapy, and pastoral care are embedded into the academic framework, the result is a profound shift in a student’s ability to access their full potential. His journey highlights that for students with dyslexia and barriers to learning, the right intervention is not a luxury, but a fundamental requirement for educational equity.
James Gilbert-Farrell is the Head of Seniors at Abingdon House School. Having originally trained as a drama teacher, he has brought his love of the creative arts into AHS through the development of the oracy strategy and a practical approach to Shakespeare in the English curriculum.
