Our School

Willow Vale School is split across seven sites, three in Bridgwater and four in Taunton. 

Holway Centre

Holway is our main site and the base for a lot of our teams, including the online/outreach, our Outdoor Education team and the Partnership team as well as the base for all our administration.  Primarily it is one of our KS3 and 4 centres, where we have classroom and vocational facilities which are used for these secondary students, but also as a space where our primary students can access more specialist activities and lessons. 

Our staff work with young people who have experienced difficulties at school and often in their wider lives.  The routes to being at the Holway centre are:

• Permanent Exclusion
• A partnership place to help prevent suspension/exclusion
• A medical place
• A placement at the centre through an EHCP, where SEMH is the primary need

Our skilled team build relationships with these young people, offering support, learning opportunities and enrichment activities to enable them to make progress socially, emotionally and with their learning, thus building resilience and independence for those important next steps. Work skills and careers is a big part of what we do here as well as access to a GCSE curriculum.

Northfields Education Centre

Northfields is an outreach base for small group and 1:1 work with TDPC students as part of their learning programme.  Students from mainstream schools that are supported by TDPC may also use our Northfields Centre.

It is a small space with 3 rooms, including a kitchen, all for the use of students who need a bit more support and space.

Deane Discovery Centre (DDC)

The Deane Discovery Centre is a KS 1 and 2 centre located in Taunton. We work with up to 12 children from the local area who have social, emotional and mental health needs (SEMH).  We have some students placed with us through the EHCP process, and some who are at risk or have been permanently excluded from mainstream school.  We are a small nurture provision that aims to understand and meet both the personal and learning needs of all pupils, enabling them to develop socially and emotionally, and to engage positively in learning.  The aim is always to build positive relationships and provide children with a safe and nurturing environment that will equip children for the next stage in their learning, whether it is to integrate more fully into their mainstream school or to move onto a new school.  

The curriculum includes the core subjects alongside enrichment, Outdoor Education and therapeutic interventions, where the aim is very much on developing personal growth, empowering children and embedding success.

Staff at DDC are skilled at working with our young people and where possible go into primary schools as part of the partnership team to share and develop their good SEMH practice.

Otterhead Forest School

Otterhead Forest School, although part of Willow Vale School, operates as a traded service and works with WVS pupils as well as pupils from local primary and secondary schools.

The Forest School is set within approximately 230 acres of mixed woodland on the Blackdown hills above Taunton.  The inspiring and stimulating environment offers students an opportunity to engage in learning in a hands on and personalised way.

OFS adheres to all WVS policies and is regulated by SLT at WVS. OFS operates in a woodland environment and as a result, has developed additional policies, procedures and risk assessments which are specific to the site and provision it offers. Schools complete an alternative provision quality assurance checklist when it engages in OFS's services.

Hospital Education Unit

The Hospital Education Unit is based on the wards in the Children’s Unit at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton.

The Hospital Education Unit provides educational activities for children and young people ranging from Early Years Foundation Stage through to Tertiary education. Working alongside the hospital medical teams, WVS staff offer education to children either in the classroom or at the bedside. The education for long stay and returning patients is planned in consultation with the child’s school or college.

New Prospects

New Prospects is situated on Westonzoyland Road in the heart of Bridgwater.

This base is predominantly for the Key Stage four students and offers both a vocational and academic learning environment.  

Young people at New Prospects can be referred via numerous pathways including:

• SEN Consults (Children with EHCPs)
• Fixed term pieces of partnership work with schools.
• Children who have been permanently excluded and would benefit from staying at Bridge to finish their KS4 education.
• Medical referrals.
• Full-time placement through the Secondary Heads referral and agreement.

We have a small group of young people who find attending school very difficult, they need a very different curriculum to their peers, whilst being based at New Prospects, they spend the majority of their time working in the community. Their learning is project based with a focus on employment skills which prepares them for their post 16 destination.

Albert Street 

Albert Street provides the main base for young people in key stages 3 & 4 who have been permanently excluded from mainstream school. We provide full time education for young people focusing on their transition to a new mainstream placement.

We also have a small cohort of young people in Key Stage 3 who need a small nurture based provision, these are young people with Social, emotional and mental health needs as identified through their Education, Health and Care Plan. 

Cossington

Cossington is a small village 5 miles from the centre of Bridgwater and provides a small nurture base for our primary and some key stage 3 children. The majority of children within this group have an Education, Health and Care Plan. We also host our children who have been permanently excluded from mainstream primary schools at Cossington. 

Children work in small groups and access a curriculum which links closely to the primary national curriculum.