TreeHouse School is the first special school set up by Ambitious about Autism, the national charity for children and young people with autism, in 1997. Based in the heart of a thriving community in North London, it educates pupils with autism aged 3 to 19 from across London and the Home Counties.
The charity also runs Ambitious College in Tottenham and Isleworth for young learners between 19 and 25 years.
Autism is a lifelong developmental disability which affects 1 in 100 people in the UK. There are around 100,000 children with autism in the UK and four times as many boys as girls have autism. Autism affects the way a person communicates and how they experience the world around them. It is also described as a spectrum condition. While people with autism, Including Asperger’s Syndrome, share certain characteristics, they will be highly individual in their needs and preferences.
Treehouse School provides specialist and integrated education and support to enable pupils with autism to learn, thrive and achieve. There are up to 100 pupils at TreeHouse who come from across London and the Home Counties and are supported by a highly skilled staff team of qualified teachers, behaviour analysts, speech and language therapists and occupational therapists, all working together to enable the pupils to achieve outstanding outcomes.
All pupils follow a broad and balanced curriculum which is personalised to meet their needs. There is a strong emphasis of enabling children and young people to become confident, participative learners. Staff work intensively with pupils and give individual support in group learning and in inclusive settings.
As pupils progress through the school, emphasis is placed on developing life and vocational skills which aims to prepare them for the next stage after leaving school. Pupils in the sixth form learn and develop skills that see them plan for adulthood including; living Skills, accessing the community, and developing employability skills. Some use their employment skills in work placements at local organisations like Sainsbury’s and at the café in St James Church.
The school also has good links with other local mainstream schools where some of TreeHouse pupils attend on a part time basis. It provides opportunities for pupils to mix with their peers and take part in a range of classes which enrich their learning in subjects like music and sport, as well as their social and communication skills. The school also runs a programme where children from the local primary school visit TreeHouse once a week and are ‘playmates’ to pupils there.
Dawn Clench from Hertfordshire whose son, Thomas, 16 has attended TreeHouse School since 2015 she said; “The change in Thomas since he has been at TreeHouse School has been immeasurable. All my friends and family have noticed it too – he is happy and always has a smile on his face. I put this down to TreeHouse School. Thomas has lots of opportunities to do things that I wouldn’t have thought possible a few years ago. Just recently, he went for a three day adventure holiday with the school. The care and dedication the staff take over the young learners there is just incredible to see. When Thomas goes off to school, I know he will have a great day.”
It is the determination and resilience of children with autism and their families to thrive, achieve, and succeed that inspires us to do all we can to enable children and young people to live the life they want, in their own communities. We can only make this happen with the support of many individuals and organisations – you’re the reason we can keep providing our vital services
There are many ways you can get involved and fundraise for Ambitious about Autism – make a one-off or regular donation, leave a gift in your will, take part in one of our many challenge events, join one of our campaigns to make a change for children and young people with autism.
For further information please contact the fundraising team on 020 8815 5444 or visit www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk – we’d love to hear from you.
