Welcome to Knighton Fields

Welcome to Ellesmere College, Knighton Fields Site. Knighton Fields Site caters for 65 students who require significant support with communication and interaction, many, but not all, have a diagnosis of autism. The students all have an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP). The Knighton Fields Site caters for our ‘Sparkle’ students and our ‘Shine’ students from Year 1 up to Year 14

Our Knighton Fields Site has been specifically designed to meet the needs of our students. The site has some wonderful facilities including, large soft play, immersive therapy room, sensory room, student kitchen and outdoor play areas with specific outdoor play equipment for our students. The staff are all skilled in making learning fun, communication strategies such as TEACCH and using visuals to support communication, creative arts as well as the more traditional school subjects.  Our curriculum is tailored to each individual student’s needs, ensuring needs identified in their EHCP are met and strengthened by our Ellesmere qualities of confidence, resilience, responsibility, independence, teamwork and respect. At Knighton Fields we focus on the qualities of independence, teamwork and resilience

Our school motto, ‘be your best, be happy, believe’ which was written by staff and students demonstrates our commitment to personalisation, emotional wellbeing and mental health. Our comprehensive intervention programme takes a holistic approach to learning, and supports students in areas such as communication, emotional wellbeing, confidence and developing self-regulation tools.

In our Sparkle pathway, we aim to:

• Focus on engagement and meaningful experiences.  
• Support students to learn how to co-regulate their emotions and to develop relationships with others 
• Support students’ communication by being attentive, encourage and receive initiations and attune to all interactions so that there is a solid connection for us to guide learning. This is underpinned by the SCERTS model.
• We support students to feel safe and confident in managing uncertainty through clear, consistent routines and familiar staff, helping them know what to expect and be ready to learn.

In our Shine pathway, we aim to:

• Empower students, through our autism specialist accredited provision, to grow in confidence, independence, and resilience. Students will develop the skills to self-regulate their emotions. 
• Support each child’s unique communication and independence journey with personalised strategies underpinned by the SCERTS model.
• Address sensory needs through collaborative support for students and families.
• Provide a rich education tailored to individual strengths and future goals.

In March 2024 Knighton Fields site was awarded the Autism Accreditation Specialist Accredited Award by the National Autistic Society. This means that we have been recognised as providing a high level of specialist support to our students in the areas of:

• Social communication, interactions and relationships
• Functional skills and self-reliance
• Sensory experiences
• Emotional wellbeing

We welcome visitors to the school. Please call our reception team to make an appointment or if you have any further questions. Take some time to explore our website. You’ll find lots of information and get to know some of our key staff.

Liz Richardson
Head of Centre