Corner House School provides tailored education programmes for the patients of Corner House Ward; the only National Deaf CAMHS inpatient unit for d/Deaf children and adolescents with ongoing mental health needs within the UK.
The unit is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of specialist mental health, education and social services personnel. Young people can be admitted to Corner House for a six-week assessment phase and then a further treatment phase if appropriate.
The school team plays a vital role in supporting the progress of young people admitted to Corner House and we are committed to the principles of holistic, therapeutic education; ensuring that the work being done by the wider MDT is developed and consolidated in our classroom.
The Corner House School is a welcoming place where staff are ready to make sure that learning accessible and enjoyable for all of our pupils. Our team is comprised of Teachers of the Deaf and specialist HLTAs who meet pupils’ communication needs through the use of British Sign Language (BSL), Sign Supported English (SSE) and spoken and written English. In fact, we use all of the above and any additional methods needed to support communication, including Widget, PECS and visual materials. The team work across two acoustically treated classrooms, meeting the needs of learners aged from five to eighteen! Our aim is for all our pupils to learn in an environment which provides full access to education and supports the development of a solid language base.
In addition to delivering National Curriculum subjects, Corner House School provides specialist subjects such as BSL, Deaf Studies and Emotions and therapeutic, enrichment lessons including Drama, O.T. Cookery and Philosophy!
The timetable is adapted regularly to meet the needs of our current cohort and include any accreditations that pupils may be undertaking. We liaise with pupils’ home schools to ensure everyone is being kept up to date with the lessons being studied by their peers.
We think it is important to get the views of our learners and will add vocational lessons and tasters to the curriculum to match our students’ interests. Recently, we have offered Health and Social Care, Animal Care, Careers and Cycling Proficiency!
