The Birches

Opening September 2026, The Birches at Saffron Walden County High School offers a specialist educational setting for students aged 11–19 with Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCPs). Our provision is designed to support students whose primary need is cognition and learning, providing a nurturing environment that promotes academic, social, and emotional development.

Vision

• A provision which enables learners to benefit from all the opportunities and experiences which come from attending SWCHS. Belonging and connection is maintained.
• A broad and flexible curriculum which is tailored to meet students at their starting points and which builds in a high level of adaptation, intervention and targeted teaching methods to cater for cognition and learning needs (evidence based best practice).
• A range of qualifications and accreditations which enable achievement for all whilst maintaining high aspirations and progression.
• A provision which builds in social skills and life skills development through a range of experiences (Forest School, enterprise, work experience). A focus on development use and application of real-life skills.
• By Year 13/14 leavers will be equipped, able and confident to take up further training or supported employment in the local area.

Profile of Need

Whilst we recognise that every learner will have an individual profile of need, the typical profile that The Birches is designed to support will include students for whom:

• Progress will remain slow and the attainment gap between them and their typically developing peers is likely to grow.
• They may also have co-existing needs (SLCN, ASD, HI, VI, PNI) at a similar or lower level to their learning needs.
• They are likely to plateau in attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 when entering secondary School.
• They may find it harder to understand, learn, remember new things and generalise their learning in multiple situations.
• They are likely to experience great difficulty in acquiring basic literacy and numeracy skills, despite receiving suitable help. They will have poor working memory which may limit reasoning and problem solving.
• They will need to access Entry level and alternative qualifications, such as ASDANs.
• They may have general developmental delay, which means that they reach developmental milestones later than their peers. They may appear immature and find it difficult to mix with their peer group. They may have an over-reliance on adult support, with limited attention span and low self-esteem.
• They may have problems with a range of issues, such as communication, being aware of risks or managing everyday tasks.

Placement Process

Essex local authority is responsible for the decision to place a CYP in a specialist provision. A provision panel with multi-professional membership considers individuals with an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) where a specialist placement is requested by a parent or young person in accordance with Section 38 and 39 of the Children and Families Act 2014 and as advised in the Code of Practice (paragraph 9:78/9).

CYP will only be admitted to special schools or formally designated ‘specialist provisions’ in mainstream schools if they have an EHCP, or in exceptional cases in accordance with Section 34 of the Children and Families Act 2014, for example when a child moves into the area from a different country with complex needs / had been educated in the country’s equivalent of a specialist provision previously.

The panel will consider each request with reference to the admissions criteria of the provision alongside exemplar case studies and the examples of CYP's functioning.  The panel will consider assessment information provided by the family and the school as well as assessment information from other services and professionals. Where evidence is incomplete or contradictory, further information or scrutiny will be requested by the panel.

If you would like to make contact regarding the provision, please email thebirches@swchs.net.