Shapwick School
| Shapwick School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | |
 | |
Station Road , , TA7 9NJ England | |
| Coordinates | 51°08′32″N 2°50′03″W / 51.1422°N 2.8341°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Specialist school Independent Residential Special School |
| Motto | The same road by different steps |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Multi-denominational |
| Established | 1974 |
| Founder | Colin Atkinson, CBE |
| Specialist | Dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia |
| Department for Education URN | 123929 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Headteacher | Adrian Wylie |
| Gender | Co-ed |
| Age | 8 to 19 |
| Enrollment | 160 |
| Houses | 4 boarding houses; 2 on site in Shapwick, 1 in Meare and 1 in Burtle |
| Former names | Chalice School Edington & Shapwick School |
| Website | http://www.shapwickschool.com/ |
Shapwick School is a specialist school in Shapwick,[1] small villages on the Somerset Levels in Somerset, England. The fee-paying school specialises in the holistic education of pupils with dyslexia and its related learning disabilities such as dyscalculia, Developmental coordination disorder, pragmatic language impairment, and specific language impairment.[2] It has pupils aged 8 to 19, most of which are boarders and the rest are day pupils.[1] The therapy department offers speech and language and occupational therapy within the timetable according to assessed need. Pupils aged 8 to 12 attend Shapwick Prep Department, those aged 13 to 16 attend Shapwick Senior, and A-level students receive direct support from the school but study at Bridgwater College.[1]
The school is accredited by the Council for the Registration of Schools Teaching Dyslexic Pupils (CReSTeD),[2] and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.[3]
In November 2010, the school gained national attention when it was featured in a BBC Three documentary Kara Tointon: Don't Call Me Stupid (all for about 3 minets) about actress Kara Tointon who suffers from dyslexia.[4] Tointon visited the school to see how it approaches the teaching of pupils with dyslexia. She sat in a class, learning new techniques for addressing her own dyslexia, and talked to some of the pupils about their experiences.[5]
History
In 1974, Colin Atkinson, a former cricketer for Somerset County Cricket Club and head of Millfield, established the Chalice School in Glastonbury to teach pupils with dyslexia.[6] It used the old school in Burtle and was called Edington School, where in 1981 a Senior School was created called Edington Senior School. In 1984, Shapwick Senior School was established. The two schools worked together until 1994 when they merged to become Edington & Shapwick School, operating on the two sites in Shapwick and Burtle, and run by joint headmasters. In 2015, the school's two sites were merged again onto the Shapwick campus
From 1984 Jon Whittock and David Walker where joint headmasters, until David Walker's death in May 2011.
In May 2013, Jon Whittock stepped down as Headmaster of Shapwick School for the next Headmaster Mr Lee and now the Head currently is Adrian Wylie.
The school is growing in strength and its reputation for breaking down the barriers to learning posed by SpLD goes as far afield as Canada, Australia, Angola and Singapore.
References
- ^ a b c "Shapwick School Inspection report for residential special school" (PDF). Ofsted. 2 March 2010. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
- ^ a b "Full List of CReSTeD Schools". The Council for the Registration of Schools Teaching Dyslexic Pupils. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
- ^ "bulletin" (PDF). Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. August 2004. p. 22. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
- ^ "TV star Kara Tointon films documentary at Shapwick School". Bridgwater Mercury. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
- ^ Cramer, Shirley (15 November 2010). "A unique TV experience". Dyslexia Action. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
- ^ "The Development of Shapwick School". Shapwick School. Archived from the original on 29 July 2010. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
{{cite web}}:|archive-date=/|archive-url=timestamp mismatch; 29 September 2010 suggested (help)