Secondary Special School

Secondary Special School

A special school is an educational setting specifically organised to make special educational provision for pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN). These schools are for children and young people with more complex needs, usually those who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

In York there is one secondary special school, Applefields School.

Applefields School is maintained by the City of York Local Authority serving children and young people between the ages 11 to 19 with a wide range of learning difficulties and disabilities, including complex medical conditions, profound and multiple learning difficulties, severe learning difficulties and those with an autistic spectrum condition.

All children and young people at Applefields require an EHCP and have identified learning difficulties, which create significant barriers to accessing a conventional curriculum and in making academic progress in line with their chronological age.

Given the breadth of need, the school has discrete provisions which cater for each young person’s specific needs through offering different styles of teaching and support through an adapted curriculum within specialist environments.

Students transition from Applefields to different local providers at an appropriate time with many moving on at year 11 and some during their post-16 years.