Hampshire Autistic Society - Post-16 Residential Education Services

Hampshire Autistic Society - Improving the quality of life for people with autism

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Post-16 Education Video

Aspin House - Further Education Unit is an important part of the post 16 education service provided by Hampshire Autistic Society. Aspin House is a residential specialist college for young people aged 14-19 with high functioning autism or aspergers syndrome.

Purpose of Unit
Aspin House offers an environment that delivers a high level of individual tailored support in two distinct curricula programmes for students with high functioning autism or with aspergers syndrome. Students are funded either by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) or by their local Children's Education Services department.

Located in a large house in a residential street in Southampton, the college is registered under Hope Lodge School and offers ten placements, eight of which are residential. The unit is managed by a team of skilled professionals. The unit manager, teacher, teaching assistants and education support workers all have special needs experience in the field of autism combined with relevant training in care practices or teacher/instructor qualifications.

Social Inclusion
Aspin House is in a residential urban setting at the heart of the local community, near to the centre of Southampton. Importantly, this offers students the opportunity to be part of the local community, promoting active integration within the local community, offering the opportunity to develop skills in citizenship and promote new interests.

Inclusive Learning / Employment
Aspin House offers an educational setting which promotes and inspires learning through highly structured and consistent individual learning programmes. Students receive individual and group attention from staff skilled and experienced in providing small stepped, cumulative programmes of learning. Our curriculum has been specifically developed to ensure that education is delivered to the highest standards, to maximize individual potential and to provide individual student with strategies to successfully transition into adult life. Strong links have been forged with local sector colleges, work experience placements and training providers. Discrete adult support is offered to help develop self-help and independence skills, with the opportunity for students to gain qualifications to support future education and, where appropriate, employment.

Widening Participation
Aspin House offers specialist teaching to young people who are at serious risk of either not progressing onto mainstream further education or failing within it. We facilitate the participation of non-traditional users of further education by:

Having a clear understanding of the needs, ambitions and aspirations of our students.
Creating an ambitious environment so that every student will be supported to participate in society through inclusive access to education that truly meets their needs.
Person Centered Planning underpins all aspects of teaching and learning, building on individual student's self-esteem, confidence and sense of self worth.

Aspin House offers an autism specific curriculum which takes into account the overall aims of 'Every Child Matters'. Organisation of the curriculum is split into two main areas, the ethos values and the learning skills.

Ethos Values	Learning Skills
Enjoy and achieve	Social interaction
Be emotionally literate	Review and evaluate
Be healthy	Self management
Be safe	Flexible thinking
Maximize independence	Communication
Be active members of the community	Collaboration

The unit offers a 1-3 year flexible programme differentiated to each student's needs. Students who take up placement with the Society participate in a 2-3 month induction period where staff have the opportunity to complete a baseline assessment of their individual specific needs. Development of appropriate behaviour, consideration, concern and respect for others are very highly valued within Aspin House. Every opportunity is taken to praise, reward and celebrate success and achievement. The Society believes in the unique potential of each individual student and has a determination to ensure that every student can access the resources that will enable their potential to be realised.

Visitors are welcome.

OfSTED Annual Assessment
The document below conatains the main findings from the OfSTED Annual Assesment for Aspin House carried out in 2007.

To download this PDF document, right click the button below and select 'Save Target As...'. You will need to have Adobe Reader software installed on your computer to view this file. If you don't already have Adobe Acrobat Reader software, you can download it for free by clicking the link below.

(right click and select 'Save target as...')

The Best You Can Be - Download the Single!

Click here for more information about The Big Gig

NATS kindly put on 'The Big Gig' concert for the Society and released a single "The Best You Can Be" which can be purchased on iTunes with all the proceeds going to Aspin House.