Portfield: Our 40 Year Journey

A new academic year has begun at Portfield and with it we welcome six new students to our specialist school for children and young people aged 3 – 19 with autism.

Each new student has their own individual need and ability to be unearthed and developed. For the past 40 years, getting to know each student and embarking on a personal journey with them has been at the heart of our success. As our knowledge and facilities have evolved, our individualised approach to personal development has remained at the core of our education and care services.  

This unique approach can be attributed to our humble beginnings in 1968  when a group of Bournemouth parents set up a school in a garden shed, determined to enhance their children’s way of life.  Prior to 1970, the state had no obligation to provide specialist education for those with a specific learning or development need. The founding parents recognised that as autism affects people in different ways, a specialist education tailored to each child’s strengths and needs was essential to help realise their potential. 

  Three years after the Society was formed the first official Portfield School premises, a large house in Stour Road, Christchurch, was opened.

As one of the first schools for children with autism in the UK demand for places grew quickly and an initial twenty students were accommodated.

By the mid 1990’s the school was supporting thirty six children across three buildings in Christchurch. Ambitions, however, to help more people and to provide a higher standard of education and care were ever growing.

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In 2001 the Society launched the Domino Appeal to raise funds towards a £3 million project to develop a purpose built school in Parley. The main educational facility and two boarding houses, providing a spacious and bright environment for learning, were opened in 2002 by HRH The Princess Royal. Over the next six years further developments brought the new school fully to life.  

This modern, fully equipped school offers 64 education places complemented by 34 boarding places at the four on site residential houses.  Further investment in 2007 provided the welcome addition of a therapy pool; offering students the opportunity to learn vital water skills as well as enjoying therapeutic and leisure benefits.

The build of the new school was made possible through the success of the Domino Appeal which helped raise the required funds through many donations and grants from various community organisations, individuals, charitable trusts and businesses across Dorset and the region.

Registered by OFSTED as a children’s home and judged as Outstanding in February 2011, we now offer flexible and personalised boarding packages up to 52 weeks per year and our first-class teaching facilities continue to grow. Dedicated recent fundraising activity has introduced a new communication therapy room, sensory rooms, accessible library furniture, playground equipment and a state of the art IT suite as well as new vehicles for community trips.

As 70% of our students are non-verbal, communication is a central focus of our curriculum. We operate in a total communication environment, incorporating a range of sound, symbols, written words, PECS and ICT. Planned changes and problem solving situations are worked into daily schedules so that students can begin to think in a more flexible way.

Our exceptional team of trained residential, educational and specialist support staff work closely together to offer an excellent range of home based learning and leisure experiences. Complementing the dedicated education and care staff is our specialist support team comprising a Nurse, Speech and Language, Occupational and Behaviour and Alternative Therapists. Together our focus is, as ever, on understanding how difficulties relating to autism affect each individual student and impact on his or her learning needs.

Developing skills for life and promoting independence through learning is an ongoing priority throughout school life and beyond. We work closely with our Adult Services to provide residential and further education provisions and to support the all-important transition to adulthood.

It goes without saying that this incredible journey would not have been possible without the support of our dedicated team of staff, Board of Trustees, parents, fundraising groups, local authorities and the local community.

Everyone at Portfield and throughout the Society is extremely proud of everything we have achieved since 1971 and the high standard of education and care that we are now able to offer to students. We are equally as proud of our roots and continue to strive to improve the service we offer.

Our achievements and commitment to developing our student’s quality of life and creating brighter futures for so many families from Dorset and further afield truly is an incredible testament to the small group of founding parents.

As another year begins, our aspirations to develop our knowledge and facilities in order to support a wide range of children to be the very best they can be are as grand as ever.

We are greatly looking forward to celebrating many more milestones, all the while remembering what makes us so special.

Andrew Thomas

Director of School Services