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Specialist Support Within Mainstream Schools
The Southcote Centres provide high quality specialist provision for pupils with moderate learning difficulties within three local mainstream secondary schools across Surrey. As an extension of Philip Southcote School, the centres allow more young people and their families to access the support they need close to home, while strengthening partnerships between our school and the wider community.
Our centres are based at Chertsey High School, Epsom and Ewell High School, and Kings International College. Although pupils attend one of these host schools each day, they remain on roll at Philip Southcote School, ensuring they benefit from our long established ethos, specialist teaching and consistent approach to supporting learning.
Each Southcote Centre offers a unique blend of mainstream education and targeted specialist support. Pupils follow a hybrid curriculum which helps them make progress academically while also developing socially, emotionally and in their independence. This balance allows them to experience the opportunities of a mainstream environment alongside tailored interventions delivered by experienced SEND professionals.
Our work across all three centres is rooted in the Philip Southcote School motto, “Learning for Life.” We believe that academic achievement, emotional and physical wellbeing, confidence and life skills are equally important. Families joining any of the Southcote Centres become part of a supportive community that values inclusion, celebrates success and is committed to helping every pupil reach their potential.
What will the Southcote Centre provision offer?
The Southcote Centres are self-contained and fully staffed by Philip Southcote School. The small number of pupils in the centres allows for a high level of support, ensuring that each child's progress can be assessed and evaluated closely. Where appropriate pupils attend lessons in the mainstream school and receive in-class support from experienced Southcote Centre staff.
At the Southcote Centres, we have a caring and understanding team looking after our pupils. We provide a curriculum based on the needs of individual pupils, focused on developing communication skills and emotional, personal and social development alongside academic subjects. Each child’s timetable is flexible and tailored to support their learning needs and interests. In addition, there are a variety of non-academic programmes such as Thrive, EHCP target lessons and Emotional Literacy Support sessions.
The staff at the Centre are trained in using the Thrive approach, an educational and therapeutic framework used to support the social and emotional development of children over time. This enables all pupils to feel safe, supported and ready to learn.
As a school, we work closely with any external agencies that we feel are relevant to individual children’s needs, including: GPs, the school nurse, clinical psychologists, paediatricians, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, physical and sensory support services, Social Services (including Locality Teams), Social Workers and Educational Psychologists.
Admissions Process
Applications are made through the SEND Key Stage Transfer process and are managed directly through the Surrey SEND admissions team.
All children who are considered for a place in a Southcote Centre must:
- Hold an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP) with agreed Special School Provision.
- Have their Primary Special Educational Needs identified as Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD).
- Be typically working 2 to 3 years behind age related expectations.
- Be able to thrive in a mainstream setting, including being able to navigate larger classes and independently move around the school for lessons, lunch and other transitions.
The Southcote Centre welcome visits from parents. If you feel your child meets the admissions criteria above, and you would like to book a tour please complete this form and we will be in touch to arrange an appointment with a member of the team.
Southcote Curriculums
Pupils have a hybrid curriculum offer, meaning they study a combination of subjects in both the Southcote Centre and their mainstream school. If a pupil is studying a subject in the Centre, they will follow the Philip Southcote curriculum (available on our Curriculum page). If they attend a subject in their mainstream school, they will follow that school’s curriculum (available on each mainstream school’s website).
- At Key Stage 3 (Years 7–9), the core subjects delivered in the Centre are English, Mathematics and World Studies.
- At Key Stage 4 (Years 10–11), this offer expands to include Science and vocational options.
In Year 9, pupils will work closely with the Southcote Centre team to choose their Key Stage 4 options. These may include a combination of qualifications from both the Southcote Centre and the mainstream school.
Please click here for Chertsey High School Southcote Centre CurriculumPlease click here for Kings International College Southcote Centre CurriculumPlease click here for Epsom and Ewell Southcote Centre Curriculum
