Waseley Hills High School benefits from a purpose-designed Mainstream Autism Base (MAB), that provides a safe, predictable and desirable environment with specialist support for autistic young people.

The MAB has capacity for up to ten students. Places are allocated in accordance with the Worcestershire County Council Admissions Policy and any enquiries should be directed through Worcestershire SEND Services.

Our primary goals as a MAB are:

• To support our students in accessing mainstream education and reaching their full academic potential. This includes, where appropriate, a tailored curriculum and access to ASDAN courses, to ensure that our students gain qualifications that will benefit them when they move on from Waseley.
• To develop our students’ social and emotional communication skills in contextual settings that they will be able to transfer to wider areas of life, and to provide social opportunities in a safe environment.
• To provide opportunities for our students to learn and practise key life skills, so that they may live as independently as possible in the future.
• To ensure that our students understand what being autistic means for their personal identity, including developing their self-esteem and confidence, and learning self-regulation skills that enable our students to have as regulated a day at school as possible – we understand that this, in turn, helps students to stay regulated at home.
• To support our students’ sensory and physical needs and to empower our students with strategies to support their own social, emotional and mental health and their day-to-day well-being.

Our MAB is an open-plan, autism-friendly environment with designated spaces:

• Our MAB Learning Room has full teaching facilities for small group and 1:1 work, including desktop PCs, a groupwork table and individual desks, a whiteboard and projector.
• Our MAB Common Room is a spacious area with a fully equipped kitchenette, ample tables and seating for activities such as craft and games, personal ‘workstations’ for students to make their own, and many other smaller facilities such as individual pegs and lockers.
• Both our Learning Room and our Common Room are fully equipped with extensive learning and leisure resources and equipment.
• Our Chillout Room is a calming, low arousal space that can be used by students to regulate their energy and sensory input levels. It includes a range of sensory resources and equipment. 
• Separate to our Chillout Room, we also have a sensory tent for when our students need an exceptionally calming space, in times of particular dysregulation.

Staff

The MAB is led by Miss Snell, a qualified teacher and postgraduate-level autism specialist, and is supported by Mrs Preston, a higher-level teaching assistant and qualified Level 3 Lead Practitioner in Autism.

The MAB is an integral part of the wider SEND department and as such benefits from the support of the whole SEND team, all of which is overseen by Mrs Stokes, our SENDCO. The SEND team are trained and experienced in supporting autistic young people, and the SEND department at Waseley promotes a friendly, nurturing environment where students feel supported and valued. Within the wider school context, staff across the school receive regular training and CPD to promote an understanding of the challenges that autistic young people can face within a mainstream setting. The MAB team work closely with teachers across the school to ensure that staff understand students’ needs and the strategies that they can use to support them. 

A tailored curriculum with specialist support

MAB students are encouraged and supported to access a high percentage of their time within a mainstream timetable, which is enhanced by access to the following (dependant on each student’s EHCP):

• Certified ASDAN programmes and qualifications, for example COPE (Certificate of Personal Effectiveness, Level 1, 2 or 3), Living Independently, Careers and Experiencing Work.
• Courses and interventions focusing on Preparation for Adulthood.
• Evidence-based interventions (for example, Talkabout for Teenagers) delivered in small groups or 1:1.
• An Educational Psychologist.
• A Specialist Teacher from the Autism and Complex Communication Needs team at Worcestershire Children First.
• A Speech and Language Therapist.
• A dedicated Key Worker within the Waseley MAB/SEND team, available to support any day-to-day anxieties that a MAB student may have, and to support students with organisational and time management skills.

Working together with parents and carers

Home-school communication is extremely important to us, and we understand that a regulated day at school can help with staying regulated at home. MAB/SEND staff maintain regular contact with parents and carers via telephone and email, and in-person meetings as required, to share information and strategies.

Transition and induction

We understand that it is vital for us to work closely with a student’s prior setting, to ensure as smooth a transition as possible. Before joining the MAB, students will be invited, with their parents or carers, to visit the MAB and spend time with us (in addition to any mainstream transition days). We also provide students with a Transition Booklet with information and images about the MAB layout and staff.