William* joined TreeHouse School in April 2019. In his first few weeks, he struggled to join his new classroom environment and follow instructions from his teachers. He was displaying behaviours that challenge both in and outside the classroom and frequently wanted to go home.   

Before joining TreeHouse, William attended a mainstream school. As part of his transition plan, Class Leader, Rachel worked with the Behaviour Analyst to conduct observations of the pupil in his former setting. They found that he had previously spent very little time in the classroom, spending most of his time in the hall. William often found the transition into school challenging taking up to an hour to come to class. He spent little time accessing his learning and communicated using one or two words.     

The team at TreeHouse School worked hard to build rapport with William. They held team meetings with the trans-disciplinary team to identify activities and consistent approaches to support William to settle into his new school environment. At William's previous school, he worked with one teaching assistant. Now that he was at TreeHouse School, he was able to work with many Teaching and Behaviour Support (TABS) staff across the school day. He also started accessing his school curriculum and building positive relationships with both staff and peers.     

William soon built a rapport with multiple staff members and is now more consistent in being able to follow instructions. He was quick to become familiar with the classroom routines, independently completing his morning routine and joining registration as he worked up towards accessing his full timetable. William now willingly joins lessons across the school day, joining in and completing learning activities as instructed by the class teacher.     

Before joining TreeHouse School, William wasn’t able to participate in community activities because of the perception of his challenging behaviour. The team at TreeHouse School worked together to prepare William for all community outings, creating social stories and preparing him ahead of time. William has now attended weekly swimming trips and visits to the local park and woods. 

William’s communication skills have also developed, and he is now communicating using full sentences to both his teachers and peers. William has made significant progress in developing his relationship with his peers. Now he wants to spend time in the playground with one particular classmate, making requests to do so e.g. “X, let's ride the bikes!”    

William has also made significant progress in his reading skills. Now confident in attending lessons and seeing school as a positive place to be, he can access his school curriculum.  

Find out more about our curriculum.

*name has been changed to protect identity.