Oak Lodge School

Oak Lodge is a special school maintained by Wandsworth Council Education Department, for deaf boys and girls between 11 and 19 years of age. Our 16 Plus Department serves the needs of deaf students in continuing and further education between 16 and 19 years of age. We currently have 77 pupils on roll and support a further 32 students on the roll of local colleges/universities.

Oak Lodge is a very successful school. Our Ofsted Inspection confirmed that, and we have now been nominated to become a Beacon School. We also have recently gained the "Investors in People" Award, and recognition by Wandsworth through their "Accredited School Self-Review and Evaluation" Award.

Every individual is important here. We have a clear vision of what we want for our pupils and we work hard, as a team, to enable every pupil to achieve those objectives.

"I wouldn't want my son to go anywhere else because he has come so far and done so well"

"Oak Lodge wants to enable its pupils to become independent and socially competent adults. We want them to be able to earn their living, gain job satisfaction, enjoy their leisure and to be eager to continue learning. We want them to take pride in themselves as deaf people and in what they can achieve. We want them to gain the communication skills which are necessary in life. We want them to be able to play as full a part as possible in both the hearing and deaf communities."
Oak Lodge Mission Statement.

The school is in purpose-built, acoustically treated accommodation in Wandsworth with easy access to public transport. It is very well equipped with a full range of specialist teaching rooms (e.g. science lab., art rooms, design & technology workshop, food technology room, ICT room, etc.) and all teaching rooms are linked to an up-to-date computer network with 32 workstations all linked to email and the internet for use by pupils.

Our pupils need Sign Language as well as written and spoken English to gain access to the curriculum. Our aim is for all our pupils to become proficient in both languages.

We provide education for:
Pupils able to gain a range of GCSE's through the use of Sign Language and English;
Pupils able to access a modified National Curriculum, including public exams
other than GCSEs, through the use of Sign Language and English ;
Pupils with little previous education in Britain, who are within the normal ability range, through a programme of accelerated access to British Sign Language and English.

We teach a broad and balanced curriculum and we place a lot of emphasis on the development of pupils' self-confidence, independence and pride in themselves as deaf people.

Our staff are specialist teachers of the deaf who also have subject expertise and are fluent users of Sign Language. A number of teachers are themselves deaf. We teach in groups of approx. 6 -7 pupils, but are also able to provide some individual tuition.
We keep in close touch with families through family liaison, parents' evenings, annual reviews, annual reports to parents, a home-school diary, a school newsletter, and very frequently by telephone / minicom.

"The School's parent's group has been a very good support to us"

Many of our children are day pupils, but we can also offer 5 day boarding in term-time for school or 16 Plus students, either on a long-term or respite basis. Boarding pupils are provided with a very full programme of evening activities organised by our professional team of residential social workers, who are also able to give individual help to pupils to develop their communication or independence skills.

16 Plus Department

The 16 Plus Centre has its own accommodation and a team of staff who provide for deaf and hearing-impaired students aged 16-19. Students can follow:
- a foundation course of continuing education, learning core skills as well as
joining part-time link courses at local colleges;
- full or part-time courses at a range of local colleges leading to a large variety
of vocational or academic qualifications.

We also provide a full support service to deaf students of any age on the roll of local colleges on contract agreements with those colleges.

Denise Morton, Acting Principal

Sarah Gray, Chair of Governors