Our Unit
The Nest
Our specialist unit is located in the heart of Bury St. Edmunds and is part of St. Edmund’s RC Primary School which opened in 1882. We are an extended provision, catering for pupils aged 4 – 11 who have barriers to their learning. Pupils who attend the unit do not have to have an education and health care plan (EHCP) but the majority do.
Within our building we have two specialist units across three classes:
- EYFS/Key Stage One – Specialist Unit
- Key Stage 2 – Cognition and Learning Unit
Our classes are small with between 9 – 12 children and our dedicated team is made up of teachers, HLTAs, teaching assistants and Thrive practitioners who have training and knowledge around many different SEND needs. We also work very closely with outside agencies including speech and language therapists, social care and nursing teams.
Pupils arrive in our unit through our own entrance, separate from the main school, at 9:00am either by Local authority transport or accompanied by their parents and carers. Pupils leave through this same point and are accompanied by members of staff at 3:00pm when the school day finishes.
The beginning of our day starts with a sensory diet and getting children ready for learning. Our broad and balanced curriculum is personalised to enable the children’s needs to be at the centre; this allows pupils to thrive and fulfil their potential.
Our lessons are highly differentiated, multi-sensory and cater to the pupil’s needs through small groups and 1:1 learning. Pupils have access to core subjects through a themed approach alongside specific interventions; such as fine motor skills, gym trail, language and communication, social skills, emotional literacy and Thrive. We also run a life skills curriculum to help our pupils gain independence and confidence in themselves; including Forest school, gardening and cooking. We believe the use of the natural environment can have a positive impact on children’s health and well-being and so we make good use of the extensive school grounds to enable the children to spend time being active, outdoors every day.
We are keen to involve parents and carers in their child’s learning at school as much as possible and use an online journal to communicate and provide an insight into their day through photos and videos.
The Nest is the RIBA Suffolk Design Award winner in 2023.
Judges were 'impressed by the inclusivity of the design, the response to the setting and how well the project responded to the brief. It was clear that the Architect and the School had worked closely to achieve a fantastic project, which sits comfortably in its woodlands setting – creating an integrated outdoor learning environment; a real pleasure to see when in a town centre school'.
Thanks to Lamp Films for the video of the setting accessible via the link below.
