FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

All pupils admitted to Divergent Schools have special educational needs connected to sensory and communication difficulties. This may mean they have diagnosis such as ADHD, Autism, Learning Difficulties or Developmental Delay.

We consider if our class size, of 6 - 10, and staff ratio, of at least 1:5, is optimum for meeting the needs of the child. We also think carefully about if the child is likely, with the right support, to be able to access some mainstream education over time in order to receive the full benefit of our model.

Our provision wouldn’t be the right fit for children who routinely require physical intervention.

All Divergent Schools are co-ed, with different schools catering to different ages; Primary (Key Stage 2 only), Secondary and Sixth Form. 

Every Divergent School has a partnership with a local mainstream school, from each pupil’s second year onwards they have the opportunity to access some lesson there. Pupils continue to be based in our special school environment, but will attend mainstream lessons for up to 25% of their timetable, with the support of their Divergent School staff. 

This gives pupil’s valuable opportunities to access facilities, such as science labs, and join bigger groups, such as for drama productions, in the areas of the curriculum where this works for them.

Small group sessions of Occupational Therapy and Speech & Language Therapy are provided to all pupils. 

Individual therapy sessions are also available to all pupils if, following the therapist’s assessment, this is considered the right option for them.

All pupils benefit from our integrated therapies approach, which impacts on all aspects of school life. 

Most pupil’s placements are paid for by Local Authorities through the EHCP process, although we do consider parent-paid placements in a small minority of cases. 

• Cutting-edge neuro-phychological approaches
• A special school provision with some integration to mainstream education
• Therapy available for all pupils
• All staff have previous experience working in special schools
• All staff are qualified for their role
• All lessons are taught by qualified teachers

• As a Community Interest Company, large amounts of profit cannot be withdrawn from The Divergent School Group. This protects our child-first, rather than profit-first, values.
• One of our core purposes is keeping fees low and being transparent about how they are spent, for both Local Authorities and the tax payer.
• We have a short organisational structure, Headteachers report directly to the top of the organisation, so that all leaders are close the realities of day to day school life.  

Please get in touch using the contact details above, we’d be happy to discuss what your child needs and talk through the next potential steps.