Special School Grounds Development Project

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Furze Down School is a community special school for 188 pupils aged 4 -19 years located in the north of Buckinghamshire, specialising in Communication and Interaction. The Special Educational Needs of pupils at the school are complex and all pupils have an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP). Pupil’s needs fall predominantly within the broad label of Communication and Interaction and they will have one or more of the following needs outlined in their EHCP; Language/Speech Delay or Disorder, Significant Autistic Spectrum Condition, Physical or Mental Needs. Coupled with this, many of our pupils have a range of significant social, emotional and mental health difficulties. Our specialist status was awarded in July 2009, in recognition of our leading practice in supporting children with Communication and Interaction difficulties. Ofsted ranked the school as outstanding in 2006, 2009, 2104 and 2018.

We are currently embarking on a large outdoor project at Furze Down ‘The Big Picture’ which focuses on outdoor development of our 8 acre site by improving: site accessibility (wheelchair access), planting, resources, inclusion and biodiversity.

• Previous fundraising campaigns have largely been directed to support capital project delivery, internal resourcing, and specific, single items of equipment and now is the time to build upon our success and expand our capabilities and facilities for both the present and the future needs of our pupils.

• We want to ensure that our outdoor environments are fully inclusive and provide all our learners, whether ambulant or non-ambulant, with sensory stimulus, a rich provision of opportunities to develop self-esteem and confidence, while also developing the skills to adapt to a range of new challenges. Our intention is not just to improve our grounds, biodiversity and accessibility, but to design engaging spaces that reflect the values and ethos of our school.

• Key areas across our site require tidying and could be improved through planned clearance and planting of appropriate, flowers, shrubs and trees. We also have an extensive perimeter which requires significant, additional planting as it backs on to a new housing development and we would like to ensure that we have sufficient screening in place.

• Two Forest Schools, which are located at the perimeter of the site in the Primary and Secondary phases, provide a natural outdoor learning experience for our pupils but require further development.

• Our school pond and swale area provide opportunities to attract wildlife and support activities such as pond dipping but require design and planting improvement.

• A significant number of our pupils experience sensory processing difficulties and the development of sensory/reflection gardens will provide a therapeutic landscape, designed to stimulate the senses, and will include planting which focuses on the 5 senses: touch, smell, sight, taste, and hearing.

• Promoting biodiversity will provide our students with educational, hands-on opportunities to make positive environmental impacts. Hanging birdhouses, planting wildflower gardens, and expanding recycling programs will benefit our school’s local ecosystem. We intend to bring biodiversity into the classroom, and find ways to incorporate environmental topics in lesson plans across subjects.

• Embarking upon this ambitious journey, we have already made strong links with a wealth of expertise from Buckinghamshire including: ecologists, lepidopterists, pond experts, ornithologists, and like-minded nature enthusiasts