Moor House School & College

Moor House is a Non-Maintained Special School and College, a registered charity and a world class centre of excellence, consistently rated outstanding by Ofsted. It provides specialist education, therapy and residential care for children and young people with speech and language needs, including Developmental Language Disorder (DLD).

We provide a nurturing environment where experienced teams care for the educational, emotional and developmental needs of each student, preparing them for a safe, happy and fulfilling life. Moor House provides integrated teaching, therapy and residential care services for students with DLD.

Each student is surrounded by a multi-disciplinary team, supporting their learning and emotional well-being with intensive speech and language therapy, specialist literacy intervention, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and psychotherapy. Students receive one-to-one and small group teaching and bespoke therapy, and have access to a range of activities to develop new skills and build friendships.

This enables students to reach their highest educational and communication potential, and also to develop much higher levels of independent living skills, self-expression, and self-esteem.

Learning

Students are taught in small groups by teachers with experience working with children with language difficulties. Adapted language and specialist teaching strategies are used so that students can understand and develop the language that they need for learning.

Speech and language therapists (SLTs) work closely with teachers to support each child's difficulties and strengths. Teachers plan and deliver lessons collaboratively with SLTs to help students develop curriculum language.

Curriculum and Progress (School)

Our school provides a mainstream curriculum which is differentiated for language. Speech and Language therapy is integrated throughout the curriculum through the consistent use of specialist systems such as the SHAPE CODING™ system, signing with grammatical markers and Cued Articulation.

Our approach ensures that our students achieve their learning potential, maximise their communication skills, and become happy, confident, independent and valued members of society.

College (Sixth Form) Curriculum

Moor House College is the co-educational sixth form provision of Moor House offering both day and weekly residential placements.

Students continue to receive individualised Speech and Language Therapy intervention delivered in 1:1 sessions, small groups and direct classroom support. Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Psychotherapy and Specialist Literacy interventions also continue and are embedded across the curriculum.

Students study a broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum, incorporating the requirements of their chosen vocational courses as well as Maths, English and PSHCE qualifications. These are highly modified in language content and presentation, to ensure our students significant language needs are met.

Speech and Language Therapy

SLTs work throughout the day with students, individually, in groups, as well as in the classroom where lessons such as English are jointly planned and delivered.

Each therapist has a small caseload of children and gets to know their abilities and personalities. The intensive therapy programme may focus on learning skills, developing strategies to communicate, and support the student to understand their own strengths and difficulties. We teach skills for talking in everyday situations, language for lessons, social skills, friendship skills and independence.

We have developed specialist evidence-based methods such as Electropalatography (EPG), Shape Coding by Susan Ebbels® and signing with grammatical markers.

Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapists (OTs) work on life skills to help students develop their independence in areas such as handwriting, touch typing, doing up a tie or shoe laces, travel or cooking skills. Strategies are provided to develop sensory processing in lessons to manage and improve attention control.

We have a dedicated Team of OTs and a fully equipped OT suite which includes sensory integration equipment. The therapists communicate regularly with parents about their child's progress.

Residential Care

Our residential community provides single room facilities within our beautiful Village; three newly built student houses, located around a communal square for relaxing after school.

The students frequently describe their house as a 'home from home' and their wellbeing is assured by their key workers, who look after students' emotional welfare and provide a range of therapeutic strategies after school in a happy, stimulating and caring environment.

Our Residential Care continues to be rated "Outstanding" by Ofsted who noted: "Students thrive at this residential special school. It is a safe, vibrant and inclusive environment which promotes and enables everyone's strengths and abilities. The celebration of individual uniqueness and a culture of high aspirations and equal opportunities mean that the students have life-changing experiences." Ofsted Care Report 2024

Moor House Research and Training

Our Institute is at the forefront of research into the effectiveness of therapy interventions for school aged students with Developmental Language Disorder.

This ensures the work we do with students in our setting is driven by the most current evidence, whilst we also provide a range of outreach, information and training services in all aspects of speech and language disabilities for parents and the wider community.

For more information visit moorhouseinstitute.com