Our expertise
Fairley House was established in 1982 and we have twenty five years experience as a school exclusively for children with specific learning difficulties.
Our whole school approach means that children are taught in small classes and small groups by specialist teachers, speech and language therapists and occupational therapists. Everything we do is tried and tested. We know what works with our children. The secret of our success is that the whole staff works as a team together with parents. Click here to see what a parent says.
We are experts at assessing each child and identifying exactly what they need. Our multi-disciplinary assessment team: educational psychologist, speech and language therapist, occupational therapist and specialist teacher all work together to produce a full picture of a child’s strengths and weaknesses over two days. This is fed back to parents in a comprehensive meeting. It forms the basis of the child’s IEP. A parent says. ‘The assessment was very thorough and detailed. It was great to have everyone there to discuss things with. We had previous assessments, but nobody had really understood our son the way the Fairley House team did’
Our Individual Education Plans (IEPs) reflect our expertise. Inspectors said, ‘The IEPs are excellent. Every pupil has an Individual Education Plan with precise, measurable targets and strategies on how to meet them; termly reviews and update of plans ensure that pupils are appropriately challenged and improve their basic skills’.
Our Principal, Jacqueline Murray, is an educational psychologist. She has worked for thirty years in the field of specific learning difficulties in the UK and in the USA. She has taught many children and adults with specific learning difficulties and was a tutor on the RSA diploma training teachers to teach pupils with specific learning difficulties at London University. She was Director of Watford Dyslexia Unit and has been a Special Needs Co-ordinator in a secondary school. She has been Principal of Fairley House School since 1997. Click here to see a message from the Principal.
Our therapists are unusual because they have further, specialist qualifications in specific learning difficulties. They are able to combine therapy with teaching reading and writing. The secret of our success is that therapy is not a ‘bolted on extra’ but an integral part of a child’s education.
The Occupational Therapists address visual perceptual, fine and gross motor difficulties and also work together with two visiting Orthoptists implementing programmes to improve ocular motor control. If your child has difficulty copying from the blackboard, with handwriting, co-ordinating movements, scanning across the page fluently or maintaining visual attention when reading, for example, our Occupational Therapists can help!
The Speech and Language Therapists address the child's ability to understand, process and use language effectively and appropriately. They can also help with auditory memory and sound processing skills, which underpin the acquisition of literacy. They also organise a hearing test for your child in school to ensure that this is not a contributing factor to your child’s difficulties. If your child has difficulty following instructions, expressing themselves fluently, hearing rhyme, breaking up words into sounds for reading and spelling, for example, our Speech and Language Therapists can help!
Our teachers usually come from mainstream schools because we want them to know what our children are aiming for and will have to be able to do when they go back to mainstream. Most come with a specialist qualification in teaching children with specific learning difficulties. However, teachers are chosen primarily because they come highly recommended as inspirational, creative and fun. We have specialist teachers for Music, Drama, Design Technology and ICT who bring out the best in our children who often have special talents in these areas. Click here to see the qualifications of our staff.
We are unique in taking the average child for 2 to 3 years and then returning them to mainstream schooling with the skills and confidence to cope.
See what parents and schools say.
‘Jack flew through Common Entrance as Ms Murray said he would’.
A housemaster at Reed’s School writes,
‘Jamie is a charming young man and a credit to your school’.
A head of year at Millfield writes,
‘Alexander has an excellent work ethic and a bright, intelligent mind’.
Click here to see schools FHS children have gone on to.
We have published a series of Maths books for children with mathematical learning difficulties.
To purchase Mel Lever's books site www.amazon.co.uk