The Lighthouse – Specialist Resource Provision

A place to belong, grow and shine

The Lighthouse is St. Edmund’s Church of England Primary School’s Specialist Resource Provision (SRP) for children with autism and/or Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN).

Opening from September 2026, The Lighthouse provides up to 20 specialist places for primary-aged children with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) whose needs require additional specialist provision alongside the opportunities offered by a mainstream school.

The Lighthouse is not a separate school within St. Edmund’s. It is an integral part of our school community.

Our aim is for every child within The Lighthouse to feel that they belong at St. Edmund’s, while receiving the specialist teaching, environment and support they need to communicate, learn, develop independence and flourish.

Our approach

Every child is unique. Children attending The Lighthouse therefore have a personalised approach based upon their individual strengths, interests, communication profile and needs.

Pupils have access to dedicated specialist teaching spaces, additional resources and an enhanced level of adult support. At the same time, they remain part of the wider life of St. Edmund’s and are supported to access mainstream classes, activities and experiences whenever this is appropriate for them.

Inclusion does not mean that every child has to do the same thing, in the same place, at the same time.

For us, inclusion means ensuring that every child has what they need to participate, achieve, develop relationships and experience a genuine sense of belonging.

Our provision therefore balances:

• specialist teaching and intervention;
• communication and interaction support;
• access to the wider curriculum;
• opportunities to learn and socialise alongside peers;
• sensory and emotional regulation;
• development of independence and life skills; and
• preparation for the next stage of each child’s education.

The Lighthouse Team

The Lighthouse is led by a dedicated team of staff who work closely together to understand and respond to the needs of each individual child.

Class Teacher
Mrs Kirk-Watson

Trust Inclusion Lead
Mrs Ruth Stoneham

Mrs Stoneham oversees the development of The Lighthouse as part of our wider Trust approach to inclusion, working alongside school leaders and staff to ensure high-quality specialist provision and inclusive practice.

Teaching Assistants
Mrs Carly
Mrs Santer
Miss Davies
Ms Elaine Cardon-IIach

Our team builds strong, consistent relationships with pupils. Predictability, trust and knowing each child well are central to the way The Lighthouse operates.

Working with specialist professionals

Children within The Lighthouse benefit from a multidisciplinary approach.

Our school team works alongside specialist professionals including:

• Speech and Language Therapy (SALT);
• Occupational Therapy (OT); and
• Educational Psychology (EP).

Advice from professionals helps us to understand each child’s profile and ensure that appropriate strategies are embedded within their everyday learning rather than existing only as separate interventions.

Where appropriate, this work may support areas such as communication and interaction, sensory processing, emotional regulation, physical development, learning and independence.

Communication at the heart of our provision

The Lighthouse has been established particularly for pupils whose communication needs are central to their SEND profile.

We recognise that communication is much broader than spoken language.

Children may communicate and understand the world in different ways, and our staff adapt the environment, teaching and interactions to enable each pupil to communicate successfully.

Our goal is to help every child develop an effective means of expressing themselves, making choices, building relationships and becoming increasingly independent.

Learning alongside the St. Edmund’s community

Being part of a mainstream primary school provides children within The Lighthouse with opportunities to learn, play and develop relationships within our wider school community.

Inclusion is carefully planned around the needs of each individual pupil.

For one child, this might mean spending significant parts of the day within their mainstream class. For another, it may begin with joining peers for lunch, collective worship, playtime, a particular curriculum subject, a trip or a special school event.

These opportunities can develop over time as children become increasingly confident and ready.

We want pupils within The Lighthouse to benefit from the opportunities available across St. Edmund’s, while always having access to the specialist support and environment they need.

Working in partnership with families

Parents and carers know their children exceptionally well and are essential partners in their education.

We aim to develop strong, open relationships with families from the point a child joins The Lighthouse.

We will celebrate successes together, communicate about children’s learning and development and work collaboratively when challenges arise.

We also work closely with families and professionals when children are approaching important transitions, including joining St. Edmund’s and preparing eventually for secondary education.

A local provision for local children

The Lighthouse has been developed to help meet the need for additional specialist provision for children with autism and speech, language and communication needs within the local area.

We are proud to build upon St. Edmund’s existing experience of supporting children with SEND and to provide a setting where specialist expertise and mainstream education work together.

Our ambition is for more children to receive the support they need within their own community, while benefiting from being part of a mainstream primary school.

Letting every light shine

Our Christian vision, “Let your light shine”, is particularly important to our approach to inclusion.

We believe that every child has strengths, gifts and potential.

Our responsibility is not to expect children to fit a single model of education, but to understand what enables each individual child to thrive.

Through The Lighthouse, we want children to feel:

I belong here.
I am understood.
I can communicate.
I can learn.
I can be myself.
I can succeed.

The Lighthouse is therefore about much more than a specialist classroom. It is part of our commitment to ensuring that every child at St. Edmund’s is known, valued and given the opportunity to let their light shine.

Admissions to The Lighthouse

Places within The Lighthouse are specialist provision places for pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and are commissioned through Kent County Council.

Admission to the SRP is therefore different from applying for a mainstream place at St. Edmund’s.

Families interested in specialist provision should discuss their child’s needs and placement with their SEND caseworker or Kent County Council, rather than applying directly to the school for an SRP place.