A bingdon House School, Purley
Catering to ages 1117, year groups 7-11
Class sizes of 10 students
Mainstream curriculum delivered with an integrated therapeutic approach
Students working towards GCSE and equivalent qualifications
Supporting unique learning profiles including those associated with autism, ADHD, specific learning difficulties (SpLD), sensory processing disorders, and social communication needs
Welcome
At Abingdon House School, Purley, our mission is to equip every student with the academic and personal skills they need to fulfil their potential and achieve independence beyond our doors.
We feel passionately that every student is entitled to an aspirational, nurturing, and inspiring learning environment, with teaching tailored to how they learn best.
Abingdon House School, Purley provides a mainstream-style education with specialist teaching and an integrated approach to therapy in a supportive and collaborative school community. We remove the barriers and limitations that are all too often placed on young people with special educational needs, while fostering an enjoyment of learning where creativity and individualism are celebrated.
We understand that the surest route for every student to a rewarding and successful school experience is a sense of personal achievement. In providing this, we can help our pupils build the confidence, skills, knowledge, and ultimately the self-belief necessary to become happy and productive global citizens.
We are enormously ambitious in regards to what our young people can achieve and are looking to change the perception of what neurodiverse students are capable of.
We warmly welcome you to come and visit to get to know us better.
Jonathan Mansell Headteacher
A bespoke approach to education
Abingdon House School, Purley provides a warm, nurturing environment in which we meet the specific learning needs of our pupils, helping them succeed as they work towards GCSE and equivalent qualifications. We integrate academic, social, therapeutic, and mental health support throughout our curriculum and in every aspect of the school day.
Our environment is based on understanding pupils’ individual needs and the way they learn best, reducing barriers to learning and success.
Our team of highly committed teachers, teaching assistants, therapists, and support staff work seamlessly together to reduce barriers to learning. We have a low staff-to-student ratio and small class sizes to ensure personalised, tailored support across all aspects of the school day.
The teaching style is multi-sensory and the school day is structured with clear routines
and expectations.
Our classes are grouped based on academic and social ability and need, which provides every child with the opportunity to progress and achieve success relative to their individual starting points. We understand the importance of discipline and boundaries, alongside teaching skills for learning and skills for life. Our sense of pride and belonging encourages every child to progress and achieve at school and beyond.
Making school a positive place
Many students join us after negative previous school experiences. They may struggle with low confidence, anxiety, and self-esteem, and may have spent some time out of education. Abingdon House School, Purley welcomes such students, providing a community that understands them and their needs. We strive to make every pupil feel valued, safe, and supported.
We embrace and celebrate difference, effort in its many guises, and achievement in both academic and personal development.
We aim to help our students grow a belief in their own abilities and to recognise their many strengths.
“The
difference your staff have made to every child who attends is profound. The care, consistency, and belief in young people is felt daily, not just talked about. You don’t just educate students, you nurture confidence, independence, and hope for the future.”
Parent
Our curriculum
In Key Stage 3, we have a strong focus on the development of literacy and numeracy skills. We teach core subjects of English, Maths, Science, and PSHE and additional foundation subjects such as Humanities, Art, PE, Food Tech, Drama, Music, Design Technology, and British Sign Language.
Personal development is at the core of all of our teaching and is taught through specific lessons in Social Skills and Life Skills. We support our students with developing friendships, having positive and productive interactions, and developing their selfimage, confidence, and self-esteem.
As students move into Key Stage 4, they engage in a personalised course of study leading to opportunities for external qualifications at GCSE and equivalent level. Subjects are taught by subject-specific teachers and pupils are organised into groups to suit their ability and learning needs.
The ongoing development of life skills continues to be integral in Key Stage 4. Our structured programme supports students in areas including money management, independent travel, time management, personal care, and meal preparation, fostering confidence and independence for life beyond our doors.
We have a whole-school focus on recognising and celebrating every individual’s efforts, successes, and achievements. We take a positive approach to behavioural management that includes rewards across the school, weekly assemblies, and termly prizegiving ceremonies.
Therapeutic support
Speech and language therapy and occupational therapy are integrated into the curriculum, delivered through a combination of class, group, and individual sessions.
Our highly trained therapists and emotional literacy support assistants also lead training in whole-school approaches including relational practice, positive behaviour support, and trauma-aware practice, ensuring consistency across all areas of school life.
Mental health support underpins everything we do at Abingdon House School, Purley.
We have a dedicated wellbeing and engagement team, counselling, and music therapy to help students develop positive self-esteem and emotional resilience.
Curriculum beyond the classroom
At Abingdon House School, Purley, we believe that education extends beyond the traditional classroom setting.
We offer a diverse range of activities, enrichment opportunities, and school visits designed to foster the academic, social, and personal development of our pupils. These practical activities and courses give our young people the opportunity to broaden and generalise their skills and aspirations.
Some highlights include:
Outdoor enrichment: We have a substantial outdoor space featuring a kitchen garden and school pond, bringing with it opportunities to learn about horticulture, biodiversity, and ecosystem development.
Educational visits: We are conveniently located for trips to London and surrounding areas, with regular trips to the likes of the Science Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Brighton Marine Life Centre, Imperial War Museum, and Royal Festival Hall.
Life skills: Our life skills lessons include external visits to cafes, restaurants, shops, and local attractions.
Sports: Students enjoy a range of opportunities to participate in team sports, both with their peers and against other schools.
Residential trips: All age groups have the opportunity to take part in residential trips which help develop resilience, teamwork, and social skills.
Aspirational outcomes
We have high expectations for all our students, ensuring they leave us with vital skills that are sustained well into adulthood. Everything we do is focused on helping them lead happy, fulfilling lives with a strong sense of direction.
Each student has a bespoke pupil profile, developed by our multidisciplinary team and maintained and regularly updated in line with the individual’s progress and developing needs. These plans detail requirements around personalised adaptations and therapeutic and mental health support, alongside targets and steps towards outcomes in learning, communication, social and mental health needs.
We monitor progress through a rigorous system of assessment and tracking, and ensure families are engaged in the process through regular parent-teacher meetings, whole-school events and regular reports.
We have a diverse range of GCSE and equivalent qualifications on offer for students in Key Stage 4.
Employability themes and skills are embedded throughout the curriculum, including dedicated careers lessons for all year groups. From Year 8, students take part in formal employability qualifications through the King’s Trust. Everyone has access to 1:1 careers information, advice, and guidance interviews with a qualified careers advisor, ensuring they are informed and empowered to make decisions about their goals and next steps.
Our first cohort of leavers graduate in Summer 2026, all of whom plan to go on to post-16 education.
Admissions
We understand how important choosing the right school for your child is, and that process can be challenging. We are here to help.
Abingdon House School, Purley is able to accommodate neurodiverse students with a range of needs through our specialist approach within a mainstream-styled framework.
However, we are not the right fit for children and young people whose primary presenting need is behavioural (including PDA), those who require an ABA approach, and those who are working at a level below the National Curriculum.
While the majority of our students have Education, Health & Care Plans, it is not a requirement for admission, and privately funded pupils are welcome to apply through the same process. Enrolment is yearround, and we aim to have new starters join us at the beginning of a term or half-term where possible.
We welcome enquiries from parents and carers, Local Authorities, and educational placement consultants.
Procedure
for admissions:
Fill out an enquiry form to register your interest in our school: abingdonpurley.openapply.com/roi. Be sure to include any information that might be helpful for us to determine whether we can meet your child’s needs, including school reports, EHCPs, and therapist assessments.
If after reviewing paperwork we feel we may be able to meet your child’s needs, you are welcome to tour the school with our team. We run regular small group tours for parents and carers to get a better understanding of our school environment.
Following a tour, we will invite your child to a trial day. Staff will observe them throughout the trial and assess the suitability of the placement.
In addition to the trial, we may speak with your child’s current school or arrange additional assessment. Once we have all the information we need, we will let you know if we can meet your child’s needs and if there is a place available at the school.
For more information about the admissions process, plrase visit our website: www.abingdonhouseschool.co.uk/ purley-senior-school
Take a tour of our school
Our School Group
We are part of Cavendish Education, a family of independent schools for neurodiverse learners in London and beyond. This connection gives us direct access to expertise and knowledgesharing across leading specialist schools, including the very best research-led approaches to student-centred teaching and learning.
Our ethos is underpinned by Cavendish’s four Cs: confidence, competence, creativity, and character. These core values guide every aspect of life at Abingdon House School, Purley, and encompass the skills and traits we aim to empower our students with.