A warm welcome to Bower Grove School’s website. 

We are very proud of our school and extend a warm welcome to you from all the pupils, staff and governors.  I hope you find the information on these pages helpful and informative.  We are extremely proud of our Outstanding OFSTED grade, our Inclusion Quality Mark for Excellence, and our Gold Standard Investors in People Award. Along with other special schools in Kent, we belong to a school co-operative trust called Kent Special Educational Needs Trust (KSENT). 

Bower Grove School is a special school for pupils who have social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) needs, autism spectrum conditions (ASC), social communication difficulties, and associated learning difficulties. We are a co-educational school for children aged 4-16 years old with a pupil population of over two hundred. All our pupils have an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) and our classes typically have no more than twelve pupils. 

Our school has an inclusive ethos. Pupils can join us throughout the school year and may often have experienced periods of disrupted learning or time out of school.  We adapt our teaching to the needs of our pupils. Our skilled team of staff ensures high-quality support gets our pupils back on track, so they can experience success and make great progress. Our school offers a range of vocational and academic qualifications, including GCSEs for our highest achievers. We communicate high aspirations to all and our year 11 pupils progress on to college courses, apprenticeships, or more specialist provisions. 

Our educational curriculum provides three different learning pathways.  Most pupils will follow the main school timetabled lessons.  In addition, the broader curriculum experiences for these pupils include a wide variety of sporting activities, vocational and work-related learning, as well as opportunities for developing strong social, emotional, and self-regulation skills.   

Alternatively, some pupils will access our Enrichment Provision. This offers a different pathway for a small group of our most emotionally fragile pupils. It provides a supported focus on life skills and independence within a highly personalised educational programme  at the school. 

A smaller number of our pupils benefit from a learning pathway that builds on their home learning skills with progression to school attendance.  

Our catchment area is very wide with some pupils travelling over twenty miles to school each day. Most pupils have transport provided by the local authority. We are aware that many families live quite a long way away from our school site. Our home/school partnership are greatly valued and we work hard to build strong relationships and positive communication with our parents and carers.  

As well as our main setting we also have a satellite provision with ten places based within West Borough Primary School in Maidstone. This is for pupils in years 3 -6 who have a diagnosis of an Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) and are able to cope academically alongside mainstream peers with appropriate strategies and support. Pupils in our satellite provision will usually progress to mainstream secondary schools (including grammar schools) who have designated ASC provision or Autism Specialist special schools.   

All our pupils are encouraged to have a voice and take a shared responsibility for our school community. We have an active School Council and Captains and Vice Captains for our three houses Neptune, Mercury and Mars. (Pupil zone page) 

Our school governing body, led by our Chair of Governors, Mr. Mark Kirby, is a strong and supportive team who take an active interest in all aspects of the school and pupil progression and presence during are a regular the school day.  

Our school staff can be contacted via telephone and email communication from parents and carers. We have an ‘open door’ policy and welcome your visits. We have several groups to support including a lively school Facebook page, an active Parent Support Group, and our Parents, Friends and Teachers Association (PFTA). These aim to promotes our sense of community with our pupils’ families. Our active Parent Support Group meets regularly at school and hosts speakers and workshops as well as offering a friendly, welcome, and listening ear to anyone supporting children and young people experiencing difficulties. Our Parents, Friends, and Teachers Association (PFTA) works tirelessly organising social and fundraising events to raise money to support our school.  

We encourage everyone in our school to be respectful, responsible, and ready to learn and we believe that ‘Together We Inspire and Achieve’.  

Mrs M Cleave  

Head Teacher