Dan Y Coed School is part of the Orbis Education & Care Group, a sector-leading provider of specialist services for children and adults with complex needs associated with autism. Dan Y Coed School is a specialist school in Swansea supporting young people with autism and other complex learning needs.
Going for gold
In October 2023, they were awarded the Gold LOtC Mark for their commitment to ensuring their students have access to regular, high-quality learning experiences outside the classroom (LOtC). On hearing individual student stories and how they had progressed, it became clear that the impact of LOtC had been transformative. The staff at Dan Y Coed had gone above and beyond to support their students and enable them to thrive.
By the end of last year, attainment had been raised across the school. Students had broadened their interests and developed their own aspirations and have a good idea of what they would like to do when they leave the school.
Through providing opportunities for students to experience LOtC off-site, the school developed relationships with businesses and professionals in the local and wider community. These relationships are ongoing and have created a snowball effect, with members of the community now coming into the school to speak to students.
Here at Dan y Coed we are absolutely thrilled to have received the prestigious Gold LOtC Mark. Students and staff all fully embraced the journey of developing our LOtC provision and have had such fantastic experiences which have both broadened our young people’s interests and horizons as well as developing their skills and resilience. As a result, the progress made by students over the last year was incredible, not just with attainment across the curriculum but, even more significantly, with the social and communication skills of students throughout the school and the wider community, particularly within families. This in turn led to a noticeable improvement in well-being, self-esteem and confidence by all stakeholders, especially by the young people themselves.
The process of following the Progress Tracker, laid out by CLOtC, ensures that schools are able to provide the relevant evidence required to qualify for the Mark whilst ensuring that LOtC is fully embedded throughout all aspects of school life. Our LOtC journey has now provided us with a solid foundation to build on our Careers and Work-Related Experiences whilst continuing to further drive our LOtC standards and provision to benefit the lives and outcomes of our students at Dan Y Coed.
Claire Williams, Deputy Head, Dan Y Coed School
What’s next?
The school recently won an innovation award within the Orbis Education & Care company. Following on from the success of Dan Y Coed, The Orbis Group Schools are now pioneering for LOtC to be rolled out across their other schools. Dan Y Coed School are now embarking on new projects working with local schools to support them in developing their LOtC practice.
You can read some of their inspiring student stories on their website.
