Arden College

About the students

Located near Southport, Arden College provides day and residential provision for young people aged 16-25 years with complex barriers to learning, including autism and learning difficulties.

Catchment

The college accepts students from across the UK, although the majority are from the North West

Curriculum

The curriculum at Arden College is specially adapted to meet the needs of our learners. We have small class sizes of typically no more than five students, giving young people substantial time with staff members who can provide the more intensive support they need to progress and succeed. The college has high staff to student ratios and offers one-to-one support, or higher as needed.

Our teaching staff work closely with our therapy team to ensure that learning meets each student's specific communication and sensory needs. Many lessons are structured to include a high amount of practical activity, which increases learner engagement and promotes the retention of new skills.

The college offers both accredited and unaccredited learning pathways to suit students' needs, ranging from pre-entry to Level 2, and areas include English, Maths, independence skills, work preparation and employability skills.

Specialist facilities

The college has modern, well-equipped learning spaces developed with our young people's needs in mind. In January 2021 we opened our new site in Banks, just outside Southport. The college is designed to meet the sensory and learning needs of students with autism and provides a low stimulus and visually structured environment.

Arden Cafe and Arden Beauty Centre both enable our students to develop their employability and life skills by working in real world environments that are open to the public. In our cafe, they work under the guidance of a chef to prepare meals to order and interact with members of the public by taking orders and serving.

The students learn vocational hair and beauty skills at our hair salon and beauty therapy suite, which also has a classroom to further facilitate learning. Both facilities are also ideal for students to build their confidence and skills in community activities, such as ordering food, socialising with friends and having their hair cut.

Our Horticulture Centre has extensive grounds and the horticulture course runs all year. We grow organic fruit and vegetables and are proud that our apples and pears are used to make Arden's Cider, in collaboration with Thatchers Cider.

Residential provision is located across a number of small homes, in close proximity to the main college site. Each student has their own bedroom and will typically share areas such as kitchen and lounge with one or two other residents, providing them with opportunities to further develop their social interaction skills.

Other information