Holly House School

Providing Positive Experiences for children.

 Welcome to Holly House

Holly House School is a co-educational residential special school catering for pupils with severe Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties that impact on their behaviour. Pupils are aged  between 7 & 14 years (Key Stage 2 and 3). The school offers up to 43 day places and can provide 8 residential placements on any one night.  Holly House is the only school in Derbyshire of its kind.

The general profile of a Holly House pupil is a boy (though we do now have one girl) with behavioural difficulties and associated disorders that have caused problems in mainstream schools. They may have been excluded or close to permanent exclusion and have missed parts of their education. They may have been on part-time timetables or educated away from the main class. Academically the boys are potentially at or just below national expectations, but in previous placements they have not managed to achieve this potential. All pupils admitted to Holly House have an Education & Health Care Plan (or statement of Special Educational Need). More recently pupils admitted to the school have more complex needs and we have seen a rise in the number of pupils with a diagnosis of Autism. We accept that most Holly House pupils lack the skills and self-control required to access mainstream education. It is our aim to equip pupils with these skills and prepare them for a return to mainstream schools at an appropriate time. This may be in Year 7 at the start of KS3, Year 8 or at the end of Year 9. A small number of pupils with more complex needs may not be ready for transition back to mainstream at the end of Year 9 and these will move on to other Special Schools, Behaviour Support or Alternative Provision.