Daniel
After seven years at LVS Oxford, Dan finished Year 13 to join a residential special needs college, called Derwen, where he continues to thrive.
Recalling how LVS Oxford helped him to successfully transition from school to college, Dan remembers how school facilitated visits to the college to help him familiarise himself with his new surroundings, and even visited him at college, after he started there.
“I liked my time at LVS and I liked the staff who understood I have autism. I enjoyed my placement at Blenheim Palace. I made friends, one is at Derwen with me,” says Dan, whose parent Lindsey adds: “The communication and transition into and out of LVS were very well handled. The caring environment and their whole-child approach helped him to settle in well. We felt that we worked well as a team with the teaching staff and the deputy head teacher, so that he got the most out of his schooling and any issues could be nipped in the bud.”
“LVS enabled Dan to have the self-confidence to go onto college.”
Lindsey continued, “The catering staff were brilliant. When he first arrived, Dan would only eat packed lunches from home but by the end of the first year, because of their care and encouragement, he trusted them sufficiently to eat school meals every day.”
Dan continues: “I don’t know yet what I want to do. I think I have built on what I learnt at LVS while at college. I am better at communicating what I need and that helps people help me when I struggle.”
And Lindsey says: “His time at LVS has enabled Dan to have the self-confidence to go onto residential special needs college where he continues to flourish. It has been nice that LVS remains in contact with us and shows an interest in Dan’s development.”