Jake
Jake arrived at LVS Oxford halfway through Year 8, having been attending a mainstream secondary school for two hours each day. Now in Year 9, Jake is settled and enjoying his lessons, with maths, geography and art his favourite subjects.
“I look forward to the day ahead, whereas I used to struggle to get out of the house. Here, I actually want to come to school. It has been a major change for all of us, as my family have more freedom too, as they can handle other stuff, rather than just having to deal with me.”
A huge car enthusiast, Jake sees himself working with cars in the future. “I like designing my own electric cars,” he says.
“I’ve made lots of friends here, the lessons are great and I’m learning a lot more.”
Asked what he loves best about LVS Oxford, he smiles and answers: “The school dinners – they are better than anywhere else. Everyone talks about the school dinners. I have the same thing every day, a jacket potato, beans and cheese, it’s my favourite and it’s really good.” He adds, “and I’ve made lots of friends here, the lessons are great and I’m learning a lot more.”
He explains: “I’m enjoying maths, whereas I found it a struggle in mainstream school. There just wasn’t the help. Geography is great too – it’s taught by Joe, who makes it all so interesting. We’re looking at maps right now and I’d like to do my Duke of Edinburgh Award.”
In his Friday afternoon enrichment classes, the time students get to wind-down ready for the weekend, Jake enjoys playing football. “I can barely play, but I still manage to take part in a team. Football is one of the most popular enrichment activities.”
Jakes says: “Teachers here are all understanding of autism. No one is seen as being different – or you could say, everyone is the same by being different! They get why you might be feeling annoyed, angry or upset and they really want to do their best for us.”
An advocate for the school’s no homework policy, Jake says: “Not having homework gives students the freedom to do other things outside of school. It makes the students happier while in school too, knowing that they are able to take part in nice things after school.
“There are so many great things here, from the grounds – which are massive – to the cooking lessons, which are with Debbie and are great fun. It’s so cool to be able to cook – and a great life skill for when students live by themselves.”
Jake’s parents commented…
“On joining high school, it became evident quite early on that our son was never going to thrive in a mainstream educational environment. Like many other parents of neuro diverse children, we had our work cut out to firstly find him the right school and then, most importantly, secure him a place there. LVS Oxford has given our son the confidence to be himself, to engage in lessons that before he would have refused, to build meaningful relationships with both his peers and staff and most importantly, to thrive. In short, he now feels safe, seen and understood. He happily leaves for school in the morning ready to engage with the day – something this time last year we couldn’t allow ourselves to imagine.
“By combining expertise and experience with a caring, guiding and nurturing environment, LVS provides the whole package. The school ethos of Learning for Life means our son now has a positive future of opportunities for him to explore, fail or succeed at, but all the time building in confidence with a guiding hand. Although if you asked him what he liked the most about the school, he would probably say the puddings!”