Education at Ashdown Garden School
Through craft and land-based activities, pupils develop resilience, responsibility, and a strong sense of community. The use of natural materials and outdoor learning environments supports pupils’ physical and emotional well-being, with drama and art further enriching this holistic approach, helping students build confidence, communication skills, and self-awareness.
The curriculum
The curriculum at Ashdown Garden School is based upon Ruskin Mill Trust’s Practical Skills Therapeutic Education (PSTE) method—a unique, research-informed approach to learning and human development. This method has evolved over more than 30 years of working with children and young people who have complex additional needs.
Our curriculum encourages students to learn primarily through hands-on experiences outside the classroom, including crafts, farming, horticulture, and nature-based exploration. These activities help students build a tangible understanding of the world around them and cultivate a sense of belonging and connection to their community.
Through these shared practical experiences, students and teachers develop strong, trusting relationships. Working side-by-side in craft workshops or on the land allows teachers to engage with students in a calm, purposeful environment, where mutual respect and understanding can grow naturally. These relationships are central to the therapeutic and educational journey, helping students feel safe, valued, and ready to learn.
Inspired in part by Rudolf Steiner’s view that practical and artistic activities support holistic child development, PSTE places emphasis on nurturing the whole person—physically, emotionally, and socially. This philosophy is embedded in the Trust’s Seven Fields of Practice, which guide the educational journey.
Students also work toward recognised qualifications, which are embedded within the practical curriculum. These qualifications provide structure and recognition for each student’s growth, supporting pathways into further education, employment, or independent living.
At Ashdown Garden School, we support students in developing the skills to regulate their emotions, focus their attention, form meaningful relationships, and contribute positively to their community. Through this journey, each individual gains confidence, self-worth, and a renewed sense of their own potential.
Ruskin Mill Trust continues to research and refine its method through partnerships with universities and its own postgraduate programmes, ensuring the method remains responsive and evidence-informed.
All children and young people have a carefully planned programme of study, developed through collaboration between the education, land, therapy, and care teams, along with the child and young person’s family and wider support network.
Each child and young person has termly learning aims in all areas of their education, including maths, science, English, independent living, in addition to their Education, Health, and Care Plan outcomes. These aims are tailored to the needs of each individual in order to assure that they are meaningful, achievable, and ambitious. Progress is regularly assessed to ensure that each individual is moving towards the level of independence that their abilities and aspirations allow.
The typical individual level of need means that children and young people each require individualised attention from trained educational professionals, and so class sizes are small, often consisting of groups of only four or five individuals with a teacher and appropriate levels of teaching assistants and support staff. In addition to allowing for individualised attention, classes are designed to foster healthy interactions between peers at a similar level, leading to the development of social skills and peer relationships.
Beginning with the safe and supportive space of the classroom, children and young people are encouraged to develop confidence through moving further into the outdoors, whether in the school’s garden, woodland, farm, or craft workshops.
Through supportive programmes, each individual is challenged to encounter new sensory experiences, which will give them confidence and provide the basis for their educational and therapeutic development. By engaging in activities that have real meaning and purpose, children and young people develop a sense of belonging and of their ability to contribute to their community.
The children and young people spend as much time as possible outside of the classroom, exploring and learning in the natural world. The site and the curriculum are oriented to continually challenge our children and young people to venture further into the world and learn increasingly complex skills, while simultaneously ensuring that they have the appropriate support to remain safe and engaged in learning.
Over the course of their journey, children and young people move further from their classroom and towards the surrounding community, working with highly skilled land and outdoor skills tutors to develop their sensory, emotional, and cognitive profiles and abilities in line with their individual outcomes and aspirations.
The academic year is driven by the seasons and educational teams adjust the delivery of education in relation to the opportunities given by the changing environment. This learning is reinforced and deepened through festivals and seasonal celebrations to which the children and young people contribute and in which they participate.
By linking the curriculum to the movement of the seasons, the children and young people develop a sense of time and sequence, as well as their place within a larger cycle of how our culture adapts to the changing of the seasons.
As an independent school we follow the independent school standards and teach to the following curriculum areas:
Careers Education
Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) Lead: Matt Keal
Identified Trustee for CEIAG: Tara Gratton
Ruskin Mill Trust’s vision is that each individual has the potential to shape their own future through experiencing meaningful relationships with universe, earth and people. Our careers programme, which is aspirational, developmentally appropriate and tailored to the individual needs of our students, plays an integral and transformative role in a student’s journey towards self-generated conscious action and re-imagining their potential to positively contribute to society.
Ashdown Garden School works in partnership with Future Smart Careers to ensure that Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) remains high quality, impartial and embedded throughout the curriculum and school. We believe that this can help to instil a sense of purpose and responsibility in our students, raise aspirations and inform their next steps and longer-term goals.
Our careers programme and curriculum are guided by the Gatsby framework and tailored around its 8 Benchmarks:
- A stable careers programme
- Learning from career and labour market information
- Addressing the needs of each student
- Linking curriculum learning to careers
- Encounters with employers and employees
- Experiences of workplaces
- Encounters with further and higher education
- Personal guidance
Read the latest Gatsby benchmark assessment for Ashdown Garden School
Download the Ashdown Garden School CEIAG curriculum
We welcome any feedback from students, ex-students, parents and carers, or external partners and employers about our careers programme. This can remain anonymous, or if you’d like to discuss anything further, please leave your name and contact details and our Careers Lead will get in touch.
Outdoor Learning
Ashdown Garden School is set within tranquil cultivated land, including grazing land, woodlands, orchard and vegetable gardens, and large mature trees. There is a wide diversity of ecosystems within this, including woodlands and grassland.
We ensure that every child and young person at the school spends time during their day outdoors; in the gardens, with the livestock on the farm and in the woodlands. Engaging in the natural environment, experiencing the seasons, helping to grow vegetables and fruit and meeting and caring for farm animals all provide opportunities for individual development. Willow is collected from the river side for basket making and wool is taken from the sheep for textiles.
This can begin with early experiences of sensory engagement (e.g. touching, tasting, feeling), moving through to making relationships (e.g. feeding a sheep), through to contributing to the wider school community and locality (e.g. helping to harvest and pack vegetables for the school kitchens or home).
The farm environment offers the opportunity for a myriad of entry points depending on where the child and young person’s journey begins and, through bespoke tutor led sessions, the child and young person’s individual learning needs are planned and catered for. To do this, carefully designed activities and infrastructure are created to give the safest and most accessible opportunities for engagement in the farm landscape for our children and young people.
Engagement in the natural world is an integral part of our educational offer which contributes to the child and young person’s development of integration, understanding and well-being. Our little piece of the natural world, our farmland and grounds, are viewed as an educational journey that the child and young person can move through at their own pace.
Fundamental British Values
At Ruskin Mill Trust Schools, we actively promote positive, inclusive values that reflect the expectations of life in modern Britain. These include democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. We believe these values are essential for all individuals living in Britain, regardless of nationality, culture, or religious background.
Our vision, curriculum, and daily practice reflect these values. We place great emphasis on building positive relationships—among students and between staff and students—through shared experiences in craft, land-based learning, and community engagement. These activities help develop mutual respect, cooperation, and a sense of responsibility.
British values are embedded across school life:
- Democracy is promoted through student voice activities and collaborative decision-making.
- The rule of law is explored through restorative approaches and clear behavioural expectations.
- Individual liberty is supported by encouraging pupils to make choices within a safe and supportive environment.
- Mutual respect and tolerance are cultivated through inclusive practices, cultural awareness, and celebrating diversity.
Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) is also integral to our provision. We believe high-quality, objective guidance helps young people develop a sense of purpose, raise aspirations, and prepare for meaningful adult lives.
Through our Practical Skills Therapeutic Education (PSTE) approach, pupils not only gain qualifications and practical skills but also develop the values and character needed to thrive in modern British society.
We value inclusive learning and living activities that integrate practical activity, thinking and our emotions.
We value mutual respect and we strive to understand all people’s differences and uniqueness.
We value the capacity for re-imagination present in all people, towards positive change and development.
We value openness, goodwill, tolerance and treating individuals with dignity and respect.
Physical Education
Physical Education (PE) gives all students opportunities to develop their physical skills and apply those skills in varied contexts. It also enables personal and group achievements to be recognised and celebrated. Movement and physical activity are integral to the rhythm of the school day.
At Ruskin Mill Trust schools, PE is delivered through non-traditional techniques tailored to the complex needs of our students. Every student has at least one dedicated session per week where physical activity is the primary focus, and movement is embedded throughout the curriculum.
Our curriculum is predominantly movement-based, with approximately 60% of learning taking place outdoors or through craft. Students access sports facilities both on-site and within the local community. For many, PE has previously been a challenging experience. We aim to remove barriers and create inclusive, therapeutic opportunities for physical engagement.
Movement is understood in its therapeutic context. Staff recognise that for many students, proprioceptive input—the sensory feedback from muscles and joints that helps regulate body awareness—is essential for emotional regulation and sensory integration. This understanding is continually strengthened through ongoing training led by Occupational Therapists and therapeutic movement practitioners.
Proprioceptive input is naturally generated through many of the activities embedded in our curriculum, such as:
- Pushing, pulling, lifting, or carrying (e.g. gardening, woodwork, climbing)
- Heavy work or resistance-based movement (e.g. digging, sawing, clay work, kneading dough)
These activities help students:
- Feel more grounded in their bodies
- Improve focus and attention
- Manage emotional responses
- Reduce anxiety or sensory overload
In the context of Ruskin Mill Trust schools, such activities are not only educational but also deeply therapeutic. Physical education is embedded within the Ruskin Mill model of Practical Skills Therapeutic Education (PSTE) and is primarily delivered through outdoor learning and craft. Students develop gross and fine motor skills and are encouraged to engage in physically demanding tasks through horticulture, craft, food production, and artistic work. This approach supports physical development while also strengthening relationships, confidence, and emotional wellbeing.
Our curriculum supports students to develop increasingly complex skills and physical movements in crafts such as textiles, green woodwork and pottery as they work with a wide range of materials and processes. Students access a range of equipment which develops coordination and control.
The curriculum includes opportunities for work in the garden and in animal care through a range of physical activities with access to tools and equipment. This always involves learning to stay safe. Students engage in activities linked to seasonal processes. Horticulture activities aim to develop fitness, balance and agility.
Students take part in rhythmic activities and artistic expression through dance and drama, seasonal celebrations and storytelling. They develop increasingly complex sequences of movement and an understanding of physiological changes throughout exercise.
As part of PSHE lessons, students develop social skills through collaborative physical games and activities which aim to support teamwork, self-esteem and co-ordination.
Physical education delivered through PSTE aims to support students in their understanding of physical health, behaviour, sensory regulation, mental health and wellbeing. Therapists support the development of activities in line with pupil needs.
Students access the local leisure centres to develop confidence in a range of swimming strokes and awareness of water safety.
Students are encouraged to take part in rambling activities in a range of environments to develop understanding of local geography.
Ruskin Mill Trust ensures that schools have access to Occupatioal Therapy (OT) support so that PE can be underpinned by OT input. We adapt and tailor Physical Education exercises to each student depending of their needs. The OT provides consultation to staff members, and shares the students’ sensory diets with all staff, so PE includes exercises that promote the students’ physical education activities.
The OT, where appropriate, provides all staff with a sensory pen portrait, so staff are aware of what activities can be overstimulating or calming, with the idea of promoting a positive engagement throughout activities with a calming end.
The OT sensory diet uses everyday activities for therapeutic purposes, while they are also adjusted for physical education exercises that are appropriate for each child and young person with sensory integration difficulties.
Where we have students that are visibly impaired, Rebound Therapy can be run weekly. This develops the sensory and vestibular awareness of the individual.
- Green Woodwork
- Swimming
- Iron forging
- Eurythmy
- Horticulture
- Dance
- Animal Care
- Movement
- Rambling and orienteering
- Bothmer Gymnastics
- Cycling
- Archery
- Rock Climbing
- Horse riding
Relationships, Health and Sex Education (RHSE)
Relationships, Health and Sex Education (RHSE) is a vital part of our curriculum, supporting lifelong learning about relationships, emotions, sexuality, and physical and mental wellbeing. It helps children and young people navigate puberty and adolescence with confidence and equips them with the knowledge and values to manage their lives now and in the future.
At Ashdown Garden School, RHSE is individually planned to meet the needs of each child and young person. Planning and resources are shared with parents and carers, and agreed by the Trustees of the school. We use a range of age-appropriate resources—including the land and animal curriculum, videos, and lesson plans from trusted sources such as the PSHE Association—to support the teaching of RHSE.
Our education team works closely with teachers, tutors, therapists, and families to ensure RHSE is delivered in a way that is inclusive, respectful, and responsive to each student’s developmental stage and understanding.
In line with statutory guidance from the Department for Education, we:
- Ensure RHSE is inclusive and accessible to all students
- Engage proactively with parents and carers about curriculum content and materials
- Promote positive attitudes and challenge harmful stereotypes, including those found online
- Support students in understanding consent, boundaries, and respectful relationships
- Prepare for the 2026 statutory updates
How PSTE Supports RHSE
Our RHSE curriculum is deeply supported by the Practical Skills Therapeutic Education (PSTE) method. Through shared experiences in craft, land-based work, and nature, students build trusting and respectful relationships with staff and peers. These activities provide a calm, purposeful environment where emotional safety and mutual respect can flourish.
PSTE encourages students to:
- Develop empathy and cooperation through collaborative tasks
- Build self-awareness and emotional regulation through meaningful work
- Experience healthy boundaries and positive social interactions in real-world contexts
These relational experiences are essential foundations for RHSE, helping students internalise values such as respect, responsibility, and care for others.
Technology
At Ashdown Garden School, children and young people use technology to support their learning and development in meaningful, therapeutic ways. ICT is integrated into the curriculum when appropriate, always considering each student’s individual needs and developmental stage.
Technology is never used passively or for entertainment. Instead, it is applied creatively to enhance engagement, deepen understanding, and support reflective learning. It is always paired with real-life experiences—such as working with the land, books, materials, and craft—to ensure a balanced and grounded approach.
We support the use of technology in the following areas:
- Photos, videos and audio for documentation, self-assessment and reflective learning
- Communication devices and software to support expressive and receptive communication
- Technological equipment in gardening, craft, cooking, and other practical subjects
- Recording, lighting and music technology to facilitate creative expression in drama and music
- Research and presentation tools to develop digital literacy across curriculum areas
- Word processing and media production, where appropriate, to support access arrangements and exam preparation
Online Safety and Digital Responsibility
Online safety is a core part of our safeguarding and PSHE curriculum. In line with KCSIE 2025 and Teaching Online Safety in Schools guidance, we ensure that:
- Online safety is a whole-school responsibility, embedded across policies, curriculum planning, staff training, and parental engagement
- Students are taught to recognise risks, including misinformation, grooming, cyberbullying, and digital manipulation
- Staff are trained to understand filtering and monitoring systems, and to respond appropriately to online concerns
- Parents and carers are supported with resources and guidance to reinforce safe digital habits at home
We encourage students to ask questions and engage in open conversations about the benefits and risks of the digital world. Our goal is to build digital resilience, helping students make informed, respectful and safe choices online.
Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
As AI becomes increasingly present in education and society, we are committed to teaching students about its responsible use. In line with the AI UK School Curriculum Roadmap and DfE guidance, we:
- Introduce age-appropriate discussions about AI ethics, bias, and transparency
- Help students understand how AI tools (e.g. recommendation algorithms, generative AI) influence their online experiences
- Promote critical thinking and digital judgement to navigate AI-generated content safely
- Ensure any use of AI in school is transparent, ethical, and human-centred, with staff oversight and safeguarding in place
Online safety is a core part of our safeguarding and PSHE curriculum. In line with KCSIE 2025 and Teaching Online Safety in Schools guidance, we ensure that:
- Online safety is a whole-school responsibility, embedded across policies, curriculum planning, staff training, and parental engagement
- Students are taught to recognise risks, including misinformation, grooming, cyberbullying, and digital manipulation
- Staff are trained to understand filtering and monitoring systems, and to respond appropriately to online concerns
- Parents and carers are supported with resources and guidance to reinforce safe digital habits at home
We encourage students to ask questions and engage in open conversations about the benefits and risks of the digital world. Our goal is to build digital resilience, helping students make informed, respectful and safe choices online.
As AI becomes increasingly present in education and society, we are committed to teaching students about its responsible use. In line with the AI UK School Curriculum Roadmap and DfE guidance, we:
- Introduce age-appropriate discussions about AI ethics, bias, and transparency
- Help students understand how AI tools (e.g. recommendation algorithms, generative AI) influence their online experiences
- Promote critical thinking and digital judgement to navigate AI-generated content safely
- Ensure any use of AI in school is transparent, ethical, and human-centred, with staff oversight and safeguarding in place
Qualifications
Ashdown Garden School is registered to deliver a suite of qualifications listed below to students aged 14 and over.
Qualifications offer students meaningful learning goals and formal recognition of their progress and achievements. They support preparation for adulthood, build confidence and independence, and serve as valuable stepping stones toward further learning and future opportunities.
At Ashdown Garden School, Practical Skills Therapeutic Education (PSTE) forms a core part of every student’s learning experience. This method is embedded throughout the curriculum and works in partnership with key areas of the National Curriculum and accredited qualification pathways. Together, these elements create a broad and balanced curriculum that is relevant, purposeful, and tailored to the individual needs of each student
Experienced staff carefully assess each student’s readiness to access qualifications, taking into account their progress, interests, and aspirations. A wide range of qualification pathways is available, to ensure that almost all students can leave with a recognised outcome that reflects their strengths and ambitions. While not every student may achieve a formal qualification, all learners are supported to make meaningful progress and have their achievements recognised in ways that honour their personal journey.
Awarding Bodies
We are accredited by awarding bodies AIM for Vocational Qualifications and Pearson Edexcel for academic qualifications.
| Qualification | Description | Level | Type |
| English | Enables learners to develop and demonstrate practical English skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening) that apply in real-life, workplace, and learning environments. |
Entry level 1, 2, 3 Level 1, 2 |
Functional Skill |
| Maths | Equips learners with mathematical knowledge and problem-solving skills to handle everyday and work situations, including use of numbers, geometry, data, and ratios. |
Entry level 1, 2, 3 Level 1, 2 |
Functional Skill |
| English | Enables learners to build confidence in the fundamentals of English (reading, writing, speaking), fill gaps in basic skills, and act as a stepping stone toward Functional Skills. | Entry level 1, 2, 3 | Entry level award |
| Maths | Develops essential basic maths skills needed for everyday life and work, helping learners prepare for Functional Skills or higher-level mathematics qualifications. | Entry level 1, 2, 3 | Entry level award |
| Qualification | Type |
| Maths | GCSE |
| English Language | GCSE |
| English Literature | GCSE |
| Biology | GCSE |
| Physics | GCSE |
| Chemistry | GCSE |
Our vocational qualifications are awarded by AIM. More information about AIM awarding can be found on their website.
| Qualification | Description | Level | Type |
| Skills for living and work | Equips learners with practical life, work, personal development and vocational skills to enable further study, employment, or more independent adult life. |
Entry level 1, 2, 3 Level 1, 2 |
Award, Certificate and Diploma |
| Independent living skills | Helps learners acquire the life skills, self-care, and community participation skills needed to live more independently | Entry level 1, 2, 3 | Award, Certificate and Diploma |
| Personal progress | Supports learners at early communication and Entry Level stages to build fundamental learning, communication and personal skills, with recognition and pathways for progression | Entry level 1 | Award, Certificate and Diploma |
| Personal and social skills | Develops emotional, social and personal wellbeing, helping learners to become confident individuals who can contribute to society |
Entry level 1, 2, 3 Level 1, 2 |
Award, Certificate and Diploma |
| Employability and development skills | Provides essential work-related skills, personal development and vocational skills, preparing learners for entry to work, traineeships or further qualifications. |
Entry level 3 Level 1, 2 |
Award, Certificate and Diploma |
Student Voice
Within Ruskin Mill Trust Schools, we have a whole school commitment to Student voice; listening to the views, wishes and experiences of all children and young people.
In democratic societies, children and young people have the right to be heard and not to feel afraid to express themselves. We place value on what children and young people tell school staff about their experiences.
Learning about human rights and democracy is a fundamental first step for becoming an informed and responsible citizen.
Student voice is the right of students to have a say in matters that affect them in their schools, and to have their views and opinions taken seriously. It encompasses all aspects of school life and decision-making where young learners are able to make a meaningful contribution, adapted to their age and stage of development. It stretches from informal situations in which students express an opinion to their peers or staff members to participation in democratic structures or mechanisms, such as student parliaments and consultations.
Student voice can vary from simple self-expression to taking on a leadership role in an aspect of school life:
- Expression – voice an opinion
- Consultation – asked for an opinion
- Participation – attend and preferably play an active role in a meeting
- Partnership – have a formal role in decision-making
- Activism – identify a problem, propose a solution, and advocate its adoption
- Leadership – plan and make decisions
Within our Curriculum we provide many opportunities for students to be involved in discussion and decision making, Ensuring that we:
- take students’ age, maturity and understanding into account when deciding how to support them in participating
- Find ways to involve those who lack confidence. For example, organise smaller group discussions, 1:1 and surveys to capture the view of a wider pool of students.
Our School Councils offer students the chance to represent their peers through regular meetings. It allows students the opportunity to be heard and gives an insight into how students experience daily life in school, like learning and socialising.
To ensure our school councils are effective we ask students to work with senior leaders in embedding ideas and implementing the changes that the school council agrees. For example, including objectives or actions within the school improvement plan where appropriate, include student presentations to the board of trustees, inviting students to lesson observations and involving students in recruitment.