Sunfield offers day and residential placements for children and young people between the ages of 6-19. Our residential placements range from 38- to 52-weeks and we offer respite placements year-round.

All of our children and young people require, and are provided with, high levels of support throughout the school day and into the residential provision and surrounding community. We are a highly specialised provision offering bespoke placements and comprehensively trained teams of educators, carers and therapists.

“The children are the heart of Sunfield. They inspire us to develop and motivate us to deliver the best holistic care and support possible. As a team we never under estimate how privileged we are to work with the children and each other.”

Sarah Marshall, Head of Care

Our children and young people have a variety of complex needs and barriers to learning and development, including:

• Autistic Spectrum Disorder
• Epilepsy
• Developmental delay
• Moderate to severe learning difficulties
• Social Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH)
• Moderate to severe visual and/or hearing impairment
• Mobility and motor difficulties
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

“Sunfield is a caring, supportive and happy environment: this is a place of understanding, love and happiness.”

Parent of a Sunfield Child

Sunfield is a subsidiary of Ruskin Mill Trust. Founded over thirty years ago, Ruskin Mill Trust operates throughout the UK with Specialist Schools, Specialist Colleges, Gateway Centres and Long-Term Care facilities for children and adults with complex behaviour and learning difficulties including autistic spectrum conditions.

Hundreds of pupils, students and adults have benefitted from the Trust’s innovative Practical Skills Therapeutic Skills Education (PSTE) method that draws its inspiration from the insights of Rudolf Steiner, John Ruskin and William Morris.  PSTE enables an individual plan to be created encouraging engagement in their progress towards realizing their full potential.  It is important to note this also applies to our Long-Term Care residents where we believe there is always an opportunity to improve living and work skills by taking part in meaningful activities.

Ruskin Mill Trust believes that it is an integral component of self-development to be able to give back not only to our own communities but also the public.  To this end Ruskin Mill Trust has invested in many different ‘on site’ social enterprises such as cafes, farm shops and heritage centres at which our children and adults and learn to socialize and work in a safe and supported environment.

Additionally, each provision liaises closely with the local community providing opportunities for social interaction and contribution either within employment related areas or through cultural initiatives.  Working with young adults with special needs in the context of community regeneration is one of Ruskin Mill Trust’s unique characteristics which has been recognised beyond the UK resulting in collaborations in the USA, China, Hungary, Germany and Norway.

Finally, and importantly, Ruskin Mill Trust continues to attract outstanding personnel who wish to work with children and adults with special needs.  The quality of staff engagement is further enhanced by a relentless pursuit of continued professional development delivered by HEaRT the Trust’s staff training, development and research team.

Safeguarding

Sunfield Children’s Home and School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare and safety of all pupils and staff and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We are fully committed to ensuring that consistent, effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support pupils and staff at school.

Any concerns are passed to the members of staff who are part of our school safeguarding team, led by our Designated Safeguarding Lead, Niall Crawford.

The school will, in most circumstances, endeavour to discuss all concerns with parents and carers about their children. However, there may be exceptional circumstances when the school will discuss concerns with Social Care and/or the Police without parental knowledge (in accordance with Child Protection procedures). The school will, of course, always aim to maintain a positive relationship with all parents and carers. More information including our Safeguarding Policy can be found on our dedicated safeguarding page.

Sunfield’s Vision, Aims and Ethos

Our vision is that each child and young person has the potential to shape their own future through experiencing meaningful relationships with universe, earth and people.

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.

We provide children and young people with holistic learning by role modelling positive relationships in the fields of arts, crafts, commerce, agriculture, nutrition, living skills and the environment.