For over 15 years, The Unicorn School has been located at 20 Marcham Road, Abingdon. Many will have spotted the splendid white building with children seen playing in the front garden at break. Although it is known for its support of children with dyslexia, this label is too narrow as the school supports all children who think differently, and we prefer to use the wider term ‘neurodiversity’.
The Union School celebrated its 30th Anniversary in 2022 and goodness, how things have changed since the days the school was first established. Originally located in Summertown, with just a handful of pupils, today the Marcham Road school is bursting at the seams with 108 pupils and no room to expand.
In the beginning, the school’s philosophy was to take pupils for a couple of years, teach them strategies and structures that would help them with their reading and writing and reintegrate them back into mainstream education. What the staff then found in more recent years is that children and parents like the strong pastoral care at the school and the pupil-to-teacher ratio of 2:1 with one-to-one support for each child every day. This ratio is highly unusual and as a result, produces extraordinary results. The children may have many labels such as dyslexic, dyspraxic, dyscalculic or ADHD. However, this does not stop these children from being high achievers. Far from it as statistically children with neurodiversity often go on to work in highly creative professions and may become captains of industry or entrepreneurs.
As part of the 30th Anniversary celebrations, the school was selected by Christchurch Cathedral in Oxford as their charity of the year. This enabled the school to host a carol concert for 850 guests. The Cathedral was packed and former parents, and internationally acclaimed comedian, Rory Bremner, commented at the event: “I couldn’t do what I do with my ADHD. One in ten people have dyslexia, one in twenty have ADHD, yet a third of our leading entrepreneurs have ADHD and dyslexia – these are brilliant minds.”
To achieve their full potential, children need to be in a calm, reassuring atmosphere. At The Unicorn, pastoral care is extremely high up on the agenda and the school has won a gold medal from the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for mental health in schools. Many children at the school have associated anxiety issues and the professional and calming support provided by the excellent SEN (Special Educational Needs) teachers, makes learning at The Unicorn an ideal environment for them.
The Unicorn receives requests from over 200 families a year from the Oxfordshire area but has just 20 places on offer. They always welcome hearing from people who would like to learn more about the work they are achieving, however. The Unicorn School is a registered charity (No. 1070807). To find out more, simply visit unicornoxford.co.uk or telephone The Unicorn School at 01235 530222.
Image Credit: Piranha Photography
