Welcome
Melbury College; a partnership of Merton’s specialist education support schools and services supporting primary and secondary pupils with complex behaviour needs, Social, Emotional and Mental Health issues (SEMH), ASD, Speech and Language needs and medical issues. Sites include Melrose School: Primary and Secondary, Canterbury Campus PRU, Lavender Campus (Medical/Mental Health needs), Cobham Court and Whatley Campus.
Melbury College comprises of two DfE registered schools, which are inspected separately. Melrose School, URN: 102697, DfE number: 315/7003 comprises of Melrose Primary and Secondary, Whatley Campus and Cobham/ Worsfold House Bespoke.
Canterbury Campus, URN: 133754, DfE number: 315/1100 comprises of Canterbury Campus PRU and Lavender Campus.
Melbury College aims to educate the ‘whole child’ through a personalised approach to learning. Pupils are supported, challenged, stretched and inspired in a wide range of learning opportunities through our broad, balanced and engaging curriculum.
We will transform the lives of young people by providing bespoke and specialist education of the highest standard.
Our vision is to ensure that students who for one reason or another are finding it difficult to attend or make progress in the borough’s mainstream schools, are provided with an individualised curriculum that meets their needs and aspirations and the support that they and their family might need to help them to succeed.
In the last year there has been a wide range of expansions and growth across the Melbury provisions, to ensure that we are meeting the needs of all pupils in Merton who require our specialist support.
Both Melrose School and Canterbury Campus have been judged ‘good’ with some outstanding features by Ofsted. We want to build upon this to create a more coordinated approach across this vital sector, which delivers education to many of Merton’s most vulnerable students, the large majority of whom have struggled with aspects of the curriculum in their former schools.
In Melrose’s last Ofsted inspection, the inspector judged that: “the majority of students make progress at or occasionally above levels expected nationally in mainstream schools with the progress of pupils receiving the pupil premium being ‘outstanding’”. The inspector was also impressed by the school’s curriculum and the high expectations that the teachers have of their pupils’ progress. The work that the school does to keep students safe and secure was also judged ‘outstanding’.
Similarly in its last inspection of the Canterbury Campus (Secondary Pupil Referral Unit, previously known as the Smart Centre), Ofsted praised the school’s approach to individualised work programmes, the work done by staff to help those students who had gaps in their learning, the school’s strong community spirit and the strong partnerships with students’ families.
This focus on partnership is a vital aspect of Melbury College’s work. We think it’s really important that we work with families and any other agencies that might be supporting them to deliver positive outcomes for our pupils.
Lavender Campus delivers education to students who cannot attend school due to medical reasons or complex mental health issues referred through CAMHS. From September 2022, this provision has moved into their permanent home at Lavender, which will be able to meet our increasing size and needs, as well as providing the highest level of support for these most vulnerable pupils. In the last year we have doubled our intake into MMES, and this continues to grow in the next year.
Melrose School (Secondary Special school for pupils with an EHCP with SEMH as a primary need) has expanded over the last year to include Melrose Primary, a new specialist provision for Primary age pupils with an EHCP. This provision is located next to Melrose Secondary in a brand new purpose built school. Melrose Primary also incorporates the Primary EHCP assessment pupils previously educated at the David Nicholas site. The new build encompasses a variety of core teaching areas and also additional break-out spaces to support the needs of these challenging primary pupils. A brand new Sports Hall is shared by Melrose Secondary and Primary schools.
Cobham Court continues to provide a range of bespoke educational packages for KS3 and 4 pupils who do not have a school place and may have become disengaged or fallen out of traditional mainstream education. These small bespoke packages provide expert and specialist support for a small range of pupils some of whom have EHCPs. Pupils can be located on the Cobham Court site, or the Worsfold House site depending on class group. We also work closely with local settings that offer a variety of vocational and academic programmes, many of which are not available in schools. Additionally, Cobham Court continues to provide internal exclusions for Melbury College pupils.
Whatley Campus is our brand new school which opened in September 2022. This new special school is an expansion of Melrose school and caters for pupils with EHCPs with a primary need of ASD and/or SCLN. There is provision for Secondary age pupils (KS3 and 4) with a small KS2 primary provision. Pupils are supported in small classes (maximum 10 pupils) with highly specialist teaching and support staff as well as a wide range of therapeutic interventions. Onsite Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, CAMHS, Music Therapy and Lego Therapy will be an integral part of the provision. Our goal is to help all pupils become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens. We will provide a supportive and nurturing environment for pupils, following a bespoke curriculum which will take account of individual learning needs.
For more information about Melbury College or any of the individual provisions, please contact Carla Chandler at: cchandler@melbury.merton.sch.uk. Melbury College's Local Authority Chair of Governor is James Holmes and he can be contacted at: jholmes@melbury.merton.sch.uk
Carla Chandler (Executive Head Teacher)