Sunnydown School is a

special Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ...

boarding secondary school situated in the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Caterham Caterham () is a town in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. The town is administratively divided into two: Caterham on the Hill, and Caterham Valley, which includes the main town centre in the middle of a dry valley but rises to equal ...

in Surrey, England. Founded in 1949, it is the second oldest special school in Surrey. The school educates students aged 11 to 16.

Organisation

The school is classed as a community special school and has an average intake of 20 students annually. It is located in the civil parish of Caterham on the Hill and right next to

de Stafford School de Stafford School is a mixed secondary school located in Caterham, Surrey, England. The school educates students from ages 11 to 16. Organisation de Stafford is close to the centre of the scattered town of Caterham, bordering on two sides ...

. It also touches the southwestern part of the

London Borough of Croydon The London Borough of Croydon () is a London borough in south London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of . It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name; ...

. The school acts as a stepping stone from primary education onto

further education colleges Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...

. Students at Sunnydown take 8 GCSE exams along with the

ASDAN "ASDAN"(Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network) is a British education charity and awarding organization, headquartered in Bristol. It began as a research project of the University of the West of England in the 1980s, and was formal ...

bronze award in Year 10 onwards and

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, that has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and young ...

. Pupils at the school follow a set of guidelines set by the staff in order to develop their independence and also prepare them for higher education and potential employment. The school teaches pupils about 'British Values' and link this into the curriculum. Around half of the students at the school attend the boarding side of the school. Students are encouraged to try what there is on offer and also maintain punctuality.

Guildford origins

Sunnydown School was originally founded in 1949 on the

Hog's Back The Hog's Back is a hilly ridge, part of the North Downs in Surrey, England. It runs between Farnham in the west and Guildford in the east. Name Compared with the main part of the Downs to the east of it, it is a narrow elongated ridge, hen ...

at Guildford, before relocating to Portley House in Caterham in 1983.

Portley House

The school's main building, Portley House, was built in 1856 for a wine merchant, Charles Dingwall. Since then the building has had various extensions added, and in 1951 it became a school for the

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

named Portley House Boarding Special School. Recent additions to the school include a new Science Room in 2001, a new gym and practical cooking room in 2010 and more recently, a two-storey classroom block to replace two prefabricated classroom blocks. A new £20,000 'sensory room' was opened by sports broadcaster

John Inverdale John Inverdale (born 27 September 1957) is an English broadcaster who works for both the BBC and ITV. During his radio career, he has presented coverage of many major sporting events including the Olympic Games, Wimbledon, the Grand Nationa ...

in October 2017.

Students

A significant majority of students at the school are diagnosed with a form of

autism spectrum The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

disorder. The school deals with those who have speech and language disorders as well. The school deals with those with varying levels of disability and suits the learning environment to those. The catchment area of Sunnydown is very wide, taking people from

Tandridge Tandridge is a village and civil parish in the Tandridge District, in the county of Surrey, England. Its nucleus is on a rise of the Greensand Ridge between Oxted and Godstone. It includes, towards its middle one named sub-locality (hamlet), ...

and as far as Woking and Surrey Heath whilst in the borders of Surrey.

Headteachers

Statistics

References

External links

* {{authority control Special schools in Surrey Community schools in Surrey Special secondary schools in England