A £160,000 refurbishment programme has proved to be “transformational” for a Liverpool specialist school.

Olsen House School supports children with social, emotional and mental health difficulties and those who are autistic. It is part of the Kedleston Group which operates 16 specialist schools and homes across the UK.

While the school, in Crosby, includes a dedicated autism centre called Bluebird, which is separate to the main school building, there is a focus on integration and inclusion throughout Olsen House. This ethos was at the centre of the school’s refurbishment plans.

Headteacher Mick Simpson explained: “It was important the environment at Olsen was as sensory-friendly as possible throughout school, not just in Bluebird which was designed to provide a very calming bespoke learning space with muted colours, adjustable lighting and other autism-specific aspects.

“However, all the children who join the school have a range of complex needs, which may include sensory challenges and not all attend classes within Bluebird.  The aim always is to integrate and include children in all areas of the school wherever we can, and children from Bluebird regularly come into other areas of school for lessons including PE and food technology, for example.

“For many of our young people, noise can be a sensory challenge and that may be just one of the reasons why a mainstream environment has not been able to meet their needs. Schools can be, by their very nature, loud and unpredictable places – noises echo, chairs scrape, doors slam. All of that can be challenging for a young person who has autistic traits or who has SEMH difficulties.

“That’s why in our refurbishment everything has been designed to provide a calm, safe, low arousal space which offers the best possible environment for learning.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that the refurbishment has been transformational. The school feels different, very new and fresh. And it is much quieter; we have included sound proofing in the corridors, replaced carpets throughout and included soft-close doors. There’s new lighting and also a new sensory room too. We want to make sure the whole of Olsen House is as welcoming and accessible for all pupils as possible.”

The school improvements have also included a new food technology room, new kitchen and office spaces as well as radical refurbishment outdoors too where a multi-sports area has been created – including innovative sound-proofing using wall-mounted Astro-turf.

Children enjoy sports including football and basketball in their new play space which is an important aspect of being able to ‘decompress’ and self-regulate.

Mick said: “Everyone is very much benefitting from – and enjoying - the refurbishment. We’ve had fantastic feedback from the children and from staff and it’s wonderful to see the plans to make Olsen as inclusive as possible come to life and make such a positive difference to children’s learning.”