Dysart Discovery Site opens

Dysart School threw open the doors to its third satellite site at the beginning of term. Discovery House is co-located at Latchmere Academy in Kingston and is adjacent to Apollo 2 which has been renamed Discovery Den. Together these two satellite centres sited on Latchmere Road are now known as Dysart School’s Discovery Site.

The opening of Discovery House has enabled Dysart School to increase the number of planned places from 150 to 180.Pupils will benefit from the inclusion opportunities offered by being co-located with Latchmere Primary School. However, Discovery House has been reconfigured to allow pupils to enter via their own gate and they have their own playground and classes.

Principal Leigh Edser said, “We’re thrilled to have opened our new satellite site in partnership with colleagues from Latchmere Academy Trust. This collaboration allows us to meet local demand for specialist SEND provision, welcome new families, and grow our school community.”

Ellie Woods, Head of Centre, Dysart Discovery, said: “It’s been wonderful to see Dysart Discovery open so positively, with pupils settling in and families already noticing the difference. Discovery is quickly becoming a community where pupils thrive, staff feel supported, and inclusion shines.”

The team have also received wonderful feedback from parents including this comment: “I believe we’ve finally found a place full of competent, empathetic people. That gives me hope that you can build a strong carer-child relationship based on trust, empathy and commitment.”

Dysart Discovery is a specialist provision for pupils with Severe Learning Difficulties (SLD). As part of Dysart School and OHCAT, Discovery provides safe, nurturing and highly specialist environments where pupils thrive and staff feel supported. Guided by Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) and the Dysart curriculum, they ensure learning is meaningful, personalised and aspirational.

Co-located with a mainstream school, Dysart Discovery will be a visible centre of excellence, modelling best practice and strengthening inclusion within the wider community.