The Stephen Hawking Special School in Tower Hamlets, east London, teaches 70 of the most profoundly disabled children in the country. This programme looks at how the principle of giving each child as much independence as possible runs through the whole school. Staff and management discuss and demonstrate how each child is given an independence target. This may range from being able to move around the school independently to being able to eat and drink without outside assistance. We see one of the school's eating and drinking clinics where staff and outside experts like speech therapists and occupational therapists work together to help the child achieve their target. We also see how the principle of independence is extended into the classroom with children being encouraged to join in with an interactive story-telling session. This programme is of interest to anyone working in special schools who would like tips and advice on how to increase the independence of pupils.

Video Series: Special Schools
Release Date 2006