On June 9th the Prime Minister’s wife Samantha Cameron officially opened Baston House School in Bromley.

The new centre, part of Hillcrest Autism Services, has been specially designed to help support children aged from 5-16 who are affected by an Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC), including Asperger Syndrome.

It is estimated that there are over 500,000 children and young adults affected by ASC. Existing educational facilities are often not suitable for those suffering from the condition and this can lead to pupils becoming isolated in the classroom, falling behind in their studies and in some cases to being the victim of bullying from other pupils who don’t understand the challenges their ASC peers face.

On visiting the groundbreaking facilities, Samantha Cameron said:

“I am delighted to open Baston House School. I have great admiration for Anna Kennedy’s determination to help people affected by autism and I’m pleased to celebrate this landmark opening with her.
“She was quite rightly named ‘Most Inspirational Woman of the Year’ by the Daily Mail in 2010 and I’m so pleased she has achieved her ambition of opening this school which stands as testament to her dedication to this important cause.”

During the visit, Samantha Cameron met some of the children who will be benefiting from the new facilities and toured the classrooms that have been designed to minimise the negative impact that sensory overload can have on the students and are highly visually structured.

Pupils have individual work bays to help them to learn to work independently and without distraction, and each pupil has an individualised reward system, tailored to motivate them.

She also met with some of the staff who will be supporting the students in their learning.

Also in attendance were 100 guests which included  Baston House School’s Patron, Esther Rantzen and the Deputy Mayor of Bromley, Cllr Reg Adams and Directors of Hillcrest Care.

To find out more please visit: http://www.bastonhouseschool.org.uk/

On the 2nd and the 3rd of June Jordan and me [Jake], Josh and Brandon went up to our changing room and got into our sticky wet suits. Then we got our life Jackets on. Then we met the instructor his name was Paul. After that we got into our boats.

We set sail and got tipped something like 5 times! then we went home I hope tomorrow will be better.

We got a RYA level1 dinghy sailing certificate, which will help in future life we had a great time.

By Jake (age 9)

This year West London Community College, part of Hillcrest Autsim Services, participated in the Middlesex County Football Association PAN disability football league.

The league has been running for several years and is growing with each season completed. It provides an excellent opportunity for adults diagnosed with a disability to participate in competitive football, whilst considering their ability and ensuring the game is fair.

The team participated in the MCFA county Cup. In this format each team would play each other once, and the results would go into a league table with the top two teams competing in a final.

WLCC FC had a very successful tournament. Beating teams such as Harrow all Stars 3-1, Hayes and Yeading DASH 2-1, Hounslow Strikers 5-0, North West London 3-2, Enfield B 3-1.

The final beckoned and it was WLCC FC v Harrow all Stars.

Harrow went up 1 – 0. WLCC pulled it back to 1 -1 with Lee Clancy scoring the extremely important equaliser. Harrow again went in front with 3 minutes remaining after a mistake by the WLCC FC goal keeper.

Mark Macey then scored a beautiful goal from his own half to pull it back to 2 -2 .

Extra time awaited, with one minute of the game remaining before we were due to go to penalties, Sagar Koriya stepped up and finished after a wonderful through pass from Josh beacham to win the trophy for WLCC!

West London Community College

One of our students at Hillcrest Oaklands College is the first to achieve formal qualifications.

This young person has completed her studies at the college and through the off site course she attended.

We are all very proud of her academic achievements and the huge improvements she has made  emotionally and socially.

This young person is now living in one of our independent flats very successfully and is looking forward to more qualifications and work experience during the summer.

Jo Morris, Principal- Hillcrest Oaklands College