I have worked on this project for the last two years and to see it finally coming to fruition is really heartening. In many ways, it’s Mayville’s response to the astonishing demand for specialist educational and mental health support services we have been experiencing for some while and is, no doubt, one of the many legacies from the pandemic. In the past, we have had to decline admission to pupils who require an entirely bespoke curriculum as well as a separate house in which to work. This is now going to change as the School has recently acquired no 24 St Simon’s Road; it is in an ideal location, being adjacent to our Junior School and central to all our school buildings. The purchase of Wyvern House was made possible thanks to a very generous donation by an anonymous benefactor, without which we could not have raised the funds needed for such an ambitious project.

For the last nearly 30 years, Mayville has had a very successful, CReSTeD registered, dyslexia unit. The quality of support afforded by this unit has been unparalleled in the local area and has been a draw to hundreds of families seeking this type of support for their child. Wyvern House will now build on this success and this is the next step in our journey to becoming the lead provider for neurodiverse children.

The Specialist Learning Support and Wellbeing Centre will be open to pupils with a variety of additional needs which prevent them from accessing mainstream education. Wyvern House will be home from home, a relaxed and nurturing environment and we will keep the feeling of a home central to its ethos. The house will be quiet and calm and it is unlikely that we will require a uniform to be worn for those who are educated there every day. A therapy dog will be on site, adding further to the homely feel.

In Wyvern House, in keeping with the wider ethos of Mayville High School itself, we have an ‘everyone included’ philosophy where we treat everyone as the individual they are and embrace diversity. By growing a unit specialising in neurodiversity including Autistic Spectrum Conditions, alongside our already established CReSTeD registered Dyslexia Learning Unit, we are acutely aware of the adaptations pupils need to access education. At Wyvern, we can offer a place of escape from the regular school environment with specialist teachers on-hand to deliver the pupil’s bespoke education package, as we seek to serve the most challenged young people in our society.

We have an expanding team of specialist teachers, speech and language therapists and will offer further services as we move forward.

Admission to Wyvern House will be by consultation with the SENCo, Headteacher and Registrar. We are happy to consult on placement through EHCPs, where Mayville is a named school on section I of the plan as agreed by the child’s LEA. A thorough consideration of a pupil’s needs will be undertaken before agreement is reached. For the ASD resource provision, a primary need must be social communication and interaction difficulties (in particular, Autistic Spectrum Conditions / neurodiverse profile) where SEMH is also prevalent. We will consider other comorbid conditions such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD/ADD and look at each pupil’s profile, on a case by case basis.

We are pleased to announce that we have our own mental health counsellor, as part of our Wyvern team, and we will be able to cater for pupils who require social, emotional and specialist mental health support. Our future plans also include opening Wyvern at weekends for the benefit of the local community, so that families can access timely mental health support for their children, as required. We hope to work in association with CAMHS, in this regard.

Each pupil will access an education befitting their individual needs and wishes. We will take into account the thoughts and feelings of the pupil as well as their family. Wyvern House will be a place of respite and care, away from the hustle and bustle of normal school life, where pupils can regulate their emotions and receive a bespoke package of support.