Specialist Resource Base

Cromer Academy hosts a Key Stage 3 and 4 Autism Specialist Resource Base (SRB). This is part of Norfolk’s Local Offer for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). SRB places are allocated by the local authority. Click here to find out more about the programme.

The base is staffed by two full-time equivalent SRB lead teachers, two higher-level teaching assistants and three teaching assistants. It has 20 placements, which are available to pupils from across Norfolk who are experiencing difficulties with accessing mainstream education due to communication and interaction difficulties.

SRB pupils are supported to enable them to attend up to 100% of their mainstream lessons, through flexible timetabling and curriculum adaptation, tailored to individual needs. Staff are also trained and available to provide social and emotional support as needed. Not just a designated teaching space, the SRB is also a place of sanctuary during unstructured times and pupils can access it at any other time that additional support is necessary.

If you are a parent interested in SRB provision for your child, please speak to the SENDCo at their school, who must then contact the SRB lead teacher at Cromer Academy either by phone or email. Parents should then arrange to visit the SRB and school to meet with the lead teacher, which can be done by contacting the main school office.

If parents wish to proceed with a placement application, the SRB lead teacher from Cromer Academy, or a local authority panel representative, will need to visit and observe the child in their current setting prior to an SRB panel meeting, arranged and hosted by the local authority.

Parents of current SRB pupils say:

“My son has gone through each year at Cromer gaining self-confidence & belief, a determination to achieve his very best & the predicted grades to prove it. He has been supported to manage any struggles he had previously & has been given many opportunities, which he has taken, to push the boundaries of his comfort zone with huge success.”

“Right from the start they built up fantastic communication and support, both with the pupils and the parents, which never falters. My Son has come on amazingly and I honestly believe him attending Cromer Academy SRB was the best choice we’ve made when it comes to his education.”