Hassocks Infant School are part of the Autism in Schools Project in conjunction with West Sussex County Council, West Sussex Parent Carer Forum and the charity ASPENS.

West Sussex is one of two areas in the South East chosen to be part of the national project to improve the support and awareness of autism in schools. The project aims to improve support for autistic children and young people in mainstream schools. It focusses on improving the school environment, fostering good relationships between staff, parents and pupils, signposting families to sources of support, and providing better access to early intervention.

As part of the project, schools work towards the Autism Aware Award using the Autism Education Trust's Schools Standards Framework. We have found these standards have helped us to enhance and embed inclusive practice and improve outcomes for autistic pupils. 

Over the past two years, we have used these Standards to:

• Identify priority areas to work on.
• Create an action plan to improve school-wide practices.
• Implement reasonable adjustments for autistic pupils.
• Improve the engagement, retention, and academic achievement of autistic pupils.
• Monitor practice and provide evidence of embedding good autism practice.

These standards support us to meet special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) policy and legal requirements and our equality duties whilst complying with the Ofsted Education Inspection Framework (2021) and the Teacher Standards (2011). They also align with the Head Teacher Standards (2020). 

Everyone at Hassocks Infant School is proud to have achieved the Autism Aware Award at GOLD standard (June 2024).