About Us

Ivy Lane School is a specialist school offering education for up to 24 young people aged 11 to 19, with complex needs including behaviour that may challenge and a learning disability, often in association with autism. Students that attend Ivy Lane School will usually live within one our associated children's homes. Our school prospectus is available to view/download here 

Located on the outskirts of Wakefield city centre, Ivy Lane School opens up a range of community learning opportunities for all of its young people. Ivy Lane School has a range of different learning environments, classrooms and well equipped learning spaces to complement the wide variety of available activities and to create positive learning opportunities. Within the school’s grounds we have our own ICT suite, library, sports hall, outdoor gym, sensory rooms, arts and crafts workshop, outdoor playground, media room, dining room and learning intervention rooms. Hesley Group also have established excellent relationships with local sensory facilities, working farms, pet rescue centres, soft play centres, gyms and leisure centres.

Our mission is to enhance the lives of the young people entrusted to our service by focusing on their specific needs, capabilities and aspirations and we seek to enable each individual to maximise his or her potential and achieve a progressively more independent quality of life. You can read more about our philosophy and approach here.

Staff within Ivy Lane School, including our Therapeutic Services Team pride themselves on offering a highly professional service. You can learn more about our staff here. The members of the Therapeutic Services Team work together with the individual towards reaching their full potential, alongside those who are important to them. The Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) aims to enable all staff to understand and meet the needs of the people we support, helping them stay safe and calm enough in the short term to learn the skills that will improve their wellbeing and engagement in the long term.

Referrals for placements within Ivy Lane School can be made in a number of ways, find out more about our referrals and transition process here.