Bridge Road School

Bridge Road School, located in the Inner City of Sydney Region, is a Kindergarten to Year 4 school for children with mental health disabilities. The school enrols 5 classes of 7 students with another 7 students on an outreach program. The school offers an individual cognitive based program designed to teach children new behaviours to achieve more successful outcomes. All learning programs are clearly focused on developing the children’s confidence, their self esteem and trust in others. The goal of placement is for students to develop the inner strength and resilience to take the challenges necessary to access their academic and social learning programs. Children access the school by student transport for the duration of their placement. They commence their intensive intervention of between 3 and 6 terms, for 4 days a week and integrate for 1 day in their home schools. Integration is the cornerstone of the program. Children know that from day one, the goal is to “cross the bridge” by learning new and more appropriate behaviours to successfully reintegrate in their schools or access another appropriate specialist placement. Our school is a bridge children cross, to learn to speak competently, think clearly and make informed choices.