Forest Bridge School

I am delighted to be the Headteacher of Forest Bridge School.   As the first Head of Forest Bridge, which has a rooting in ABA, I have had the opportunity to grow the school from its first day with 32 pupils and 20 staff to 100+ pupils and about 130 staff.   I have over 20 years of experience working with children of all ages with autism.  My journey began as an ABA tutor within a school setting in America, to spending 7 years as a school leader in an all-age school for children with autism in London.  Now, I enter my 9th privileged year of leading this fantastic community of pupils, staff, and families. 

My vision is for all of the ‘teachers’ in a pupil’s life to work in close partnership, delivering outstanding teaching to enable each child to achieve their best possible outcomes.  At Forest Bridge School this partnership will include parents, teachers, behaviour analysts, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, and tutors. 

As we enter our 9th year, we have journeyed through growth, a new build, an ongoing pandemic, Ofsted and our first groups of pupil leavers.  We are focussed on delivering a consistently great education for all our pupils. We have a staff team of over 130, making this consistency a worthy challenge.  As a leadership and school staff we are committed to consistency in how we implement our vision and in achieving the best outcomes for our pupils. 

Leading a school is full of hard work and challenges but mostly it is filled with the rewards of seeing our pupils persevere through challenges and achieve their goals while having fun! 

I look forward to welcoming you to Forest Bridge School. 

Elizabeth Farnden – Head Teacher