Carden School is a special school for primary pupils with behavior difficulties in Aberdeen. The children attend Carden on a shared placement basis with at least part of the day spent in their mainstream primary.

Staff from Carden visit the mainstream schools on a regular basis to support the pupil and consult with the class teacher.

The school uses a multi-agency approach and staff consult regularly with Educational Psychologists, the Social Work Department, Speech and Language Therapy and Royal Aberdeen Children's hospital.

Who comes to Carden?
Our pupils are referred to us by our Local Education Authority in consultation with the Educational Psychological Service and the mainstream primary. As the children are from all over the city, they are transported by minibus to and from the school under the supervision of escorts.

Why are they referred?
The majority of our pupils have great difficulty in coping in the mainstream school. Some have Attention-Defecit-Disorder (ADD) or Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), most have very low self esteem and many need support for learning.

What do we do?
As far as possible we mirror the 5 - 14 curriculum offered by other schools but the work is structured according to the specific needs of the child. We try to give the pupils educational experiences outwith the classroom which are linked to the particular Environmental Studies topic the class has chosen. Our children also receive specialist teacher input.

Links with mainstream schools