On the 30th April 2015, Parkwood Hall School closed and on the 1st May Parkwood Hall Co-operative Academy opened. Technically, they are a new school, but in reality their history as a special school goes right back to 1970.
They are a warm, welcoming, inclusive day and residential school for students aged 7 to 19 with Significant Learning Difficulties and a variety of additional needs, including aspects of the Autistic Spectrum and Speech, Language and Communication Needs. They have a strong and growing reputation for a ‘can do’ attitude, which enables them to meet a wide range of complex needs, including some medical conditions.
They are a state-funded day and residential school, and aim to offer children and young adults an education that enables them to achieve their best and a key part of this is to prepare students for adult life. Their philosophy is to try to provide a complete and joined-up service. From a broad range of evidence-based therapies which are available to all on the basis of need, to innovative curriculum developments such as Forest School, they listen to what families tell them they need and they try to ensure that their children’s special, individual and complex needs are met.
The Challenge
The document needed to set out the entitlement for all students at Parkwood Hall. Every student has the entitlement to a curriculum that enhances their learning experiences, engages them and ensures that they have the opportunity to practice their skills in context. Growth through personal and social learning is key to the curriculum the school offers ensuring students develop skills through cross-curricular and contextualised learning. The curriculum ensures opportunities for learning across all areas and provides students with skills for life. For the booklet to be a successful and informative document, it was essential that it displayed those real life experiences and practical applications of knowledge and skills so that students are prepared for life beyond Parkwood.
The Solution
This was a challenging project which required a number of diagrams to be created to enhance the supplied copy while developing the corporate brand. A secondary colour palette was developed to help with some of the complex diagrams and portray to the reader a clear an informative solution. The booklet would only be available online but with the facility to print it out, consequently, a single page document was suggested by Pylon Design rather than displaying it as spreads. To further the development of the corporate brand, Pylon Design proposed using the logo leaf shape to hold a selection of photographs to work alongside the traditional squared up images which added a creative interest endorsing the Parkwood Hall identity. Sharp, clean typography displayed the information clearly working with the colourful images and diagrams.
The final solution answered the challenging brief in a creative yet professional appearance that both endorsed and explored the versatility of the Parkwood Hall corporate brand.
