Whilst our School does not conduct Open Days we invite prospective parents to a personalised onsite tour of our facility which allows you to have a first-hand experience of our School, providing you with valuable insight into our community and how we can effectively support the learning needs of your child.

For a straightforward and seamless application use the online application form in our Enrol section. A how to apply guide is provided.

Specialist reports are required to enable us to effectively assess how we can support your child. The following will help you review the requirements for Specialist reports for:

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Students applying for Valley Hope School under the criteria regarding classification on the Autism Spectrum must provide a current report from a specialist medical practitioner or registered psychologist with appropriate clinical experience that details the nature of the student's disorder. Documented evidence must indicate a developmental disability affecting the verbal and non-verbal communication and social interaction that significantly affects the child's ability to learn in the school context. There must also be information provided of a functional assessment consistent with the diagnosed disorder.

Intellectual
Students applying for Valley Hope School under the criteria regarding Intellectual Disability within the moderate range of impairment will also need a specialist report.

Criteria for diagnosis of Moderate Intellectual Disability requires the student to have a full-scale IQ score between three and four standard deviations below the mean on an approved individual intelligence test. This must be supported with additional information on a formal assessment of adaptive skills and school performance (where applicable) that is consistent with or below that range of score.

Students who are diagnosed with a Mild Intellectual Disability may also be considered for enrolment to Valley Hope School. Please contact the school and an appointment can be arranged to discuss this further.

Valley Hope welcomes enrolment applications throughout the full school year. There are no cut-off dates. We invite families to complete the enrolment application whenever they are ready.

On occasions, applications may need to be placed on a waitlist until a position becomes available. To join a waitlist, Valley Hope requires that you submit a completed online application. We will stay in contact with you to update you on the status of your application.

No. Valley Hope welcomes families of diverse faiths, beliefs and backgrounds to enrol their children. However, as part of maintaining our ethos and integrity as a Christian-based school, children enrolled in our School and their families are required to respect and support our Christian beliefs, values, vision and mission. To provide a quality Christian education, grounded in Biblical principles, Valley Hope seeks to be a centre of teaching, learning and serving excellence. As part of our faith-based community, all students are encouraged to explore and grow in their personal journey of Christian faith, to be fully engaged in all school activities and participate in all programs.

Teaching the curriculum must be in alignment with the New South Wales Education Standards Authority (NESA) guidelines. As a Christian educational community, the curriculum is taught from a Biblical perspective that reflects the distinctly Christian worldview.

As a caring Christian school community, Valley Hope caters for students from Year 1 to Year 12 with an Autism Spectrum Disorder or moderate level of Intellectual Disability.

Valley Hope is delighted to welcome new students and their families into our School community.

Families who have enrolled their child by the end of the previous year before commencing will be invited to attend the School Orientation Day. For families who have enrolled after this time we aim to help them with preparation and orientation. Families are welcome to contact us to organise an appointment to for a school orientation in the event it falls outside the nominated School orientation date.

Valley Hope is pleased to be able to offer a discount for siblings.

The main School office at Valley Hope opens at 8:00am and closes at 4:00pm each school day. At Valley Hope we appreciate that some parents may occasionally need to drop their children off early at school due to working commitments. As part of our support and service to families our dedicated staff can, on occasions, provide limited, general supervision of children from 8:00am until their first class commences for the day. Students should be picked up from their class at 3pm.

Valley Hope commencement time is 8:30am.
School finish time is 3:00pm.

At Valley Hope delivering comprehensive, differentiated and inclusive curriculum that is tailored to each student’s learning needs is how we structure teaching and learning. Our goal is to accommodate the unique learning needs of each student to help them thrive and grow in all aspect of their lives. Valley Hope seeks to provide the benefits of both targeted Special Education experiences and general learning experiences only possible in a large mainstream schooling context. We provide a balance of specialised educational experiences and opportunities for mainstream learning in a large school setting. Providing a balance of specialised educational programs and whilst engaging in opportunities in mainstream school activities and events with Pacific Valley Christian School helps our students to integrate in the wider community.

An important part of how we operate is to foster collaboration between our School, parents and professionals to design an educational experience that is meaningful and effective both in and beyond the classroom setting. We seek to prepare and equip each student to find all that God has for them to enjoy life as an expression of their humanity.

Yes, we have many external specialists and youth support workers who work with students at the school. We recognise the benefit it provides for students in their education and convenience for families. Further we appreciate being able to collaborate with specialists in the best interest of the child.

Valley Hope students are able to access the OneMaker academy music and drama opportunities. This is a fee for service individual or small group program that takes place at school, either during or outside of school hours.

There are several options for travel to and from Valley Hope including:

• By Car
• Public Transport
• Parking on Site 
• School run bus services from Yamba, Gulmarrad and South Grafton.

Physical Education and Sport are highly valued learning activities at Valley Hope, integrated into the curriculum. We seek to recognise and celebrate the unique abilities and talents of all students as they participate in physical educational activities and a variety of sporting events. Affirming the sporting achievements of our students is honoured and celebrated in our School.