Ochil Tower School

Today, Ochil Tower School is a thriving educational and residential community, where 27 children and young people, aged 8-21, with special and complex additional support needs live, learn and grow together.

The school is part of the Camphill Community which comprises 11 different Camphill sites in Scotland. Camphill is an international movement. Inspired by the work of Rudolph Steiner, it was founded by a group of Austrian refugees in Aberdeen at the start of WW2. At this time people with any form of learning disability were often excluded from many aspects of society in general and education in particular. Camphill took a different view and created the first Camphill school to care for and educate children with special needs. It is now a global ideology and movement.

The aim is to create a beautiful and calm experience. Ochil Tower School is set in seven acres of stunning Perthshire countryside. This enables its children and young adults to feel more relaxed and better able to forge relationships with peers and staff. They are then more able to build self-esteem, confidence and their capacity for resilience.

The School provides excellent care and education and is not short on ambition. In October 2018, it opened a new Life Skills Centre. This facility is for young adults aged 18 – 21 and is designed to help them so that they are better prepared for the challenges of living an independent adult life by developing their skills in learning, life and work. Ochil Tower School is now focused on extending the residential provision to 52 weeks. This is already being provided to eight young people with plans in place for this to be extended to all young people residing in the school by January 2023. The Board of Trustees have a commitment to further enhancing and developing their residential houses, and plans to build new educational facilities for the school.