A Personalised Approach
Spring Hill High School has a very personalised approach to education that focuses on the holistic development of the child. This simply means that the school develops, with the student and their parent/carer/foster carer/social worker, a personalised programme of education that is designed to meet the complex needs of the student. Our approach is child centered and is based on elements of Social Learning Theory, Cognitive Behaviour Theory and to some extent the Psychologically Informed Environment(PIE).
Individualised Curriculum
Within this personalised programme of study we offer a very strong individualised curriculum. With the input of the student, the parent/carer/foster carer/social worker, the school designs an engaging curriculum for the student, which meets all government expected standards while capturing the interest and ambitions of the child.
A Robust Reward System
A strong underpinning factor to the work we do lies in establishing of a positive environment where staff model good behaviour, the students are offered options, and positive behaviours are constantly recognised through a very robust reward system that is managed by a set of Responsibility Points. Through this system the students are taught to reflect on their behaviours and make the right choice. The whole concept of reinforcing positive behaviour by ‘catching students doing things right’ culminates into a big celebration ceremony at the end of term where student’ achievements are recognised before an audience of peers,teachers, parents/carers/foster carers, social workers and Governors. These are major school events to which ‘all’ are invited.
A Strong Home-School Relationship
A strong relationship between the school and our parents is paramount. We recognise our students thrive when there is consistency between home and school. Built into our approach is a high level of communication between site deputies and home.The deputies speak to parents every morning to find out the risks of the student before they come into school. This information is cascaded to staff in a morning briefing that takes place daily. It also help the deputy to reshape the students programme so that support is in place to meet the students’ need that day. Likewise, the deputy or the teacher leading the site that day speaks to the home every evening to inform the home of the students day. This forms a part of the school’s ‘Open Door’ policy which means that deputies, in house professional, as well as the Headteacher is available to talk with parents at anytime.
Small Sites of a very Nurturing Nature; One to One Teaching and Small Groups
In order to create a safe, positive environment for the students we organise the school into small sites of a very nurturing nature. Sites are organised based on compatibility risk and based on student’s needs, as well as key stages. Students have access to enhanced staffing levels, depending on their individual risk assessments, within very small groups of no bigger than five. There is always a safe space for students to withdraw to, when they feel that they cannot manage and where staff believe that their behaviour is impacting on the learning of others. Small groups, with high levels of individual student support, gives the school an opportunity to establish firm boundaries while enabling students to develop trust in the staff and each other, so that the behaviours that are preventing their progress in learning are diminished and more positive behaviours are practised.
Functional Analysis and Robust Risk Assessments
We are very aware that many of our students come to us with extremely high levels of anxiety and very complex emotional needs that often may compromise their academic ability. The success of our approach very much lies in understanding the barriers to individual student’s learning and identifying strategies to overcome these so that the environment is right, and the students feel safe within their environment. With the use of the the Antecedent Behaviour Consequence(ABC) approach we use functional analysis to create a deeper level of understanding of the students behaviours. This informs our staff of how the student’s thinking, emotions and past experience impact on the way in which the student operates enabling robust risk assessments of how to support them . Equipped with an understanding of where the student’s behaviours originate, staff work more creatively and constructively with the challenging behaviours, plan their learning more effectively and help them to reach their full potential.
Interventions
The success of our approach is also heavily dependent on our use of evidence based interventions to support the students. Following assessment and an identified need, students have access to therapeutic support through a HCPC registered music therapist, and speech and language therapist. As part of a universal approach to students’ wellbeing and mental health, Spring Hill High School has also adopted The Thrive Approach. The school has several members of staff with enhanced training which allows them to provide focused intervention, however, all staff have received training and follow “The Thrive Approach,” within their daily interactions.
Alongside this, and depending on their individual needs, students have access to the following interventions.
• Talkabout for Teenagers
• Travel Training
• Mindfulness in School practice
• Photo communication
• Lego Therapy
• That Reading Thing
• IDL (Maths and English)
Students also have access to regular impartial careers advice.
