A community day special school for 102 pupils aged 3-19 years with severe learning difficulties and Autism/challenging behaviour.
This school subscribes to the beliefs set out in ‘Every Child Matters’ that children and young people have a right to:
Our plans and actions seek to contribute to securing these things.
The school shares a site with a local secondary school, Hatfield Visual Arts College (1250 pupils aged 11-19 years), in the centre of a popular village community, approximately 7 miles to the north east of Doncaster town centre and benefits from a nearly links to the M18, junctions 4 and 5.
The special school has limited links with local secondary schoos but enjoys wider links with the local pyramid (local family of feeder primary and secondary schools) and the Governing Body and Local Authority would wish this relationship to continue and be enhanced with other schools in the area.
The school occupies two adjacent buildings approximately 200 yards apart. One is a purpose build 1980’s single storey 90 place special school for pupils aged 3-19 years with the full range of severe learning difficulties, including more profound and complex needs. The other building is a single storey former 9-13 years middle school that was substantially refurbished several years ago following fire damage. The two buildings have undergone some internal remodelling to meet new curricular needs, disability access and care needs, mainly around specialist facilities for independent living and toilets. There are adequate secure hard and grassed play areas and a landscaped pedestrian route between the two buildings.
The special school manages its own transport fleet and the school grounds contain parking for approximately 15 minibuses.
This new school on the Hatfield site is for 102 pupils aged between 3+ years and 18+ years; that is from the start of the term after their third birthday and leaving at the end of the academic year in which they reach 19 years of age. The gender balance runs at around 30% girls and 70% boys.
Pupils usually join the school following a multi-professional assessment and determination of needs and appropriate provision. Most will be recognised as needing extensive support before they reach school age although trauma, infection or changes because of maturity may be the cause of later referral.
Pupils may join the school from anywhere within the Doncaster borough. The majority will attend on a full time basis, though some pupils in the early years may only attend the school for shortened weeks or part days.
Older pupils may begin attendance on a part-time basis at the local college or with a specialist training provider. Some pupils may be dual registered with a mainstream school and every pupil will have an Inclusion Plan showing how they access learning and social experiences alongside their wider peer group outside the school.
Some parents may choose for their child to begin their education in other settings, for example in resourced provision on a mainstream school site, and transfer into the school at some time during their Foundation or Key Stage One years.
Distribution in year groups and across the Key Stages varies year on year. However, the low numbers in each year group, with a range between 0-11 pupils per year group, means that flexible grouping arrangements are used to ensure that appropriate programmes, taking account of age and maturity, are provided.
The range of special educational needs at Coppice is wide. Most pupils will demonstrate performance below Level One of the National Curriculum. Some pupils will, at the completion of their education be able to live independently and work in well-supported places of work. Most will require services, throughout their life, to access and participate effectively in the community.
Some pupils will have medically diagnosed conditions that have an effect on their learning, including Autism or related communication difficulties. There are also pupils who, because of a complexity of needs, require support that is additional to and different from that which can be provided in other settings so that they can make good progress with learning. They are placed here because of the particular skills and strategies used and the adapted environment available in the school.
The school complements, but is different from, the provision at the new special schools at North Ridge Community School, Woodlands and Heatherwood School, Leger Way. Its work overlaps and links with these similar providers. There are also links with others who make specialist provision for those with Autism, both within the maintained and private school sector, at post 19 years of age and with performance levels outside the range of this school.
Pupils will have one or a combination of:
The backbone of the school curriculum is the National Curriculum, this is considered an entitlement and basis for planning. It is extended by building therapeutic work and locally available experiences into the provision available. Individual routes through the services available in the school are developed for each pupil, progress monitored and access promoted to those learning experiences provided in school and in partnership with others.
The school shares skills in providing programmes for those with communication and Autistic Spectrum difficulties with the new special school in Stone Hill School, Scawsby and acts as a focus for training and development in this area alongside the service provided for mainstream pupils by Children and Young People's Services. It is also available as a source of support for mainstream schools in responding to pupils with severe learning difficulties and/or challenging behaviour.
In order that different levels and learning needs can be accommodated, the school works in partnership with a range of other professionals and promotes a strong internal continuing Professional Learning Programme for its own staff based on a well formed Performance Management process.
The development of expertise makes the school a suitable resource for the whole Borough. Staff from other schools and services can draw on knowledge and understanding of practical techniques to improve communication and social skills teaching, develop skills in behaviour management, and ways to respond to learning difficulties.
For older students, the school works extensively with parents and carers, Connexions (career consultants), colleges and workplace providers to develop and deliver courses appropriate to the needs of an individual. The school also supports the transition into a work related or further education environment and ultimately independent or supported living. Wherever possible, achievement is accredited, both to celebrate the progress of the pupils and to provide concrete evidence of that progress at transition and for the student’s future.
The school is well equipped with computers. Teachers are expected to use information technology to prepare and deliver teaching programmes in all areas of the curriculum as well as a distinct ICT curriculum structure that promotes skills in using information technology. For many of our students, ICT is also a tool that can extend their ability to find a means of self-expression and communication.
The school acts as a resource for other schools. The nature of support will normally be through outreach work and consultation. For example, where the school has a staff skilled in the development of communication or behaviour management, this will be offered as a resource for training and the generation of solutions to teaching and learning needs in neighbouring mainstream schools.
The outreach function of the school will be operated on a Partnership Agreement between the Local Authority and the school on behalf of other Doncaster schools. The Agreement will establish clear referral routes, detail delivery expectations and establish robust success criteria. The Agreement will be negotiated between the new Headteacher, Governing Body and the Local Authority.
