A community day special school for 80 pupils aged 3-19 years with severe learning difficulties and complex needs.
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 is set back from a busy urban ring road on an area of green play space across from a large well-kept housing estate. The site is close to the Town’s historic racecourse, which has recently undergone extensive renovation, and is approximately 1 mile from the town centre and 2 miles from access links to the M18 (junctions 3 and 4).
The School and its grounds are situated between the lower (Key Stage 3) and upper (Key Stages 4/5) buildings of a large (2000 pupils aged 3 to 18 years), successful comprehensive school, Danum School Technology College. The special school enjoys extensive links with the secondary school and primary schools across the Local Authority. Traditionally pupils from the special school, secondary school and local primary schools enjoy joint curriculum and social opportunities in all Key Stages. The staffs from all schools benefit from joint training and mutual support.
The school occupies the site and premises of a former special school for pupils with medical and physical difficulties.
The New School occupies a single-storey building that was purpose built in the early 1980’s as a 120 place 3 to 19 years special school for pupils of all abilities with physical and medical needs. As the population changed over the years the building has undergone some internal remodelling to provide for a smaller number of pupils who require greater levels of care and an intensely personalised developmental curriculum.
The building has been further refurbished and extended to meet the needs of the planned new pupil population. The refurbishment is centred on toilet/changing facilities, entrance and exit requirements, storage for large equipment and curriculum facilities, and a substantial purpose-built extension to house the post 16 pupils and provide an additional 2 class bases.
The School buildings are laid out around a delightful, well-developed sensory quadrangle with separate hall and dining facilities. The School has its own production kitchen. The School benefits from its own large 1980’s style pool, that is available for hydrotherapy use alongside school curriculum use. A modern, purpose-designed food technology area has recently been developed and there are adequate, secure hard and grassed play areas and a sufficiency of car parking for staff and visitors.
Heatherwood is a school for 80 pupils aged between 3+ years (Foundation) and 18+ years (sixth form) from the whole Doncaster borough.
All of our pupils will have severe learning difficulties. Some will have profound and multiple needs. Most have been known to be likely to require very special support since soon after their birth. We will maintain a role as part of the planning and progression that brings the pupil to enter the school.
There are some pupils who will need the level of provision we make because of deteriorating medical conditions or because of trauma. In all cases we will work closely with parents or carers to ensure that the pupil has good and effective advocacy throughout all choices and levels of intervention that effect their lives.
There is a reasonable distribution of ages across the key stages, however, the small number in each year group will require careful and sensitive grouping to give access to appropriate curriculum. The gender balance is roughly equal, with a slight predominance in favour of boys.
There is a considerable emphasis on communication. Personal, physical social and emotional needs demand styles of teaching and support of us that give pupils access to structured learning at an appropriate level and pace with increasing levels of independence.
The backbone of the school curriculum is formed by the National Curriculum. Our level of access will begin at the level where pupils encounter new experiences in a planned way and continue through the encouragement of response to experience extending towards participation and contribution through the programmes provided.
Of necessity, the adaptations of activities in the school require a significant amount of individual programme planning, but we will always be mindful to emphasise those relationships between people and within groups that build our own community and contribute to the effective working of societies in the world outside.
The Equals Access framework will be used to monitor the breadth and balance of that which is offered to pupils and we will consider progress in terms of the breadth of response and participation as well as more conventional linear development.
The school works closely with Health and with other children’s services. Visitors from these agencies will work in the school and will be frequently available for consultation in the school.
For older students, the school works extensively with parents and carers, Connexions (Careers Service), colleges and social services to develop and deliver courses appropriate to the needs of an individual and supporting the transition into the environment that will give the greatest possible degree of independence. Wherever possible achievement will be accredited, both to celebrate the progress of the pupils and to provide concrete evidence of that progress for the student’s future.
The school provides a very wide range of techniques and strategies to promote communication. At the early stages this may be built on the multi-sensory and stimulating environments created to engage those pupils with the greatest difficulty. We also use and promote the use of ICT to support communication and develop the use of sign and symbol from the simplest objects of reference through to adult forms of sign language and symbol use.
The school is well equipped with computers and teachers will use communication technology to prepare and deliver teaching programmes in all areas of the curriculum. There will be a distinct ICT curriculum structure that promotes skills in using information technology to signal attention, to indicate choice and to both contribute and record a contribution. The school shares the development of the skills associated with communication and ICT to support and extend its use in other schools and establishments.
The school is developing and establishing a clear policy for the delivery of health and sex education that has been agreed with parents and is taught at levels to match the age and understanding of the pupils throughout the school.
There is a full programme of Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education delivered at an appropriate level of awareness and understanding that includes both awareness and measures to combat the misuse of drugs as part of wider culture.
There is a full programme of Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education delivered at an appropriate level of awareness and understanding that includes both awareness and measures to combat the misuse of drugs as part of wider culture.
The school works in line with the curriculum agreed and revised in the Local Guidance from SACRE.
The school uses a wide range of contacts and services so that pupils have access to knowledge and understanding of work as they progress through school. Enterprise and related activities leading to understanding of the workplace will be introduced to match the appropriate level of ability and understanding towards the end of their full time education.
The school vigorously promotes positive links with parents. The school holds a range of resources, both conventional and digital, that are available for loan to support parents and families as they contribute to the learning of their children. Resources are also available for other schools to borrow and evaluate in their own settings.
The Headteacher and staff provide a wide range of visits and experiences outside school that enhance the curriculum. We expect to make a residential visit available to each child so that they can gain in learning and social skills through that experience.
Our behaviour policy is developed alongside a Home School Agreement to emphasise our positive approach to managing behaviour.
The governors and staff have a zero tolerance approach to overt or covert behaviour that discriminates in any way and, if it appears in school, quick intervention will follow through raising awareness, applying sanctions and, in serious or persistent cases, involving outside agencies including the police. We will also examine our own practices in an attempt to ensure that we do not inadvertently use or perpetuate discriminatory behaviour but promote inclusion and harmony.
The new school has been designed with external advice and through consultation with the community of children, parents, carers and staff to develop an accessibility scheme so that all can access premises, curriculum and information according to their needs and to benefit the pupils.
The school reports, as all other schools, through the provision of Annual Reports for students and SATS results. The Governors emphasise the need for close and regular contact with parents, both on an individual basis and through parents’ interest groups and parents’ evenings.
Teachers and mentors will develop personalised plans for pupils and these will be frequently discussed with parents when targets are changed significantly.
The programme of Annual Review will be rigorously pursued and the staff will ensure that pupils and parents and carers are involved fully in carrying out those reviews.
The school will continually promote networks and links with other agencies so that the resources that are available can be targeted effectively and a wide range of skills, knowledge and understanding brought to the support of pupils.
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 staff skilled in the development of language, speaking and listening, 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(s) will be operated on a Partnership Agreement between the Local Authority and the school on behalf of all other Doncaster schools. The Agreement will establish clear referral routes, detail delivery expectations and establish robust success criteria.
The links with mainstream schools are promoted over all key stages in relation to formal and informal contact. The wider Community and groups within it are encouraged to make use of the facilities within the new school. The school will thus be able to make a distinct contribution to the extended schools programme.
