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Inclusion at <strong>Whitley</strong> <strong>Academy</strong><br />

www.whitleyabbey.com


The Base provides all kinds of support <strong>for</strong> <strong>Whitley</strong> Students and their parents. We are a team of mentors,<br />

learning support case workers, counsellors, teaching assistants, youth workers and home/school liaison<br />

officers.<br />

We work with a rage of students with a range of needs with the aim to enable and empower them to be the<br />

best that they can be.<br />

Everyone at some point may need a bit of extra support and at The Base we aim to provide that personalised<br />

support. The Inclusion Team are made up of non teaching staff allowing us to deal with concerns and<br />

problems quickly and efficiently. We use preventative measures and early interventions to promote good<br />

mental health, emotional well being and a positive attitude so that students achieve their <strong>full</strong> potential.<br />

The following groups run over a 6 week period:<br />

Anger management<br />

Motivation - raising attitude to learning<br />

Social Skills<br />

Healthy Well being<br />

Attendance Support<br />

Appropriate Behavi<strong>our</strong><br />

Raising Self Esteem<br />

Staying Safe<br />

Transition<br />

1-1 work will vary in content but be based around motivational coaching. We also have a dedicated team of<br />

volunteer counsellors.<br />

At present the following people take up these positions:<br />

Susie Elton<br />

Inclusion Coordinator<br />

Sally Allen<br />

Inclusion Coordinator<br />

Helen Trivedi<br />

Home/School Liaison Officer<br />

Alex Buff<br />

Learning Mentor<br />

Julie Parsons<br />

Teaching Assistant<br />

Kane Hudson Case Worker Year 7<br />

Helen Stanbrook Case Worker Year 8<br />

Paul Rule Case Worker Year 9<br />

Tracey Wheatley<br />

Case Worker KS4 (Years 10 &11)<br />

Nigel Moore<br />

Youth Worker<br />

Marie McCauley<br />

Youth Worker<br />

Sarah Whitehouse Counsellor<br />

Kay Harrison<br />

WRL Coordinator/Case worker KS4 (Years 10 &11)<br />

We hope you enjoy reading the following pages and we welcome y<strong>our</strong> comments. If you would like to know<br />

<strong>more</strong>, feel free to contact us at the school.<br />

Susie Elton (Mrs)<br />

Inclusion Co-ordinator<br />

Sally Allen (Miss)<br />

Inclusion Co-ordinator<br />

2


Breakfast Club at The Base<br />

Breakfast club at The Base is<br />

a great way to start y<strong>our</strong> day<br />

at <strong>Whitley</strong>. This is a chance to<br />

eat a variety of healthy<br />

breakfast foods and drink tea<br />

completely free of charge<br />

whilst you meet friendly staff<br />

and y<strong>our</strong> friends be<strong>for</strong>e y<strong>our</strong><br />

day at school starts.<br />

There are many activities to do<br />

from playing on the Wii fit to<br />

Oragami!<br />

We would love you see you<br />

there every day from 7:45am -<br />

8.30am<br />

3


Outline of Intervention<br />

Although you can never predict every eventuality, the majority of the Inclusion Teams work is<br />

proactive and targeted support.<br />

Managing Anger,<br />

Taking Responsibility<br />

Group <strong>for</strong>um, 1-2-1 support - Looking at anger triggers – why do we become angry<br />

Reactions to and appropriate methods of dealing with anger; time out etc. Managing<br />

<strong>our</strong> responses, recognising <strong>our</strong> emotions and learning how to manage them effectively<br />

to cope better under difficult circumstances, take responsibility; actions and consequences<br />

Managing Behavi<strong>our</strong><br />

Group <strong>for</strong>um, 1-2-1 support - Actions and consequences of behavi<strong>our</strong>.<br />

Causes of inappropriate behavi<strong>our</strong>, why do we behave badly<br />

Benefits of managing behavi<strong>our</strong> effectively and rewards; raised self esteem<br />

and confidence. Peer pressure. Learn to compromise. Acceptance, taking responsibility<br />

Appropriate Behavi<strong>our</strong><br />

Group <strong>for</strong>um, 1-2-1 support - Staying safe, appropriate relationships,<br />

environmental and personal influences, peer pressure, learn to say NO! Appropriate<br />

boundaries – what age should we be allowed to hang out Peer pressure and<br />

relationships. Acceptance of rules and boundaries<br />

Strictly Stress<br />

Group <strong>for</strong>um, 1-2-1 support - What is stress Stressful situations and<br />

environments and methods of dealing with them appropriately, recognising and<br />

removing <strong>our</strong>selves from stressful situations; look at alternative methods; exercise<br />

and healthy eating, relationships.<br />

Friendship Groups,<br />

Social Skills<br />

Group <strong>for</strong>um - Forming friendships, appropriate friendships;<br />

Recognising benefits of relationship building, being aware of inappropriate friendships,<br />

people skills, peer pressure, learning, appropriate role models; speaking skills, learn to<br />

be <strong>more</strong> assertive… recognising different personalities, learn to compromise.<br />

New hobbies and social interaction<br />

Attendance Support,<br />

Aim to be there<br />

Targeted attendance support, Causes and Consequences of truanting.<br />

Parental involvement and support. Academic achievement.<br />

EWO and home/school liaison support, realistic and achievable target setting.<br />

Look at school anxiety and refusal, relationships with students and staff.<br />

Strategies to support students and parents…<br />

Raising Self Esteem<br />

Group <strong>for</strong>um, 1-2-1 support - Confidence building, Learning to cope in situations,<br />

Have a voice! Believe in y<strong>our</strong>self, sharing emotions and active discussion, being<br />

y<strong>our</strong>self and proud of it! Recognising strengths and weaknesses and learning to<br />

embrace them, celebrating individuality, learning to compromise<br />

Self Awareness<br />

Group <strong>for</strong>um, 1-2-1 support – Age appropriate - Staying safe, changing bodies,<br />

personal hygiene, sexual awareness, confidence and self esteem, appropriate role<br />

models. Acceptance of rules and boundaries, environmental and social influences.<br />

Healthy Well Being<br />

Group <strong>for</strong>um, 1-2-1 support. What does it mean to be safe Do you always feel safe<br />

We also do joint delivery of some programmes with Youth Service, VIBES (branch of Mental<br />

Health) SHADOW (sexual health and drugs outreach work) If you would like support, please come<br />

and see Mrs Elton, miss Allen, or y<strong>our</strong> LSCW.<br />

4


Learning Support Caseworkers<br />

Kane Hudson<br />

As a Learning<br />

Support<br />

Caseworker, I<br />

am in the<br />

position to<br />

oversee the<br />

emotional and<br />

physical wellbeing<br />

of students<br />

in school in year 7. The work varies daily and<br />

each day presents with its own rewards and<br />

challenges. I have a good relationship with<br />

the students and their parents/carers; it is my<br />

role to ensure each student feels they have<br />

someone consistent and reliable to turn to in<br />

times of difficulty as well as participating in all<br />

aspects of school life.<br />

Paul Rule Year 9<br />

The level of<br />

commitment I<br />

have to helping<br />

challenging and<br />

disengaged<br />

student’s stems<br />

from my personal<br />

experiences<br />

coming from a<br />

single parent family, understanding how<br />

crucial intervention and guidance is at this<br />

stage of young people’s lives, enabling them<br />

to make positive contributions to their<br />

education and achieve their <strong>full</strong> potential. The<br />

intervention strategies I will be implementing<br />

consist of mentoring, group work and<br />

academic support.<br />

Helen Stanbrook<br />

Year 8<br />

Some of <strong>our</strong> students<br />

may not on the<br />

surface seem to have<br />

any needs but one<br />

incident can trigger<br />

off a different<br />

issue. An issue of<br />

bullying/name calling<br />

made a student very upset and withdrawn one<br />

afternoon. When she was given a friendly ear to<br />

listen to, it was clear she has little or no<br />

conservation at home and no outlet at school to<br />

talk about issues she may be facing on a daily<br />

basis (no immediate friends). All she requires is<br />

a friendly face she can talk to about how her<br />

week has gone and will just listen and take her<br />

seriously. She seems happier around school<br />

and I am trying to enc<strong>our</strong>age her to make a<br />

friend with another student who herself is very<br />

quiet. I have let her show me what she enjoys<br />

doing at home e.g knitting and try to teach me to<br />

do it – Not much of a success!!! Sometimes it is<br />

easy to <strong>for</strong>get the quiet students that just get on<br />

with school and cause no bother but they<br />

deserve <strong>our</strong> time as well.<br />

5


Tracey Wheatley<br />

I have two roles<br />

within school, as a<br />

Learning Support<br />

Caseworker <strong>for</strong><br />

KS4 and as the<br />

Looked After Child<br />

Co-ordinator.<br />

In my Caseworker role I monitor attendance,<br />

behavi<strong>our</strong> and academic progress. I make<br />

sure pupils arrive to school on time each day<br />

and to their individual lessons. I also support<br />

their learning in some lessons and provide<br />

mentoring support <strong>for</strong> pupils where needed.<br />

It is important that I get to know the pupils,<br />

understand all their individual needs, develop<br />

a positive relationship with them and their<br />

parents and carers, and ensure they<br />

progress and fulfill their potential within<br />

school.<br />

I support the role of their tutor and provide<br />

them with another option that they can go to<br />

if they have any problems or issues in<br />

school.<br />

I also try to ensure that parents and carers<br />

are <strong>full</strong>y in<strong>for</strong>med about progress and any<br />

issues which could impact on their learning.<br />

Kay Harrison<br />

Work Related<br />

Learning<br />

Coordinator<br />

I coordinate<br />

programmes of work<br />

related learning that<br />

are delivered at<br />

various training<br />

centres and colleges in Coventry and<br />

Warwickshire.<br />

As part of the KS4 curriculum, many of <strong>our</strong><br />

students have the opportunity to study a<br />

vocational or skill based subject <strong>for</strong> one day<br />

each week. All the qualifications are nationally<br />

recognised and provide opportunities <strong>for</strong><br />

progression into further education or<br />

employment. The work related and vocational<br />

subjects include Construction, Engineering,<br />

Motor Vehicle Maintenance, Early Years Child<br />

Care, Hair and Beauty, and many <strong>more</strong>.<br />

As well as supporting <strong>our</strong> students to succeed<br />

in their chosen subject, I also work with<br />

students to improve behavi<strong>our</strong>, attendance<br />

and help to remove barriers to learning.<br />

As the Looked after Child Coordinator I work<br />

closely with all <strong>our</strong> looked after children and<br />

all the other services and external agencies<br />

involved with that child. It is my responsibility<br />

to ensure that I have regular contact with<br />

them, and plan any interventions they<br />

require. I monitor their attendance,<br />

attainment and progress and ensure every<br />

child has a Personal Education Plan, and<br />

that regular PEP meetings take place. It is<br />

important that I monitor their well being and<br />

ensure he or she does not have any low self<br />

esteem problems or have problems<br />

developing or keeping relationships with their<br />

peers or adults.<br />

6


Mentoring<br />

Mentoring at The Base is invaluable. They are here to sort out any problems students may<br />

have. Parents may phone up and refer their child to a Mentor if they wish them to have help<br />

with their studies or with behavi<strong>our</strong>/motivation, or students themselves may ask to have some<br />

mentoring. If a students Attitude to Learning Score drops they may be referred to a Mentor to<br />

try and boost their levels up again.<br />

Julie Parsons<br />

Part of my role at<br />

The Base is mentoring<br />

as well as<br />

providing support<br />

<strong>for</strong> classes at<br />

school. I mentor<br />

individuals and<br />

group work at<br />

The Base offering support, enc<strong>our</strong>agement<br />

and building upon their self esteem so that<br />

they can achieve their <strong>full</strong> potential. I have<br />

worked with Student A from year 7 when he<br />

worked in the learning support unit, seeing<br />

incredible changes in him from underachieving,<br />

being distracted and displaying<br />

some behavi<strong>our</strong> problems. He is now in<br />

year 9 and in a high achieving set and engaging<br />

well in mainstream school. He has<br />

developed into a <strong>more</strong> mature contented<br />

student and wants to achieve positive future<br />

goals.<br />

Helen Trivedi<br />

There are many<br />

reasons why some<br />

students do not<br />

always reach their<br />

<strong>full</strong> potential - some<br />

of these reasons<br />

may be related to<br />

their health or<br />

emotional well-being. The Well Being mentor<br />

works with students to promote positive<br />

lifestyle choices e.g. healthy eating, exercise,<br />

and self-care skills, and enc<strong>our</strong>ages them to<br />

take these options and ideas home to their<br />

family. By removing these particular barriers to<br />

learning that effect students inside and outside<br />

school, we can work to support the student to<br />

reach their <strong>full</strong> potential.<br />

Nigel Moore<br />

and Marie<br />

McAuley are<br />

Youth Workers<br />

at The Base.<br />

They support the<br />

work of the Inclusion<br />

Team at<br />

The Base doing groups, 1-1 work, Parenting<br />

C<strong>our</strong>ses, and work within the community.<br />

Nigel supports and leads on CAFS with the<br />

aim to put a package of support together<br />

<strong>for</strong> families should they need one.<br />

Alex Buff<br />

I am a learning mentor<br />

and provide support to<br />

identified students<br />

through 1:1 mentoring<br />

and group work. I aim<br />

to remove their<br />

barriers to learning and<br />

in turn, help them to<br />

reach their <strong>full</strong><br />

potential. I regularly liaise with me mentee’s to<br />

ensure they feel supported and try hard to<br />

maintain positive relationships with their<br />

families/parents/carers.<br />

7


Sally Allen<br />

Inclusion<br />

Co-ordinator<br />

Part of my role is to<br />

coordinate the programmes<br />

running at<br />

The Base I also provide<br />

support to <strong>our</strong><br />

students through 1:1<br />

mentoring and<br />

group work.<br />

Child A had a lot of<br />

barriers to learning which significantly affected<br />

their ability to be successful at<br />

school. Child A’s home life was transient<br />

and chaotic, and there was limited support<br />

from Child A’s parent/carer. There was Police<br />

and Social Services involvement with<br />

the family as Child A would often run away<br />

from home. Child A’s attendance to school<br />

was poor (54%), meaning that Child A<br />

missed huge chunks of her learning and<br />

found it difficult to access the work when<br />

she did come into school. Child A also displayed<br />

challenging behavi<strong>our</strong> and lacked in<br />

social skills. All of theses barriers to learning<br />

meant that Child A was at high risk of<br />

permanent exclusion and needed lots of<br />

support.<br />

I was Child A’s mentor and had weekly sessions<br />

with her in which we covered appropriate<br />

behavi<strong>our</strong>, anger management, making<br />

good choices, attendance, social skills,<br />

positive relationships and issues at home.<br />

Child A was on a Success Card with three<br />

personalised targets which she would show<br />

to me at the end of each day. Good cards<br />

meant personalised rewards!<br />

Child A was also put into a smoking<br />

cessation group <strong>for</strong> one term to explore<br />

addiction and the effects of smoking. Child A<br />

had 8 sessions a week of extra literacy and<br />

numeracy at The BASE to help her ‘catch up’<br />

with work she’d missed due to her poor<br />

attendance. This was really beneficial <strong>for</strong><br />

Child A who was then able to access the<br />

work in lessons reducing the amount of<br />

challenging behavi<strong>our</strong> in class. Child A<br />

started attending Breakfast Club which<br />

meant she was able to start the day off in a<br />

positive way and this also stopped lateness<br />

to morning lessons. I regularly liaised with<br />

Child A’s social worker and parent/carer to<br />

maintain good relationships and keep them<br />

in<strong>for</strong>med with Child A’s progress. I invited<br />

Child A’s parent/carer to an in<strong>for</strong>mal coffee<br />

morning at The BASE and as a result they<br />

eventually signed up <strong>for</strong> a Positive Parenting<br />

Programme.<br />

Child A’s attendance went up to 92% and her<br />

behavi<strong>our</strong> improved significantly both in and<br />

out of school. She was able to use the social<br />

skills she had learnt to <strong>for</strong>m some solid<br />

friendships and her confidence grew and<br />

grew. Ultimately, Child A knew that she was<br />

cared about at school and felt safe. Without<br />

the support of the Inclusion Team I believe<br />

that Child A wouldn’t have been able to<br />

succeed at school to the degree that they<br />

did.<br />

It gives me great job satisfaction knowing<br />

that I am part of a team that helps to remove<br />

the barriers to learning <strong>for</strong> many young<br />

people and consequently this allows them to<br />

reach their <strong>full</strong> potential. Often it’s the little<br />

things that make a big difference, and<br />

sometimes you have to think outside the box<br />

and go that extra mile <strong>for</strong> <strong>our</strong> students.<br />

8


What is<br />

Counselling<br />

A Young person’s<br />

guide.<br />

Clare Welch<br />

“What can a counsellor offer me”<br />

A counsellor can offer you the time and space that<br />

you need in order to talk about y<strong>our</strong> problems. They<br />

won’t talk at you or tell you what they think you<br />

should do. They give you the time that you need to<br />

talk about issues that are affecting you so that you<br />

can reflect and decide <strong>for</strong> y<strong>our</strong>self what is the best<br />

solution. Counsellors can help you explore the<br />

options that are available <strong>for</strong> you. They won’t try to<br />

change y<strong>our</strong> behavi<strong>our</strong> or thoughts only you can do<br />

that.<br />

“Will everything be private and<br />

confidential”<br />

The counsellor that you see will go through an<br />

agreement with you on y<strong>our</strong> first meeting. This may<br />

sound scary but the counsellor will answer any<br />

questions that you may have regarding this.<br />

Basically, the agreement will state that everything<br />

that you say to y<strong>our</strong> counsellor will be completely<br />

private, unless you say something which indicates<br />

that you or someone else is in danger of harm. In<br />

this case, y<strong>our</strong> counsellor would have to pass this<br />

in<strong>for</strong>mation on to Mrs Elton, but they would always<br />

talk you about this first. This helps to keep you and<br />

the counsellor safe.<br />

“Will my parents/carers have to know that<br />

I’m coming to counselling, and will they<br />

know what we talk about”<br />

In most cases it would be nice if you could tell y<strong>our</strong><br />

parents/carers that you are seeing a school<br />

counsellor, but we understand that sometimes it isn’t<br />

easy to do this. The only reason y<strong>our</strong> parents/carers<br />

may be told about something you said in counselling<br />

would be if you or someone else were in danger of<br />

harm. But y<strong>our</strong> counsellor would always talk to you<br />

about this first, be<strong>for</strong>e they passed on any<br />

in<strong>for</strong>mation.<br />

“Will my teachers need to know that I’m<br />

coming to counselling”<br />

The counselling will take place during school h<strong>our</strong>s<br />

so you will need to be excused from y<strong>our</strong> lessons.<br />

Miss Allen or Mrs Elton will tell y<strong>our</strong> teacher that you<br />

have a weekly appointment at The BASE so you will<br />

need to be excused from those lessons. Y<strong>our</strong><br />

teacher will not be told that you are coming to The<br />

BASE <strong>for</strong> counselling.<br />

“If I don’t like counselling what do I do”<br />

If you decide that you no longer want to see y<strong>our</strong><br />

counsellor <strong>for</strong> what ever reason no one is going to<br />

question you or <strong>for</strong>ce you to go. All you need to do<br />

is tell Miss Allen, Mrs Elton or y<strong>our</strong> counsellor. We<br />

might ask you to go one last time just to finish off<br />

y<strong>our</strong> counselling properly, but that is up to you. If<br />

you changed y<strong>our</strong> mind and decided you wanted<br />

counselling again at any point, all you would have to<br />

do is tell Miss Allen or Mrs Elton and they would put<br />

you back on the waiting list <strong>for</strong> counselling.<br />

“How long will I need to be there <strong>for</strong>”<br />

You will have one session of counselling a week.<br />

Each counselling session will last <strong>for</strong> 50 minutes<br />

(one period), and you will usually have y<strong>our</strong><br />

counselling at the same time every week.<br />

You can have counselling <strong>for</strong> as long as you feel<br />

you need it. Some people have counselling <strong>for</strong> just a<br />

couple of sessions, and some people have<br />

counselling <strong>for</strong> months and months! There is no<br />

‘right’ amount of time to have counselling <strong>for</strong>,<br />

because everybody is different.<br />

You may have <strong>more</strong> questions that you want<br />

answering as this is only a brief introduction to what<br />

we can offer you. If you want to ask any questions<br />

be<strong>for</strong>e starting counselling you can come to The<br />

BASE and ask <strong>for</strong> Miss Allen or Mrs Elton. We will<br />

try <strong>our</strong> best to answer any questions you may have!<br />

……………………………………………………….......<br />

Some things students that have said about<br />

counselling at The BASE…<br />

“I would recommend counselling to other<br />

people because it helped me a lot”<br />

“I could talk easily with my counsellor and felt<br />

she listened to what I said”<br />

“I was never judged”<br />

“My counsellor helped me to understand things”<br />

“She (a counsellor) gave me different ways of<br />

viewing the situation, helping me to understand<br />

<strong>more</strong> and feel better”<br />

9


Home/School<br />

Liaison Officer<br />

I provide support to the<br />

students to enable<br />

them to raise and<br />

maintain attendance,<br />

and to ensure that<br />

young people take<br />

advantage of their legal<br />

right to education, and there<strong>for</strong>e improve their life<br />

chances.<br />

I work with the Inclusion Team in removing the<br />

students barriers to attending school and supporting<br />

the young person.<br />

I often meet with young people <strong>for</strong> a chat to look<br />

with them at ways in which they might be able to<br />

improve their attendance and punctuality. I welcome<br />

any calls from parents/careers to discuss concerns<br />

they may have and look towards making positive<br />

change and avoid any risk of harm.<br />

The government expectation <strong>for</strong> attendance is 95%<br />

+, which is deemed to be the level of attendance<br />

that gives pupils the greatest opportunity to achieve<br />

the best of their potential in school both<br />

academically and socially. Anything less is a cause<br />

<strong>for</strong> concern, this concern may result in us contacting<br />

parents/carers either by letter, phone, home visit or<br />

invitation to an attendance meeting, where<br />

strategies <strong>for</strong> improvement are put in place.<br />

The Inclusion Team are a very positive way of<br />

helping y<strong>our</strong> child and y<strong>our</strong> family with difficulties<br />

you may be experiencing, is by undertaking a CAF.<br />

A CAF (Common Assessment Framework) is a new<br />

way of working with children and young people. It<br />

involves listening to you and y<strong>our</strong> child to find out<br />

y<strong>our</strong> child’s needs, and what is working well in y<strong>our</strong><br />

child’s life. An action plan, agreed with you and y<strong>our</strong><br />

child, is also put in place to make sure y<strong>our</strong> child<br />

gets the right sort of help. The CAF is voluntary –<br />

you and y<strong>our</strong> child can choose to be involved.<br />

How does it work<br />

If you and y<strong>our</strong> child agree, a worker will ask you<br />

and y<strong>our</strong> child some questions to find out what help<br />

and support y<strong>our</strong> child might need. This in<strong>for</strong>mation<br />

is recorded on a simple <strong>for</strong>m. You and y<strong>our</strong> child<br />

will agree what is put on the <strong>for</strong>m, and you will be<br />

given a copy of it.<br />

How will the CAF help my family<br />

The CAF exists to help you support y<strong>our</strong> child. It<br />

can lead to a quick solution or help to identify<br />

extra support if needed. The CAF will ensure<br />

that everyone involved with y<strong>our</strong> child – such as<br />

teachers and other professionals – work together<br />

to support you and y<strong>our</strong> child. The CAF will help<br />

y<strong>our</strong> child receive the right support at an early<br />

stage be<strong>for</strong>e their needs increase.<br />

When is the CAF used<br />

The CAF can be used if you or someone who<br />

works with y<strong>our</strong> child would like y<strong>our</strong> child to<br />

receive extra support. It will help to identify y<strong>our</strong><br />

child’s additional needs, and other workers<br />

required to support y<strong>our</strong> family. Only workers<br />

who need to know about y<strong>our</strong> child will share<br />

y<strong>our</strong> child’s in<strong>for</strong>mation. If a number of people<br />

are providing support to y<strong>our</strong> child, one of these<br />

people may be appointed as a ‘lead<br />

professional’. This person will keep you in<strong>for</strong>med,<br />

listen to y<strong>our</strong> views and support you.<br />

We are aware that there are many reasons<br />

which can affect school attendance and we<br />

do <strong>our</strong> very best to offer support and advice<br />

to parents/carers and young people to avoid<br />

prosecution proceedings.<br />

However, in the event of ongoing unauthorised<br />

absence from school when strategies set up <strong>for</strong><br />

improvement have failed, the Education Welfare<br />

Service has no alternative under Section 444 of<br />

the Education Act 1996 to prosecute. <strong>Please</strong><br />

note that school also may decide to initiate a<br />

Fixed Penalty Notice and apply to the Local<br />

Authority with respect to any parents whose child<br />

has 10 or <strong>more</strong> sessions of unauthorised<br />

absence in any 5-week period.<br />

It is also important to recognise that pupil<br />

absence during term time can seriously disrupt a<br />

pupils learning. We would there<strong>for</strong>e urge all<br />

parents to avoid booking a family holiday in term<br />

time. In certain circumstances at the discretion<br />

of the head teacher, the head teacher may<br />

choose to grant leave of absence of up to 10<br />

days in any calendar year.<br />

We appreciate the opportunity to work within the<br />

Inclusion Unit at <strong>Whitley</strong> Abbey Business &<br />

Enterprise College and be a part of the wide<br />

range of opportunities and care that they offer to<br />

their young people.<br />

10


Every Child deserves to:<br />

Be healthy<br />

Stay safe<br />

Enjoy and achieve<br />

Make a positive contribution<br />

Achieve economic well-being<br />

Common Assessment Framework<br />

“The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is a new<br />

way of working with children and young people who need extra<br />

support. It is an action plan, agreed with parents and their child to<br />

make sure their <strong>full</strong> potential is met as well as their basic needs;<br />

because Every Child Matters“<br />

CAF Trained Staff at <strong>Whitley</strong> <strong>Academy</strong><br />

Susie Elton<br />

Sally Allen<br />

Nigel Moore<br />

Alex Buff<br />

Helen Trivedi<br />

Marie Power<br />

Helen Stanbrook<br />

Paul Rule<br />

Kane Hudson<br />

If you feel a student in any of y<strong>our</strong> classes requires a CAF please speak with<br />

Susie Elton<br />

A CAF is used to help ensure basic needs of a Young Person are met BUT if a child<br />

is thought to be at risk of harm, usual safeguarding procedures must be followed.<br />

We also carry out CAF’s - have a look at the next page<br />

to see if this would be good <strong>for</strong> you and y<strong>our</strong> family...<br />

11


Community events<br />

We host regular community events, organised by the Inclusion team. The aim of these events is to<br />

engage parents in some enjoyable activities at school, and often give family’s time to have some fun<br />

together. Our events range from simple coffee afternoons, with free tea, coffee and sandwiches with the<br />

opportunity to meet some external support agencies, then to invite only events <strong>for</strong> targeted families, and<br />

whole school family fun events.<br />

We try and plan these events to incorporate different activities, including crafts and manicures, which<br />

everyone can enjoy, although participation is optional, it is enc<strong>our</strong>aged! These events open a gateway <strong>for</strong><br />

parents to in<strong>for</strong>mally discuss their child’s progress, and meet some of the staff that support them. It is<br />

hoped that by attending these events parents will feel confident approaching school if/when issues arise.<br />

We also hope to help parents link with useful, relevant support agencies or in<strong>for</strong>mation that could<br />

improve their current situation, which will help to improve the chances of <strong>our</strong> students at <strong>Whitley</strong><br />

<strong>Academy</strong>.<br />

14


Circle Time<br />

Circle time is a way students get to voice<br />

their opinion on a variety of topics in a<br />

safe environment. It is led by a trained<br />

member of staff and occasionally students<br />

ask whether they can lead it. The only<br />

person allowed to talk is the one holding<br />

the talking piece. A normal circle time<br />

begins with each students in turn saying<br />

out of 10 how their week has been. When<br />

the talking piece has been round once,<br />

the teacher may want to ask another<br />

question about why they said that<br />

number. This often leads on to students<br />

talking about an incident at school they<br />

may have found difficult to handle. Pupils<br />

then can offer advice/support/help to their<br />

peers. Target setting through circle time<br />

has proved to be really rewarding.<br />

Students are enc<strong>our</strong>aged to keep account<br />

to their peers <strong>for</strong> how they are managing<br />

with achieving their target.<br />

Circle time is about getting the pupils to<br />

reflect on their own per<strong>for</strong>mance in terms of<br />

behavi<strong>our</strong>, academic success and any other<br />

factors. It also enc<strong>our</strong>ages them to reflect on<br />

each other’s per<strong>for</strong>mance and offer<br />

constructive criticism in some cases and<br />

honest praise in others. In 7C it had made a<br />

difference as the barrier of the teacher being<br />

the man or woman stood at the front of the<br />

class is broken down physically and subconsciously.<br />

It had made the group <strong>more</strong><br />

honest and open and improved their maturity.<br />

Finally, a number of students really look<br />

<strong>for</strong>ward to circle time as a refreshing change<br />

from normal lessons.<br />

A pupils view:<br />

“We do circle time every Tuesday. I look<br />

<strong>for</strong>ward to it because it helps me know my<br />

friends <strong>more</strong> and teaches us how to work<br />

together. We are all honest with each<br />

other and once someone said to me how I<br />

had been better in my lessons - I liked to<br />

hear that from someone in my class. It<br />

enc<strong>our</strong>aged me to do even better.”<br />

Circle Time Rules<br />

1) Only talk if you have the talking piece<br />

2) Anything said in the circle stays in the circle<br />

3) Speak from the heart<br />

4) No put downs<br />

15


Supporting<br />

the Needs of<br />

Looked After<br />

Children<br />

Who are ‘looked<br />

after children’<br />

The term 'looked<br />

after' refers to children who are under 18 and<br />

have been provided with care and<br />

accommodation by children's services. Often<br />

this will be with foster carers, but some<br />

looked after children might stay in a<br />

children's home or boarding school, or with<br />

another adult known to the parents and<br />

children's services.<br />

The aim is to ensure the health and safety of<br />

looked after children, who often come from<br />

families who have experienced extreme<br />

hardship and upheaval, whilst working as<br />

closely as possible with the birth parents.<br />

Any disruption to home life often means that<br />

looked after children do not achieve their<br />

academic potential. Children's services also<br />

works to make sure the educational needs of<br />

each child are met.<br />

Why do children become ‘looked after’<br />

A large number of these children coming into<br />

care will have a history of physical, sexual or<br />

emotional abuse. Some may have suffered<br />

the death of a parent, or have parents who<br />

can’t look after them properly because of<br />

illness. Others may have disabilities and<br />

many different needs. A very small number<br />

are in care because of crimes they have<br />

committed.<br />

Many children and young people in care<br />

have experienced great personal upheaval.<br />

This disruption to home life and education<br />

can prevent them from reaching their<br />

academic potential.<br />

Children and young people in care often<br />

make up a large percentage of those that are<br />

excluded from school, fail to attend school,<br />

suffer from emotional behavi<strong>our</strong>al difficulties<br />

or have special educational needs.<br />

There are significant gaps between what<br />

they and their class mates achieve. Special<br />

measures are needed to overcome this<br />

problem.<br />

Personal education plans<br />

To help children in care to do better at school,<br />

teachers and social workers work together to<br />

prepare an individual plan <strong>for</strong> each child.<br />

These are called 'Personal education<br />

plans' (PEP).<br />

All looked after children of primary and<br />

secondary school age have a PEP. The child<br />

or young person meets with their social<br />

worker, carer and school representative to<br />

discuss how they are getting on at school and<br />

what could be done to help them achieve their<br />

academic potential.<br />

A PEP can help to raise the child’s self esteem<br />

by identifying their strengths and abilities and<br />

learning to build on them. PEPs can highlight<br />

any problem areas <strong>for</strong> the child and find ways<br />

of overcoming them. A pre-school PEP is also<br />

being developed to identify the learning needs<br />

of children under five.<br />

Bringing together all the key people involved in<br />

this way can make PEPs very effective in<br />

initiating positive change.<br />

Designated teachers<br />

All schools have a designated teacher <strong>for</strong><br />

looked after children, who monitors their<br />

per<strong>for</strong>mance and attendance and is normally<br />

the person who attends the PEP meetings and<br />

reviews. They provide day to day educational<br />

support and advice <strong>for</strong> the child. Our<br />

designated teachers are Mrs Wheatley and Mr<br />

Rex <strong>for</strong> this academic year - Sept 2011-July<br />

2012<br />

Setting targets at schools<br />

In addition to PEPs, the School Improvement<br />

Service team work closely with schools in<br />

setting achievable academic targets <strong>for</strong> all<br />

looked after children.<br />

16


The Base Res<strong>our</strong>ce List<br />

These are some of the curriculum's we use:<br />

Improving Behavi<strong>our</strong><br />

Anger Management<br />

Learning Mentor Res<strong>our</strong>ce Book<br />

(covers motivation/anger/loss/stress/attitude/family breakdown etc)<br />

Personal Development<br />

Welcome to Friendship<br />

Working with challenging behavi<strong>our</strong><br />

Helping you manage grief fear and anger<br />

Pregnancy book<br />

Alcohol alert<br />

Emotional Survival<br />

Anger Control Activities<br />

Getting There (transition)<br />

Personal Safety curriculum<br />

Making the best of me<br />

Strictly stress<br />

Facts of life<br />

Muddles puddles and sunshine (bereavement)<br />

On the booze, again<br />

Stoned<br />

Peer Mentoring<br />

Thinking out of the box<br />

The big book of blobs<br />

Quality Circle Time<br />

17


“I went down to The Base in year 7<br />

<strong>for</strong> anger management-it calmed<br />

down my behavi<strong>our</strong>”<br />

In year 8 I went down to The Base <strong>for</strong><br />

one to one with miss ********* It has<br />

helped me stay in lessons and not sent<br />

out”<br />

“I have miss ******* every <strong>for</strong>tnight. It<br />

does help because I can express my<br />

self and tell her everything that goes<br />

on in the classroom”<br />

“The Base has helped me to<br />

concentrate and to be<br />

motivated”<br />

“I find it easy to talk to any of the teachers<br />

at anytime as I know they will help and this<br />

helps as I always know I have support”<br />

“I went to The Base to improve my confidence,<br />

it helped me a lot and now I put my hand up<br />

<strong>more</strong> in class”<br />

“I think that at The Base it is good<br />

because you have some one to<br />

talk to about y<strong>our</strong> problems”<br />

“I have been to The Base <strong>for</strong> 4 different<br />

c<strong>our</strong>ses. I have been there <strong>for</strong> anger<br />

management, Moving Forward, Mentoring<br />

and Raising my Attitude to my Learning,<br />

and it has helped out a lot. I don’t get<br />

angry as much”<br />

“Down The Base I worked<br />

with Miss ********. It helped me<br />

because you have someone to<br />

talk to”<br />

“When I went to The Base I had a class with<br />

miss ******** it was about my confidence and it helped a lot “<br />

18

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