Woodbourne Hospital School has achieved the Inclusive School Award with Centre of Excellence status.
Love of Learning
Woodbourne Hospital School (WHS) is a day school that serves the Tier 4 in-patient Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) unit at Woodbourne Priory Hospital for 12 to 18 year olds. Pupils are placed from across the country and are admitted to the school when multidisciplinary hospital team deem them fit to transition in from the ward. This means that learning cohorts are constantly changing as the average stay is 13 weeks ranging from 1 week to 59 weeks.
The school’s mission is to nurture a love of learning so that all pupils engage further with education and are ready for the next stage in their academic journey. On the day of our Assessor’s visit there were 8 pupils on roll, however not all were present. The maximum occupancy is 14 beds at any one time.
The school’s primary focus is on young people maintaining their home-school curriculum where appropriate. Teachers plan students home-school learning breaking it into manageable chunks. As learning happens in each lesson, the teacher undertakes assessment and feedback alongside the student. Where feedback is given, the expectation is that the students respond by improving their work.
The pupils at the school are in-patients at a psychiatric hospital and their mental health status can impact on their ability to engage with education. Many of them have been out of education for some time before they are admitted or have been attending their school on a part time basis. Owing to the complex, high acuity needs WHM places a focus on the softer elements of progression which underpin academic progress and address the five areas of Mental Health Functioning in Education (MHFE).
Progress at WHS is linked to attendance, MHFE, engagement with learning and destination post discharge.
Good Quality of Education
The school was inspected by Ofsted in March 2022 and was judged as Good overall. The inspectors found that the school was providing a good quality of education, and that pupils were making good progress. They also praised the focus on softer elements of progression, which underpin academic progress. The inspectors found that the school was successfully helping pupils to develop their communication, concentration and engagement skills.
During our Assessor’s visit the school was experiencing a particularly challenging day due to a number of issues that had arisen overnight and a staff absence. This did not deter staff from planning and delivering learning to those able to access it and the ward and school remained calm and orderly.
The impact the school has on young people is best summed up by the comments of the ward doctor who said “the school is an asset to the ward as it aids recovery by giving the young people something to do and creates hope for the future”. There is also a therapeutic quality to the work they do with young people.
Find out more about the IQM Inclusive School Award
If your school is interested in obtaining the IQM Inclusive School Award or you wish to talk to a member of the IQM team please telephone:
028 7127 7857 (9.00 am to 5.00 pm)
or email: [email protected] for further details.
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