South Hunsley School and Sixth Form College in East Riding of Yorkshire has achieved the Inclusive School Award with Centre of Excellence status for the second time.
Extremely Welcoming
South Hunsley School and Sixth Form College is extremely welcoming. This was evident from the outset, with Reception staff ensuring that appropriate ‘signing in’ arrangements are undertaken and providing effective and friendly communication with visitors to the school. Safeguarding is given high priority; it is clear who is able to support if there are any worries or concerns. Furthermore, the Assistant Headteacher and Designated Safeguarding Lead were extremely welcoming and generous with their time, providing a tour of the school site and lessons. All meetings with staff were exceptionally welcoming and enthused about their school and their work with the students.
The School’s Motto
South Hunsley School’s motto is ‘Inspire -aspire’ with their values around Learning, Limitless Potential, and a Strong Community. In meetings with the SENDCo and DSL, they described how the whole school focus supported the EEF report regarding SEND in mainstream for ongoing support for SEND and low levels of literacy through differentiation and scaffolding. The SENDCo described how all staff was made aware of the student’s individual needs through SIMS however the SENDCo is working at providing a streamlined method of sharing information using the school drive which has been made accessible with access to student support plans, information regarding diagnosis and one-page profiles. This ensures students with complex needs are well supported through a large team of Teaching Assistants, Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSA’s), and Inclusion Welfare officers and they are currently about to employ a school social worker. The SENDCo has regular half-termly meetings with other SENDCos in the Academy Trust to share good practice and recently arranged a SEND Audit and Review Lead by the Trust SEND Lead to identify further good practices.
Mental Health Ambassadors
Teaching Assistants are provided with ongoing training. They are included in the whole staff training but are also provided with bespoke training days, for example, Mental Health First Aid, from which some have become Mental Health Ambassadors and are recognised around the school with purple lanyards so students can approach them for support. They also have access to a platform for online learning in a number of areas.
Assisting Needs
The school recognises there has been a change in needs recently and is proactive in providing training to support this. For example, there is a recognised growth in diagnosed autism in girls and how it can present in the classroom, also an increase in Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia) therefore the Teaching Assistants are provided with relevant training from the Educational Psychologists regarding Dyslexia, paired reading, and precision teaching. The SEND and vulnerable students were provided with a SEND club pre-covid, however, due to a change in the school day to reduce movement and Covid regulations, the Teaching Assistants completed duties outside, encouraging students with SEND and vulnerabilities to experience consistent support in the outside areas. This has had an extremely positive effect, as they ‘have flourished’ under the new arrangements with students’ ‘social skills increasing’ and have ‘friends out of school.’
Pro-active School
During Covid South Hunsley School was extremely proactive, providing students and staff with the technology to enable them to provide ongoing education so there was no disruption in learning. Staff were provided with an iPad to enable them to provide ‘live attendance’ to online lessons with immediate contact made if attendance was highlighted. They are effectively using the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) to provide online tutoring for Maths and English, as well as TLC live which can provide an assessment to tailor tutoring to the students’ needs and provide tutoring in small groups of 1:3 in the same key stage. The school receives feedback on the student’s engagement with data on attendance, punctuality, and results of tests.
A Positive Approach
South Hunsley School is extremely positive in its approach, using data and recognising trends in its demographic to ensure an effective approach is provided to all its students. They have recognised a rise in Ukrainian refugees and have employed an EAL coordinator to support transition and wellbeing. They are constantly providing training to students as well as staff regarding mental health and wellbeing and have several Mental Health Ambassadors. In addition, there are looking at ways to improve their staff’s mental health and wellbeing, providing Wellbeing Wednesdays and allowing staff to leave the school site during PPA and gain time. They have also supported a change to the Special Leave Policy, providing time for staff to attend their children’s sports days and medical examinations. The DSL described the school policies regarding staff as ‘Every decision we make has a simple policy – if we are asking them to do more, what are we asking them to do less?’ In line with this, the Trust has adopted the Workload Charter. Once a year, the Trust has an anonymous survey to gain feedback on issues such as re-evaluating the school day and behaviour.
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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