Support into Employment
Waltham Forest College
The college supports students with additional needs through a Foundation Learning Department. This offers the students pathways to both independence and also employment and includes supported internships, volunteering opportunities and progression into paid employment. The college have set up their own retail and coffee shop run by the Foundation Learning students. They nurture and support their students to prepare them for future life.
Partnership with Parents
The Garden/Pavilion School
The Pavilion is the post-16 provision within the specialist Garden School. They host weekly coffee mornings for families, host presentations from external experts, such as one on the rights of renters, offer workshops to develop parents’ skills amongst other support. The judges felt that this entry really supported parents in meeting their child’s SEND needs, encouraging them to learn and grow with their children.
Outstanding Individual Contribution
Michelle Quayle
Michelle established Merrywood Education in 2020. She consulted with pupil referral units, mainstream schools and police officers to help her understand the needs of the pupils who she wanted to help. Her dedication led to the development a neuroscientific model that not only increases children wanting to attend school and feeling safe, but ensure they thrive in all areas of their childhood. Her work has lessons for everyone to learn from.
Most Innovative Special Needs Intervention
Newsome Academy
Newsome set up their RISE provision due to a need identified by the pandemic, that there was a cohort of pupils who were struggling to access the normal mainstream
setting. They offer wrap-around support and develop life skills alongside mainstream academia to remove the barriers to learning these pupils have. The judges felt that they have gone above and beyond what a secondary school would normally provide.
Eat That Frog
Eat That Frog is a specialist independent college who have developed a bespoke education package for young people on the autistic spectrum. Their Turing Project was launched in 2021 to give their post-16 pupils the opportunity to immerse themselves in other countries by giving them supported visits to other countries. They have grown from 24 students accessing the project to a projected 120 this year. The judges were impressed by the extremely clear evidence of the impact their work has had.
David Ross Education Trust
This trust have developed their own internal alternative provision across 11 secondary schools to meet the needs of their pupils to reduce exclusions. They use clear thresholds for referral to the intervention and have successfully reduced suspensions by 90% and permanent exclusions by 50%. Their approach uses mentoring and coaching, alongside group and whole-class teaching to engage with the pupils accessing it. The judges were really impressed by the collaboration between so many settings.
Inclusion in Further Education
Education Partnership Northeast
A partnership between Sunderland College, Northumberland College and Hartlepool 6th Form College to meet the holistic needs of young people with additional needs. A
particular aspect of their provision is Talent Pool, a scheme where they partner with local businesses to provision experience and integration into the local community. The judges loved the combination of individual support and provision for pupils. It was great to see individual organisations coming together to support the needs of young people.
Excellence in Special Schools
Merrywood Education
Merrywood Education is a special social, emotional, and mental health school. They have grown from supporting 5 children to 66 since being established in 2020. Their model ‘Nurturing Children through Education’ is based on the neuroscience of children who have experienced significant trauma from the womb to date. The model increases understanding of children’s neurodevelopment and the impact that trauma has on a child’s social, emotional, behavioural and academic development. Helping adults to see behaviour as a form of communication and responding in a non-judgemental and reflective manner. Their entry was supported by evidence of the impact of their approach on pupil attainment, attendance, suspensions and staff retention. A highlight for the judges was the individual development based targets, in addition to academic targets.
Most Inclusive Practise across a school
The Market Weighton School
A secondary school who have been on a journey to improve their provision during a time when the number of students with SEND has risen significantly, from 4 EHCPS to over 70 for example. They work in partnership with other agencies to support earlier identification of needs and have focused on recruitment of a high-standard of staff to meet these needs. Their tailored approach helps prepare their pupils for the transition to post-16 provision. As a previous entry into this category, the judges were really impressed with the clear improvement and implementing the feedback given in 2018.
