VIEW FROM THE CLASSROOM
Everyone matters at Rainford High I
n our View from the classroom feature this month, we’re delighted to hear from Kate
Thomas and Helen Greenway, assistant SENCO and teaching assistant respectively, at Rainford High on Merseyside, who discuss how the school’s SEND pupils are supported and encouraged to develop. Nestled in the small village of Rainford, just outside of St Helens, Merseyside, is Rainford High – a 11-18 school and sixth form with just over 1600 students. The school has a strong ethos of ‘Everyone
Matters, Everyone Helps and Everyone Succeeds’ which the staff and pupils continually work to make this the day-to-day focus of the school. One particular area of the school that the ethos
permeates through is the Core Curriculum (CC) Group – a ‘stage not age’ provision for SEND students. The group was launched in September 2018 after the SENCO team identified that some students required not only personalised curriculum support but also the opportunity to gain important life skills. With 11 students of different ages and varying
communication, interaction, social, imagination, sensory and learning differences, each individual works at their own pace, following the ASDAN Personal Development Programme.
The environment in which the students work
has been carefully designed so that it is calm and relaxing. Sensory items are placed around the room which the children are welcome to utilise if things get a bit too much for them. Kate Thomas, assistant SENCO, said: “We
understand that it is important to have areas within the classroom where students can go and have a few minutes to themselves if they are feeling anxious or having trouble concentrating. Our breakout areas have been thoughtfully created to support their needs, no matter the time of the day. “We have a fish tank within the room, which
not only offers a sense of tranquillity but also encourages the feeling of responsibility amongst the children as they must remember to feed the fish and clean the tank.” Life skills play a key part within the CC Group
and is widely incorporated into each student’s learning programme and into day-to-day activities. Kate said: “We are incredibly keen to bring
some independence into the lives of our students. We create activities which encourages them to learn something new, for example, learning how to read and understand instructions or how to cook simple meals.
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“These are such important things to know how
to do and whilst it sounds very simple to many of us, to our CC Group some elements can be hard to understand and so we break down each process into bitesize chunks allowing them to digest the information a little easier.” Work experience is also high on the agenda
and students are often sent on short errands around the school which enables them to develop their communication skills and confidence. Kate said: “For example, if we need to visit the
finance office, we will explain to the students what we plan to do, what they can expect when they get there and what the overall aim is of the visit. Students will often chat to the office staff which is wonderful to see as usually they won’t know them or have met them before.” The provision has a high ratio of staff to
children which ensures each student is getting the right amount of personalised support and care throughout the day. Often, they will all be working on different tasks which are suited to their curricular needs. In 2019, the staff behind the CC Group was
honoured with the SEND Provision Award at the Educate Awards. The team wowed judges with details and success stories following the launch of the relatively new provision
May 2021
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