Beckfoot Phoenix is a primary special school (2 – 11) for children with severe learning difficulties, and for children with profound and complex learning and medical needs. We are part of the Beckfoot Trust, a group of 10 schools who work in collaboration to improve the life chances of children in Bradford. Within our Trust, we partner with mainstream primary, mainstream secondary and Hazelbeck, a secondary special school.
All the children in our school have SEN. Many of them have other challenges that impact on their learning difficulties. These include autism, visual impairment, hearing impairment, sensory needs, and physical difficulties.
Pupils with SEN are identified and assessed by the Local Authority through the Education, Health and Care Plan process. Once a child has been assessed as being appropriate for our school, we will be consulted to see whether we can meet the child’s needs. The Local Authority will make a decision about the correct school in line with parental preference, which special schools in Bradford can meet need and have places, and the distance from the school to the child’s home.
Evaluating the effectiveness of Beckfoot Phoenix is a continual process within the school improvement journey. As part of the Beckfoot Trust, the school regularly reports on quality of teaching, progress and attendance to the Trust. Judgements about these are made through the school’s own monitoring systems which involve observing the quality of what is happening in school and in lessons and linking this to the progress children are making. The head teacher reports throughout the year to The Local School Committee. The Trust’s Central Improvement team and a peer head validate the school’s judgements. The 2 school buys in external monitoring every year to provide the school and the Trust with an independent view of the school. The school was judged Outstanding in October 2023.
The school has its own assessment system that runs throughout school which shows evidence of progress through observations and examples of work/photos across 6 key areas. Pupil progress is seen through the generalisation of skills to different situations and people, as well as increased independence shown by a depth of learning score. These link closely to the child’s EHCP targets. Periodically throughout the year, the child is also assessed in (pre)writing, (pre)reading, comprehension, communication, number. Annually at the EHCP meeting, assessment takes place in personal skills, both at school and at home.
We have 7 class bases in school – orange, red, yellow, pink, purple, blue and green. Most bases are made up of 2 classes. Some classes are made up of 10 to 12 children with similar needs, challenges and abilities. Staffing and class size is appropriate to need, ie. Pupils with high needs are in smaller groups with increased staff ratios. Across the base, there are 2 leaders of learning including at least 1 teacher, as well as a team of 4 – 6 teaching assistants. We use a child centred approach, so all work is highly differentiated to meet need. Children are taught using our own school specific curriculum that teaches children to become increasingly independent and to learn skills and knowledge that they can use in ‘life’. We use a range of strategies to meet children’s communication, sensory and therapeutic needs.
The curriculum at Beckfoot Phoenix is a 6 staged developmental curriculum that incorporates both the National and the Early Years curriculum. There is an emphasis on ‘active learning’ because we know that this is how children learn best. Children learn through lessons appropriate to their need, eg. hand–eye coordination and fine motor, listening and responding, sounds/letters/words/sentences, maths. We provide a total communication learning environment to enable pupils to have every opportunity to communicate and understand. This includes visual prompts, objects of reference, photographs, symbols and words. Where appropriate, staff use Makaton sign language, visual support and technology to support learning.
It is important for our children that they learn skills that are functional to their life. Many lessons then, take place in the community – eg. shopping in the supermarket and garden centre, learning to cross the road, and taking part in work experience at the local farm.
Beckfoot Phoenix is a purpose built school. The corridors are wide, and it is all on one level. Classrooms are made up of a suite of rooms that include quiet rooms and work rooms. We have specialist facilities including outdoor play areas, a hydrotherapy pool, rebound room, soft play room and sensory rooms.
Pupils come to Phoenix on a set funding. If their needs are high and need additional support this is sought through the Annual Review process. The amount of support is set out in the Education, Health and Care Plan. Our school will timetable additional support for pupils where needed.
Beckfoot Phoenix does not currently run any breakfast clubs or after school clubs. However, we host the Stay and Play sessions during the school holidays to support our children and their families.
We have access to a school mini-bus and staff are trained in driving this. Educational trips take place throughout the school year in accordance with the curriculum.
Children feel safe at Beckfoot Phoenix because of the routines, and structures, as well as the consistent approaches used across the school. Relationships between staff and children are very positive and as a result, children are happy. Children understand what they need to do and what they are doing well. Reward charts and reward times help children to understand the consequences of their actions in a positive way. At Beckfoot Phoenix, we have high ratios of staff to pupils so that children feel nurtured, valued and have their needs met. Improvements in pupil’s emotional and social development is through everything we do – walking together down the corridor, helping each other, playing together, caring for others when upset. We also have specific lessons in our curriculum for PSHE and life skills. Our behaviour policy helps children learn to manage their behaviour and emotions – countdowns from 5 to give children thinking time, mood boards help them express their emotions and barriers to learning plans outline what can be done to help individual children. Sometimes, for the safety of the child or others, restraint may be used to support a child in crisis. This is always the last resort and staff are well trained in both positive behaviour management and Team teach strategies. Our work with parents is essential here. In school, Jason Patefield, Jeni Martin and Sarah Lloyd work closely with families to support at home.
Our universal offer within the classroom and wider school is based on the principles of safety, wellbeing, language, behaviour, learning and transition. As part of our universal offer plus, we have recently established our nurture hub which is a safe, calm, inviting space to support children to develop their confidence, understanding, mutual respect, their relationships, social skills and emotional intelligence. We encourage pupils to access the nurture hub proactively to support their emotional and social regulation before they become too dysregulated.
Parents can talk to their child’s class teacher, or any member of the class team about their concerns. Parents may also contact the senior leadership team directly: Annmarie Asquith-Williams – Assistant Head; Gemma Wilson – Deputy Head; Sarah Lloyd – Head teacher. Our SENCo is Sarah Lloyd. She is our Head Teacher. Sarah can be contacted through the school office on 01535 607038 or via email: [email protected]
At Beckfoot Phoenix, we have a highly skilled workforce that consists of teachers, Level 4 assistants, and teaching assistants. We are proud of our CPD offer to all our staff. Our CPD is well planned to meet the needs of all pupils. There are trained safeguarding officers in school at all times to ensure that pupils are protected effectively from harm. All staff receive weekly training on different aspects related to children in school. This includes medical training, safeguarding, curriculum, behaviour, care plans, communication etc. Some training is by school staff, other training is by medical staff, speech and language therapists, visual impaired service etc. Staff are trained in other areas as appropriate to the school and the child’s needs. These include Moving and Handling, Team teach, first aid, Makaton, swimming (NARS), rebound, attachment, and mental health first aiders. School nurses are on site most days and together with the school’s Care Team, staff are well trained to attend to children’s complex medical needs. Once a week, the school employs a specialist communication advisor to ensure that staff understand how to support and extend the communication needs of children in school. Staff work closely with other professionals such a Speech and language therapists, Physiotherapists and Occupational therapists who provide support and guidance to school staff. Knowledge, skills and practice is shared within the school and the school is closely involved with special schools across the Bradford region so that we keep abreast of ideas and practice that we could use.
The school uses its own budget to provide the majority of resources and facilities that are needed for the pupils. This includes walkers for those with physical difficulties and specialist chairs, or communication aids. Sometimes the school will secure resources through making applications to charitable organisations.
The school operates an open door policy which allows parents to share concerns by coming into school or telephoning staff.
Prior to starting at our school, the SENCO, a member of SLT or the class teacher and the school nurse will visit each child in their home. This is so that the school staff and nurse can learn more about the child’s needs ready for when the child starts school. All parents are invited into school within 6 weeks of their child starting school or moving to a new class to see their child in school, and to talk about the child. Parent afternoons take place every term. This is a chance for parents to work with their child in class and talk to staff about their child’s progress. There is also the opportunity for parents to look at their child’s work and assessment file. Parents receive a report and are invited to contribute to the annual reviews through their attendance at the meeting so that progress towards the child’s Education, Health and Care Plan targets can be discussed. Parents also receive an end of year report that outlines the progress made in the year. All parents are encouraged to sign up to the class DOJO app so that parents and staff can message, share photos and videos each other on a regular basis.
Parents are consulted throughout the school year. In September, they are asked whether their child has settled in to school or their new class following the Summer holidays; and at the end of the year, parents are asked to reflect on their child’s year and to offer targets or focus areas for the following year.
Jason Patefield, our Community Support Worker regularly meets with families who need or would benefit from additional support. Following discussions, referrals might be made to Early Help, CAMHS, speech and language, CCST etc., or families might be signposted to specialist support groups outlined within the Bradford Local Offer. The EHCP meeting is an annual meeting where families and school staff discuss any changes in need or any further support children or families need.
Pupil voice at Beckfoot Phoenix is a strength of the school. Pupils are encouraged to ‘say what they think’ – be it, by turning away from a smell in ‘disgust’ or telling staff they don’t like something or that ‘it’s boring’. Pupils are listened to. Assemblies are a additional time in the week when pupils are encouraged to ‘voice’ their thoughts. Regulation and pupil self-awareness are a fundamental part of our wider curriculum. Pupils are supported to understand their emotions, through the use of the colour monster, and develop strategies to support them to remain regulated to access their learning.
We are a school that listens. We know that families want the best for their children, and so do we. We know that by regularly asking parents about how their child is doing in school, and involving them in their child’s school life, parents develop the confidence to talk to staff in school. We want to know about any concerns parents have so that these can be resolved, or practice can be improved. In most instances, a phone call or a chat can help here, however we understand that sometimes this does not help, and at these times, parents are directed to the Complaints procedure that can be found on the school’s website, in Statutory Information/Policies/Complaints Procedure. A paper form is available on request through the school office.
Some specialist expertise is provided through commissioned services ie therapy and part funded school nurses. We employ a specialist communication advisor every week, as well as a specialist music therapist.
The school wants to support parents because we understand that having a child with SEN can be lonely and difficult. The school holds coffee mornings throughout the year for parents to meet other parents with opportunities to hear from other professionals, eg. school nurse. Training sessions for parents in Makaton, behaviour management, E safety etc are provided as required throughout the year. Specialist clinics are held at the school by dieticians, orthotics, paediatricians etc. for parents to attend. Specialist providers are invited into school for parents to talk to. These include specialist beds, seating, walkers etc. We signpost families through the school website at Families/support for families. We can also refer families for extra support when required ie early help referrals to support parent to access the disability service, specialist support groups etc. We also provide holiday stay and play schemes for families, as well as supported placements in the holiday for those families in receipt of pupil premium funding.
Pupils throughout school are encouraged to be as independent as possible. This includes learning to be independent of adult attention, personal organisation, personal care, making decisions and working with others. The curriculum leads beyond independence to helping or teaching others – both critical skills for secondary school and adult hood. It is important to us that children learn skills that will help them to function in life. As well as teaching children the skills for reading, writing and number in school, they also learning about money through community learning, reading through cooking etc. so that our pupils learn to apply what they have learnt. Focused weeks throughout the year focusing on ‘Active me’, ‘Caring me’ and ‘Safe me’ focus on skills transfer the skills learned in the classroom to ‘life situations’, such as working in a care home, bathing babies, going to the fire station. Children are well prepared for secondary school through our curriculum as well as strong links with receiving secondary schools.
Bradford Local Authority’s Local Offer can be found on our school website. The school contributed to the Local Offer by providing information about its provision and also providing some pupil voice contributions about the services provided by the LA.
SENDIASS
Early Help
We offer the opportunities for families to come and visit our school when they are considering the provision they need for their child. Once the decision is made, the SENCO from the existing school or nursery will complete the paperwork and consultations will be sent to Beckfoot Phoenix. We are instructed by the local authority and they are the organisation who makes to decision to which children attend our school.