Seven Hills School is an 11 - 19yr secondary school for students with severe learning difficulties and/or complex needs.
Seven Hills School is an 11 - 19yr secondary school for students with severe learning difficulties and/or complex needs.
Seven Hills School is an 11 - 19yr secondary school for students with severe learning difficulties and/or complex needs.
Seven Hills is a secondary school for students with severe learning difficulties and/or complex needs.
Admission is usually based on a core severe learning difficulty this might be accompanied by physical, sensory, or communication difficulties.
We have 171 students on roll.
Students are grouped according to their learning needs. More able students may be in groups as large as thirteen. Students with more severe/ profound needs would usually be in groups of eight. Each class has a teacher and either one, two or three teaching assistants, dependent on the needs of the group.
The students who attend Seven Hills all have an EHC plan.
Staff at Seven Hills receive extensive training to enable them to meet the needs of the students and ensure that they are safe in school and that their educational and care needs are catered for.
All teaching and support staff are trained in:
Key staff receive training in:
Staff also receive training about the particular needs of individual learners or groups of learners, including training about specific medical conditions as necessary.
An extensive programme of continuous professional development is provided for teachers and teaching assistants, with a range of bespoke training on a weekly basis as pertinent to their roles. The school works closely with outside agencies and professionals such as speech and language therapists, educational psychologists, physiotherapists, school nurses, occupational therapists, visual/hearing impaired services, and local MAST services (Multi Agency Support Teams) to ensure that staff receive up to date information and guidance.
The school provides basic training for new staff and temporary staff through established staff induction procedures and essential information about the needs of all students is made available to staff via the school database.
The school communicates with parents in a number of ways. All parents are invited to attend an annual review meeting to discuss their child’s progress and set targets for the next year. There is also a parents’ meeting each year where parents have the opportunity to meet a wider range of staff involved with their child. Progress information is also sent home in a year-end report.
For day to day communication, the school will phone or write to parents in some circumstances use a mobile phone messaging service. The school will translate letters for families whose first language is not English, and use a translation service for meetings as needed.
Key information about the school is available on the school website.
Some students have home/school books to help parents communicate with class teachers. The school uses Parent Mail to communicate with parents about a range of things, including ordering and paying for school lunches.
Parents and carers are invited to attend a range of parent workshops that focus on issues that are important to them such as e-safety or independent travel. Outside agencies and professionals often speak at these events.
The school has a rigorous cycle of self-review and is constantly seeking ways to improve the education and care that it provides for students.
Progress of all students is recorded and monitored throughout the year and regular review points allow under-performance to be identified and actions taken to address this where needed.
Parent and student views are gathered by yearly surveys and parents’ views on transition arrangements from primary schools are also recorded each year.
The school reports information about its’ effectiveness to the board of governors and the head teachers meet regularly with a School Improvement Partner to review self-evaluation processes and outcomes.
Students’ social and emotional wellbeing at Seven Hills is provided through a phase pastoral system. Each phase team liaises closely with parents, carers and outside agencies to support students’ pastoral needs.
Students’ social and emotional views are surveyed yearly and this information is used to identify areas for improvement. The student voice is captured through the work of the School Council who represent all students in school.
Every class is supported by at least one teaching assistant. Some students who have particular social or emotional needs receive a greater level of support; often 1:1 at key times. Lunchtime and after-school clubs are available to students which also help foster positive relationships, and students trained as peer mediators assist others resolve conflicts when needed.
All staff are trained in Team Teach (behaviour support) and additional help in maintaining positive relationships with others is provided by behaviour support staff who work with groups and individuals as required to encourage healthy social interactions. Phase leaders monitor attendance and work closely with parents and MAST services to encourage attendance and minimise barriers to learning.
A small minority of students exhibit extreme behaviours on occasion and these incidents are handled sensitively putting the health, safety and welfare of both students and staff as a priority. Consequences of challenging behaviour are designed to allow students to learn from their experiences.
The school organises a rich programme of outside the classroom activities that are designed to broaden the learning experiences of the students. All activities are designed to be as inclusive as possible and students are given regular opportunities to work with, and alongside, students with a range of different learning needs.
THe school has developed the use of the outdoors as a learning environment and now includes a Science Garden and polytunnel; Horticulture cabin; Rainbow Garden (outdoor play); Woodland Walk; outdoor exercise equipment and roundabout.
Students are able to access a range of off-site visits including curriculum trips, class trips (extra-curricular) and adventurous activity trips as part of the Lord Mayor's Award and Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. We aim to be inclusive as possible when arranging these trips and plan for maximum participation from students.
Breakfast / snack are offered in school to every child as part of the school morning.
We also have an after school club on Monday and Tuesdays each week.
If a student becomes unable to attend school for medical, physical or behavioural reasons school will offer a level of home tuition which will be agreed with the family as an acceptable option.