Type of school: LEA Maintained secondary SEMH day school

Age Range: 11 - 16 years

Chair of Governors: Gail Brown

Head Teacher: Michelle Bunn

Deputy Head Teacher: Chris Mills

SEN Coordinator: Hannah Trought

First point of contact for parents & public enquiries: Carly Kelleher

Opening Times: Athena School's learning hours are 31.5 a week

8:30am - 3pm Monday-Thursday

8:30am- 2pm Friday

Athena School caters for secondary age pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs.

The Fortuna & Athena Federation Mission Statement including our Values and Vision


Mission
The fundamental aim of the Fortuna/Athena Federation is to provide a nurturing environment for pupils which is safe, warm, loving and unconditionally accepting of all
individual pupils and their needs, for them to become part of a School Community.
Within this community pupils will have the opportunity to flourish and become the best they can be in all that they do. The curriculum will be tailored to the needs of our pupils and will fulfil all the legal obligations set out in the National Curriculum.
This will ensure that children can learn to develop personally, socially and emotionally and will give them the best opportunity to succeed, in terms of their relationships with others and their continuing education and future employment so that they become good and participating citizens.

Values
1. We offer unconditional acceptance of all pupils which aims to develop trust through good relationships.
2. We take every opportunity to nurture pupils for them to gain the experiential foundation that all children need to be able to develop self-worth.
3. Our curriculum is designed to be achievable, relevant and inspirational.
4. We recognise and celebrate that all children can change how they see themselves and their world and that they can grow emotionally so that they develop self-worth and become accepting of themselves and others.
5. We see play as a pivotal part in developing our pupils social and emotional growth and provide many opportunities for this to happen within the school day.
6. We are outward facing because we believe that we have a responsibility to share our excellent practice with other schools and organisations.
7. Our parents and carers are a vital part of our community, and we value their support and involvement in their child’s development.
8. We recognise the value of working with other professionals outside of the school in order to provide comprehensive and personalised support.

Vision
Teachers and all staff within the Federation are accountable for the learning and progress that pupils make within a tailored curriculum within each School.
Our Teaching and Learning Policy, Behaviour Management Policy and SEN Policy set out detailed expectations within the Federation, but the following essential features
underpin all School Policies.
Everything that staff do within the school is related to the needs of the pupils. All staff are pupil focused, honest and positive and have high expectations of pupils potential. 1,2,3
We accept and understand that what pupils present is only the tip of an emotional iceberg and they each have a history which we cannot understand without communication and discussion. It is only through this discussion and detailed understanding of their motivation that we can begin to support positive change in our
pupils. 8,4,1,2
We understand that early childhood development under pins personal and social development and that for some of our pupils this has been fractured or can be missing.
It is our purpose to repair and recreate childhood experiences in order to move forward as much as possible with all pupils. 1,2,4,5
We believe that behaviour can change. We understand that every behaviour has a meaning. Our planning for pupils in school needs to be at this deeply personal level.
This must take into account individual motivators. 4,3,5,7,8
We embrace the concept of a hierarchy of need; learning can only take place when these needs are met. In planning for progression, we all understand that we build on
previous learning and pupil interests. 3,1,2,5
We recognise that chaotic confrontational incidents provide us with unique opportunities
to engage with pupils on a psychodynamic level to help them reframe and internalise appropriate strategies to support their needs being met. 4,2,1
Positive outcomes depend on the effective relationship between adults and pupils. We are effective when we understand that we need to be empathetic, forgiving, appropriately challenging and driven by a generosity of spirit. By doing this we generate trust. 1,2,4,5
We support all staff to be able to use self-reflection and regulation to enable them to prioritise the needs of the pupils and recognise this can at times be painful and
challenging therefore staff well-being is of paramount importance within the federation. 1,2,4,5,7

The learning environment must be stimulating, engaging, challenging, relevant and immersive. 3,5,8
We create opportunities to reintegrate into mainstream schools or classes, prepare pupils for life beyond school and for further education or work. 2,3,4,5,6,7,8
We engage with stakeholders, partners the school community and governors in pursuit of improvement on a regular basis. 6,7,8
We see the federation as being a centre of excellence verified through external validation. We emphasise and value the development of our staff to become excellent
practitioners in nurturing approaches to SEMH. We will encourage partners and others to develop their practice along the the lines set out in the values expressed here. 6,7,8

The Federation will work closely with and alongside the principles set out by NurtureUK as developed by Eva Holmes and Eve Boyd(1999), which are:

 Children’s learning is understood developmentally
 It is understood that all behaviour is communication
 The classroom offers a safe space
 Nurture is important for the development of self esteem
 Language is a vital means of communication
 The importance of transitions in children’s lives is understood

September 2024 updated website information form 1 (2) (2)

SEPTEMBER 2023 UPDATED WEBSITE INFORMATION FORM

JULY 2023 UPDATED WEBSITE INFORMATION FORM

“The equality duty supports good education and improves pupil outcomes. It helps a school to identify priorities such as underperformance, poor progression, and bullying. It does this by requiring it to collate evidence, take a look at the issues and consider taking action to improve the experience of different groups of pupils. It then helps it to focus on what can be done to tackle these issues and to improve outcomes by developing measurable equality objectives.” (Equality and Human Rights Commission · www.equalityhumanrights.com Last revised 07-2014)

How does Athena School comply with the public sector equality duty?

Attainment – Athena School looks at performance gaps between groups of pupils when analysing school data. We focus on girls and boys, children in public care, children whose parents are in the forces, and children with English as an additional language. When looking at outcomes for pupil’s staff consider intervention and support, which will be needed to narrow the gap. At Athena we use a variety of information including data analysis, lesson observations and discussions with pupils, parents and carers.
Participation in school life – At Athena we are continually looking for ways to enhance the learning and curriculum. When organising school activities teachers not only identify the children’s needs academically but also consider the wider environment for example, home situation, historical events in the pupils lives and additional physical needs.
Engage effectively in learning – Consideration is given to outside influences that may result in pupils and their families being unable to engage fully in school life for example school will employ a translator for parents of EAL pupils for annual reviews and other meetings, newsletters are translated into pupils first language for parents, transport is provided for those parents and carers who are unable to attend school events and meetings otherwise and the school allocates money in the budget to cover the cost of educational visitors and visits to ensure all pupils have access to the same opportunities. 

Equality Objectives

To promote spiritual, moral, social and cultural development through all appropriate curricular opportunities, with particular reference to issues of equality and diversity
To promote cultural development and understanding through a rich range of experiences both in and beyond the school
To narrow the gap in curricular attainment between boys and girls at the end of Key Stage 4.
To narrow the gap in curricular attainment for the minority groups in our school; girls, Children in Public Care (CIC), children whose families are in the forces and children who are entitled to free school meals, year on year.
To promote and develop positive attitudes to learning for all pupils through experiences both in and beyond the school
Recognise children may be emotionally and socially functioning as much younger children and need to consolidate their early learning experiences within school, giving them the curriculum and opportunities to be able to do this

Provide opportunities and experiences for children to acquire the necessary skills to play and interact constructively within their peer group.
Offer a curriculum, which meets the developmental needs of the “whole” child.
How do we eliminate discrimination and promote equality of opportunity?
Athena school is committed to ensuring that members of the school community do not become victims of unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010. We have a series of policies and procedures in place to support us with this:

• Admissions
• Accessibility policy
• Anti-bullying policy
• Behaviour Management policy 
• Child protection policy
• Collective worship policy
• Data protection policy
• Equal opportunities policy
• Equality and Diversity policy 
• Looked After and Vulnerable children policy
• Racial Equality policy
• Safeguarding policy 
• Safer recruitment policy 
• SEN policy 
• Some of these policies are available on the school website others are available from the school office
  * Policies in bold are on the school website

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ATHENA PP strategy 23 24

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Click here to view the Athena School Local Offer

Click here for Lincolnshire SEND Local Offer