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Athena School Policies

Policies

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Read on to find information on our school policies, which are updated regularly, as appropriate.

Athena whole school policies

Accessibility Policy

Accessibility Policy (Including Accessibility Plans)

Accessibility Policy Federation 2023

Admissions Policy

Behaviour Management Policy

Behaviour Management Policy

Behaviour Management Policy 2023

    Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy

    Charging and Remissions Policy

    Equality Objective

    Exclusions Policy

    Home Learning Policy

    Mission Statement

    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

    Positive Handling Policy

    Positive Handling Policy

    Positive Handling 2023 Federation

      Pupil Premium Statement

      PUPIL PREMIUM STATEMENT 2021-2022 – ATHENA SCHOOL

      Pupil Premium Statement

      2021/22

      Background to Pupil Premium

      Pupil Premium has been introduced by the government in order to give all children the opportunity to succeed in education. This has been done in the form of a grant which has been given to schools for children eligible for Free School Meals and those children who

      • • Has been looked after for 1 day or more
      • • Has been adopted from care
      • • Has left care under a special guardianship order, a residence order or a child arrangements order

      A premium has also been introduced for children whose parents serve in the armed forces.

      Barriers to educational achievement

      The pupils who attend Athena school have previously had negative experiences of education and are therefore switched off to learning. They have low self-esteem and self- worth, not seeing themselves as learners. Our children need a lot of support to develop their social and emotional skills which allow them to access the learning environment and curriculum.

      2021/22

      At Athena School the Pupil Premium for the 2020/21 financial year is:

      £61,362 for LAC children including £37,382 B/fwd, £16,000 in year allocation and £7,980 Virtual Head Funding.

      £48,705 for FSM children in year allocation.

      £3,360 for Forces children including £2,120 B/fwd and £1,240 in year allocation.

      £9,380 to support post LAC pupils including £4,690 B/fwd and £4,690 in year allocation.

      The pupil premium funding received by Athena School in the academic year 2021 - 2022 has been allocated in the following ways:

      Children & family Officer in support of pupil’s mental health

      Educational Consultant to support pupils and their families through the EHCP process

      Education Welfare Officer in support of pupils to maintain their attendance in school

      Psychologist to support pupils with their mental and emotional health.

      When the results of assessments, including Physical Intervention data, are received during the summer term we will be able to evaluate the impact of these measures.

      Number of pupils and pupil premium grant (PPG) 2021-22 incl B/fwd

      Total number of pupils on role

      100

      Total number of pupils eligible for PPG

      73

      Amount of PPG received including £43,553 B/fwd

      £122,807

      Amount

      Purpose

      Details

      Area

      Impact

      £20,073

      Children & Family Officer

      Allocated & continues until March 2022

      Mental Health

      £20,663

      Educational consultant to prepare, chair and support pupils and their families through the EHC review process.

      Ongoing through to March 2022

      Mental Health

      £470

      J Keogh

      EWO

      Pupil’s attendance

      £18,000

      The Chapters Psychology support

      Ongoing through to March 2022

      Mental Health

      Total £59, 206

      Remainder £63, 601

      Plan to spend the remaining allocation on whole staff training

      and resources to enable further CPD on working with pupils

      with SEMH. In addition to this, further spending of the

      remaining budget to support pupils in terms of identified

      needs through the Boxall Profile.

      Measuring the impact of PPG spending 2021 - 22 – Evaluated in July 2022

      SEND Policy

      Special Educational Needs Policy

      FEDERATION Special Educational Needs Policy 2023 (1)

      Uniform Policy

      Website Policy

      Careers and Further Education Policy

      Attendance Policy

      Latest news:

      MHST Newsletter - The latest edition is available now!

      The **MHST School Newsletter for September 2024** provides updates from the Mental Health Support Team (MHST) aimed at helping education staff, pupils, and families transition smoothly into the new academic year.