It’s officially Christmas in school after our beautiful tree arrived this morning.
Everyone helped to decorate it by choosing a baubles…
Keelman’s Way Achieves Inclusive School Award
Keelman’s Way School in South Tyneside achieves the Inclusive School Award.
Everyone Treated as an Individual
Keelman’s Way School is an extremely inclusive school that is held in very high regard by pupils, parents and staff alike. Pupils have a wide range of different needs with everyone being treated as an individual. Staff mention how it is a special environment to work in, with one member of staff saying staff rarely move to other schools once they have experienced the inclusive and supportive atmosphere of Keelman’s Way School.
Very Approachable Staff
The school has an open-door policy for parents who say that the Senior Leadership Team and other school staff are very approachable with excellent communication links between school and home. Parents have run their own clubs on-site as well as being able to access medical services in the school such as doctor and consultant clinics, so they do not have to take their child to external clinics in the local hospital. A former nurse has been appointed to be the new Inclusion Support Worker where she supports parents in understanding official medical reports, discusses all health matters with them and checks that care plans are being followed correctly. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Headteacher has carried out parent surveys to check on the mental health of families as well as holding Zoom clinics and staff have made many phone calls home.
A Positive Experience
One parent spoke very positively about her experience of the school, saying the staff cannot do enough for her and her daughter. Daily communication via the home/school diary works well, with the teacher writing back with suggestions to address particular issues. She feels that her experience as a parent is valued by all professionals in the annual review meetings and her views are listened to and acted upon. Targets are updated regularly and worked on jointly, she feels part of the team around her child.
A Purpose-Built School
The school was purpose-built to meet the needs of all the pupils and is very well-resourced with a large outdoor area that includes a wildlife garden and pond area, an allotment and swings and toys for the pupils to access. A particular inclusive piece of equipment is the wheelchair tricycle. Inside the school, the waiting area is welcoming and open to the rest of the school so visitors can see daily life around them.
Committed to Pupil Progress
Teaching staff are very committed to pupil progress, being involved in national and local initiatives in the field of special education. They feel supported by the school in their professional development, one example was that all the teachers were invited to do a professional inquiry project about an area of interest. One teacher described his project which was the link between communication and behaviour with his findings being disseminated to everyone in the school, this had a benefit for all the pupils.
Sharing Expertise
The school shares their expertise with local schools, for example, the HLTA for physiotherapy spoke to a group of practitioners about the physio room and how the system of collaboration works at the school between herself and the NHS Physiotherapy Team. Teachers support mainstream colleagues.
Celebrating Everyone’s Success
Celebrating everyone’s success is very important for the school with star of the week assemblies, continuing online at the moment and also recognised on the school’s Facebook page.
Behaviour Needs Addressed Effectively
Behaviour needs are addressed effectively with the introduction of positive behaviour plans to which parents give valuable insight and input. These are all stored centrally so all staff know what is needed.
A Confident School Council
It was a pleasure meeting the School Council, they spoke very well and confidently about all the opportunities that they get at the school. All the pupils were in the Post 16 Provision and spoke about work experience opportunities and how they run the school café including baking, washing up and serving customers. On World Mental Health Day (Happy Day), the School Council provided scones, pancakes and milkshakes to all pupils and staff. They spoke about the community visits that they enjoy such as an overnight stay at Barnard Castle and a trip to the open day museum at Beamish. In normal times, they sing carols at the old people’s homes nearby, make items for the various fayres and visit local leisure facilities, playing an active role in the local community.
Professional Development Opportunities
Teaching Assistants speak highly of the professional development opportunities that the school provides them and they refer to the Senior Leadership Team as being very supportive. They describe it as an amazing environment and a happy place where everyone pulls together. They feel included in planning and target setting and have a very good understanding of the pupils’ needs. One Teaching Assistant spoke about the use of visual timetables, preparing the class’s symbols and using switches with a pupil. The three HLTAs are a valuable asset to the school, with responsibility for physiotherapy, speech and language and PMLD.
An Inclusive Ethos
The three members of the Governing Body I met with spoke about the inclusive ethos that pervades the school, all felt confident in their role due to the online Governor training that they have undergone. Governors are linked to Key Stages and regularly visit the school classrooms looking at particular themes.
Find out more about the IQM Inclusive School Award
If your school is interested in obtaining the IQM Inclusive School Award or you wish to talk to a member of the IQM team please telephone:
028 7127 7857 (9.00 am to 5.00 pm)
or email: [email protected] for further details.
Want more information on the IQM Award? Click here to request your free IQM information pack.
Our Early years pupils have settled into school life at Keelman’s Way fantastically!
Here is what they have been up to…
NHS Volunteer Responders
We’re here to help people in England to stay safe during COVID-19. We have been set up by NHS England and NHS Improvement, working with Royal Voluntary Service and the GoodSAM app.
Our volunteers help people:
- avoid busy places by collecting their shopping, medicines and other important items
- have regular contact with other people by making regular friendly phone calls
- get to medical appointments by giving lifts
https://nhsvolunteerresponders.org.uk/
Dear Parents and Carers,
Just to let you know that although you may not see us, we are still here to help if we can. Government advice is very different for special schools. We are not taking pupils in year group cohorts but are continuing to offer provision for key worker’s children and some pupils that are vulnerable at home.
Although the message from the government has changed for activities in the community, for our school it has remained the same. The risks remain, for all of us, and this increases with the number of contacts we have and the more places we travel to.
Our work now is to reduce the risks and establish pupils’ understanding, as far as we can, of how to social distance when they do eventually return to school. This is very difficult for our school as we previously worked so hard to encourage close working relationships for pupils and staff.
We look every week at the needs of pupils, families and staff. We are planning to widen the groups we can support in school and at home. All teachers have met to look closely at planning too. We know what may help a particular child or family does not work for everyone. Teachers will be working with you on more individualised support for your child.
When we closed we expected this to be for a much shorter time. We have no real certainty about the future in the short or longer term. Most of us are parents and carers within our own families so we do understand the challenge of looking after one another and balancing work alongside that. Home schooling is certainly not for everyone!
If you need to call us please do. If we can help we will, or we may be able to put you in touch with someone that can. We still have contact with the other services that support your children in school.
The school office staffed Monday to Thursday 0191 4897480 and school mobile 07807 273436 can be used if you prefer. Please call us and someone will reply. Or you can email us anytime [email protected]
Please keep in touch.
Yours Sincerely P Selby
Mrs P Selby Head Teacher
Dear Parents and Carers
I hope that you are managing to stay safe and well. As we are all very much aware, the school closure has gone on much longer than any one of us would have hoped. We really appreciate all of the wonderful pictures that you send to us of the things you are doing at home. We also know that behind this, you are all working extremely hard to look after your children, the rest of your family and keep day to day life going. Not every day is sunshine and smiles. Normality is a very long way off for any of us.
The challenge for us, and for yourselves, is to keep all of our very special and vulnerable children safe. The much talked about social distancing is exceptionally difficult for our children, particularly as we placed so much emphasis on teaching them to work and play alongside one another. We know from our conversations with you that many of you quite rightly feel your children are safer at home with you at the present time. The risk factor in South Tyneside remains high.
We are continuing to provide suggestions on Facebook that can help you keep your child busy, whilst learning at home. Parents have told us that this is useful, and I have to thank staff for their personalised contributions to this. Our teachers have told me how much they enjoy calling to speak to you, and in some cases, the children themselves. They miss your children’s company a great deal. We are always happy for you to get in touch directly with any of your concerns for your child. Our email is [email protected] this is checked daily and the school phone number 07807 273436. I would also like to mention our NHS colleagues. Many of our school nursing staff and therapists have been redeployed to front line work during this very critical time. Although we don’t have them with us you can contact their services on the numbers we published on Facebook.
You will see there is a great deal of debate in the press about opening mainstream schools. As a special school we are continuing to provide child care for a small group of Key Worker and some exceptionally vulnerable children. The time they have in with us is not school as any of your children would remember it. The children are from a mixed age range and are not with their usual friends or staff members. This will continue for the present time and for the majority of our pupils we remain closed.
Yours sincerely
P Selby
Mrs P Selby Head Teacher
Every child entitled to a voucher should now have received emails with codes to redeem your vouchers, they will then email the voucher back to you. However, as the whole country is trying to order the vouchers for their children the website is struggling to cope with demand. Unfortunately, once processed there is very little school can do and you need to redeem your codes when they are issued and then wait for your voucher to arrive. We are aware that at times the website can say the wait time maybe up to an hour but if you persevere you will get through. Quieter times are in the evening or during the weekend.
Please use this link to take you to the frequently asked questions from parents and carers, if you still need assistance after this there is contact details included in the link or email [email protected]
https://www.edenred.co.uk/Documents/DfE/DfE_FreeSchoolMeals_ParentCarerFAQs.pdf
Kind regards
- The School Office
There is to be no change at present
You will have seen that the government have made an announcement about a possible return to school for some primary school pupils.
Nothing has changed for our school as yet. No mention was made over special schools. We will provide further information in the coming days and weeks as we find out what any government guidance means for us. The safety of your child will always be at its heart.
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https://www.facebook.com/129977650821625/posts/829746167511433/
