Our Approach
Be Kind, Be Safe, Be Responsible.
Whitehall Academy’s purpose is to enable young pupils to overcome the barriers to learning and success posed by specific learning difficulties and other associated difficulties. We believe that it is important that our pupils are helped to discover and recognise their strengths so that they can build their self-esteem, confidence and achieve the best in their learning.
We strive to instil self-belief and encourage every pupil to have high aspirations for themselves. It is important that our pupils become comfortable with who they are, recognising that everyone has strengths and weaknesses. This confidence and aspiration leads our pupils to achieve and build up the skills needed to move to the next stage of their lives.
At Whitehall Academy we aim that all pupils leaving our school will have the skills and understanding necessary to be independent, self-sufficient and active members of society. Our purpose is to empower all pupils to transform their future.
The school promotes the Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development, with these being embedded across the curriculum. The school teaches tolerance and understanding of different faiths and cultural beliefs and promotes freedom of expression and personal choice. The school welcomes and supports pupils and their families from any religious faith or no faith.
At the centre of our approach are our core values of: Being Kind, Being Safe and Being Responsible. These values underpin the school curriculum, extra-curricular activities, policies and procedures, including those supporting pupils’ pastoral care, wellbeing and behaviour.
Our Specific Aims
Our specific aims are as follows:
Celebrate
To ensure and celebrate high standards of achievement for all pupils including personal development by: having high expectations, target setting and continuous assessment, celebrating achievements, using individual planning, and monitoring progress.
Develop
To ensure each pupils knowledge, skills and understanding are developed by: offering a broad, balanced, bespoke curriculum, regular assessment, target setting and review including choice, decision making and independence.
Respect
To respect the rights of students by providing a safe, secure and healthy environment through: safer recruitment, safeguarding policies and procedures, dynamic risk assessment, and a right to privacy and dignity.
Equality
To ensure equality and access to opportunity by: using in class support for each student ensuring all planning is individual and regularly reviewed. Personalised resources including communication aids, ICT equipment, and bespoke sensory equipment.
Whitehall Academy aim to provide education for pupils between the ages of five and eleven.
Our curriculum intent is a broad and holistic curriculum that caters to students with a variety of needs, including autism, communication, sensory needs and specific learning difficulties. Progress and attainment data are collected and continuously evaluated using a range of techniques and technologies to evidence learning, assess, adjust learning plans, and set new goals.
Our curriculum will be personalised to learners’ needs and identifies gaps in previous learning while reinforcing behaviour for learning through our Positive Behaviours Strategies, implemented by the Behaviour Support Team.
Our curriculum is tangible in every part of the school day which begins with a breakfast club. This allows all learners to be ready to engage in the formal curriculum and provides opportunities for staff to have conversations, address concerns, and prepare learners for the day ahead. The implementation of the curriculum is broad, balanced, and holistic, allowing all pupils to follow the core and foundation of the formal curriculum at (KS1 –KS2) and the Engagement Curriculum at all Key Stages.
We see the local community as valuable to our pupil’s learning, so we thread these links into the curriculum throughout the year. Using the outdoors as a learning environment is fundamental to our values and this can be school-based or with enrichment visits to other locations. Trips and activities are vital to enhance our learners’ learning opportunities.
An integral aspect of the curriculum is that pupils are prepared for the future. During their time in school they become fantastic role models and the very best versions of themselves. Their individual identity is valued, and our pupils are kind and caring while also aspiring to be the best that they can be in whatever area they choose to pursue. We believe that every child is unique – they all have the potential to achieve; and our broad, varied curriculum allows every child to excel now and, in the future, based upon their own personal strengths, interests, and core values.
Enrichment
Our enrichment program runs alongside a formal curriculum and helps support learners to engage and have access to a range of opportunities supporting aspirations and life beyond school.
From their different starting points, all pupils will make good progress academically, emotionally, creatively, socially, and physically. Knowledge, understanding and skills will be secured and embedded so that children attain a high level and are fully prepared for future life.
The anticipated impact of our curriculum is evidenced, assessed, and monitored through the ‘Evidence for Learning’ Assessment, Bsquared which includes the Engagement Model and as per our assessment policy and procedures. We measure impact through core subject progress, plugging gaps in learning through small groups (5 to 6 pupils per class) and personalised learning. Our curriculum impact should identify those pupils who are more prepared for the next stage in their education whether this is reintegration to mainstream or an appropriate Key Stage 3 destination.
Pupils’ progress is measured through ongoing formative and summative assessments and three key assessment points during the year. Work is planned to address misconceptions and any gaps in learning are identified to ensure that the curriculum effectively meets the needs of all pupils. Teachers also engage in regular formative assessment throughout the term through regular marking and providing feedback on independent practice.
Pupils’ progress is measured through ongoing formative and summative assessments and three key assessment points during the year. Work is planned to address misconceptions and any gaps in learning are identified to ensure that the curriculum effectively meets the needs of all pupils. Teachers also engage in regular formative assessment throughout the term through regular marking and providing feedback on independent practice.
Parent / Carer Engagement
Each pupil’s parent or carer can access at any time their son’s/daughter’s record of overall progress, and engagement in his learning by receiving every term an education report. Parents are also invited to at least one parent and teacher consultation evening (Parents Evening) per year and are expected to attend an in-depth annual review meeting to share in examining progress, especially in relation to pupils’ therapeutic skills targets. Close communication between parents and school is encouraged throughout the academic year. At the end of the year parents will receive a detailed annual education report.
At Whitehall Academy, we aim to support pupils’ individual needs by having a thorough admission process which is designed to establish a match between a prospective pupil’s learning and needs profile and the school provision. Each pupil will be assessed prior to entry for his/her learning difficulties, speech and language therapy needs, occupational therapy needs, literacy and numeracy needs. This assessment informs an individual plan of appropriate targets and curriculum planning, which then will be supported through the schools one-to -one support.
Every pupil will be subject to an annual review meeting in which he/she, parents/carers and a member of teaching staff and therapeutic staff meet to assess progress made towards the targets, to evaluate the provision in place for him/her and to set new targets for the following twelve months.
In the case of pupils whose placements are funded by Local Authorities, a representative of the Local Authority is also invited to attend, and the Education, Health and Care Plan will be reviewed to ensure it is fit for purpose.
A shared approach between the teaching staff, therapeutic staff, parents/carers and Local Authorities is essential to the effective support and development of all pupils. We aim that these teams will meet formally at least three times every year, to share experiences and approaches and to discuss future developments and to complete shared training.