Venn Prospectus 2016-17

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Welcome to Venn Academy Trust, a unique partnership that places a vision of inclusion at its core.

Welcome to Venn Academy Trust, a unique partnership that places a vision of inclusion at its core. Our trust seeks to explore the qualities that make our pupils unique. We aim to provide the best educational support and provision for young people.

We aim to deliver the greatest beneficial approaches of education for the pupils in our care. Venn has created a shared inspirational model of leadership and a positive environment in which best practice brings schools together to deliver effective education with ground breaking results.

The trust is in its developmental phase, current partners are educational institutions that collectively provide a unique and tailored experience to those who access its services. With room to expand to a ten-school trust, Venn is seeking additional schools to join their remarkable team and build upon its strong outlook as a unique delivery of pupil education.

Simon Witham is the Chief Executive and Chair of the Venn Academy Trust. He has been the Headteacher of Thorpepark Primary School since 2009. During that time the school has grown to 530 pupils with a keen interest on developing learning behaviour and the impact of low-level disruption on the learning process. As a result, Thorpepark (in partnership with Bridgeview/Whitehouse) now provides CPD to other schools and has developed a number of training packages for behaviour.

Simon is the Research and Development lead for Tidal Teaching School Alliance. He is currently undertaking a Doctorate in Education, with a distinct focus on behaviour and its impact on learning progress.

Welcome

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Whitehouse pupil referral unit is located with Bridgeview Special School at a new purpose-built site for multiple provisions. Whitehouse offers places to pupils aged 5 to 11 who are permanently excluded or at risk of exclusion.

The main purpose being to overcome behavioural issues which causes barriers, pupils learn to take responsibility for their behaviour and to develop coping mechanisms and self-control to overcome problems. They are taught the cause and effect of behaviour types and are encouraged to work towards a return to mainstream education with renewed attitudes.

Following an initial assessment period of 6 weeks, a review is held to determine readiness for re-integration back to mainstream schools. Excluded pupils who require a new placement in mainstream education are allocated an alternative school through Hull’s Fair Access Panel.

Whitehouse works in partnership with mainstream schools and maintains a continued relationship with behaviour leads in partnered schools to provide a continuous discussion on the progress of individuals.

Following the curriculum in mainstream education aims to limit the difference in learning content between placements and attendance at pupils’ mainstream schools. The curriculum has a focus on basic skills and also provides an alternative curriculum to engage with particularly vulnerable pupils.

Ofsted last inspected the Whitehouse PRU in February 2013, rating the school as Outstanding in all areas.

Whitehouse PRU

“All pupils accelerate their progress in literacy and numeracy very well. They apply what they have learned in these subjects in all lessons and throughout the school day. This enables pupils to make remarkable progress and achieve exceptionally well, especially in writing.”

The Boulevard Centre enables girls to continue their education during pregnancy and as young mums. It offers an inclusive educational environment that encourages participation in learning and provides services to ensure students receive the support and information required during a challenging phase of their lives.

Under the Hull Building Schools for the Future project the centre was refurbished to create a purpose-built teaching space where young people can embrace the opportunities provided to them.

Regular attendance is encouraged by offering an on-site day nursery for children of students, access to antenatal and parenting services and midwife appointments.

By providing education, life skills, IT skills and support, students are enabled to make decisions which will see them go on to lead independent and successful lives as young parents. Feedback has been very positive.

All students are required to continue core subjects at Key Stage 4 and study courses in food technology, childcare and skills required by employers, which many find useful in developing an area of interest for further study post-16. Many students opt to continue their education following an initial period at the school, with many of them exceeding predicted grades in GCSEs and A Levels.

The Boulevard Centre was rated Outstanding in all areas upon its last inspection in January 2014. Our Nursery was also rated Outstanding in July 2013 in all areas .

“The centre continues to provide an outstanding level of education, care and support. It has a ‘life changing’ impact on the students as they deal with the emotions and challenges of becoming a parent.”

The Boulevard Centre

www.theboulevardcentre.org.uk


The Sullivan Centre is a medical pupil referral unit providing education for young people aged 11 to 16, with a flexible approach to education, providing access to learning at a range of locations to suit the pupils’ ongoing needs. Based at a state-of-the-art educational site in west Hull, but also providing a home tuition service and education at the hospital classroom at Hull Royal Infirmary.

One of the key aims of the Sullivan Centre is to remove the barriers to learning which its pupils have faced, providing not only a positive point of access to education, but the outlook and stability needed for success.

Following a mainstream curriculum and providing GCSE entry for those in KS4, while recognising the need to develop confidence and resilience in its students, additional courses designed to engage with young people using a holistic approach are employed.

One such course was CatZero, which is a not-for-profit organisation offering unique experiences to young people and their families. Working with CatZero, students were given the opportunity to access development training programmes, set individual and personal targets, experience situations which pushed them beyond their comfort zones; all of which developed skills and confidence in preparation for a positive and independent life ahead.

The Sullivan Centre was rated as Good by Ofsted in February 2014.

“Many pupils’ progress in English, mathematics and science improves and accelerates well.”

SullivanCentre

Bridgeview believes that offering creative access to a mainstream curriculum is key to gaining engagement from its pupils by providing opportunities to become involved in art projects, educational excursions, cultural and sporting activities to increase participation and enjoyment in education.

Access to Bridgeview is via the Local Authority’s Special Educational Needs department.

An Ofsted inspection rated the school as Good in July 2014.

“The vast majority of pupils make good progress in English and mathematics. This is because their learning needs are met well.”

Bridgeview Special School is a day school for pupils with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP). The school provides education and support to pupils aged 5 to 11 who present with a wide range of learning difficulties and disabilities. Pupils are equipped with the life skills they will need to gain independence, benefitting from investment in additional courses such as pedestrian and safe cycling skills.

Bridgeview Special School

www.bridgeviewschool.co.uk


Tidal Teaching School is an alliance of partners from Kingston upon Hull and the East Riding. The organisation consists of secondary, primary, special schools and academies; including a pupil referral unit, higher education institutes and educational agencies. Tidal uses Educational consultants, bringing together the very best expertise to deliver quality teacher training.

Tidal views school improvement as a collaborative effort, prioritising and concentrating on the most important issues. The organisation believes success is not a solo journey - everyone involved in our training co-operates with each school to provide a feeling of inclusion. This attitude allows schools to contribute working practices to the training programme, enabling change to take place. We inspire schools to become laboratories of innovation where teachers are encouraged to reflect and share findings from their work.

Tidal believes in lifelong learning, providing professional development opportunities for teaching staff at every level, from teacher training and Newly Qualified Teachers, to Executive Headships; creating pathways of development to benefit both the individual staff member and their school. The training school utilises steering groups, CPD, leadership development, the latest research and specialist leaders of education to ensure the best outcomes for all children are achieved.

Tidal’s core belief is that the capacity to improve schools lies within schools. Tidal Teaching School Alliance taps into that potential using audits of need and up to date research to train the next generation of teachers through School Direct. Effective practice in schools is achieved by responding to identified needs and supporting the measures necessary to transform those needs into daily practice.

TidalTeachingSchool

www.tidalschools.co.uk

Thorpepark is an inclusive educational setting for children aged 2-11. The mainstream primary academy celebrates diversity and works hard to provide a well-equipped learning experience for all children and appreciates the differences that make them unique.

The academy is recognised as a support school for learning behaviour, providing support and guidance for managing low-level disruptive behaviour. Thorpepark works in partnership with Bridgeview and Whitehouse to deliver the ‘Behaviour can change and Leading for Learning programmes’. Emphasis is placed on supporting, guiding and developing staff training on the school involved and its staff practice.

As a Venn Academy Trust partner Thorpepark Academy aims to tackle challenging behaviour during pupils’ earliest years in education to provide a solid foundation for a successful approach to learning behaviour from a young age. Thorpepark Primary works in partnership with Venn to be a lead school for Team Teach training and has been awarded Big Maths School hub status with Andrell Education.

The school underwent a section 5 Ofsted in April 2014 achieving Good in all areas with the capacity to be Outstanding.

Thorpepark Academy

www.thorpepark.hull.sch.uk

“Thorpepark is at the heart of the community. Parents and pupils are proud of their school. They say it is changing their lives for the better and raising their aspirations.”

“[The pupils’] positive attitudes to learning are important characteristics in their success.”


Venn Academy Trust has strong ambitions to develop over the coming years, intending to build a multi-academy trust of no more than ten organisations by 2021.

The leaders behind Venn’s successful initial phase are committed to striving for excellence in the services it offers and are looking for additional members who share this vision. These academies will be good, outstanding, or on a journey from their starting point to excellence.

They will play a central role in their local community, meeting the challenges of their particular context and ensuring that all their pupils make better than expected levels of progress as a result of consistently excellent teaching.

Venn currently serves pupils in Hull and the East Riding and whilst development is not restricted by geographical area, Venn is focussed on developing strong links to progress through a shared understanding of the trust’s values.

Venn currently provides school-to-school support in a wide range of areas; it holds a particular interest in the development of learning behaviour, reading and mathematics development as proven by the partners it works with.

Partnerships


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Documents

Venn Prospectus 2016-17