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The Gateway School is situated on the second floor of Nunnery Court, and was set up in September 2013. Its purpose is to provide an alternative educational environment for the young people of Hinchingbrooke School who find accessing mainstream school/lessons challenging, and need time out of them (due to a number of complex needs) whether it is on a part-time or full-time basis.

                                         

Staff

Additional External Staff

Referral

All Students in The Gateway School have bespoke  programmes to meet their individual needs and have access to mainstream staff, off site provisions and high levels of pastoral support in order to help them make progress both educationally and personally.

Referrals to the Gateway School are discussed at the fortnightly VECS meetings which are attended by Gateway staff, Heads of Year, Student Support Officers (SSOs) for each year group, staff from the Safeguarding, SEND and Attendance Teams and members of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT). It is here that student welfare and educational provision is discussed at length, in order to put together an appropriate plan of support. Due to the complex needs of the students in Gateway School all students will have either a Pastoral Support Plan (PSP), Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or an Early Help Assessment (EHA).  Almost all will have some outside agency input either from the Local Authority (eg Family Worker), health (CAMHS) or Social Care.

The Gateway School staff work effectively by being in close liaison with Gateway student’s parents/carers, outside agencies and with the school’s Student Services Team (also based in Nunnery Court, first floor) to ensure a co-ordinated approach and wraparound care to the needs of identified students of Hinchingbrooke School.

All students referred to Gateway School have an Individual Alternative Education Plan (IAEP) signed by the school, parent/carer(s) and student.  This is regularly reviewed and where required timetables are changed accordingly (reintegration/change of provision) to ensure that the right educational and pastoral support package is in place for the student. Unless exceptional circumstances apply, all have the required 25 hours a week timetable.  For those who do not have the full 25 hours a week, the reasons why are clearly explained and there is clear evidence that all are working towards this number of hours as a target.

Each student in Gateway is allocated a Gateway Staff member as a Tutor/Key Worker depending on what Year they are in. If students are in KS3 they are expected to take part in the Gateways Future Friday activities. These activities are designed to encourage team building, communication skills, positive engagement with staff and peers and more. These activities can range from cooking classes and activities within the school’s grounds or trips out to outdoor activity centres, mini golf, escape rooms and many more.

Students are expected to complete a 6-week programme at which time if set criteria has been met, they will expect to return to mainstream with support from staff and an agreed plan with school and home.

Curriculum

Gateway School offers alternative provision (AP) to both KS3 and KS4 via a number of provisions. Students of all years, accessing Gateway School are taught in one of two ways. Students are taught in mixed groups of Year 7 and 8 and another of Year 9 and 10. Year 11 are taught separately as a third group. Lessons are delivered by mainstream teaching staff and by the Gateway School’s Inclusion Workers. The exception to this is the delivery of Gateway led subjects such as cooking, Beauty, photography as well as Tutor Time whereby Key Stage 3 and 4 work together, where appropriate. Year 11 are the only group taught in a single year group as the preparation for exams is paramount.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Gateway School can accommodate Key Stage 3 students for short, fixed periods of time and/or for key times of the day eg tutor time, lunchtime etc.

The Gateway School’s main aim is to return students to mainstream education. The Key Stage 4 (Years 9-11), program is focused around core lessons on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Students access school from the start of the school day and finish at 1:20pm. All students on this programme have additional support put in place and attend a variety of other off-site placements such as local colleges, work experience placements and vocational training centres. Students can also continue to access at least one mainstream option, again, if appropriate. This is decided on a case-by-case basis.

Gateway School also provides a place for identified students to access their breaks and lunches if required. (See below Gateway Schools social area used for break/lunch times by staff and students)

                                         

Progress

To monitor the progress of students who access Gateway School, termly reports are produced to track student attendance, exclusions, achievements, rewards and subject attainment levels.  Students who access Gateway School will also be required to complete the same subject assessments and exams that are delivered in the mainstream.  We also ask that all external providers match this level of termly reporting. This monitoring process is supported by our Local Authority EIO (Educational Inclusion Officer) who takes on a quality assurance role for all of Gateway Alternative Provision and acts as a ‘critical friend’. All Gateway students are required to sit Functional Skills exams in English and Maths to at least Level 1 and then Level 2 where possible.