Mudskippers
Co
educational 100 place (FTE) ASD Primary Free Special School
(3
-11 years)
Attainment
on Entry P6 – NC L4/5.
Early
intervention provision with a reintegration to mainstream target of
up to 80% on or before transition to Year 7.
Multi
disciplinary approaches including Speech and Language, Occupational
Therapy and Family Support Services.
Financially
secured by Hearts and Minds Challenge
‘Bringing
positive change into the lives of those affected by autism’.
Mudskippers!
What’s in a name?
In
2006 William Stillman, an award winning author and adult with
Asperger syndrome wrote ‘being autistic…‘It
is like being a fish out of water.’
A
Mudskipper is a completely amphibious
fish that can use their pectoral
fins to walk
on land. Mudskippers are quite active when out of water, feeding
and interacting with one another but when compared with their fully
aquatic peers, these fish present a range of peculiar behavioural and
physiological adaptations
to an amphibious lifestyle.
Einstein
once said
‘everyone
is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree,
it will live its whole life believing it is stupid’
So
a Mudskipper is a fish, which can live out of the water, and indeed
climb trees. Many people appreciate the beauty of fish and are happy
to enjoy them swimming in the water but in a world, which was made
for mammals, breathing air and reproducing smaller versions then a
fish has got to adapt and so we have a Mudskipper, a fish which is
happiest swimming with others like him with somehow the understanding
that he must if he is to succeed be able to walk on the land.
Our
school will be based on the philosophy that we acknowledge and
celebrate the difference of our pupils, we do not see them as being
disabled in any way but rather, differently able. However, we know
that to be successful they need to at least understand how to conform
and socially interact and achieve in what is perceived to be a
‘normal’ world If they are too to survive and achieve all that
they can.
A
multi-discipinary approach will be taken, with the inclusion of
therapies such as Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) as appropriate.
Access
and Achieve
A
synopsis of Provision:
Philosophically
the Service will aim to: -
• Develop
services in consultation with the people we support, and their
stakeholders.
• Maintain
an empowering culture and not one of dependency.
• Continually
improve what we do, by utilising feedback to inform
planning.
• Recruit,
train and retain the well-qualified and experienced staff.
• Ensure
service excellence and value for money.
• Recognise,
respect and promote the rights of the colleagues and pupils
we
support.
We
have an ambitious and deliverable Curriculum plan that is consistent
with
the
vision and pupil attainment on entry.
The
school is in full agreement with and supports the values of the 2014
National
Curriculum. Our curriculum will be designed and delivered in
such
a way so as to support the ethos of a creative approach which will be
skilled
based in order to promote learning and thinking skills, personal and
emotional
skills, social skills as well as the transferable literacy, numeracy
and
computing
skills that are important as traditional subject knowledge.
An
Outreach Team will support pupils and their families and have four
main
areas
of focus: -
• Assessment
provision within the school to support admission
procedures
and multi disciplinary, targeted intervention.
• Supporting
transition procedures back into mainstream schools
working
with identified provision.
• Outreach
services to support our mainstream feeder schools and host
secondary
provision.
• The
inclusion of the Family Support Team that is currently in place
across
Greater Manchester through Hearts and Minds Challenge.
The
school will measure pupil performance accurately; set challenging
targets
and
clearly identify the achievement and progress of pupils.
Through
the effective and evaluative use of assessment the school will
improve
the standards and quality of pupils’ learning in all contexts
demonstrating
what
they know, understand and can do.
It
will involve consideration of the whole pupil and include social
attitudes and
behaviours.
Young people will be involved throughout the process and where
possible
be responsible for their own self-assessment.
Our
practices and procedures will ensure that we: -
• Form
an accurate and rounded baseline of the strengths and barriers
to
learning.
• Identify
individual learning styles with appropriate teaching approaches
to
motivate and engage young people.
• Select
appropriate targets for an individual education programme.
• Through
on going teacher assessment monitor and track progress
over
time.
• Identify
individual pathways of accreditation to reflect the young
persons
aptitude, interests and strengths that will lead towards their
final
destination.
Our
monitoring and evaluation will occur regularly by: -
• Regular
reviews of progress using B squared and CASPA. Small
steps
recognised assessment system. In order to evidence pupils are
making
expected or better than expected progress n relation to pupils
with
similar needs nationally.
• Regular
reviews of IEPs/BMPs/IBPs.
• Reviewing
a young person’s work and updating portfolios.
• Initial
Review and subsequent PEP, Interim (bi-annual) and Annual
Review
meetings (including transition).
• The
sharing of IEPs and reports and opportunities to liaise with
parents/carers
and significant others.
• Accreditation
and achievement throughout all stages and phases.
• Moderation
of progress at all levels and by all professionals involved
with
the young person.
The
particular needs of the pupils will be carefully considered and will
be met
appropriately.
The
Academy Trust shall have admission arrangements agreed with the
Department
in accordance with Annex B of the funding agreement.
Placements
at Mudskippers will be considered in the following ways:
• Admission
applications made by maintained schools, special schools
and
Academies for short stay/part time access. In these instances, the
pupil
may be dual registered with their referring school being the home
school.
The length of these placements will depend on the pupil’s
needs
and will be subject to review
• Admission
applications made by the Local Authority. Once again, the
student
may be dual registered with an identified home school. The
length
of these placements will depend on the pupil’s needs and will be
subject
to review.
• There
may be instances where the pupil will need to be registered at
Mudskippers.
This placement will normally be for pupils who require a
full
time placement identified by the Statement of need and/or that do
not
have a school place currently.
With
all the above, parental agreement/preference will be addressed.
Mudskippers
recognises parental right to express an alternative preference at
another
school or Academy.
Getting the school open
If you live in the Manchester area and think
that you would like to send your child to Mudskippers, please complete
this survey.
And please share it with any other families who you think may be interested.
Thank you!
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/G2J5DB2
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