At Applegarth we aim all children to be in a safe and happy place, ready to learn. We recognise that in order to achieve this some children will need support understanding that the journey they have been on may be unique to them. To achieve this, we have systems and where necessary create tailored plans to support them to accomplish this aiming to flourish at school, home and beyond.
Our Inclusion team is made up of a variety of professionals, such as our Executive Head Teacher, Head Teacher, STEP SEND Lead, SENDCO, Learning support mentors and teaching assistants. We work together with families and children so that they can lead fulfilling and balanced lives at and beyond school. We aim to equip and prepare children with resilience strategies to keep themselves mentally healthy, with positive relationships and positive attitudes to learning.
Pastoral care underpins our children’s personal development and we know from experience that with dedicated pastoral care, children feel they belong and their self-esteem is able to flourish because it is a part of them feeling valued and cared for.
Inclusive teaching in the Classroom
As part of our curriculum entitlement, our classrooms and relationships with children promote positive pastoral care so that they can learn eagerly, promote good attitudes to learning and co-operate well with others.
Co-operative learning behaviours
These are positive learning behaviours that children are explicitly taught and are promoted in every area of our curriculum. These are:
Zones of regulation
At Applegarth we also teach and revisit zones of regulation as part of our RSHE curriculum. We do this so that children can be taught strategies and vocabulary around expressing their thoughts and feelings in a safe and accessible way. This enables our children to develop knowledge and resilience to keep themselves mentally healthy. In each classroom you will find:
Our Inclusion Team
As part of our school community we have three learning mentors:
Mr L Nanu
Ms E Waite
Ms A Todd
They work in collaboration with class teachers and Senior Leaders to provide specific support for our children.
This can include:
Learning Mentor Support
Examples can include check ins with pupils who have requested a ‘helping hand’ at the start of the morning, through writing their name and putting it in the worry box.
Our learning mentors would then ask if they would like to talk and speak through any concerns or worries they may be having. This is then communicated to the team who work with the child as well as being flagged on CPOMS should there be a well-being or safeguarding concern. Check ins are monitored to consider if there should be any further specific interventions from the pastoral team.
Thrive
Our learning mentors are trained Thrive practitioners , they can take referrals for Thrive interventions to work one to one with children, targets are set with the children and communicated with their families. They are then reviewed as part of the plan, do review cycle.
Zones of regulation Intervention group
When required the learning mentors can work with small groups of children to look at zones of regulation in greater detail in a nurturing setting. This provides children with space and time to talk through the strategies with examples that are specific to them and their lives.