The Lighthouse Campus

The Lighthouse Campus Leadership

About The Lighthouse Campus

The Lighthouse Campus is a full-time educational provision for vulnerable students with complex social emotional and mental health learning needs for whom all other educational provision has broken down.  Students demonstrate a range of highly challenging behaviours and at times pose significant risk to themselves and others.

The primary focus of The Lighthouse campus is to work effectively and holistically with the unmet emotional and relational needs of students using an emotional literacy framework which promotes relationships for wellbeing, learning of new social and emotional skills, behaviour change, engagement in learning, success and achievement.

The provision aims to make a real difference to the life of a student who is heading for unfulfilled potential, harm to self or others, criminality or social exclusion.

Central to all planned learning experiences are students’ emotional literacy needs.  Students are encouraged to reflect on their negative feelings rather than behave them and to learn to communicate through words, not negative or destructive acts.

Students are supported to develop the ability to recognise and label emotions and to find words to describe their experiences instead of discharging or defending against their negative feelings.  In our relationships with students and their families, we try to help them reflect on the troubling issues in their lives and provide the emotional holding that is required for emotional growth and change to take place.

Students are offered positive unconditional regard based on acceptance and a belief that with support everyone can learn, achieve and change.  Staff recognise that they are working with deeply troubled and disadvantaged students and their families, and understand that progress in emotional growth and learning can often be slow and difficult to achieve.

Students on roll at The Lighthouse Campus receive a broad, balanced, and engaging curriculum that enables them to re-engage with their learning, whilst offering a range of optional subjects tailored to individual strengths and interests.

Students are taught by highly skilled practitioners who adapt their practice where needed, and are thereby able to meet the needs of all students through targeted, differentiated support.

Activities are carefully planned to build on previous learning, supporting students to retain and then apply their knowledge in future and possibly unfamiliar learning activities.

Learning is carefully checked and monitored, with regular opportunities for feedback, both inside and outside lessons.

Opportunities for reading are carefully interwoven into lessons, focussing on improving the confidence and enjoyment of reading of all students.

Whilst predominantly observing traditional school term times, individual learning programmes may also include extended day, evening, weekend and holiday sessions throughout the school year.

The core day takes place between 9.30am – 2.30pm, including transport.  There are no set breaks during the school day and refreshments are always available.  Students attend an individual 2-hour keywork review on every Monday with their keyworker.  A level of contact is maintained with students during school holidays and family learning opportunities are offered throughout the year

Key Stage 3 Curriculum

Key Stage 4 Curriculum

Individual Learning Programmes

Personalised individual learning programmes are developed for each student and are designed to meet their specific social, emotional, behavioural, mental health and academic learning needs.

Full-time programmes are delivered flexibly over the week and will at times include sessions during extended days, evenings, weekends and holiday times.

All individual learning programmes take as their central focus the student’s emotional literacy learning needs.  An Individual Learning Plan is developed for each student based on an holistic assessment of need that involves the student, parents, carers and other agencies. The learning needs identified in the plan are reflected across the student’s individual programme, keywork targets and the annual curriculum plan.

Programmes are produced weekly and are reviewed and adjusted by the team during morning briefing each day.  Changes may be made in response to emerging need, progress, group dynamics and assessment of risk.

Each KS4 student has bespoke post-16 sessions/a bespoke post-16 session alongside life skills and nurture sessions on their timetable which are taken alongside activities such as climbing, paddle boarding, forest school, equine therapy, working at the farm, community based projects and sport. We also offer a comprehensive literacy curriculum as well as the more traditional maths, English and PSHE subjects. All students will take a minimum of 5 qualifications in Year 11 that are made up of NCFE, BTEC, Functional Skills and The Princes Trust. GCSE qualifications are offered as appropriate.

Interventions

Keyworker

All students are allocated a keyworker who will act as the first point of contact for the student, their parents, carers and other agencies.  Students attend an individual keywork review which takes place on Monday of each week.

During the review the keyworker and Student will:

• Review and agree emotional literacy targets.
• Establish and review strategies to support behaviour change.
• Review literacy and numeracy targets and celebrate achievement.
• Review and amend as necessary the individual programme for the coming week.
• Review attendance
• Give and receive positive and constructive feedback
• Explore issues raised by Student/keyworker
• Engage in a restorative approach to resolve behavioural issues/incidents as appropriate

Family Support Workers (FSW)

We offer each family a bespoke family support package that allows our families to be supported back into their child’s education. The FSWs also offer support on budgeting, housing, act as an advocate in court hearings and parenting techniques. Families are encouraged to come onto site every Monday morning to start to break down the barriers and allow them to ask any questions they may have, or just have a coffee and a chat. Some of these sessions will include elements of NVR work as well as needs-based advice. Our dedicated family support worker enables this to happen and works closely with all our students’ families ensuring their needs are met in their family support plan.

Entry Process

Children whose needs are unable to be met via other providers across the City or within the other parts of The Harbour School.

Upon referral a holistic assessment of need will be completed.  This will involve meeting parents, carers the student and other professionals involved in their life.  The process will consider previous assessments, e.g. Social Care, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, Education and Educational Psychology, Youth Offending Team, Education and Health Care Plans, medical diagnoses, interventions and risk assessment/management plans.

Students, parents and carers will be invited to visit The Lighthouse Campus and home visits may also be undertaken.

Once this initial assessment has been completed a personalised integration programme will be developed.  The programme will be different for each student based on the outcomes of the assessment and will take into consideration the student’s needs, their current life situation, level of anxiety, ability to manage change, the group dynamics and assessed level of risk.

The integration programme will reflect the student’s interests and strengths to develop confidence, re-motivate them back into learning and increase their self-esteem.

Reintegration

Reintegration back to a campus within The Harbour School is possible, if a student has made the necessary progress both holistically and academically to ensure that it will be successful. These will be considered on a ‘case by case’ basis and will involve all key stakeholders to create a bespoke re-integration package.

Testimonials – Commissioning Schools / Parents / Students