At The Dales Partnership l we work in partnership with a wide range of external agencies to access advice to support the emotional and social development needs of our SEN children. We are part of the Durham Resilience Project and as part of this have built on our already excellent practice to further develop the support we offer to all children. We have worked on support for managing anger, emotions, friendship, behaviour, self-esteem and resilience. We work with the NSPCC to support positive choices and participate in the Junior Ed programme addressing issues around bullying, friendships, peer pressure and safety.
As a school we also work with partners including the educational psychologist, occupational therapy, speech and language, school nurses, CAHMS, social services, medical professionals and the Families First team.
As part of PHSCE and our assembly programme, children learn about making friends, strategies for problem solving and coping effectively with their emotions. This is reinforced by the ethos of the school and classroom practice.
The children have opportunities to contribute and share their ideas as part of the school council, playleaders and buddies. They learn about democracy, working as a team and supporting their peers. They are also participating in Peer Assisted Learning. Children also take part in a pupil survey where they have the opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings about all aspects of school life and make suggestions for how the school could further improve.
We are an inclusive school with an understanding and caring team who value the children we work with and work to develop high self-esteem in all children. The class teacher has overall pastoral care for the children in their class, but as a small school all staff are involved in working with and supporting all the children. If a parent has a concern, the first point of contact would be the class teacher. If further support is required the class teacher works with the SENCO.
We have positive approaches to managing behaviour with reward systems in class and a celebration assembly every week to mark the academic, sporting and social achievements of the children.