Shirle Hill School
An outstanding rating from Ofsted is always something to be proud of. And no school knows this better than the Shirle Hill Hospital School in Sheffield. Why? Because the school caters for pupils with acute or severe emotional and behavioural difficulties. It's not just a school, but a hospital as well, and many require clinical and psychiatric intervention.
When the inspection took place in December 2007 the school was judged outstanding. Inspector Kath Halifax said, ‘The range of learning experiences…is astonishing. Not only are teachers flexible in adapting their programme to meet the changing needs of individual pupils, they ensure what is taught is enjoyable and meaningful.’
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Ask Wendy Dudley, associate headteacher, why the school is so special and she’ll give you a whole list of reasons. ‘We’re fairly unique. There aren’t many schools like us remaining in the country where the teaching staff works very closely with the medical and therapy teams. We all work together to make sure we meet the goals of admission for each of the young people in our care.’ |
Some pupils also have learning difficulties and/or disabilities, and all have encountered acute problems in their education outside Shirle Hill. Children attend two days a week for up to six months, spending the rest of their week at their home schools with outreach support from Shirle Hill staff.
When we first assess a child’s needs, we look at their situation in its entirety and our approach is very much based around the family. We visit them in their home schools and also in their home. We consider the actions that need to be taken for that family as a whole, so that we can take into account the dynamics and impact of the whole family on the child’s condition. This is really important as they’re not considered in isolation and it shifts the emphasis away from the children themselves being the problem. Other family members can have an impact on their behaviour and there are a number of factors at play. Associate headteacher Wendy Dudley
Many of the secondary age children come to the school from pupil referral units and most have very low self-esteem and little confidence in their ability to learn. How then does the school start to turn things round?
Staff put together an individual plan of education for each child, who is regularly monitored and assessed. Support from the on-site medical and therapy staff provides wrap-around care. There is shared responsibility between the therapeutic and educational staff which really works.
‘Many of our children have had very limited experiences of success in the past,’ says Wendy Dudley. ‘As a small school we can be very flexible and provide an interesting, creative and enriching curriculum. When the children become more engaged so the academic level can be increased. There are other important opportunities here too, besides the traditional school work and therapies. Some of our children, because of their behavioural problems, have never been allowed to go on a school trip before. We can take them on a residential or a school trip from here and it helps immensely in fostering self belief and self esteem. The staff build excellent relationships with them and all of this helps them progress.'
And what happens when it’s time for a child to leave Shirle Hill? ‘A lot of the pupils go back to school positively but sometimes mainstream education isn’t the right thing,’ explains Wendy Dudley. ‘Whilst they’re here we assess where the best place for that child might be and we help them and their families come to terms with those decisions. We might not solve their problems, but we teach them strategies to learn how to cope.’
