Hampton Hill Junior School

Type of Provision or setting

Mainstream school. 330 pupil three form entry junior school.

What did you do / what are you doing?

We’re a mainstream Junior School and we try to do the simple things well.

We believe that children should develop through the junior years into young, independent people with a responsible and caring attitude toward each other, their community and their environment.

We provide a carefully differentiated curriculum taught through a variety of effective methods that ensures all the children have every opportunity to achieve the very best of which they are capable, combining high standards and exciting learning.

As a school, when you welcome an initially challenging child like Isaac you have to ensure other children feel safe and that learning is not disrupted. But you also have to be flexible, to support the individual child in the ways that they need.

To do this, you need quality class teachers and excellent support staff. There are other things that count as well but good staff are critical. You also need a commitment from school leadership that ‘we do our very best to make it work’. In practice that means planning for success; we meet with the parents and plan how to include the child.

We’re very creative with how we offer support and very lucky because the staff are very willing to do extra things. Any child who needs it is supported at playtime. We might have a classroom assistant who spends playtime with the child in the hall whilst they’re learning play skills - the playground can be an intimidating place to be. So we find ways of providing play opportunities whilst ensuring that this doesn’t impact negatively on other children.

We’re also flexible with the timetable, and we prioritise emotional needs alongside the curriculum. If a child doesn’t have enough emotional stability they will struggle to operate and this will have an impact on learning. Maybe that child needs more than one classroom assistant for a while for some reason. Maybe they need circle of friends, pastoral PHSE support to develop friendships. Maybe they need to bring in a cuddly toy, an emotional prop from home. A child might be allowed to go home early from school occasionally if the day has been too much for them.

The classroom can be difficult place for children with additional needs. So we make sure there other spaces that they can go to. We acknowledge children’s individual needs without excusing unacceptable behaviour or responses.

For instance, if a child has emotional difficulties and is likely to get frustrated or angry with other children, we work hard to ensure they know that we won’t accept the behaviour of kicking or pushing someone over when it all gets too much for them. And, importantly we also work hard to ensure that the child understands that we’ll always look at what’s behind that behaviour. We’ll then give them an acceptable alternative for those times when they get frustrated, such as working in another area, or we might provide opportunities to talk and role play the situation through. You have to separate the child from their behaviour and understand why they were frustrated or angry. Then help them to understand that that is OK, but the way they tried to resolve it was wrong.

As a school, good teachers and classroom assistants are critical but you also need to work in partnership with parents. We’re very clear and open when communicating with parents about things that have happened during the day at school. That all helps contribute towards a culture where if things don’t work out and a new strategy is needed - there isn’t any blame. Parents know what you’re doing and that you’re trying the best for their child.

We also work in partnership with other services, liaising with outside agencies, looking to use the outside help that’s available to help work through difficulties.

Looking at our approach to Isaac in particular; we had significant difficulties engaging Isaac in a mainstream setting when he first came to us. Initially it was about successfully including him, but then about him succeeding in that environment as well; so looking at him making progress against his emotional and learning targets. We had some significant support from the-bridge; a local parent led charity specialising in social and communication difficulties.

Electronic communication was an important factor, we had email contact with the other professionals working with Isaac and his parents. It allowed daily, immediate and less formal communication.

We also needed to make sure that the Learning Support Assistant (LSA) had the necessary skills to support Isaac. As with any child, it’s important that there is more than one person working with them. We mix and match so that it’s not just one person dealing with the challenges all the time. It’s also vital that whoever is in that role builds up a positive, mutually respectful relationship as they are often the first point of contact with the child (before class teachers).

We use strategies like behaviour charts and reward systems. But mostly it’s about being human, responsive and having a sense of humour. Also, having clear structures and processes and not defining the child by their difficulties.

Where you are based?

Hampton Hill, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

What did you want to achieve?

For Isaac, and for any child with difficulties, our aim was to successfully include him in a mainstream school without there being any negative impact on the other children in the school.

To what extent did you meet these outcomes?

Isaac is now very happily settled in the school. It was, and is, about meeting needs as they arise.

We have very good relationships with parents, so if mistakes are made we focus on positive steps forward rather than looking to apportion blame. We would never say we have one perfect model that will work for every child! It’s about developing a system of support for the individual.

We have great staff with energy and enthusiasm; our staff don’t give up! Coupled with our ‘no blame’ culture that means we’re able to say ‘let’s try this and see if it is beneficial’. We review and look at what’s going well and what’s not working, then see if we can work out why and resolve those difficulties.

What is the impact on the Children / Young people?

As tangible as possible – impact in the short, medium and long term.

The change we see is that the child changes their perception of themselves; they see themselves as a child who can succeed and wants to succeed.

The children with autism here want to be included; want to be on the school council or a lunch time monitor. They’re no longer someone who has a label that defines them. We work very hard to make sure they’re included as much as they can be.

Isaac is a very good example, he approaches the school day with interest, effort and humour. Initially he was unhappy with expectations that he would complete a piece of work, but by pursuing that expectation, it gradually seeped into him that Hampton Hill is a place where he needs to participate and succeed, where he’ll learn and have fun.

What difficulties did you need to overcome?

When a new child arrives at school, who for whatever reason has a reputation (and a child with autism can display behaviour that’s different), parents in the playground may not always be as forgiving as they might be. There were some parents and children who were not too positive, but that was only in the early days and was because of their anxieties that their child’s education would be affected. The anxieties were quickly overcome by the actual experience.

You need to be aware of these potential anxieties and plan the balance of the individual child’s need alongside the impact on others (not the impact as it is perceived, but the impact as it is).

Isaac is a nice boy with a nice character and he enjoys being with children and adults. This enhanced the process of his integration.

We have a culture where we work to ensure one child doesn’t disrupt the learning of other children. Isaac didn’t want to disrupt the learning of others, but on occasions when he became upset or distressed that became a possibility. Isaac’s funding through his Statement of Special Educational Needs (SEN) enabled us to provide out of class support for him (to do this, you need an available location and adult resources).

Is the impact/ outcome sustainable?

Absolutely yes, you just need people at head teacher and authority level that make informed decisions that are the best for the child.

You need the triangle of communication between parents, school and authority. Whilst resources are important, equally so are relationships and everyone wanting to succeed.

Appropriate funding is critical. For instance, if you haven’t got additional funding for a child’s needs and they’re having a difficult afternoon, and you’ve got nowhere outside the classroom for them to work and no one to go with them then that child may get sent home, or have to work in a corner of the classroom. This gives them the message that they’re naughty which doesn’t support their difficulties nor challenge them to learn.

For a child with autism; if they get a bit agitated and you take them out for a few minutes to give them a bit of encouragement to get them back on track, they can then go on to have a great day! If you haven’t got the resources to be able to do that, the day may not get turned round.

What are you most proud of?

The range of opportunities we offer the children and how positively and enthusiastically they look to join in and take advantage of them.

Specifically for Isaac, that he is in a mainstream school and is learning and succeeding. Earlier on this morning Isaac came down to see me with his reward chart, he’s had green ticks all week so he gets a head teacher sticker. That’s great! He’s done the work required from him, in a positive manner and he’s had fun with peers and adults.

What would you like to improve?

In terms of making the successes come a bit more quickly it might be helpful to have a more detailed profile of Isaac on entry. In Isaac’s case, it would have meant less feeling around in the dark if we’d had more contact with the agencies who knew him prior to his arrival.

Also, related to planning, it is having as much notice as possible of a child joining the school. The local authority gave Isaac a significant amount of Learning Support Assistant (LSA) time so we then had to find someone to support him; finding the right person can take time.

We didn’t feel we could take an existing LSA away from a child with which they’d built up a successful relationship. Recruiting and working with a new member of staff that doesn’t know the school and doesn’t know the child can be an additional challenge for a school.

In Isaac’s case, we were very lucky and found someone who could start more or less straight away but we might have had to wait three months to make an appointment. If a child is transferring settings as much prior notice as possible to get staff in place is likely to improve chances of success.

In terms of further developing this aspect of our work, we already have an above average number of children with SEN in the school and the local authority have asked us if we would consider having a provision for children with behavioural, social and emotional difficulties.

What aspects of what you achieved can be passed on to others?

Good planning for a child is essential: which class will they go into, is the class ready for them, where will they sit, what’s on their desk, who they are paired up with (to develop friendships) and so on.

Being aware that a day at school for a child who has been out of school for any reason - a school day where you’ve got maths, English, listening, reading, running about and bumping into people – can be a really long day for staff and pupil.

Using strategies like ‘My success of this week’, and an achievement book to really highlight to children where they are succeeding.

Having a reward system. For Isaac this was rather loose initially. You need a system that is fair, clear and consistent, with expectations of the child which are understood and a way for a child to recover the rest of the day if a session does not go as planned. The reward system has to break the day into small, achievable chunks which don’t necessarily judge the day on one incident alone. It is also important to involve the child in designing the reward system.

Also, when Isaac was having difficulties some days, we would switch LSA for the next lesson. People might say you need consistency, especially for a child with autism. But in Isaac’s case, if he was getting frustrated and felt the day was against him, when a new LSA came in and said ‘good morning Isaac let’s get started’ – it prompted him to see that he had a new chance to succeed. So every lesson for Isaac was a new lesson and a new chance to succeed.

It’s important to plan carefully, but it is organic - a constantly evolving process. We never think we’ve cracked it, it’s always ongoing.

In the case of Isaac, if on the rare occasions these days he is having difficulties in the lesson, we remind ourselves how much progress he has made.

You do, however, need to do a lot of work to get to that position. We work very hard to ensure our staff feel valued, supported and listened to. Their inputs are essential in planning ways forward. Time must be made for them to share their thoughts about how the placement is progressing. It is essential that they do not instantly feel personally judged when a child is demonstrating particularly difficult behaviour. They must feel able to discuss strategies and solutions in a professional and mutually respectful atmosphere.

In conclusion, the leadership team need to be supportive and not judgemental of staff, and be seen to be responsive to any concerns raised (and look to plan ways forward). They need to be accessible to their staff.