Pastoral

Designated Provision

Mr Funnell	Head of Designated Provision
Mrs Keenan
Mrs Pacey
Mrs Rhodes

Designated Provision Known as 'Iona'

Our 16 place Designated Provision is for Autistic students with complex needs. Young people who are given an Iona placement will have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan and a diagnosis of autism. These are students with the most exceptional complex needs.

There are 16 places at the Iona, however the amount per year varies meaning 3 Iona students per year group.

Decisions about entry to the IONA are managed by Warrington Local Authority and not the school. 

Ethos

The ASD Designated provision provides support within class and around the school. Each student has a bespoke program: including mainstream lessons, staff support, visual support materials, withdrawal classes and Speech and Language Therapy.

To support the inclusion within the mainstream classes, the whole school has had training in ASD and many of the SEND Team have had further training and many are qualified as Level 2 Team Teach practitioners which provides positive behavioural strategies, which are designed to reduce anxiety, risk and positive behaviours.

Designated Provision is a discrete provision within St Gregory’s Catholic High school and as such pupils in the Designated Provision have access to the Provision throughout the school day, including at those times when they integrate into the mainstream classes and during social times like break and lunch.

Glossary

SEND: Special Education Needs and Disability

EHC plan: Education Health Care Plan

SaLT: Speech and Language Therapist

EP: Educational Psychologist

K Student: A student that receives SEND support but does not have an EHC plan

DP: Designated Provision. The school offers additional support for Autistic student with complex needs that have been identified as needing more support than can be provided in a mainstream classroom.

AEN: Additional Educational Needs. Any barrier to learning that means a student may require additional support to achieve their potential. This includes SEND.

Iona: An area within the school for Autistic students with complex needs as part of the school’s DP (See above)

SEND Register: a list of all the students at St Gregory’s High School who have special educational needs and/or a disability.

CAMHS: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services

OT: Occupational Therapist

QFT: Quality First Teaching

What is the purpose of the Iona?

The Iona provides targeted support for students with autism and complex needs in a mainstream school setting. This support enables young people to make progress, achieve their identified outcomes, and to access the mainstream curriculum to the fullest extent possible whilst benefiting from specialist interventions.

The Iona provides a flexible approach, tailored and adapted to the needs of each individual pupil. The Iona is intended for pupils who need to spend proportions of their time away from large class settings in order to receive high levels of targeted support, while also maximising their access to the school’s broader learning and social settings. The extent to which this can happen will be dependent on an individual young person’s needs. Students receiving support from the Iona are on the mainstream school’s roll but receive more intensive support to deliver the interventions specified in their EHC Plan.   

What support does the Iona offer?

The aim of the Iona is to meet the needs of its pupils and to eliminate the physical, organisational and attitudinal barriers experienced by young people with autism so that they feel fully and equally part of the school and wider community. Iona will:

- Offer every young person with an Iona placement an education in social and learning contexts alongside their mainstream peers to the greatest extent possible. We want Iona students to see themselves as part of a mainstream class/tutor group as far as each individual Iona student is able to manage

- Provide support as needed for the young person in the context of the classroom or activity. Support is guided by assessment and will vary between: independent access in a specific context, subject or activity; support pre-and/or post activity (pre-teaching, study skills, revision/over-learning and reflection); support to and from the activity; and scaffolding to support the activity by an adult.

- Tailor parts of the curriculum to meet each young person’s individual needs. 

What curriculum do students follow in the Iona?

- All Iona students follow the national curriculum which is adapted to meet their needs. Iona team, in collaboration with other teachers in the school will adapt curriculum materials and deliver special educational provision to meet the needs and objectives in pupils’ EHC plans.

- Iona students study academic subjects both within mainstream classes alongside their peers and within the Iona. As students develop greater independence, academic and/or social emotional support is gradually reduced as appropriate, to help students achieve positive outcomes and make a successful transition into adulthood.

- All KS4 Iona students study for GCSEs, or similar qualifications.

What facilities are there in the Iona?

Physical adaptations such as workstations

Small group teaching spaces

Low sensory demand spaces

Individual work areas

Reactive / planned / pro-active adaptive timetables

Moving from primary to secondary school (KS2-KS3)

Before joining Iona, we invite students to come to the school for transition days. They will have a tour of the school, meet members of staff, attend taster lessons and take part in team-building exercises. This helps students to become familiar with the school surroundings and procedures.

Normally pupils are invited for a 4-5-week programme which is overseen by our Iona Team. Each session increase in time as the programme continues to help students to overcome any pre-secondary school anxieties, understand our rules and processes and feel more comfortable when it comes to starting with us in September.

Students work through a booklet during these four weeks which they take home after the final session.

How do we know our Iona provision for students is working?

We use a data led approach to evaluate the effectiveness of our support for Iona students.

At least once a term, we assess the progress of each student on the Iona register against their targets and review the impact of any intervention they have been receiving.

Do we adapt to curriculum for pupils within Iona?

Key to our approach is the understanding that all students benefit from strategies that support Iona students. This is captured in the school’s QFT strategy. This is a style of teaching that emphasises high quality, inclusive teaching for all pupils in a class. At St Gregory’s High School, all our teachers use ‘Quality First Teaching’ in all lessons. QFT includes adaptive learning, such as using visual resources and/or breaking down instructions into smaller chunks of information. 

How does the school communicate with Iona students and their families?

We want to make sure students, and their families are involved in decisions about their education and the support they receive at school. Parents of Iona pupils have the emails and telephone numbers to be able to quickly contact the Iona team.

What If I think my child needs a place at the Iona?

Our ASD Designated Provision is for Autistic students with complex needs.

Young people who are given an IONA placement will have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan and a diagnosis of autism. These are students with the most exceptional complex needs.

Decisions about entry to the IONA are managed by Warrington Local Authority, not the school. 

SEND Offer Website pages