Promoting the health and welfare of young people is a key principle and as such young people are encouraged to access many support mechanisms on offer. This ensures that their care, health, welfare and safety are always maintained to a high standard. Young people are encouraged to share their joys and successes, concerns and grievances, and are provided with many means for doing this.
All young people are allocated a Key Worker who acts as an advocate for them. They manage a small caseload, offer individual support and guidance and report and record progress in a variety of areas. They liaise closely with parents/carers and other professionals (Social Workers/Family Support and the Young Offending Service etc) to achieve the maximum benefits of multi-agency working.
Key Workers work alongside teaching staff and therapists to support the whole child. All young people and carers agree an EHCP (All About Me Plan) and a Positive Behaviour Support Plan designed to identify specific strategies for addressing areas such as health, communication, as leisure and education needs etc. These are reviewed in consultation with young people half termly.
All young people are allocated a Learning Mentor Team which consists of students of a similar age, their Learning Group Teacher, a Learning Support Assistant and several care staff. This ensures that 24 hour 'wrap around care' is provided for all our students.
All young people are registered with a GP, dentist and optician where necessary. This ensures that young people keep up with appointments and receive regular check-ups. Some carers opt to keep their own registered practitioners. Where young people require the attention of any other health service the School Nurse makes the necessary arrangements and liaises with carers and professionals to ensure that all needs are met and that the appropriate course of treatment/support is co-ordinated.
Child Protection is managed by a team led by the Designated Safeguarding Lead who also has a responsibility for managing, delivering, and securing training. The school works in harmony with the Local Authority Designated Officer and this ensures that any concerns are quickly and effectively managed.
Upon arriving at our school all our young children begin their journey working towards moving up the scale of social progress. Young people start on New Beginnings Induction Level and work through the levels by developing and embedding life & living skills; these are evidenced through each individual child’s social progress chart, AQA’s which show exceptional effort and finally they produce a piece of evidence to reflect on their achievements.
After Bronze Level young people are expected to take more responsibility for themselves and appreciate how their behaviour and attitude impacts on themselves and others. They would become more of a role model and lead by example. Continuing to evidence a piece of work to reflect how they have further developed their skills; this secures Silver Level.
By reaching Gold and Platinum Levels there is an expectation that young people set themselves a challenge to do something new; act as a mentor to another student, organise their own leisure time, act as a positive peer when staff are not present, accept the responsibility for improving the local environment and improving their own independent living skills.
CLICK HERE to view the Social Progress Level Poster
As well as the school's social progress ladder, young people are encouraged, with the support of their Key Workers, to agree and set small social targets. These ensure that progress is made in a variety of areas and directly links to our 24hr curriculum. A wealth of rewards, linked to individual need, are in place and these ensure that young people are continually recognised for their achievements and their ongoing development.
Young people enjoy a wide range of highly stimulating, fun and energetic learning opportunities. They are encouraged to take part in a wide range of activities, designed to encourage and develop a variety of social and life skills.
These include:
Young people are encouraged to take an active part in the local community, visiting and using local recreational facilities and becoming members of local groups, such as army cadets, scouts and judo club. They are supported to take up membership at clubs such as fitness gyms and local football club.
Bronte house is where our youngest residential children will reside upon their admission to our school. Our main focus in Bronte is to provide a nurturing, warm environment, where adventure and curiosity are encouraged. We seek to embed core values and social skills within our children through positive role modelling and learning through play. Each child will undertake a thoroughly planned induction into our home. They will be supported to build new friendships with their peers and develop positive relationships with experienced and nurturing staff who are currently training to become a trauma informed team.
Each child is able to select their own en-suite bedroom which we will personalise to match their interests, for example, our current students have Manchester United, Pokémon and Mario themed bedrooms. Bronte house is carefully divided into a range of areas to meet the needs of our children, including a cosy lounge for when down time is needed, a social lounge area with a pool table and reading/reflection room.
In Bronte, the staff and children are always learning together, and our 24-hour curriculum is adapted to meet all of our children’s’ individual needs. We start each day following basic hygiene routines followed by the school’s curriculum. The boys will utilise the open plan kitchen environment to help with the preparation of healthy meals and snacks, whilst developing their life and living skills.
At the end the school day the boys engage in circle time where we decide as a group what we would like to do for the evening. New opportunities out in the community are always on offer to the boys and we regularly go swimming at the local pool or playing in the park in the summer months. On a rainy day we settle down for movie nights, get messy with arts and crafts and make the most of the fantastic facilities on site. Individual activities are also on offer to meet individual needs and interests, for example one student attends an external football club weekly. Throughout all the fun the boys are having, they are consistently gathering qualifications for their future in the form of AQA awards linked with their social development.
We look forward to welcoming you to our Bronte family!’
Bairstow is the perfect environment for our youngest children, to begin their journey with The William Henry Smith Foundation. Our main focus in Bairstow is to provide a warm and nurturing environment, where play and adventure is encouraged. We seek to embed different skills within our children, through positive role modelling and learning through play. Each residential child will have a full transition and induction into our home. During their transition, they will be supported to build new positive relationships with peers and staff. Our staff are trained to the highest standards to help understand the individual complexities and needs of our children, including developmental trauma.
Our children in Bairstow have chosen their own en-suite bedrooms and have personalised these to match their interests. Our current children’s bedrooms are Spiderman and Manchester City themed! Bairstow house has a range of different rooms, including a jungle sensory room, an arts and crafts room, a play area and outdoor play furniture.
Within Bairstow, the staff and children work closely together, using our 24-hour curriculum to meet each child’s individual needs. Each day is started with our daily hygiene and bedroom routines.
At the end of the school day, the children are welcomed back home, where they are given the option to choose the evening activity. We enjoy trips to the park, fishing, bowling, baking, arts & crafts, playing with our toys and we love being in the outdoors! Some evenings we enjoy a quite night in, watching the television under a cosy blanket, making the most of our home environment. Activities are based on a child’s individual needs and interests.
Newly refurbished in February 2023, Burrow is a bespoke semi-independent living environment for our children, supporting and preparing them as they look towards their future.
Burrow has been designed to be a stunning, modern day home environment where our children are encouraged to enhance their independence through household tasks, budgeting, shopping and preparing their own healthy and balanced meals. OCR awards are encouraged as part of our school’s commitment to offering a 24-hour curriculum and improving their QOL.
The home has a fully equipped modern kitchen/dining area where the children and staff can dine together and two living areas where they can socialise. Each of the en-suite bedrooms are personalised by the children themselves, offering them their own unique space to study and relax.
The children in Burrow have access to a number of sporting and recreational activities available within school and are also encouraged to develop their interpersonal and social skills by independently accessing clubs and other extracurricular activities with peers in the local community and in their home areas which match their individual interests.
The staff in Burrow offer nurturing support and guidance in considering their options for the future, helping them to explore education and employment possibilities through college taster sessions, career advice and work experience.
Burrow is the perfect place for our children who are progressing into young adults and looking forward to happy and rewarding futures.
The William Henry Smith Sixth Form provides an opportunity for our students aged 16-19 to successfully engage in further education within a familiar and supportive environment, through the provision of individualised packages of support.
All students within our sixth form follow an education programme which includes literacy and numeracy study from Entry Level through to GCSE, in addition to completing external further education courses at local colleges. At present, we have students accessing 3 different colleges across the West Yorkshire Region. Working with several local colleges allows us to provide students with a wide-ranging offer that is at the appropriate level and based on their interests and future aspirations, recent courses include Level 2 Animal Care, T – Level Digital Production, Design and Development, E3 Hospitality, Employability & Life Skills, Level 2 Uniform Protective Services, Level 1 Sports Coaching, Level 2 Catering, and GCSE’s. Our dedicated sixth form team provide students with the holistic support they need to be able to successfully attend and succeed on their chosen college course. This could involve ensuring students manage their time so they can arrive at college on time, providing family support or working with students to support with the out of college demands of their studies.
On-site, students follow a bespoke learning pathway that coincides with their chosen college courses, addressing any gaps in learning through 1:1 tuition with our team of sixth form tutors to ensure access to a broad and balanced offer. Students access a range of additional accreditations through the OCR Life and Living Skills programme and the Virtual College platform.
Alongside this, students are given relevant support and advice to achieve their full potential and opportunities on offer include accessing UCAS events, college visits, work experience, volunteering, apprenticeships, and University visits to explore their future pathways. The deeply personalised nature of our sixth form offer means that we can prepare our students for their next challenge, be that further college study, university or employment.
The house provides a home setting for our sixth form in which students can develop key life and independent living skills such as money management, independent travel, shopping and meal preparation. Students in our sixth form may reside in our 10-bedded home for up to four nights per week, receiving holistic support in their transition to independence. Being based on our main school site ensures that students have good access to our therapy team for support with mental health, wellbeing and all aspects of development from psychological to sensory, social, educational and communicative.
Students are supported to access different modes of transport to enhance their independence. This allows students to access a wider range of social opportunities across the 24-hour curriculum. Students are also given the opportunity to complete funded driving lessons and driving theory support sessions, providing them with an important life skill to enhance their quality of life.
Our sixth form places a high value on social development and extra-curricular activities which support their own individual interests to enhance their quality of life. In the evenings, students can access local youth clubs, sporting activities – Halifax Panthers Pathway, Duke of Edinburgh expeditions, and identity groups. They are also supported to participate in recreational and community inclusion activities such as attending the local cinema and bowling alley and encouraged to have autonomy over managing their free time.
Students work in partnership with their keyworker to develop their own individualised programmes for development, including the development of academic, social and practical skills as they prepare for adulthood.
