Brompton Hall is a North Yorkshire LA Residential Special School for up to around 70 boys who have an Education, Health & Care Plan, whose ages range between 8 and 16 years. All of our pupils have social, emotional and behavioural difficulties that have profoundly affected their academic performance and personal relationships. The school also, at times, takes pupils from surrounding Authorities.
We are a boarding establishment that provides residential care during the school week for the pupils who are being educated at the school. We open on Monday morning and close on Friday afternoon, with all children return to their respective homes at weekends. We have 4 boarding units catering for around 40 residential places, as well as additional extended day and 5-6 day places on our Alternative Learning Programme for identified Ks4 learners. Residential units cater for a particular age range, are well staffed and provide a wide range of stimulating and developmental activities to all pupils. A member of staff sleeps on each unit overnight, with additional staff available if needed. As an additional safeguard, CCTV records nocturnal movement in the communal areas of each unit overnight, and staff are alerted should anyone leave or enter each unit. Pupils who attend on a daily basis are attached to age appropriate units.
We promote the personal, social, emotional well-being, mental health and intellectual development of pupils who have been identified as having social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. We encourage a sense of optimism, confidence, self-worth, achievement, meaning and purpose, supporting and satisfying relationships with others, understanding oneself, and responding effectively to one’s own emotions. Pupils are valued as individuals. They are helped to achieve to the full extent of their abilities and they are prepared for the responsibilities of citizenship and for the challenges of life beyond school. High standards of behaviour, honesty, courtesy and endeavour are expected at all times. We can demonstrate clear evidence of the positive impacts on pupil’s academic learning, motivation and sense of connectedness with learning in school.
Staff at our school are experienced in working with children who have challenging behaviours, they are able to offer a wide range of skills and strategies when managing the pupils. We provide care, structure and consistent management, along with guidance and advice to all pupils encouraging the development of social and emotional skills and attitudes thus minimising mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and stress. We create a safe and nurturing environment that allows pupils to come to terms with their problems and to change their own risky behaviour such as impulsiveness, uncontrolled anger, violence, bullying and crime. Therefore, removing the barriers to their achievement and allowing them to make full use of the educational opportunities available to them.
We operate a very visible sanction and reward scheme, that is a major part of school life. Pupils see tangible results for changing their behaviour and for following school expectations. They are also able to recognise the consequences of inappropriate behaviour and are aware of the associated sanctions. All pupils have access to extensive play and personal development resources at the school, which are used to underpin the sanction and reward scheme. Every pupil, through the School Council and unit forums, plays an active part in school decision making processes. Their views are sought on various matters and actively taken into consideration when school issues are discussed, promoting a vital and protective sense of school connection from the pupils.
The school seeks to offer the same education curriculum as mainstream schools, as a result our curriculum contains a variety of qualifications from GCSEs through to Entry Level certificates, in a range of subject areas. Our aim is not to disadvantage pupils who have social, emotional and behavioural problems. When pupils have shown that they have developed good consistent control of their behaviour and have become successful in school, consideration is always given to reducing dependency on residential support, eventually moving from residential to day status, and ultimately if appropriate, a return to mainstream education.
We seek to achieve these aims through the development of:
- self-awareness, accurate self-concept, self-efficacy and self-belief
- emotional literacy, including the ability to recognise and manage the emotions
- motivation: planning, problem solving, resilience, optimism, persistence and focus
- social skills, including the ability to make social relationships and feel empathy
Warm and compassionate, respectful and caring relationships promote the provision of clear, firm and consistent boundaries, expectations and discipline within our school community. Clear expectations of acceptable and unacceptable behaviours and their consequences are embedded across the school and understood by all and consistently applied.
The promotion and celebration of diversity within our community is key to the emotional well-being of our pupils by challenging prejudice around ability, disability, gender, race, sexual orientation and perceived social status, that encompasses e-safety.
Our whole school approach to anti bullying has developed a strong ethos of zero tolerance. Although bullying is minimal within our school we do recognise that incidents may arise, so there is a clear system in place to address any instances of bullying raised by pupils. Incidents of bullying are dealt with by the student council representatives and are managed in a way that is sympathetic and supportive towards both the bully and the victim. Promotion of anti-bullying is taken on by the School student council including whole school assemblies delivered by the student council educate and reinforce our whole school attitude to zero tolerance. We are keen to educate and recognise the mental health issues surrounding bullying.
The provision of a keyworker for each child allows one to one emotional support to develop and encourage a trusting and respectful relationship between key worker, tutor and pupil. This relationship lends itself in supporting the pupil in all aspects of school life ensuring that they are achieving emotional well-being and academic learning.