New Rush Hall School
The New Rush Hall School “is an outstanding an innovative school… that puts pupil achievement at the heart of all decision making.” (Ofsted 2008)
We are a day special school for children and young people aged 5 to 16 years who have behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD). Pupils are in classes of 8 maximum, with a teacher and a Learning Support Assistant. The school has capacity for 64 pupils, 24 in Primary and 40 in the Secondary department.
Pupils attending the school have a Statement of Special Education Needs which outlines their behavioural, emotional and social needs as well as any learning difficulties. We aim wherever possible to enable pupils to return to mainstream school and many make a phased return through a mainstream experience programme supported by staff from the school. Pupils are referred to the school through Redbridge LA Special Needs Panel, and all requests for placement should be made to them in the first instance.
Whilst some pupils may have difficulties with aspects of their learning, the over-riding issue is that they have had significant problems in their referring schools school are unable to work, play and socialise in a safe and acceptably cooperative way. Pupils come to New Rush Hall School with a commitment to change.
We believe that every child has a right to achievement, and that every parent and carer has the right to expect that the school will do its very best for their child. To achieve this, we work together in partnership. We also believe that youngsters must learn to take responsibility for their own behaviour and that self-discipline is a skill which has to be, and can be learnt. Since this is difficult at times, we operate within a structure in which everybody is clear about the rules, regulations and expectations. We manage pupil behaviour through a policy and procedures which are clear, coherent and consistently applied.
The Primary Department has 24 Key Stage 2 places. As well as following the National Curriculum, the Primary Department offers a range of curricular activities including cooking, swimming and horseriding. Pupils do KS2 SATS at the end of Y6.
The Secondary Department caters for 40 Key Stage 3 and 4 pupils and is organised into 5 classes, ranging from Year 7 to Year 11. Again, pupils follow the National Curriculum and have additional curricular opportunities including mentoring, community work, vocational training, work placements and educational visits. At KS4 pupils can achieve GCSE, BTEC and ASDAN qualifications, as well as other vocational accreditation linked to college and work placements.
We also have an Early Years’ provision which works with 16 children, with no more than 12 on site at any one time. Children attend mornings only and return to their mainstream school after lunch. There is a separate link to this section.
We offer support in a number of ways. Pupils have personalised learning programmes which take account of their special needs. Our systems include in-class support from a specialist teacher and a team of Learning Support Assistants offering additional literacy (ALS) and numeracy support (ANS), mentoring, social skills and cooperative experiences. School systems foster an emotional curriculum which promotes learning and well-being. The most important intervention we make is through education and the most important strategy is the quality of the relationships that we develop with pupils and each other.
New Rush Hall School is an Apple One to One school, with all pupils and staff having their own laptop. This, together with skilled teaching and an innovative curriculum which promotes digital creativity, enables us to be at the cutting edge of ICT developments nationally.
We employ a range of specialist workers to enhance pupils' experience. The school has two highly qualified child and adolescent psychotherapists and a trainee, all of whom offer individual sessions to children and families and support to staff.
We provide training, in conjunction with the Tavistock and Portman Trust to teachers, Learning Support Assistants and other educationalists in Redbridge and beyond. We also work closely with other agencies including the Children’s Trust, Loxford Hall Child & Family Consultation Service, Connexions, Redbridge Business and Enterprise Partnership (REBEP), the Youth Offending Team, MPower and the Police Community Team.
The school was granted ‘Trailblazer’ Specialist School Status in September 2005 and Healthy School Status in September 2007. It was also cited as a case study in the DFES document ‘The Future of Special Schools’. As a high-performing specialist school we were awarded a second specialism in Applied Learning in April 2009. The school, through its association with the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust under the auspices of Professor Barry Carpenter, was recently part of a research project on complex learning difficulties and disabilities (CLDD) and has been awarded a research Charter Mark. We have also acquired the Inclusion Quality Kitemark - IQM.
We work in partnership with parents and carers to promote change and help children develop an understanding of their behaviour and feelings and find new ways to manage them, as we believe that this will enhance their life chances and foster a happier and healthier lifestyle.
