Early Years
The department provides for infants between 2 & 7 years of age entering Bettridge Special School, which caters for pupils with profound, severe and complex needs. It is maintained by Gloucestershire Local Authority, and situated on the outskirts of Cheltenham.
Pre-school pupils are admitted on an assessment basis when they are considered to have significant special educational needs. These pupils benefit from a high quality early-years programme to stimulate their all round development and address their individual difficulties. Where appropriate this leads to a statement of Special Educational Need, and an educational placement suited to their learning abilities.
Pupils of school age joining from another setting also benefit from the ethos of the department. This aims to settle children and parents into the social routines and working practices of the school through careful consultation and regular communications with families
The Pupils
The centre provides full-time and part-time placements for children appropriate to their age and needs. The youngest pupils attend on a part time basis with the pattern of attendance being individually agreed with parents. This allows a flexible response to the needs of pupils and their families. Pre-school pupils are admitted informally on an assessment placement following referral from the Early Years Panel of the Local Authority. Placement in the Pre-school years allows for an extended period of interdisciplinary assessment which enables the child to make a very positive start in a school appropriate to their needs at or around statutory school age. This may be at Bettridge, but is not necessarily so. Links with mainstream schools, playgroups and other specialist provision are maintained and developed as appropriate, to enrich opportunities and facilitate transitions where alternative placement is required.
Pupils of school age are admitted following statutory assessment by the Local Authority, with the school being named in their Statement of Special Educational Need. Pupils of Reception age and above attend full time.
The Staff
In addition to teaching staff and teaching assistants, the centre benefits from other professionals including School Nurse, Speech and Language Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Physiotherapists, Music Therapist, and Educational Psychologist.
We have a parent partnership worker, and parents are encouraged to participate in the life of the school, through workshops, support groups and the thriving Friends of Bettridge group.
Special Facilities
The department has two classrooms with an additional shared work area for small groups or individual withdrawal. Boys and girls toilets and hygiene rooms are adjoining, as is a small kitchen for food preparation. There is an enclosed outside work/play area that is partially a covered terrace so it may be used in all weathers.
The pupils also benefit from the physical and human resources of the main school e.g. swimming pool and instructor, softplay room, sensory rooms, large hall and PE apparatus and school kitchens. The school minibus is also available for regular trips to places of interest in the locality.
The Curriculum
The youngest children receive an individualised, needs led programme based on the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. This covers work in six areas: Communication, Language and Literacy, Problem Solving, Reasoning & Numeracy, Physical Development, Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Creative Development, and Knowledge and Understanding of the World. At Bettridge we are fortunate to have the use of the hydrotherapy pool as part of our physical programme.
The EYFS curriculum is designed to lead pupils into Key Stage 1 of the National Curriculum, and we have adapted these materials to meet the needs of our pupils. Pupils with complex needs can access the curriculum through the use of multi-sensory approaches. This enables pupils to use and integrate their senses to learn about themselves and the world about them. The balance between subject based sessions and therapeutic input may be different for each of these pupils and is planned according to individual need
Assessment
Individual Education Plans are written for all children and evaluated each term. In addition regular records are kept of sessions and pupils’ responses. These help to inform future plans and provide the basis of observational assessments. Teachers assess against the EYFS & Early Support materials, Bettridge Curriculum Outcomes and other schemes and checklists as appropriate (e.g. DLS). All assessments are discussed with parents in meetings and Annual Reviews. Daily contact is made through a diary system, which is particularly helpful when parents are not transporting their child.
Parent partnership is viewed as an integral part of the planning and assessment process, and permission is sought for school medicals and assessments carried out by the Educational Psychologist. Statutory assessment usually takes place during the child’s Reception year and the Statement of SEN is reviewed annually in the summer term.
