Speaker - David Prosho, Head of School at Beechcliffe Academy

David started off his talk by saying that the school’s mission statement is “Transforming Lives”. He said that our contribution to their activities helps to make a difference. With the money that we donated they were able to:

• Take some of the pupils for a restaurant meal as they would never have been in a restaurant previously.
• Other pupils went on a trip to the cinema.
• Another class went on a trip to Lightwater Valley to ride the roller coaster.

He went on to explain that his school dealt with pupils who had severe Social, Emotional or Mental Health (SEMH) issues. There is another school in Keighley with the same name that deals with children that have severe physical difficulties. Both schools take children from across the entire Bradford Metropolitan area.

He gave some context to the Bradford area

• The population of 563,000 is the fifth largest metropolitan area in the UK.
• 22.3% are under 15.
• 28.6% of 16 to 19 year old teenagers have no job.
• It is the 13th most deprived area in England.
• There is a 10-year life expectancy gap between the poorest area and the richest areas of the metropolitan area.

The school takes children in the age range 11 to 19. It was originally built for 40 pupils with anticipated class sizes of 8 to 10 pupils. It now has 80 on the roll and 93% of them are on free school meals. All the pupils either have a SEMH or a SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) statement. Of the pupils 7 are in care or fostering and the vast majority suffer from severe trauma. When these children have been in mainstream education they have been disruptive and inattentive.

In dealing with them it is important to understand their individual needs. The school follows nurture principles and views any behaviour as a communication. Generally, pupils are frightened to admit their behaviour and put up what David called a shield of shame. In order to deal with this the teachers adopt a Trauma Informed practice known as PACE. This stands for Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity and Empathy. The main approach is:

• To build a curriculum so they can succeed.
• Teach them Respect Resilience and Responsibility.
• Build experience that they can learn from and build social capital.
• Help their personal development.
• Teach them self-awareness.
• Get them to be able to manage themselves and have social awareness.
• Build their relationship skills.
• Teach them responsible decision making.
• Make sure they have outdoor activities.
• Work on community projects such as recycling old furniture.

David was asked if there was any follow-up when they leave the school. He said yes they track them through college. A few years ago, 55% were failing and becoming NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training). So, the school now has a 6th form which gets then into job experience such as one pupil who works one day per week in a BMW garage.

He was also asked how they were funded by the government. He said that funding was greater than normal schools but increasingly they are having to find external funding. As an example, he quoted the latest increase in National Insurance which increased staff wages but didn’t produce any additional government funding.

He was asked how they allocated places. He said that it was very difficult for example this year there were 85 applicants for very few available places. He obviously had to reject most of the applicants but sometimes the council forced him to take a child. In order to try to overcome some of this pressure they are looking to open another school with 80 places. The Government rules say they should have maximum of 8 in a classroom for this type of student, but the school currently has 10 or even 12. Although the pupils are ages 11 to 19 the classes are set by type not necessarily by age so they can have up to 3 different ages in a class.

The school is comprised of 85% white British compared to less than 70% in the general population of Bradford. Pupils are also predominantly boys although girls are now being seen in increasing numbers.

For more information about the school please see their website - https://beechcliffeschoolthackley.org/