Side By Side School

[EduCativ]

Side by Side Special School is a community school offering a unique environment for all its children. It is located in the London Borough of Hackney primarily attracting local Hackney and Haringey families, although we welcome everyone irrespective of their location. The school is registered under the Department for Education to offer education to children from the age of 2 till 19. The school actively encourages parents and the community to be fully involved in the school.
We value parents' input into their child’s education and encourage them to fully participate in our setting. Parents will be valued and respected, kept informed, consulted, involved, and included in the setting. Side by Side aims to provide an outstanding Torah and secular education for all children. The school works closely with the parents to support the children with special educational needs in enabling them to become independent and valued members of our community. All eligible 2-year-olds can access up to 15 hours of free early education up to 570 hours a year. These 15 hours can be taken as flexibly as your childcare provider can offer. Children become eligible for the term after their second birthday. 3-5-year-old free entitlement spaces available (from the term after a child reaches 3, each child is entitled to a set amount of free childcare until the term after their 5th Birthday). For all eligible 3 and 4-year-olds, we can also access an additional 15 hours of free childcare.
Side by Side has robust Health Care policies in place and structures to support all the pupils and their specific needs. We have links with the local NHS healthcare professionals who advise and provide training to staff as required. Parents need to inform the school manager of any changes in their child’s medical and health needs to ensure our records remain up to date.
Fire Safety is taken seriously in the school and we have an up-to-date Fire Risk Assessment in place for the school and ensure that each term there are up to 2 fire drills for staff and pupils to be able to familiarise themselves with our fire procedures.
The children are entered on National Programmes that match their cognitive levels and interests at Key Stage 4 and 5. We are proud of the achievements of our pupils in several ASDAN qualifications. These include the Transition Challenge Programme, Youth Awards, and Employability. Our students have worked within the Bronze Level Award in the Youth Awards and Entry 2 for Employability. They further their opportunities by advancing their qualifications & move on to Functional skills where they master numeracy and literacy skills to help them prepare for adulthood. Also, all our pupils across all the key stages have consistently achieved well in all subject areas specifically concerning Numeracy & Literacy skills, when compared with other children who have similar needs using the CASPA’s analysis of Special Pupil attainment measure.
Integrated provision for all children (2 – 5 years old) whether mainstream or special needs. The nursery encourages the children to learn and play side by side in a highly staffed environment ensuring all the children’s needs are met. Our team of therapists is also available to support those children who require additional input.
The school offers specialist educational and therapeutic intervention for children 5 -19 years of age. All the children have Education, Health & Care Plans (EHCP) with the programs designed to meet the specific needs of each child within the context of small class groupings.
Our policy is to integrate all new children into the classroom as quickly as possible, even where the home language is not English. Our staff support all children and ensure they are fully included in all activities and understand what is required of them. We have bilingual teaching assistants who can also support the children. Where it is found that a child is finding learning English difficult we will put in a range of interventions to support them.
Our Therapy team comprises Speech & Language, Occupational, Music, and Physiotherapists. All our therapists are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council and have many years of experience. Therapists support the children on a 1:1 basis, with a small group and classroom-based intervention. Therapy goals are consolidated throughout the week by our teaching assistants. Also, where appropriate, the teachers incorporate these goals into their classroom sessions.
We aim to support our children to be able to integrate and spend time in one of the local mainstream schools. This enables them to have the opportunity to learn and play with children of similar age. This helps them develop important social skills, raises their self-esteem, and makes them feel a part of the wider community. Through individualized education and therapeutic programs, some of our children can progress and transfer their placement to a mainstream setting. Side By Side staff will assist and support them through this transition.
Side By Side provides an after-school club for secondary-aged young people. Activities are varied and include sports, IT as well as life and work skills. Throughout the school year, we organize a range of additional activities aimed at expanding experiences and opportunities for all the children.

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