Phoenix
We have scheduled the next Admissions Panels to take place in the new academic year as follows:
- Monday 14 October 2024 (Submission deadline: Monday 30 September 2024)
- Monday 9 December 2024 (Submission deadline: Monday 25 November 2024)
- Monday 3 February 2025 (Submission deadline: Monday 20 January 2025)
- Monday 24 March 2025 (Submission deadline: Monday 10 March 2025)
- Monday 19 May 2025 (Submission deadline: Monday 5 May 2025)
- Monday 7 July 2025 (Submission deadline: Monday 23 June 2025)
All panel meetings will begin at 3:30pm.
Please be aware that in exceptional circumstances additional emergency panels may be called outside of these dates.
Please ensure that you send any forms securely to: hollowst1@magnacartaacademy.org and pearcej@magnacartaacademy.org no later than a week before the scheduled meeting, if you would like your request to be considered at the next panel meetings.
Phoenix is an enhanced provision for primary aged children with social, emotional and mental health needs in Uttlesford. Phoenix is based at Magna Carta Primary Academy in Stansted Mountfitchet.
Definitions:
|
Home school |
The school requesting support for a pupil. |
|
SEMH needs |
Social, emotional and mental health needs. |
|
Parents |
Included parents and/or carers with parental responsibility |
Intended Outcomes
For the pupil:
· to understand the impact of their own behaviour on others;
· to have strategies to self-regulate their behaviour;
· to raise their self-esteem and self-confidence;
· to increase their ability to voice their feelings and emotions;
· to be emotionally ready to access learning which would in turn improve academic outcomes;
· to improve their attendance (where this has been an issue);
· to successfully reintegrate back to their home school.
For the school requesting support:
· to have strategies to implement positive change for the pupil; to have sustainable strategies for implementing positive change for other pupils at the school and therefore reduce the need for further referrals to Phoenix;
· to successfully reintegrate the pupil back to their school.
For Essex to reduce the exclusion rates.
Admissions Criteria
Phoenix can support up to 5 pupils.
In all instances:
· the school requesting support must demonstrate they have engaged with appropriate external agencies and given recommended strategies adequate time to have an impact;
· the school requesting support must demonstrate through One Planning and Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycles that they have exhausted strategies and resources at their disposal;
· the pupil has social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs which are not currently being met. SEMH is the primary need. If a child has additional needs or an assessment of other needs has begun or is recommended, a placement will not be offered until it is clear that SEMH is the primary need.
In some instances pupils may have an EHC plan where SEMH is identified as the main category of need and whose needs cannot be currently met in mainstream primary school.
Admissions Panel
The admissions panel considers requests for support. It is made up of representatives from Essex local authority as well as headteachers from schools in Uttlesford. The panel will meet once per half term to consider requests from home schools. Requests must be made in writing using the Request for Support form and be accompanied by supporting evidence, no later than two weeks before the panel meeting. Requests will be acknowledged and confirmation given of the date of the next panel meeting. Headteachers of schools requesting support are expected to attend the panel meeting and may attend with one other appropriate member of staff, e.g., the SENCO.
Expectations of Stakeholders
Once the admissions panel has accepted a request for support, Phoenix will gather information from the pupil, parents, the home school and any other agencies which are involved, in order to fully assess the pupil’s needs.
During the placement, Phoenix will:
· provide a Magna Carta uniform to the pupil;
· provide regular feedback to parents;
· provide regular feedback to the home school;
· offer sustainable strategies to the home school in order to aid a successful reintegration;
· focus primarily on the pupil’s SEMH needs;
· not undertake statutory assessment for any pupil.
Parents will:
· ensure their child attends daily and is on time for arrival and departure as agreed. The agreed timings may fall outside Phoenix’s opening hours which are 9:30am until 2:30pm;
· be supportive of the strategies Phoenix uses in meeting their child’s SEMH needs;
· put in place at home, recommendations given by Phoenix in meeting their child’s SEMH needs.
The home school will:
· ensure transport is arranged if needed;
· actively communicate with Phoenix during before, during and following the placement for an agreed period of time;
· be willing to adopt successful strategies and make changes to practice where such changes are reasonable;
· designate a member of staff to support with reintegration back into the home school;
· be responsible for undertaking statutory assessments where applicable;
· be responsible for attending meetings and completing reports for pupils who are on a Child Protection or Child in Need plan;
Safeguarding:
The home school will be responsible for any safeguarding issues which arise
when the pupil is at Phoenix. In such situations, Phoenix will contact the home
school’s designated safeguarding lead to pass on concerns. This will always be
done as a matter of urgency.
Service Delivery
Phoenix will:
· increase the pupil’s emotional literacy, allowing them to be more self-aware and providing them with strategies and techniques to self-regulate;
· offer short-term bespoke placements (usually up to two terms but sometimes longer) for pupils with SEMH needs from Uttlesford primary schools and to reintegrate them back into the home school, providing ongoing support where necessary;
· provide a fully inclusive model which enables the pupil to be educated alongside the main body of the school (when they are ready and as part of the transition process), as well as benefit from more specialist provision;
· work with other primary schools in Uttlesford to build capacity of their staff for support and inclusion of pupils with SEMH needs through the delivery of training and focused outreach models;
· support and contribute to the development of an evidence and research-based source of expertise in relation to behaviour and emotional difficulties in terms of effective teaching approaches and management;
· work collaboratively with a range of local voluntary and statutory agencies, to deliver effective support strategies for families of pupils with SEMH needs;
· ensure that all volunteers and staff are appropriately recruited and checked in accordance with Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 and the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006.
Funding
Essex local authority pay Magna Carta Primary Academy the cost of staffing the provision. If parents are unable to arrange for their child to travel to and from Phoenix, the home school takes responsibility for travel costs.
If a pupil has an EHC plan with funding, the home school is not invoiced for a proportion of this; instead, it is expected that a member of staff from the home school will be available to attend sessions at Phoenix as and when appropriate during the pupil’s placement.
Home schools are not charged when their pupils are placed at Phoenix, with the following exceptions:
· a proportion of the funding for free school meals including universal infant free school meals (where applicable);
· a proportion of the pupil premium (where applicable).
Requests for Support
Requests for support are from Uttlesford mainstream primary schools. Phoenix is based at Magna Carta Primary Academy. Requests for support can only be made for pupils in years R- 6.