At Catcote Academy we know that our students progress and wellbeing go hand in hand. We want our learners to be healthy, happy and confident learners who are ready and open to learning. We want to make sure we are supporting everyone in the best possible way so we have a range of help available.
Our Wellbeing team consists of:
Being the SENCo in a special school means that I am involved in supporting every student in one way or another. I am responsible for all the Annual Reviews which look at Educational, Health and Care Plans and make sure that we are working together to support students to achieve.
I also coordinate the support that the Academy gets from external professionals, such as the Educational Psychologists, Occupational Therapist and Speech and Language, Therapy Service, linking between them and the team of teachers and support staff.
I can provide support, advice and information for parents who want to know more about:
You can contact me on the main academy number or via email: emma.straker@catcote.co.uk
As the lead for Social, Emotional, Mental Health and Wellbeing and designated senior mental health lead, my role involves a number of responsibilities to support students to break down the barriers to their learning and to become ‘Ready To Learn’. I am also a trained counsellor and as such I am able to offer school counselling to students who have been identified of potentially benefiting from targeted support which will enable them to build self-awareness, to enhance their resilience and give them personal resources to manage future challenges. In addition to these roles I am also the family liaison officer which involves working directly with parents/carers and other agencies to ensure the best possible outcomes for all students. Part of this means providing access to information and support for families. At Catcote Academy we appreciate that it can be difficult to talk about some issues and concerns. Whether your child is affected at school or home, my role provides a bridging point to support you.
You can contact me on the main academy number or via email: lynn.younger@catcote.co.uk
As the Health Provision Co-Ordinator, my role is to provide both routine and emergency healthcare to our students, directed from the healthcare/action plans within the Academy. As part of my role I liaise with home, school and other professionals regarding the healthcare needs of the students. I also attend multi-agency meetings as required to maintain effective communication with colleagues, student’s relatives and other health professionals. This all helps to promote students’ health and well-being.
You can contact me on the main academy number or via email: chelsea.jeffery@catcote.co.uk
The safety of our students is our highest priority. It is only when a child feels safe and secure that they can learn and thereby develop to their greatest potential.
We endeavour to place the student’s welfare at the heart of all we do and this is reflected in our policies.
Students are educated about safe practices in PSHE and ICT lessons.
You can contact me on the main academy number or via email: anne.johnson@catcote.co.uk
You can contact me on the main academy number of via email: amanda.wilks@catcote.co.uk
The academy currently pays for an OT to come into school 1 day a week.
Occupational therapy (OT) helps children to participate in daily activities. These activities may be personal care tasks (such as dressing, toileting or feeding), work and play tasks (such as activities carried out at pre-school, school or college) and/or leisure activities. These are ‘occupational performance’ tasks.
As the OT for the school I work with the students, parents and teachers to find solutions to minimise the difficulties learners face, helping them get the most from life.
LD CAMHS
Children, young people and their families can be offered support by CAMHS if they are experiencing difficulties with their behaviour or emotions, or are finding it hard to cope with life in the family, at school or in the wider world.
Hartlepool’s CAMHS team is based at Dover House and provides a range of support following referral. We will always ask for your permission to make a referral to this service.
Educational Psychologist
Educational Psychologists work with children and young people aged up to 19 years and with their teachers, parents (and other carers) and other professionals involved e.g. doctors, social workers. Educational Psychologists work to find solutions to difficulties children and young people may be experiencing. This might be difficulties with learning, social and emotional development or behaviour, to name a few! Sometimes they work directly with children and young people, and sometimes they work only with the adults in the children’s lives.
We currently have 13 staff across the Trust who are trained in the Thrive Approach. This approach draws on insights from neuroscience, attachment theory and child development. It provides a powerful way of working with children and young people that supports optimal social and emotional development. The Thrive approach is embedded across the Trust being used by all staff and where appropriate individual learners have 1:1 sessions with licensed Thrive practitioners.
The Zones of Regulation, along with The THRIVE Approach, is embedded into our whole trust ethos and it has informed our values, behaviour management, policies and our curricula.
The Zones of Regulation teaches pupils how to identify, describe and express their feelings in a healthy way, promoting the understanding that all feelings are valid and normal and how to manage the feeling that we experience. This includes exploring tools and strategies for mindfulness, sensory integration, movement, thinking strategies, wellness, and healthy connection with others.
All staff receive training in the Zones of Regulation, which provides a common language and compassionate framework to support positive mental health and skill development for all kinds of learners, particularly for neurodiverse learners.
The Zones of Regulation creates a systematic approach to teach regulation by categorising all the different ways we feel and states of alertness we experience into four concrete, coloured zones. Using cognitive behaviour therapy techniques, students build skills in emotional and sensory regulation, executive functioning, and social cognition.
LEGO-Based Therapy is a social development program that uses LEGO activities to support the development of a wide range of social skills within a group setting.
Playing with LEGO in a therapy setting promotes social interaction, turn-taking skills, sharing, collaborative problem-solving and the learning of concepts. It can be used to target goals around social skills, language and motor skills. By using a commonly adored tool like LEGO it capitalises on its existing motivation and supports self-esteem by allowing the participants to demonstrate their skills in a social situation. It also sets up a positive opportunity for guided social problem-solving to help develop social skills that can then be used in other situations.
Drawing and Talking is a person-centred therapy focusing on prevention, early intervention and recovery. Drawing and Talking technique is a safe intervention for pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health difficulties. Drawing enables a child to express, in a visual form, worries and preoccupations from deep in the mind that they otherwise may not be able to talk about. Their drawings enable symbolic and safe expression of worries that they may be unaware of on a conscious level. The Drawing and Talking process, therefore, gives the pupil a feeling of control in a confidential and safe environment whereby they are able to come to a symbolic resolution to their worries.
Sensory Needs Practitioners provide an intervention to help pupils with sensory processing difficulties. Sensory processing can be very challenging for some people, especially in the school environment due to the overwhelming sensory experiences for children. Practitioners assess Sensory Processing Difficulties and Sensory Integration and how sensory seeking and sensory avoiding behaviour presents itself and the complex relationship they can have. Practitioners then create a Sensory Diet, that meets the sensory needs of the pupil, helping adults around them to understand their needs and to help them engage in more learning.
The SCERTS model is a research based educational approach and multi-disciplinary framework that directly addresses the core challenges faced by children and persons with ASD and related disabilities and their families. SCERTS focuses on building competence in Social Communication, Emotional Regulation and Transactional support. We currently have 4 members of staff trained in the assessment of SCERTS.