Health and Social Services

Special school

Focusing on the core difficulties at the heart of autism, working on these difficulties rather than just compensating for them.

1 Friezland Lane, Greenfield, Oldham, OL3 7EU

Contact phone

01457 878738

Contact email

office@brightfuturesschool.co.uk

Website

http://www.brightfuturesschool.co.uk/

Ofsted URN: 105748

Ofsted rating

Good

Ofsted report

https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/27/105748

Age

From 5 to 16 years old

Opening times

Monday to Thursday 9.15am - 3pm, Friday 10.10am - 3pm (Term time)

Description

Bright Futures School is registered with the Department for Education as a school providing for pupils aged 5 to 16 years.

School pupils will have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and a diagnosis of autism, social communication disorder or related developmental difficulty. They may well have good language skills but will have experienced difficulties in coping with the demands of other education settings. Parents will be seeking a school that provides a quiet environment, lots of personal 1:1 support and a different approach to learning.

School Policies

How do you identify special educational needs and disabilities?

We cater for children with a diagnosis of autism between the ages of 5-16 years.

How do you support a child with extra needs?

Each student’s educational programme is planned and overseen by the Head of Learning working closely with the full staff team to monitor and review progress on a termly basis. Bright Futures School used a programme called iASEND to monitor the progress of each student against specific targets in all the national curriculum subjects. Older students have gained and continue to work towards further ASDAN qualifications. ASDAN provides a range of courses covering preparation for life and work, enrichment subjects, PSHE and Citizenship. Every ASDAN course is designed to develop learners’ personal and employability skills through an engaging and challenging curriculum of activities, leading to a certificate of accreditation or achievement. They range in duration from 10 hours to 150 hours. Bright Futures School has teaching staff, each with a different area of specialism. Full details can be found on our website. Bright Futures School is a special independent school and so does not operate with Governors or Trustees. The proprietor is Zoe Thompson. There is a very proactive PTA called Friends of Bright Futures School.

How do ensure a child’s education meets their needs?

As part of the transition planning to transfer a student to BFS, the Head of Development works with parents to look at their child’s strengths and difficulties, likes and dislikes, and to develop a student profile. Students can also be involved in this process either directly or via their parent gathering this information for us. Parents know their child best and so their information is what drives the profile. The Heads of Learning and Development will also review documentation from previous school placement/s to help make the decision about how much and what type of support a new student will need. Baseline assessments will be done in each of the curriculum areas as well as in the area of social communication. All this information will then be composited to inform the development of an initial learning plan and an individualised timetable will be produced. Implementation of the timetable is kept under close review in the initial weeks to make sure it is working for the student. Wherever possible, we try to use the student’s areas of interest as a ‘hook’ to hang learning.

How will we know my child is progressing?

We baseline students’ current levels of learning via iASEND, which monitors progress against national curriculum indicators in all subjects. Our ASDAN programme also monitors progress and students know they have achieved when they are awarded a certificate for the appropriate level. Our social communication programme has its own online monitoring system where we can. Parents are kept up to date on a daily basis about their child’s progress and wellbeing by means of their communication book. Managerial staff are always available at the beginning and end of the school day to speak to any parent who has a pressing issue or who wants some guidance or support. Most of our families take advantage of this on a regular basis and find it very helpful and supportive.

How will you support my child’s overall wellbeing?

Our staff team provides extensive support to each student and their family to ensure that student wellbeing is supported. This includes: a) Monitoring students’ moods and levels of happiness on a daily basis by reading their communication book and on weekly basis by having a standing item on the weekly staff meeting agenda and taking action following extensive discussion amongst the staff team where appropriate. b) Excellent communication and ‘handover’ between staff if a student is showing any signs of dysregulation. c) Troubleshooting specific problems or anxieties with individual students during social communication ‘guiding’ sessions via mind mapping and role play (this enables the student to generate, ‘own’ and implement their own solutions to problems). d) Providing regular opportunities for our students to give feedback on their timetables and schemes of study, and negotiating mutually agreed solutions where a student expresses dissatisfaction. e) Consulting quickly with parents if a student is showing signs of any kind of dysregulation that doesn’t have its origins in the school setting. f) Implementing an ‘emotional thermometer’ chart for any student who struggles to keep their mood and motivation on an even keel. Where necessary, this chart can be used every session and during all breaks so that mood fluctuations can be monitored and/or triggers identified and addressed. g) Our Head of Development works with each family to ensure that individual students are getting what they are entitled to via health and social care services. We invariably find that families are missing out on services and with her knowledge of the legal framework relating to disabled children’s services, our Head of Development is well placed to ensure each student has access to appropriate funding from health and social care to fund access to leisure activities and wellbeing services outside school. h) We have a good relationship with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and have worked closely with both CAMHS and other support services (GPs, social workers, family support services) to ensure that our students’ wellbeing is maximised and any fluctuations are addressed as soon as possible. i) Administration of medicines follows our Ofsted approved school policy. j) We have an extensive behaviour management and support structure, which is underpinned by a culture that states ‘there must not be a social communication accident’. We have found that most challenging behaviour is a result either of the anxiety that is an integral part of autism or of breakdowns in communication. For these reasons, we work hard to ensure that levels of anxiety are monitored constantly so that remedial action can be taken to support a student as soon as possible. We also carefully manage our students’ interpersonal relationships to avoid misunderstandings. As a consequence, our school environment is harmonious, warm and friendly. k) We use exclusions sparingly and usually as a time for a student to ‘stop and think’ about their behaviour rather than as a punishment. As a result, students return to school acknowledging their mistake/s and ready to start afresh. Occasionally this will require facilitation from staff. l) Our students have an excellent attendance record. In the past we have had some difficulties with the attendance of one student, but we worked hard both with him and with his family to look at and remove the obstacles to full attendance.

What specialist services and expertise are available?

We work closely with an Autism Practitioner who is qualified in Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) and Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy (PACT). Our RDI network gives us access to practitioners with many areas of expertise, including top Clinical Psychologists. We have successfully used guidance from international practitioners in the past when guidance locally and nationally has not been available for a specific issue. We are able to commission other expertise as appropriate and have excellent working relationships with Speech and Language Therapists and Educational Psychologists.

How are staff trained on extra needs?

Each new member of staff undertakes an autism training course that is supervised by our Head of Development. This course looks at typical early years child development, how autistic development differs, how this impacts the child and their family, and how using the relationship between a child and their parent can help to give children with autism another chance to master developmental milestones that they have missed when their autism got in the way.

What activities are there outside the classroom?

Each of our older pupils takes part in individualised work placements in an area of interest. School trips are organised around common interests, so that our students can access together an activity that they all enjoy. In the past, these have included Laser-Ace, Dodgems, animal farm parks. We do also have students who feel unable to join in with group activities. Individualised activities of the student’s choice are planned for these students with a specific member of staff.

How will you support my child's needs?

The school is single storey and wheelchair accessible.

How do you support children when they start and leave?

We work with each student individually to help them identify employment that they might enjoy and to choose goals that they can work towards to help them access that employment. We also consult with parents and with the local authority Transitions Officer to look at what opportunities are available to our students.

What is available to help my child with their education?

The school does not have a special educational needs budget. All our costs (building rent, amenities, salaries etc) are met from the funding that comes in with each child's statement/EHCP. The school proprietors decide how to allocate the budget.

What support can I expect for my child?

Please see above under "How will the curriculum be matched to my child’s/young person's needs?"

How will I be involved in my child's education?

The proprietor of BFS is a parent of a child with autism herself. She knows exactly what battles and difficulties other parents have been through in trying to secure the right education and other services for their child and this is what drives the school’s philosophy of putting the child and family at the centre of everything. Parents are involved in the school through regular planning meetings and annual reviews. The Heads of Learning and Development have an open door policy on communication and welcome email or telephone calls from parents where there is something important to discuss. Some parents take full advantage of this, others only contact school in an emergency. Parents are also kept up to date on their child’s daily progress by means of the communication book. The school has an active PTA – Friends of Bright Futures School (FBFS), which is a charity and includes parents amongst its Trustees.

Updated: 05/09/2024

Oberlin Street, OL4 3HS