Nexus Local Offer

Nexus recognises that all children/ young people and adults have unique abilities and ways of learning. We totally support the need for a broad and balanced curriculum however it must be wholly appropriate to the needs of the child / young person.

PLP’s are in place for every pupil and clearly describe individual curriculum needs. These are reviewed at least three times a year in line with pupil progress tracking and review of interventions. Each child’s PLP will contain a range of Quality First Strategies in place for all pupils within a specific class and other interventions specific to that individual.
 

Quality First Strategies;

• Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication and Handicapped Children (TEACCh)
• Visual Supports
• Intensive Interaction
• Total Communication Approach: Speech, Makaton, Touch cues, Picture Exchange Communication system (PECs), Objects of reference, Photographs of reference, Songs of reference, Sensory cues and Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC)
• Wide use of symbols including Communicate in Print.
• Therapists on site: Physiotherapist, Occupational therapist, Music therapist, Counsellor and Speech and language therapist.
• Independent travel training.
• State of the art facilities including access to an independent living house.
• Links to post 19 providers and Further Education (FE) colleges: Hadlow and West Kent College.
• Nursing staff on site

• Hydrotherapy
• Rebound therapy
• Occupational therapy
• Sensory Integration
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Physiotherapy
• Music therapy
• Access to counselling
• Access to Educational / Clinical Psychologists
• Access to Children and Adolescents Mental health services (CAMHS)
• Sensory Circuits
• Movement Opportunities via Education (MOVE)
• Lego therapy
• Horse riding

• Nursing team on site: 1 Full time and 2 part time nurses.
• Personal Care plans
• Visiting Community Paediatrician
• Orthotics Clinic
• Feeding Clinic
• Epilepsy trained staff
• First Aid trained staff
• Paediatric first aid staff
• Staff trained in Gastrostomy feeds and administration of flushes.
• Peripatetic advisory Teachers: Visually Impaired (VI), Hearing Impaired (HI)

• Proact Strategies for Crisis Intervention and Prevention (SCIP) All staff trained in SCIP, de-escalation and positive handling
• Withdrawal rooms and individual work bases
• Positive Behaviour plans
• Staff are trained in the use of Frequency charts, Antecedent Behaviour and Consequence (ABC) charts and analysis of data
• Reward and recognition systems
• Use of Social Stories
• Intensive Interaction

• Sports coaching
• Counsellors:  
• Music therapist
• Horse riding
• Drama Workshops
• Educational Psychologists
• Dance Tutors
• Wheelchair clinic

Pupil progress is continuously evaluated by Class teachers and formally within terms 2, 4 and 6.

• P Levels / End of Year Expectations are standardised measures of attainment which are used throughout the school. However this method uses a linear developmental progression and does not always accurately reflect the real progress and development which we know that our pupils are making. Therefore we use a wide range of alternative assessment scales to measure pupil progress.
• For further information regarding assessment at Nexus please refer to the Kent Association of Special Schools (KASS) statement of Assessment for Children / Young People of all abilities.
• The reliability of Teacher assessment is achieved through rigorous internal and external moderation.
• To further strengthen the process of teacher assessment Nexus has our own internal Moderation Panel who meet on a termly basis.
• The Personalised Interventions Manager (PIM) will work with pupils who have halted progress or are making less than expected rates of progress. They will meet with the Class teacher and Parents to agree/ identify further strategies/ interventions to address this.  Please refer to the website for more information regarding the role of the PIM.

• Website
• Newsletters
• Parentmail
• Facebook Page
• Home/School Diaries
• Parent Consultation Evenings
• Open Evening
• Parent Governors
• Parent Group
• Parent workshops
• Annual review process

There are three Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL’s) within the school. They are:

• Scott Jarred – Headteacher and Lead Designated Safeguarding Lead
• Michelle Patterson – Deputy Headteacher and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
• Sam Kelleher – Deputy Headteacher and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

All staff receive ongoing safeguarding/child protection training and are fully conversant with Nexus systems of reporting any concerns. The Senior Management Team (SMT) co-ordinate a termly Safeguarding Multi agency meetings with representatives from Social Services and Health in attendance

The Quality of Teaching and Learning is formally monitored 3 times per school year.

Our internal Teaching and Learning ‘Toolkit’ enables tracking of individual progress and facilitates continuous professional development.

One of the key roles of the Teaching and Learning Leaders (TLL) is to develop and monitor the teaching and learning in its entirety to ensure that pupils receive a high quality provision.

The centre provides information, training and support to pre- schools, schools and parents in the Tonbridge and Malling district. The Specialist Teaching Service and TRS centre have combined their resources to create a highly specialised needs specific facility using in-house and mainstream expertise in all areas of Special Educational Needs (SEN).
 

Services available include:

• Training
• Resource library.

For further details please refer to the website.