At Park House, inclusion encompasses SEND, mental health support, EAL and Pupil Premium. 

The Education Endowment Foundation defines an inclusive school as follows:

‘An inclusive school removes barriers to learning and participation, provides an education that is appropriate to pupils’ needs, and promotes high standards and the fulfilment of potential for all pupils by:

• promoting positive relationships, active engagement, and wellbeing for all pupils;
• ensuring all pupils can access the best possible teaching; and
• adopting a positive and proactive approach to behaviour'

At Park House, inclusion is at the core of everything we do. We are committed to providing an aspirational, supportive and truly inclusive community. 

Inclusion is about more than integration, extending beyond the classroom, to our House competitions and student voice opportunities, to participation in sports, performing arts, and residential visits. We want all students to participate in every aspect of life at Park House and to embrace our school values; work hard, be kind, take responsibility.

Students with additional needs (Special Educational Needs & Disabilities)

We aim to meet the needs of all students by creating a positive and supportive environment for all pupils.  
We know that what benefits students with additional needs, benefits all students. Our calm environment and disruption-free, high quality teaching are the best foundations for inclusive learning within a mainstream setting. We follow the EEF ‘Five-a-Day’ approaches for teaching students with SEND as illustrated below. We have a collaborative approach to our SEND provision, working with students and their families, collaborating with specialists and professionals, and continually developing the expertise and understanding of our teachers and support staff.

Some students require support additional to, or different from that which is ordinarily available to all students. This support may be for a set period of time, or could be needed over a longer term. Where a student is identified as needing this support, they will be placed on the SEN register and their support will be overseen by the SENDCo.

We follow a graduated approach and the assess, plan, do, review model. If concerns are raised by parents, teachers or the young person themself, we assess their needs, plan appropriate support and review progress regularly. 

Not all students with a diagnosis require additional support that requires them to be placed on the SEN register. They may need teachers to be aware of certain needs, such as sitting in a certain area of the classroom, or to have access to movement breaks. This is communicated through our ‘passports’. We also offer a safe space before school, at break and lunchtimes for students who need time to regulate, relax or for those who need support in managing social times. Our fantastic teaching assistants run a homework club everyday after school for anyone who wants to attend.
Some of our students need additional support in the form of interventions, or referrals to professionals. We offer a range of support and interventions including: literacy programmes, ELKLAN (speech, language & communication), Zones of Regulation (emotional literacy and regulation strategies), Lego therapy and social skills interventions, as well as access to technology. We are proud to work with BRIYM (Building Resilience in Young Minds) who offer a mentoring programme. Where appropriate, we refer students to the West Berkshire Autism team, sensory team and SEMH team, as well as occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and our Educational Psychologist. This ensures that we get the best advice and support.

You can contact the SEND team by emailing: SEND@parkhouseschool.org

You can explore the West Berks SEND Local Offer here.

For more detailed information about how we support students with SEND, including links to local and national support organisations, information about referrals to CAMHS for ASD/ADHD assessments and also the EHCP process, please click here: SEND - additional information.

EAL - English as an additional language

Park House celebrates diversity and multiculturalism. We are proud to welcome students who between them speak more than 20 different languages. For every stage of learning English, we offer the right level of support, from group lessons to access to our online EAL platform - Flash Academy and use of technology in school. We follow the recommendations of the Bell Foundation. Their guide for parents of young people with EAL can be found here.

Social Emotional & Mental Health

SEMH can be included as part of the SEND provision in school, for example ADHD is under the SEND category of SEMH. 
Some students have SEMH needs that relate to their behaviour both in and outside of school. They do not require a full SEND response, but do need the right support, at the right time. We have a range of support in school, and also refer to external support teams such as Berkshire Youth, or the West Berks SEMH team.

Mental Health and Wellbeing

We have a whole-school graduated approach to mental health support. All students learn about mental health and wellbeing as part of the PSHE curriculum and through assemblies - they are signposted as to where to get further help as part of this. We want all of our students to understand that we all have mental health and can experience struggles and levels of worry at different times in our life. For example, it is normal to feel anxious when you have an assessment or an exam. We can all learn techniques and strategies to manage our own mental health and to support each other.

We are proud to run the MHST-supported Peer Mentoring programme, which sees our sixth form students trained as mentors for our younger students who may be struggling at school. 
We are incredibly proud that this year for the first time, every tutor group has a mental health and wellbeing champion - we are placing student voice at the heart of our mental health provision.

Any concerns about students are flagged at our weekly Student Referral Panel (SRP), where we bring together colleagues from the pastoral, safeguarding, attendance and SEND teams. We have Time 2 Talk counsellors in school, and also work with other organisations such as Berkshire Youth, the School Nursing team, BRIYM (Building Resilience in Young Minds) and the University of Reading Social Anxiety clinic. For more complex mental health concerns we refer to MHST and to CAMHS where appropriate.

For more detailed information about how we support students with mental health, please click here.

Pupil Premium 

All schools receive additional funding to improve educational outcomes for children and young people, of all abilities who are economically disadvantaged, are in care or have been in care. There is also funding for children of service families. We use this funding to promote inclusion and to remove the barriers faced by disadvantaged students. This can include funding for projects and provision across the school, or support with costs related to school activities and curriculum-related visits. If you have any queries about pupil premium, please email inclusion@parkhouseschool.org