Prospectus 2020 – 2021

Prospectus 2020-21 Outstanding in ALL judgements! June 2019 The Linnet Independent Learning Centre Main Site 107 Mount Pleasant Road Castle Gresley Derbyshire DE11 9JE Telephone: 01283 213989 1 The Linnet Independent Learning The Linnet Independent Learning Centre Centre Treetops and Nest 107 Mount Pleasant Road 7-16 year olds Castle Gresley South Derbyshire DE11 9JE Telephone: (main site) 01283 213989 Executive Headteacher: Malcolm Kerridge Head of Education: Tom Smyth Head of Care and Welfare: David Butcher The Linnet is a member of the small group of schools owned by Lewis Charlton Ltd. Registration Number: 4728806 England. Registration Office: 1 Woodborough Road, Nottingham. NG1 3FG. The Chair of Directors for Lewis Charlton Ltd. is Zaheer Esat Address: Head Office, 7 Huntington Court, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire LE65 1AH Outstanding in all Judgements June 2019 5* Location: The Linnet Independent Learning Centre is located in the centre of Castle Gresley, a small village on the outskirts of Burton Upon Trent, just six miles from Ashby De La Zouch, where The Linnet has an annex ‘The Willows’. Both sites make good use of the local National Forest Centre at Conkers and strong partnership arrangements have also been developed between The Linnet, nearby Lewis Charlton School in Ashby, Lewis Lodge Post 16 Unit, Rolleston Forestry Centre and Twycross Zoo. Facilities in Ashby and nearby Swadlincote include Swadlincote library, Ashby museum, shops, “The Hood” leisure centre in Ashby and swimming baths in Swadlincote. There is a regular bus service that has stops within a few minutes walk of both sites. Arrangements are in place for pupils at The Linnet to take full advantage of local community services and to make a positive contribution through links with Swadlincote Centre for Voluntary Services, The Woodland Trust and Manor Farm ‘adopt an animal’ scheme, as well as regular contract with charities oversees through International “Help the Aged” and “Action Aid”. 2 Treetops The Nest Our Garden ‘The Willows’ based in Ashby-De-La-Zouch, is part of The Linnet Independent Learning Centre. The Willows site is designed to cater specifically for primary aged pupils with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. The Linnet Independent Learning Centre achieved Outstanding in Ofsted twice consecutively, and following its success, The Willows has now opened under the same registration. The Linnet ethos and principles run through the setting and The Willows will be governed by the Linnet Independent Learning Centre policies and procedures. With an exciting new environment, The Willows will continue The Linnet’s outstanding education. Our education package is uniquely designed to engage Primary aged students and educate students regardless of any barriers, which may affect their learning. Location: The Willows is in the centre of the historic Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Facilities in Ashby include: Ashby Library, Ashby Museum, local independent shops and Ashby Castle. The local area has beautiful rural sites for educational visits and trips, as well as being a tranquil environment for therapeutic education. Our Purpose The Linnet Independent Learning Centre aims to provide a unique blend of therapeutic education and care for pupils who have experienced difficulties within mainstream and possibly also within other special educational provision. At The Linnet the focus is on empowering pupils to realise their intellectual and social potential by presenting mainstream curriculum and community responsibilities in a manner that enables individuals to understand that their experiences are relevant, their feelings validated and their contributions important. The school motto “Well-being, Involvement, Support and Challenge” illustrates well the school’s emphasis upon development of the ‘whole person’ within a context that promotes learning independence. ‘We must take care to perceive the needs of each child as unique, and to acknowledge that they each have special learning needs at different stages in their development’ (Rouse and Griffin 1992.149) 3 This school promotes Fundamental British Values by teaching pupils about cultural, religious and personal: - Tolerance - Respect - Appreciation - Diversity All pupils bring into the school new ideas, experiences, achievements and perspectives. These will be celebrated and shared so that each pupil, regardless of difference, is able to develop a sense of belonging, a group identity and an understanding about collective responsibilities. The Linnet offers an interactive, child-centred curriculum. The Linnet Independent Learning Centre is a school for boys with learning and/or behaviour difficulties aged between six and sixteen years of age. The school is registered to provide for pupils from 3-16 years of age but currently does not have pupils on roll under 9 years of age. The curriculum is based upon the National Curriculum, but is adapted to meet the particular needs of young people who, in most cases, are operating well below age-related expectations. The Linnet School consists of three buildings, two sharing the same site in Castle Gresley and one in the centre of Ashby. On the school’s main site in Castle Gresley there is ‘Treetops’ and ‘The Nest’. Treetops is the larger building, offering education and care to eight of our younger and/or lesser able boys. The Nest is a smaller building offering education and care to 7 of our older and/or more able boys. The Willows, located in Ashby, offers pupils a similar experience with the building cut down the middle into 2 halves. One half for the younger/lesser able pupils and one half for the older/more able boys. Students can be timetabled to work in any of these three buildings for short periods of time or for a specific purpose, but will be based in the building that best meets their needs. Mostly, pupils at our school have a statement of special educational needs and we use this information when providing learning opportunities that offer appropriate levels of support and challenge. We present a learning experience that accommodates the needs of the ‘whole child’, has strong multi- agency and community links and responds with enthusiasm to the Government Strategy “Every Child Matters”. We believe that all young people learn best when they are actively involved and interested in the world around them and that young children learn best through quality and supported play. We intend to encourage all our pupils to develop as active, independent learners who want to investigate, explore and discover and who can become willing and able life-long learners. Aims: The Linnet Independent Learning Centre aims to: • Offer a personalised learning experience that reflects each pupil’s developing needs, abilities and interests. Enjoying and Achieving • Promote pupils as independent and successful learners. Enjoying and Achieving • Encourage pupils to be proactive learners who acquire a sense of satisfaction and enjoyment from their achievements. Enjoying and Achieving • Challenge pupils to be the best they can be, to make good progress in all aspects of their learning and development and to make a positive contribution to the learning communities of which they are a part. Positive Contribution • Provide an experiential learning environment that reflects the specific needs of each individual pupil, supporting their interests, promoting their engagement and raising their expectations. Enjoying and Achieving; Positive Contribution • Create a learning community in which pupils can learn comfortably alongside and with other children and adults in meaningful contexts and real-life situations. Enjoying and Achieving; Positive Contribution • Promote healthy living and healthy lifestyles. Being Healthy 4 • Provide a safe and secure environment in which all children feel able to take sensible risks to further their learning and development. Keeping Safe • Encourage pupils to take responsibility for their own health, safety and welfare within a secure and supportive environment that gives each pupil the opportunity to develop a sense of belonging and collective responsibilities. Being Healthy; Keeping Safe • Broaden pupils’ knowledge and understanding of their world, so that they can begin to aspire to roles and responsibilities that will secure their future personal, social and economic well-being. Economic Well-Being The Linnet aims to offer pupils a wide and varied curriculum that reflects their own particular needs and interests and builds upon the ways they like to learn best. The government promotion of Personal Learning and Thinking Skills (PLTS) is welcomed at the Linnet and mirrors well The Linnet’s emphasis upon the promotion of high levels of well-being and each young person’s active involvement in and responsibility for their own learning. Learning styles are monitored and learning skills are developed through the teaching and assessment of Higher Order Thinking Skills (Blooms). Through a selection of practical workshop areas and weekly educational off-site visits, pupils are encouraged to investigate, explore, experiment and research. “… the high quality, out-of-classroom learning also influenced how children behave and the lifestyle choices they make. It shows the potential for school trips not just to change individual lives, but the lives of whole communities.” Dr Alan Peacock, February 2006: “Changing Minds-The lasting Impact of School Trips” Timetables are flexible and introduce new experiences and new ways of learning as well as new information and skills.

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