Creating family links between home and school

Information about the school

Ysgol Maes Hyfryd is a special school situated in Flint and maintained by Flintshire local authority.  It serves all of Flintshire and also provides for several out of county placements.  The school is co-located with Flint High School and shares a few of its facilities.

The school provides education for pupils aged 11 to 19 years who have a statement of special educational needs.  These needs include support for autistic spectrum disorders, speech, language and communication, and moderate, severe and profound learning difficulties.  There are currently 110 pupils on roll, of whom 44% are eligible for free school meals.  Nearly all pupils are from homes where English is the main spoken language.

The school is an inclusive community that focuses on the wellbeing and progress of every child and where all members of the community are valued equally.  Maes Hyfyrd promotes respect for difference and diversity through the school’s vision, ethos and values, which underpin all that the school does on a day-to-day basis.  The school aims to ensure that every pupil reaches their full potential in the four aspects of its vision: wellbeing, attitude, knowledge and skills.

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

The school’s staff and governors are committed to providing an education of the highest possible quality whilst meeting the varied individual needs of pupils so that they build on the skills needed for their future place in society.  In order to provide our pupils with these opportunities,the school invests a great deal of time and commitment into work with parents, carers and families and the community to support pupils’ wellbeing and independence directly.  The school places a priority on the independence of pupils in their curriculum and sees the work with the community as an imperative part of this.

The Vision:

The vision of providing valuable work related experiences became a key priority for Maes Hyfryd to expand pupils’ opportunities and plan for their futures.  As a result, a work experience co-ordinator was appointed to provide many pupils with successful and meaningful work placements.  The extensive wider community support in providing work-related learning experiences has been key to this success.

Following the success of the work placements, we identified a priority need for a ‘Travel Trainer’ role to build on the independence skills the work experience aspect of the curriculum provided our pupils.  This role provided for a dedicated member of staff to support pupils in developing their ability to access independent travel plans to increase their potential of playing a full role in their community.  This fuller role includes pupils accessing recreational facilities such as the local cinema, shops and retail park as well as much needed access to future college and work experience placements.  The success of this role has been evident across many aspects of the school, particularly in the 14-19 programme where majority of pupils access this support.  Many pupils now travel independently to and from their work placement, their college provider and local amenities, which they did not do prior to the ‘Travel Trainer’ role starting. 

The school also identified the need to introduce a family engagement worker to further develop the work with parents, families and a range of multi-agency providers.  This role provides external agencies and families with an impartial member of staff who can provide information, support and training and be a key link between school, agencies and families.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

As a result of Maes Hyfryd’s passion continually to improve learning opportunities and the wellbeing of pupils, the school has been innovative in its approach to the curriculum and the decision to create non-class based roles to support the growth of community and independence work and links with families. 

Initially, a work experience co-ordinator was employed to plan and organise suitable work experience placements to meet the aspirations of the pupils, and staff support networks were put in place as required to ensure positive experiences for the pupils.  A few years ago, the school introduced the role of a ‘Family Engagement Worker’ (FEW) with the purpose of liaising with both families and multi-agencies as the key point of contact.  A travel trainer co-ordinator was also employed to enable pupils to develop much needed road safety and travel skills to access community facilities independently and safely.  The travel trainer works closely with the work experience co-ordinator, enabling placements and independent travel to take place to and from work to enhance pupils’ independence, confidence and self-esteem. 

The family engagement worker – FEW:  has developed a programme of family support to enable parents to support their child in their learning effectively.  This support has built positive relationships with families and further developed the link between home and school.  It has encouraged parents, carers and families to become an active part within the school community.  The role includes supporting with the transition programme, meeting the families before the pupils join Ysgol Maes Hyfryd via home visits, school open evenings and visits to the school.

The ‘FEW’ successfully networks with a wide range of outside agencies such as health, social services, team around the family and respite organisations, developing and maintaining good working relationships.  Working alongside social workers and health professionals, the FEW attends core group, case conferences and care and support planning meetings, ensuring that there is support in place for the families.  The role also supports families in recruiting personal assistants and respite care for the pupils and families, and support with prospective colleges and residential visits, as required.

To enhance and support pupils’ confidence and place in the community beyond school, the FEW also links with outside agencies such as Action for Children, Barnardo’s, Keyring, Communities for work and several others.  In addition, following consultation with parents, parental workshops have been delivered on a rolling programme focusing on key aspects of school development and insights into areas such as accredited courses.  The FEW also provides support for families in a wider areas such as completing forms for grants, home visits and transition support.

Transport training and work experience

The travel trainer has trained pupils to a level of competency that has resulted in them being able to travel independently for work placements, college and accessing their local community.

Currently, Ysgol Maes Hyfryd has links with over 20 local work providers.  This provision has enabled pupils to attend work experience placements and has also resulted in a number achieving part-time jobs at these placements.  All placements are in the local area and many support community initiatives such as Buzz community cafe, Sidewalk independence project and Age connects cafe.  Pupils enjoy working alongside the community and they are involved in many meaningful initiatives and projects.  For example, when completing work programme evaluations, staff from the placements have stated: ‘We would not be able to facilitate the group without their support.’ ‘We thoroughly enjoy having the students for work experience and we learn from them as well as them learning about the work environment’. ‘Everyone who comes to Share Mold, and is lucky enough to meet these students has been very impressed by the hard work and dedication they have shown in every task they take on.’

What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?

These combined roles have had a very positive impact on pupils’ performance, wellbeing and independence, as well as strengthening work with parents, the community and outside agencies.  For example, the FEW has provided early intervention for pupils with emerging attendance concerns and helped pupils who have had long periods of absence from school with settling back in, often by providing one-to-one mentoring support.  Through the effectiveness of the family engagement worker, Ysgol Maes Hyfryd is the first special school in North Wales to achieve a national quality mark that recognises the work it undertakes with families and the community.

The parental workshops developed to support the families with their children have also had a positive impact.  This includes workshops in different areas such as behaviour management and ‘Sleep Tight’ for parents with children who have difficulty with bedtime routines and sleeping patterns.  These workshops have provided helpful guidance for parents managing their child’s behaviour in the home and out in the community, and contributed to a shared understanding about behaviour expectations.

Overall, the transport training and work experience placement roles have made an immensely valuable contribution to the motivation, attainment and progression of pupils in the 14-19 programme.  For example, over the last three years, the number and range of qualifications that pupils gain have increased and all pupils leaving the school have progressed to further education and/or specialist college provision.  Importantly, pupils have developed valuable life skills and independence as part of these successful partnership initiatives to improve the quality of provision that helps to bring about these improvements.

How have you shared your good practice?

This initiative has been received positively by college providers and local mainstream schools through the work and effective practice that the school shares with them on a regular basis.