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The town of Blyth, in which the school is located, is a post-industrial town which continues to experience economic and social decline. Although the majority of our children are from homes in south-east Northumberland, we also have children who travel from other parts of the county, requiring longer travel times. The vast majority of children are transported to school by the local authority.
The Council and partners are working to improve preventative approaches and access to early help through increasing the number of early help assessments, team around the family and early help plans. To support this ‘Local Early Help Hubs’ have been piloted and developed in the Blyth Valley at the initiation of The Dales School. These are now to be ‘rolled out’ across all 4 regions of Northumberland.
Keeping Children and Young People Safe from Harm, Abuse and Neglect
The Dales School was last inspected in October 2013 when it was identified as ‘Outstanding’.
The Dales School caters for children with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) / Statements of Special Educational Need, identified as those with needs related to Autistic Spectrum Condition; Social Emotional and Mental Health needs, and Speech, Language and Communication Difficulties in the age range of 2–11 years old.
In recent years, there has been a gradual change in the degree and complexity of needs with which children present on admission. This includes those with a morbidity of conditions / needs and those who are disadvantaged by socio-neurological conditions such as foetal alcohol syndrome. The significant increase in children on roll who present with pronounced delayed development and limited potential in relation to independence has resulted in a review of provision for this key area. As a result, we focus much of our work through a life-skills, sensory and creative curriculum.
Assessment on entry includes: Academic; Behavioural, and other (including medical / social). The process of ‘induction’ into school, follows a set programme of assessment and review involving the child, parents / carers, staff and reports.
Children in the EYFS enter school at a level well below children of a similar age. Their communication, language and literacy and personal, social emotional development are mainly at emerging stages. As a result of the schools’ strong focus on communication and personal development, the children have made good progress in these areas by the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage.
Other pupils, prior to joining the school, have experienced significant disruption in their education and the majority have been identified with additional learning needs. This has had a significant impact on the development of their knowledge and skills, which on entry to school are well below those expected for their age. On entry to the school a significant number, particularly those who are in the care of the local authority also lack the social and emotional skills they need to better access learning.
Teaching staff are highly skilled in making and maintaining positive relationships and as a result, pupils learn well and are supported well in developing emotionally and socially.
The school has good data and uses PIVATs and EYFS data to track progress.
In lessons, pupils communicate enthusiastically about their work; a sign of how much they enjoy their learning. In addition the interdependence of assessment and target setting have a positive impact on the degree and pace of progress which children are motivated to make.
Pupils achieve well across the curriculum because the highly effective interventions are personalised and have a positive impact on pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills and on their confidence in their learning.
Achievement overall is outstanding for pupils who are established (2 years plus on role) in school.
There are 10 teaching groups accommodating a maximum of 10 children in any one group. Children are grouped in consideration to age and stage in an effort to offer the best possible opportunity to engage with learning.
In addition, children are supported by specialist trained staff in: Speech, language, communication, Massage, Physiotherapy, Rebound Therapy, Play Therapy, Rebound Therapy, and Art Therapy.
A group of experienced non-teaching staff and one part-time teacher make up our ‘Intervention Team’.
Further support is provided by a Family Support Coordinator and a Family Learning Coordinator
Working with families at The Dales School
At The Dales School, we understand the importance of working with Families and the impact this can have on the education of our children. All staff in school work very hard to build relationships with our Parents/ Carers. This is ongoing and we offer an ‘Open Door Policy’. We do, however, offer Intensive Support to Parents/Carers and this is delivered by the Family Support Co-ordinator and the Family Learning Co-ordinator.
Family Support
The Dales supports the families of children:-
- By being a contact in school to offer advice/ information, and help parents / carers access other agencies / services who may be able to help.
- By supporting parents / carers on visits to other agencies or schools.
- By providing workshops, training and events, to empower parents and give them a greater understanding of their child’s needs.
- Being available for 1:1 sessions to support with any issues that parents have.
- Helping parents / carers build relationships with other parents and carers of children with similar needs.
Parents and carers are acutely aware that, working together we can make a difference and, are committed to supporting The Dales in provision of high quality and effective learning opportunities for their children.
Family Learning
Families will be involved with their child’s education and learning in school and offer advice and support for each other. These sessions allow parents to develop a relationship with school and staff. Children are happy when their parents are joining in at school. Parents can build their own confidence and skills and create new relationships with other parents. They are reassured their children are receiving a good education. Work and skills can be created to be implemented at home.
The use of the Pupil Premium to promote achievement:
The Intervention Team
The Dales School caters for children (age 2 -11) with a range of special educational needs, or as we prefer to view their need – children who have individual educational challenges. In addition to teaching and support staff the school employs range of specialist assistants, including: a Speech and Language assistant; a Physiotherapy Assistant; a Family Learning coordinator; a Family Support Worker; Emotional Literacy Support Assistants, and; an Intervention coordinator. Pupils attend from across the county of Northumberland and some have experienced significant disruption in their education prior to joining The Dales. Most pupils are White British and a high proportion of pupils are known to be eligible for free school meals. One pupil speaks English as an additional language.
Many of the children who attend the school reflect the complex and changing areas of focus in SEND provision including pupils with ASC and FAS. The school manages a number apprentice Teaching Assistants. We have the ambition of building skills and capacity in the local community and a ‘grow our own’ approach to finding staff sympathetic to the ethos and philosophy of the school, which is strongly committed to therapeutic interventions.
Intervention
The term ‘intervention’ often has an association with behaviour in SEND settings. At the Dales it is associated with therapeutic approaches to emotional issues experienced by children.
Intervention starts for pupils at the Dales School before they are admitted. Children are visited in their present setting, parents are invited to school to help plan provision, and the pupil is invited to school. After the first month in school, during which time a full induction package is delivered and recorded, a baseline assessment is carried out, followed by a whole staff ‘clinic’ where the school’s plans and potential interventions for the child are discussed. This is an opportunity to discover whether prior assessments have accurately described the pupil.
The assessment procedure for new entrants to The Dales has three key areas of focus: Behavioural, Speech and Language and, Academic. For most pupils, the key to making academic progress will depend very much on overcoming barriers to learning that are associated with behaviour, speech and language.
Costs
The full staffing cost of the intervention team is greater than the pupil premium which follows the Looked After Children and those who register as eligible for Free School Meals.
In terms of being able to demonstrate that the pupil premium is being used to tackle disadvantage, and promote opportunities for pupils to progress and achieve academic milestones they would not have otherwise reached, the intervention team achieves its aim, and offers benefits that are wide ranging and accessed by the entire school population.
At the end of their time at The Dales the staff prepare and support the child and family in the transition. This includes, where appropriate: Supported pre-visits, meetings with receptor schools (of staff, children and families), transfer of current information and data, transfer of support services ( e.g. Social Services, CHYPS, etc).
The Dales Teaching School Alliance
The Dales School was designated a Lead Teaching School in October 2014. We are also a National Support School and, the Head Teacher is a National Leader in Education. A consultant is commissioned to coordinate the activities of The Teaching School Alliance. Within our partners are both maintained and academy schools covering the age range from 2 – 19.
The Dales and 3 other Lead Teaching Schools (all of whom are Specialist schools) have come together into one cohesive group, working together to the benefit of all the schools within their alliances and other Specialist provision in the region and nationally.
As a National Support School, and previously before designation, staff from The Dales School have worked to offer support and guidance to other schools and colleagues in matters of Specialist provision. As a result we have worked with schools from other regions of the U.K. and throughout Europe. The latter through British Council Comenius projects over the last 8 years.
In another initiative, The Dales staff have, for the last 3 years, conducted an annual ‘Good Practice Day’ for local SCITT students.
Facilities
The Dales School is accommodated in what was previously a Middle School, built in the 1930s.
Since September 2010 there has been a rolling programme of improvement to facilities and accommodation. As a result we now have:-
- A school garden with associated ‘potting shed’ and wildlife hide / classroom.
- A sensory room.
- Refurbished the gymnasium.
- Developed the school hall to create performance / conference area.
- 3 x external teaching areas with direct access from the adjacent classrooms.
- Developed 2 classrooms with facility to convert to one with opening, sound-proofed, doors.
- Developed ‘The Garden House’. A 3 bedroomed house which can ‘sleep’ 8 children and 2 staff, renovated and extended to include a conservatory with access to the garden.
- A soft-play room.
- A play park.
- An outdoor Active Zone
- Improved parking facilities.
- Improved access security.
- ICT throughout the school, including wireless systems.
- A central quad area with soft surface and shelter.
- Development of the school office to accommodate increased staff.
- Provision of 2 x minibuses and a ‘people-carrier’ vehicle.
Newsletters
Latest news
14th February, 2019
Tim Lamb Centre
6th February, 2019
Ashdale News
25th December, 2018
Christmas Events
12th December, 2018
Winter Newsletter
4th December, 2018
Safeguarding Newsletter
Easter Holidays
8:00am
May Day
8:00am
Privacy and cookies policy
Part 1: Privacy Policy
Last Edited: 23rd May 2018
- 1. Introduction
- 1.1. We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of the users of our services. Our services include and will hereby be referred to as ‘Our Services’ (our websites used to promote eSchools services and tutorial resources, specifically http://www.eschools.co.uk/ and https://academy.eschools.co.uk/), ‘School Websites’ ( designed by eSchools and populated by individual schools themselves) and ‘Platforms’ (individual online services that provide teachers, learners, parents and governors with information, tools and resources) as well as our smartphone app. This policy sets out how we will treat your personal information across these services.
- 2. Collecting personal information on Our Services
- 2.1 We may process or temporarily store the following kinds of personal information:
- information about your computer and about your visits to and use of Our Services (including but not limited to, your IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and website navigation paths)
- information contained in or relating to any communications that you send to us or send through our website (including, the communication content) via online forms
- any other personal information that you choose to send to us via online forms
- 2.2 Before you disclose to us the personal information of another person, you must obtain that person's consent to both the disclosure and the processing of that personal information in accordance with the terms of this policy.
- 2.3 eSchools websites may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us and to enrich your user experience. You can adapt your cookie preferences, although please note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing. For further information on how you can manage and set your cookie preferences, please see our Cookie Policy.
- 2.4 Information submitted through the online contact form on a school website is processed via eSchools, and passed directly to the school in question. This data is held by eSchools for 30 days (or in the case of failed messages, 90 days) before deletion. Once passed to the school this data is held by them and subject to that school’s privacy policy.
- 2.5 Schools are also able to add analytics tools and can therefore gather information on visits to and use of their website (including but not limited to, IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and website navigation paths). Individual visitors can manage their preferences through cookie preferences, as mentioned in 2.4.
- 2.6 Session IP addresses are retained to monitor and safeguard against improper usage of our services.
- 2.7 Content on the platform (added by staff, governors and students) and website content is added directly by School Users. This information is only used for to display on the platform in the way the user intends and is not used for any other purposes by eSchools. At a time when a school ceases to use our services the content is removed within a 14 day period as detailed in our agreement with the school.
- 2.8 Some of our services require the school to provide access to information they require for use with those services. For example a school using our communication tool, Letters Home, which enables schools to contact parents by email regarding important school information. In this situation a school will provide eSchools with access to the email address(es) they wish to send their communication to. Schools have granular access to ensure only the required data is shared and accessed by eSchools. The data is frequently updated to ensure that eSchools only retains up-to-date data.
- 2.1 We may process or temporarily store the following kinds of personal information:
- 3. Using your personal information
- 3.1. We may use your personal information to:
- administer our services
- enable your use of our services
- troubleshoot and problem solve
- send you email notifications that you have specifically requested. You can manage your preferences at anytime through your eSchools dashboard.
- keep our services secure, safeguard against improper use of our services and prevent fraud.
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- 3.1.1. For the purposes of providing you access to your eSchools platform and app (ie. forgotten password/login)
- 3.1.2. By registering for updates, School Staff/Governors are able to subscribe to our regular communications.
- 3.1.3. We will use any contact details supplied in an online form for the purposes explicitly detailed in said form. For example troubleshooting and problem solving or the provision of live online training as explicitly requested by you, the user.
- 3.2. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing.
- 3.3. eSchools understands our obligation to be mindful about the data we process and only process data that is required to fulfil our obligations in providing our services; to a school who enters into an agreement to use our services and you, the user.
- 3.4. We will not pass your information to third parties; except for the purpose of fulfilling our services to a school who enters into an agreement to use our services and you, the user or where we are required to do so by law.
- 3.1. We may use your personal information to:
- 4. Disclosing personal information
- 4.1 We may disclose your personal information to, any of our employees, officers, insurers, professional advisers, agents, suppliers or subcontractors insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this policy.
- 4.2 We may disclose your personal information:
- to the extent that we are required to do so by law;
- in connection with any ongoing or prospective legal proceedings;
- in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk);
- to any person who we reasonably believe may apply to a court or other competent authority for disclosure of that personal information where, in our reasonable opinion, such court or authority would be reasonably likely to order disclosure of that personal information;
- to the school in the case of improper use on the platform by individuals.
- 4.3 Except as provided in this policy, we will not provide your personal information to third parties.
- 5. International data transfers
- 5.1. Data directly collected by eSchools may be stored and processed in and transferred between any of the countries in which we operate in order to enable us to use the information in accordance with this policy. Any third party we use is within the EEA or they hold a sufficient accreditation (i.e. Privacy Shield) as in line with requirements under the GDPR. No other third party are permitted to access the school’s data.
- 5.2. Personal information that an individual adds to our websites may be available, via the internet, around the world. We cannot prevent the use or misuse of such information by others.
- 6. Retaining personal information
- 6.1. This Section 6 sets out our data retention policies and procedure, which are designed to help ensure that we comply with our legal obligations in relation to the retention and deletion of personal information.
- 6.2. Personal information that we process for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.
- 6.3. Data collected through analytic cookies will be retained for 26 months. Individual visitors can adapt the data collected through cookie preferences, as mentioned in 2.4.
- 6.4. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Section 6, we will retain documents (including electronic documents) containing personal data:
- To the extent that we are required to do so by law;
- If we believe that the documents may be relevant to any ongoing or prospective legal proceedings; and
- In order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk). Data will no longer be kept after the termination of the contract with the school.
- 7. Security of your personal information
- 7.1. We will take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information.
- 7.2. We will store all the personal information you provide on our secure (password- and firewall-protected) servers. The web service we employ has a broad range of accreditations and certifications and the data centres used ensure the data stays within the EEA.
- 7.3. eSchools use a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) which creates a secure connection uses two keys to encrypt data in transit. Despite this, you acknowledge that the transmission of information over the internet is inherently insecure, and we cannot guarantee the security of data.
- 8. Amendments
- 8.1. We may update this policy from time to time by publishing a new version on our website.
- 8.2 You should check this page regularly to ensure you are aware of any changes to this policy.
- 9. Your rights
- 9.1. You may instruct us to provide you with any personal information we hold about you.
- 9.2. We may withhold personal information that you request to the extent permitted by law.
- 9.3. You may change your cookie preferences at any time as referenced in 2.4.
- 9.4. School Staff/Governors who subscribe to our Newsletter may manage their preferences at anytime through their eSchools dashboard.
- 10. Third party websites
- 10.1 Our website includes hyperlinks to, and details of, third party websites.
- 11. Updating information
- We will only provide communication about the eSchools platform to school staff/governors who can manage their preferences at anytime through their eSchools dashboard.
Part 2: Cookie Policy
Last Edited: 23rd May 2018
- This Cookie Policy explains how eSchools use cookies and similar technologies in our Services. It explains what these technologies are and why we use them, as well as your rights to control their use.
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What are cookies?
Cookies are small data files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. Cookies are widely used by online service providers in order to (for example) make their websites or services work, or to work more efficiently, as well as to provide reporting information.
Cookies set by the website owner or service provider (in this case, eSchools) are called “first party cookies”. Cookies set by parties other than the website owner are called “third party cookies”. Third party cookies enable third party features or functionality to be provided on or through the website or service you are using (such as advertising, interactive content and analytics). The third parties that set these third party cookies can recognise your computer both when it visits the website or service in question and also when it visits certain other websites or services.
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Why do we use cookies and other tracking technologies?
We use first party and third party cookies for several reasons. Some cookies are required for technical reasons in order for our Services to operate, and we refer to these as “essential” cookies. Other cookies enable us and the third parties we work with to track and target the interests of visitors to our Services, and we refer to these as “advertising” or “analytical” cookies. For example, the embedding of YouTube and Vimeo videos, as added by individual schools will require “advertising” cookies to be enabled in order to successfully play them. Schools that, for example, opt to track visitor data using Google Analytics will require “analytical” cookies to be enabled in order to do so. These third party cookies are used to tailor content and information that we may send or display to you and otherwise personalise your experience while interacting with our Services and to otherwise improve the functionality of the Services we provide. We also enable schools to employ cookies and similar tracking technologies in connection with their use of our Services in order to allow them to track visitors to and interactions with, their school website.
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How eSchools Uses Cookies
eSchools websites may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us and to enrich your user experience. The cookies differ depending on the information. You can adapt your cookie preferences, although please note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing.
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User Embedded Content
Our Services allows schools to embed code which may potentially contain cookies. Please note embedded content, if displayed on one our websites, has been added by the school and not by eSchools. The embedded content added by the school may require additional cookies or tracking technologies to be enabled in order to function.
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How can I control cookies?
You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. Be aware that cookie preferences are set on a per device basis; therefore you may need to set your preferences on each device you use.
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Initial cookie pop-up banner: You can exercise preferences about what cookies are served on our Websites by selecting your preference from this modal which appears upon visiting an eSchools website/login screen and dashboard. You can also change your cookie preferences by clicking on the link on the footer of any page. The banner will reappear annually (August 31st to coincide with the academic year) to confirm your settings.
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Browser Controls: You can set or amend your web browser controls to accept or refuse cookies. If you choose to reject cookies, you may still use our Websites though your access to some functionality and areas of our Websites may be restricted. As the means by which you can refuse cookies through your web browser controls vary from browser-to-browser, you should visit your browser’s help menu for more information.
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Disabling Most Interest Based Advertising: Most advertising networks offer you a way to opt out of Interest Based Advertising. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing. If you would like to find out more information, please visit http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ or http://www.youronlinechoices.com.
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Mobile Advertising: You can opt out of having your mobile advertising identifiers used for certain types of Interest Based Advertising, by accessing the settings in your Apple or Android mobile device and following the most recent published instructions. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing.
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How often will you update this Cookie Statement?
We may update this Cookie Statement from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to the cookies we use or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons. Please therefore re-visit this Cookie Statement regularly to stay informed about our use of cookies and related technologies. The date at the bottom of this Cookie Statement indicates when it was last updated.
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Where can I get further information?
If you have any questions about our use of cookies or other technologies, please email us at support@eschools.co.uk.