St Nicholas 6
th
form
A Community of
Learners
About us:
St Nicholas is a special school for pupils aged 4-19 with severe, profound
and complex learning needs maintained by Kent County Council.
Our 6th Form is located on the main Canterbury College Campus, and we
work in partnership with them to access a range of their facilities
including their sports centre, and café areas.
We strive to provide a wide rang of learning opportunities for our young
people that will prepare them for their future aspirations. We run a time
table that covers the core subjects (English, Maths, ICT, PSHE, PE) as
well as offering a wide range of choices that suit individual need and
interests.
Our aim is to provide our young people and their families with a clear
understanding of future pathways and we work in collaboration with a wide
range of professionals to ensure this.
The 6
th
form team:
The 6
th
form consists of 6 teachers, who lead our 5 Form groups, the Key
Stage 5 Manager Carrie and the 14-19 Lead Louise, we then have, Lee, Karl,
Kelly and Catherine. Our groups here are streamed into Entry Level groups to
try to ensure that we are setting the challenge for academic achievement at
the correct level. However we have a range of ‘options’ sessions which
students choose from and these groups are of mixed ability depending on
individual interest and choice.
We remain a part of St Nicholas school, and therefore continue to work
alongside the therapy team including the Physios, OT’s, SaLT’s, VI and HI
specialists. Students are able to continue any therapeutic programmes they
are accessing such as Counselling, play therapy, art therapy, music therapy
etc. We will continue to work with and support any Social services, CAMHS,
Ed Psych’s or any other professionals involved with your young person, and
are happy to facilitate meetings onsite.
From Left to right:
Carrie- KS5 Manager and F4 Teacher, Louise- 14-19 Lead, Lee- F1 Teacher,
Kelly- F3 Teacher, Catherine- F5 Teacher, Karl- F2 Teacher
Learning Pathways:
We continue to work hard to develop a wide range of links with our
educational provisions as well as work based providers to ensure that
experiences and transitions are meaningful and realistic to our learners. We
have identified 3 main pathways for our young people although are always
keen and willing to work with families and other professionals to re-develop
these to suit individual need if required.
Our main offer is to provide students
with the functional skills they require
to be able to access and function within
their local community. For our young
people working at pre Entry Level and
Entry Level 1, we look at offering them
with a wide range of enjoyable
experiences within the local area and
accredit their skills through the OCR
Life and Living skills Program. For those
working at Entry level 1 and 2 we strive
to develop their functional use of skills
within English, Maths and ICT to enable
them to continue making progress and
move onto other educational provisions
to continue practicing and developing
these skills.
We have developed our curriculum to ensure
that all students continue to develop and
practise their skills in English, Maths and ICT.
We also continually develop a comprehensive
PSHE and RSE program that supports students
to develop and understand relationships both
within our setting as well as out in the wider
community.
Students have weekly PE sessions which vary
from dance, gymnastics, team games, cycling,
trampolining and so on, as well as having the
opportunity to opt into swimming sessions. We
believe home management skills are extremely
important to our young people, therefore
students take part in weekly sessions. This
comprises of planning, purchasing and cooking
their own lunches, and the clean up that goes
with it!
Programme of Study:
We have a variety of optional activities offered
each afternoon which the students can choose
from, these are changeable and adaptable to
student need and interest. This is in addition to
our lunchtime clubs that are run by staff.
The students are given the options to choose
from at the start of term 1, end of term 2, and
end of term 4. They will then participate in their
chosen option for 2 terms, and generally these
sessions are project based.
We use a range of courses to accredit the work
of the students in these areas for example the
Arts Award, OCR Life and Living Skills etc.
Optional Activities:
We are continually looking for realistic work based
learning opportunities for our young people, and we have
partnered with a number of establishments to provide
this. These experiences provide students with the
opportunity to develop their social skills, find out areas
of interest, develop functional skills in relation to time
management.
We work closely with Brogdale CIC who provide our
students with a range of horticultural, and craft
experiences at Brogdale Farm in Faversham, and Muddy
Wellies Farm in Ashford. They also provide catering
and hospitality experiences at their cafes, where
students gain their food hygiene award.
We also have a great new link with The Umbrella Café
in Whitstable, where students are able to work in a
busy running café using the till, serving customers and
preparing food etc. Currently we work with The FAR
Academy who offer a construction course, where
previously students have made clocks, skateboards, and
a variety of animal houses.
Work Based Learning:
Our day runs from 8.45 –2.45 pm. Students have a morning break of 20
minutes (10.20-10.40 am), their lunch break is 11.30-12 pm where we go to
the refectory in the main College Campus to eat. Students are able to choose
from a wide range of options within the refectory and experiences excellent
social skills within the main campus environment.
The students then have leisure time between 12-12.45 pm, during this time
some students may choose to remain within our block socializing, watching
films, using computers, ‘chilling out’ etc or joining in with a lunch time club.
Timetabling:
Alternatively there are
often sports activities on
offer over at the sports
centre. For those students
who are more independent,
we are happy to work with
families to enable them to
explore the campus area at
their leisure, providing they
take responsibility for
themselves, and navigate
there way back to us on
time for their lessons.
The students within the 6th Form are
grouped according to the level of
accreditation they are working at. Form 1
caters for those students who are
working to achieve Entry 2 or 3, with the aim
of moving onto a vocational course offered
within the main College Campus. Form 2,
generally caters for those students working
within Entry Level and developing skills in
Entry Level 2, with the aim of moving onto
another supported course.
Teaching Groups &
Social Interaction:
Form 3 and 4 run fairly parallel in offering a wide range of experiences for our
learners working pre Entry Level and working towards Entry Level 1. These
classes have a higher staff ratio to ensure the students receive the level of
support required to participate in the activities. Form 5 is for our high needs
learners and this class is currently based on our main school site at St Nicholas
to enable access to therapeutic input such as hydro, Active Ed etc and where
facilities are more suitable to their need, and the nurse is readily available
onsite. During leisure times, Forms 1 –4 have great social opportunities to
mingle, as well as access social opportunities within the main collage campus.
6
th
form fund:
We do ask for a weekly donation of £4 or a termly donation of
£20. A huge part of our curriculum is based on encouraging
the students to become more independent, therefore we
access a variety of community activities, regular cooking
sessions and practicing functional money handling skills within
the community. This money goes towards these costs, helps us
to subsidise costs of activities and trips out and allows
students to practice their money handling skills during trips to
local cafes/ shops.
Useful Information:
.
Transport:
As our young people reach the age of 16, KCC requires you to reapply
for transport. We will endeavour to support you with these
applications and will alert you of the availability of forms as soon as
we can.
Family support:
We continue to work very closely with the family support team, who
base themselves with us 1 day
per week, however are regularly available.
What are the term dates?
The term dates are exactly the same as the main school, these can be found on
our website, or are regularly included in the newsletter.
Can my child still have school meals?
Yes! Cost of school meals at the 6th form are £3 per day. Those entitled to
free school meals can still claim this. Some students prefer to bring in their
own money each day and choose from the wide variety of food available at the
refectory.
FAQ’s:
.
How long can my child stay at the
6th form?
Up to 3 years, however this will be
dependent on each individual and their
progress. Some learners may only stay
with us for 1 or 2 years before moving
on.
Where are you?
We are based in the campus grounds
of Canterbury College.
Contact Details:
.
Telephone number:
01227 464316
(this will take you through to the main school, please ask to be transferred to the 6
th
form).
Please note our office is manned between 8.30-11 am, however we regularly check our answer
phone.
Address:
St Nicholas 6
th
Form,
EKC Canterbury,
New Dover Road,
Canterbury, CT1 3AJ
Email:
Carrie.m@st-Nicholas.kent.sch.uk
Louise.h@st-Nicholas.kent.sch.uk
