Education
Our young people will gradually move towards a greater exposure to the demands of the National Curriculum and the challenge of examination work. Some who come to us will have already been engaged at this level and the time framework in which successive stages are negotiated is relative to individual starting points and rates of development.
Progress is relative and varies from one individual to the next. It is our aim to help each young person acquire sufficient skills to be able to function as a contributing member of society. Social, practical and vocational skills are valued as highly as academic ones.
Each young person will have an Individual Education Programme designed to reflect prevailing priorities. From base line assessments, progress is formally considered as part of the review process. Most young people at Fellside will have Statements of Special Educational Needs.
provide opportunities which develop
- academic potential
- social skills
- teamwork and leadership skills
- tolerance and open-mindedness
- commitment to equal opportunities
- economic awareness
- environmental awareness
- sense of community and citizenship
In addition to a Fellside based programme, we can also include part-time college placements, work experience, advice from careers and employment agencies.
Fellside operates a three term educational year following closely the dates used by Cumbria LEA. The formal programme provides 25½ hours per week of education.
We are able to offer advice to the Social Services, Education Authorities and Leaving Care Teams regarding appropriate further educational and vocational needs.
As with our child care philosophy, our education programme is underpinned by the thinking of the Human Givens.Prior to arrival, the young people who come to Fellside may have been prejudiced educationally in three ways:
- They may have been deprived of essential psychological experiences in their early years, which make it impossible to start school and begin to engage in the educational task.
- Breakdowns in family life may have resulted in disruption to school life, which, even without an emotional dimension, may have made continuity in education impossible.
- The experience of failure within the school setting has perpetuated a cycle of inadequacy, anxiety and an inability to cope.
- personal problem solving
- enquiry and listening
- communication
- adaptability
- personal organisation and time management
For many young people who come to Fellside, our first task is to help them to become open to learning; to defuse the anxiety about education and to help them learn to focus on a task which is separate to their own emotional lives. If one small improvement can be achieved through the "ripple effect", thus creating a desire to embrace education.
The story of the stilts
During a literacy lesson, the class were reading Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl. We reached the point where Danny's father made him some stilts and one of our students asked what stilts were?
Everyone had a go at describing what they thought stilts were and drawing what they might look like. That led to plenty of discussion and enthusiasm and a master design was agreed upon.
Our students asked builders, who were on site, if they could have wood, screws and nails for a school project. (Our students had looked after the workmen, making brews and supplying biscuits for their breaks). Much of the wood had to be re-cycled and a toolbox and workbench in the classroom saw designs about to become a reality. There was a great deal of teaching needed about how to measure things and use tools.
Lots of trying, testing and trying again took place. Lunch was a real distraction, but a chance to consult with a joiner. Lots more sawdust, head shaking and laughter and by afternoon break a pair of stilts were ready for their maiden journey. All we had to do now was look for a pilot!
So all outside, including the builders, for valiant attempts at walking on stilts. Lots of support and teamwork, with differing levels of success; the "most intelligent", the "most socially able", the "best looking", the oldest and youngest all stutter and fall. Our action man, (who was none of the above) was within half an hour, walking around the building, up and down steps, both forward and backwards.
Our first task achieved; anxiety about education defused. The sense of achievement, belonging and recognition (as well as fun) created the "ripple effect", thus creating a desire to embrace education, that is a feature of early educational experience at Fellside School.
