Springwater School is a Special School which caters for pupils aged 2 - 19 years. Pupils have severe, complex and multiple learning difficulties.

We are situated on the outskirts of Harrogate in the suburb of Starbeck, which benefits from excellent connections into Harrogate, Knaresborough and the wider local area as the school is a few streets away from the local station. Leeds and York can both be reached easily by regular trains making it ideal for a short commute.

There are plenty of amenities in the immediate vicinity of the school, including a swimming pool, gym, shops and garages. Further afield but within a ten-minute drive are very good leisure centres, gyms, schools and the local restaurants and bars in either Harrogate or Knaresborough.

There is easy access to green spaces, walks and nature and RHS Harlow Carr is a short journey away. There are extensive housing developments locally – particularly in Knaresborough, Boroughbridge and Kirk Hammerton.

Features and Benefits of our School

We are lucky to benefit from being located on a High Street providing excellent connections to the community in the form of shops, walks, the park, the pool, work experience and local cafes. The very good bus and train access to Harrogate and Knaresborough means that pupils can access wider facilities in the locality readily and be back in time for lunch or their journey home! This allows for a diverse and community-based curriculum.

The school estate has recently benefitted from the acquisition of an ex-children’s centre situated in a Victorian two-storey over the road from its main site. This provides workspace for two administrators and three sixth form classes.

In addition, our site has the following accommodation to enable an enriching curriculum:

• Interaction Zone - housing a range of sensory and interactive hi-tech equipment
• Early years provision with outdoor learning area
• Play equipment which is accessible
• Trampoline
• Swimming Pool

There is a further estate development plan in place and the school will expand its roll by 45 pupils, commencing in 2025. The estate will consist of a converted council building which wraps the south side of the playground and a separate council building situated to the side of the playground. The whole campus will be connected – with the playground forming a central quad.

Our Pupils

Our pupils are engaging, friendly and the centre of everything that we do. The school population is extremely diverse, with pupils who are reliant on adults to meet all their needs,  through to those who are working towards independence and employment in the sixth form. They have a wide range of challenges and SEND: these can be medical and care needs, behavioural needs arising from their diagnoses, such as autism or social challenges arising from their circumstances or conditions. Most of the pupils have several over-lapping needs and the expert staff team are trained and supported to meet these needs daily.

Ofsted recognised:

“Staff and leaders have a holistic approach to managing behaviour, which is extremely effective. It includes working closely with pupils on how they communicate and manage their emotions. Staff are highly skilled at picking up signs that a pupil feels anxious or unsettled. This means that they can often prevent pupils from going into crisis.”

Our pupil make up consists of the following:

There are some pupils who attend on an assessment basis, usually a time limited period of several weeks. This may be the case where the nature of their needs are not yet clear, they do not yet have an Education Health and Care Plan or where they are moving into the area from a different country/Local Authority. The assessment placement is reviewed following the agreed period of weeks. This review will usually involve an Assessment and Reviewing Officer, school staff, the parents or carer and any other member of the multi-disciplinary team who have been involved in the assessment period. We are always open to discussion about how we can meet the needs of a very wide range of learners including those with medical, physical and behavioural challenges associated with Autism.

Finally, we view our offer for pupils from 2-19 as being a key benefit to our pupils, ensuring many pupils can remain with us for the whole of their school career and enable us to fully support transition into adulthood.

Current staff makeup

Our staffing team consists of 17 teachers across 15 classes (15.6 FTE), as follows: Headteacher and Deputy Head (1.9 FTE), Primary x5 (4.5 FTE), Secondary x 5 (4.2 FTE) and Sixth Form x5 (5 FTE). They are supported by a team of 64 support staff (50.2FTE), and 6 non-teaching support staff (5.06 FTE).

Senior Leadership

Our team of talented staff is led by senior leadership which consists of the Headteacher, Deputy Head Teacher who is responsible for safeguarding, curriculum and assessment, and three Heads of Department with responsibility for primary, secondary and sixth form provision. Our Headteacher and Deputy Head have small teaching commitments, mostly to provide cover. Our Heads of Department teach for three days and have two days leadership and PPA release time.

This is a well-established team who have worked together for several years and through the pandemic. The team meet weekly for a leadership team meeting on Monday after school and then again first thing on a Tuesday morning. The approach is collaborative and aims to support each colleague.

The wider staffing team

Springwater staff aim to meet pupil needs first and foremost. Each teacher in our school holds an area of curriculum responsibility – led by an overarching approach through the Deputy Head. Some teachers develop a speciality/preference and therefore become skilled in this area – such as EYFS, or sixth form teaching. Each class is supported by an experienced team drawn from 64 support staff consisting of HLTAs, ATAs, GTAs and Pupil Support Assistants (PSAs).

Our HLTAs are either 1:1 appointments due to specific pupil needs, or one per department for PPA release time; our ATAs cover at least one per department to meet pupil medical and care needs and there is at least one GTA per class. There are several PSAs per primary and secondary phases.

We have an assessment and review officer who leads on all the administration associated with admissions, consultations for places and on the EHCP process. She supports the Business Manager with funding applications. Our HR Manager provides very good support for all our staff.

Staff are trained in specialised areas such as rebound therapy and autism, with some staff as trainers of specialised programmes such as MOVE, Communication Aids and Team Teach (a preventative and physical intervention approach).

Staff have opportunities to develop professionally through a programme at school, which includes a thorough induction. Staff also access relevant training through the nursing team and other professionals. Staff identify their training and development needs through the performance development process and can access relevant training opportunities provided by other experts.

We are proud of our good retention levels and feel that our positive work environment, in addition to our training and induction offer which is valued by staff. We are keen to develop further progression routes for teachers, as these are not always available.

Ofsted recognised:

Leaders have very high expectations of how well staff look after the pupils in their care. Pupils are given highly personalised support by a team of very caring staff. Staff ensure that pupils are fully included in all aspects of school life.

The Governing Body

The school is supported by a dedicated team of Governors, who bring a wide variety of expertise. Our Governors are invested in supporting the new Headteacher as the school transitions to the next phase of its journey.

Ofsted recognised:

“Governors provide excellent support and challenge. They place the well-being of pupils front and centre when overseeing the school’s work. Governors carefully check that agreed improvements uphold this core value. They keep a close eye on staff workload and well-being.”

Our mission is:

To strive to create and continually develop an exciting and challenging curriculum tailored to each pupil in a safe learning environment with the use of specialized facilities and approaches. Teaching and learning focus on gaining key skills and, where possible, independence.  Pupil health and well-being, and their right to a voice, are prioritised and placed at the centre of all we aim to achieve. Our expert staff have high expectations for pupils and work in close partnership with pupils, their families/carers/key professionals and the local community to help pupils achieve their greatest potential.

Our Vision is to Aspire, Challenge and Empower (ACE)

All pupils access outstanding specialist teaching and facilities personalized to their individual learning needs, within a happy, confident, proud, and growing school. Pupils make significant progress throughout their school career and make a successful transition to adulthood.

As such, our Values are:

Achieve - Empower all to achieve their full potential
Self Esteem - To develop self-esteem, enabling confident, proud and thriving individuals
Positivity - Ensuring a vibrant, confident proactive and encouraging school culture
Inclusive and friendly - A welcoming, inclusive, friendly, supportive, and culturally diverse community
Respect and dignity - Building respectful relationships in which all are treated with dignity
Enjoyment - Creating fun, friendships, and enjoyable learning memories

Strategic Objectives:

Objective 1 - At Springwater School we will offer a vacant placement to a SEND child and/or young person whose special educational needs are life long, severe and complex and support them and their family during their learning journey.
Objective 2 - At Springwater School pupils will achieve their potential, developing their engagement with their world and their voice as they prepare for adulthood.
Objective 3 - At Springwater School we will continue to value the skills and well-being of our staff and invest in their career development.
Objective 4 - At Springwater School we will plan and develop a sustainable future.

We were delighted with our most recent Ofsted report from June 2022:

Overall effectiveness - Good
The quality of education - Good
Behaviour and attitudes - Outstanding
Personal development - Outstanding
Leadership and management - Outstanding
Sixth-form provision - Outstanding

This is just a small aspect of our Report recognising our provision:

“Personal development is exceptionally strong, including spiritual, moral, social, and cultural learning. Leaders have identified the essential knowledge that pupils need for their well-being and safety. For example, pupils learn about how their bodies change as they grow up, as well as how to travel safely. Pupils remember this knowledge because the curriculum is carefully sequenced and revisited at the start of every new term. Pupils also take part in a wide range of lunchtime clubs. The work experience programme prepares pupils well for their next steps in employment.”

School Data

Our most recent school progress data for our secondary phase can be found here.

Further information is available on the school website.

Budget

The annual budget 2023/24 is 3,147,300. Budget projection for 2024/25 is 3,171,600 and for 2025/26 is 3,213,900i. (Note the figure for 2025/26 does not take account of any increase in school roll which is due to commence in September 2025.)

The budget is finely balanced and the business manager, head teacher and the Governors have worked hard in the financial year 2023/24 to reduce the deficit. Recent monitoring and a revised budget show that the deficit is now predicted to be -£77K – a vast improvement on the figures set in the April 2023 start budget where the deficit was predicted to be several hundred thousand.

The capital budget is over-spent due to the kit out of the ex-children’s centre post Covid. There is a five-year plan to clear this deficit. The school is currently nearing the end of the second year of repayments.

Future plans, once the new building is in place, will be to increase sixth form class sizes. The increase in the school roll is also predicted to support the future financial sustainability of the school, as is the predicted academisation of the school in 2024.

Our curriculum offer is personalised to each pupil to ensure they can fulfil their full potential across three pathways, pre-formal, semi-formal and formal. Staff are adept at recognising and these small but critically important steps in learning. Pupils may move from one pathway to another according to their needs. In addition, pupils may straddle two pathways for some or all their time at school, particularly if they have an uneven learning profile. Teachers in each pathway recognise the importance of repetition and over-learning to allow pupils to embed and generalise what they learn.

In key stage four and in the sixth form pupils access a range of accreditation pathways. These include the John Muir Award, I can Lead! Sports Qualifications, The Q Arts Award, Asdan Personal Progress and Asdan PSD qualifications and Functional Skills qualifications for the most able pupils. Access to a broad range of accreditations, including a work experience programme, leads to successful transitions for post-19 pupils, including some who are now in employment.

Ofsted recognised:

“Provision in the sixth form is excellent. The vast majority of students join from other schools. Strong transition arrangements help new students make a flying start. The sixth-form curriculum is very well planned. It prepares students for adulthood very effectively. The curriculum includes life skills such as shopping and cooking, as well as important knowledge about how society works. Students also take courses that lead to accreditation. Students in the sixth form are incredibly positive about their experiences of school.”

 Many sports are offered which engage and include pupils with a variety of special needs, with sports partnership specialist events. We also use ICT Technology such as iPads and touch screens with specialist programmes such as:

• Cause and effect programmes
• Communication apps for pupils with specific speech and language needs
• Specialist designed programmes e.g. Communicate in Print which creates and adapts text for pupils who need symbols
• Laptops and iPads for pupils’ curriculum use
• Plasma Screen which is fully accessible to pupils who need it to be positioned very close, or at a different angle or level.
• Eye Gaze equipment (on loan from Speech and Language Services)

In addition, there are MOVE trainers in school who develop programmes for improving movement for pupils with physical needs. We have a specialised curriculum for PMLD students.

 Ofsted recognised:

“The curriculum enables pupils with diverse needs to gain knowledge and skills across broad areas of learning. These areas include creative arts, literacy, numeracy and understanding of the world. For example, over time, pupils develop their knowledge about where the school is located…. The curriculum also enables pupils to develop their physical and emotional skills. For instance, pupils work with external dance teachers and football coaches.

Senior leaders have very high ambitions for how well all pupils communicate, including those with profound and multiple learning needs. Teaching staff work closely with expert speech and language therapists. As a result, they are highly skilled at initiating techniques that enable pupils to communicate and extending the range of ways in which pupils communicate. For example, they support pupils with profound and complex needs to use switches to indicate choices. Teachers and assistants seamlessly weave targets from pupils’ education, health, and care plans into the content they teach.”

Following our 2022 Ofsted, our School development Plan outlines our ambitions and priorities across the next couple of years as we expand and seek to integrate into a multi-academy Trust.

Short Term Priorities:

• To establish the newly implemented assessment tool and to ensure that teachers, leaders and the Governors have useful data so that they can identify gaps in pupil learning
• To continue to review, refine and develop the curriculum pathways – assuring the quality of the curriculum offer and establishing subject specific learning at the semi-formal pathway level

Mid-term priorities:

• To ensure smooth transition for the new head teacher at the school
• To ensure smooth transition to academy status

Our long term priorities:

• To establish the new school building as part of the school estate and welcome more pupils onto the school roll
• To become established within a multi-academy Trust, ensuring excellent outcomes for all pupils
• To build a successful partnership with Starbeck Primary to explore a Springwater@Starbeck satellite model

Relationships with parents

We value our relationships with our parents as essential to our school community and maintain strong formal and informal communication through a variety of resources. Parent evenings and school events are well attended where possible and there is a Facebook page, and many parents join this as their child is admitted to school. We are currently trialling Class dojo, an electronic means of staying in touch with the teacher. EHCP meetings can be in person, but many parents prefer to have this meeting on-line, with good attendance. In addition, our Sixth Form students run a weekly bakery and coffee morning for parents and the local community. The school has two Parent Governors, who also sit on the parent engagement committee.

Relationship with the local authority

Springwater is currently a local authority Maintained School. We work closely with North Yorkshire on pupil placements and funding. We are delighted the LA is committed to expanding the school by refurbishing adjacent premises, providing an additional 45 places for PMLD students and we aspire to continue our close partnership with them following our academisation.

Wider Community links

Springwater is a member of the Red Kite Alliance where we accredit our ECTs and use leadership courses such as NPQH. The Headteacher also sits on the local Inclusion Board.

Given the complex needs of our pupils, we have extensive multi-disciplinary links with a wide network of external agencies, including but not limited to a nursing team, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, paediatricians, dentists, CAMHS, Education Psychologists, specialist teachers for vision and hearing impairment, transitions service and specialist careers, moving and manual handling advisors and family support workers.

As we embark on the next phase of our school, we are keen to build on engagement with the community by:

• Developing partnerships locally, regionally and nationally to support successful transition and inclusion both within school and from school
• Securing successful, meaningful and aspirational post-19 transitions including expanding routes into employment where relevant
• Supporting families, carers, social care colleagues and post-18 pupils in understanding and successfully engaging adult services available in the locality: securing aspirational outcomes and the achievement of these once they leave school and/or children’s services

Harrogate is a famous and thriving spa town in North Yorkshire which has been repeatedly named the ‘Happiest Place to Live in the UK’. It is a vibrant town, with a strong and varied economy. It offers a huge range of eating out and leisure opportunities and a wide range of residential properties from period buildings to modern builds. The school is based on the popular southern side of Harrogate, close to the A1 and A61 with a station providing rail links to York and Leeds.

North Yorkshire is England's largest county and one of the most rural. The area comprises the Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors and the Pennines - three areas of outstanding natural beauty, and a stunning coastline around Scarborough and Whitby. There are ruined castles and abbeys, serene gardens, unique breweries, thrilling rides and industrial heritage. The area hosted the phenomenal Tour de France in 2014 and has since created the Tour de Yorkshire, an annual event with global recognition. Our success in supporting these events led to Harrogate hosting the UCI Cycling World Championships in 2019.

North Yorkshire has plenty to offer the outdoor enthusiast. From the hard gritstone of Almscliff and Brimham rocks to the limestone of Malham, Gordale and Kilnsey climbing venues are in abundance. The Yorkshire Dales is the premier area for caving and for mountain biking; there are the bridleways of the Dales and North York Moors as well as the renowned trail centre at Dalby Forest. There are a small number of sailing clubs on reservoirs around the county and fantastic surf sport venues and sea kayaking on the east coast.

While the county is rightly known for its wide-open spaces, it also incorporates attractive market towns including Pickering and Helmsley, traditional seaside towns, the Spa town of Harrogate and the ancient city of York. There are a wide range of shopping, leisure and cultural facilities as well as excellent schools, universities, road and rail links, there really is everything to offer you and your family as a place to work, live and enjoy!

Travelling further afield we have convenient connectivity, with proximity to metropolitan cities of Leeds and Newcastle, with little over two hours commute on the main train line to London. We border the Lake District, Lancashire, County Durham, and Yorkshire & Humber regions with all they have to offer.

For further information on our beautiful county, please visit:

Visitnorthyorkshire
North Yorkshire Visitor Guide