Our small yet nurturing school aims to remove barriers to learning for pupils not in mainstream school for a variety of reasons, and we provide a highly personalised educational experience meeting our pupils’ individual needs. The school site is in the heart of the town centre tucked away on a one-way private road. It is close to shops and transport links including buses and trains.

Whilst our building and site do present some logistical challenges and limited outdoor capacity, we utilise the fantastic locality of the seaside and the beach school.

As a nurture school, we promote physical and mental wellbeing as at the heart of a healthy life and mindset. Our high staff-pupil ratios help to build positive relationships and build pupil confidence in themselves and in their own abilities. High priority is given to developing relationships with parents and carers, with bespoke arrangements to address individual circumstances including home learning where necessary. We are currently seeking re-accreditation as a nurture school.

We foster a warm and welcoming homely environment, where home-cooked food is a high priority. In July 2020, we were awarded the gold standard for the Healthy Schools Award. The healthy schools rating scheme is a self-assessment tool designed to help schools improve the health and wellbeing of their pupils, staff and the whole community. Schools are able to determine how well they are promoting whole school healthy eating, wellbeing and physical activity by completing a portfolio of evidence and will then receive a gold, silver or bronze award based on their answers and evidence. As a nurture school, we were obviously delighted to receive the highest award and it complements our whole school ethos of a healthy balanced lifestyle and diet for each and every one of our pupils. Nutrition is crucially important for us and you can read our Whole School Food Policy here.

Our Pupils

 Many pupils present challenging behaviour and have a history of school exclusion from mainstream, which has not proven to be a suitable environment for them. Most pupils attend for short-term placements, some with variable part-time timetables. Some lack academic and social resilience, and are historic school refusers, sometimes on medical and mental health grounds, especially anxiety. Many appreciate the individual approach to meeting their learning needs and focus on building self-esteem.

We currently have 37 pupils on roll with 14 in KS3 and 23 in KS4, with a total of 40 places at SPRS. 12 of these are called preventative places – schools can refer a pupil who is on the verge of permanent exclusion for a preventative place, and this will be agreed via the Local Inclusion Panel, which is held every 3 weeks. These pupils are supported by bespoke programmes of study; it is likely they will return to mainstream education to complete their education at some point.

Pupils on a preventative place may also be those who:

• Are, due to exceptional circumstances, awaiting a place in a mainstream school.
• For a variety of reasons are not able to access the curriculum in a mainstream setting.
• Would benefit from smaller class sizes and higher teacher/pupil ratios and a more therapeutic approach.
• Would benefit from a more vocational curriculum.
• Have been out of education for a long period of time and are using a preventative place as a transition back into mainstream.

28 places are statutory placements – this refers to pupils who have been permanently excluded from school or who cannot access full-time mainstream education due to medical needs and/or those who are directed to us by the Local Authority. A statutory pupil in Year 11 is likely to complete the year with us and take national, external examinations at our Centre.

Despite the obvious challenges our pupils face, their behaviour is, on the whole, excellent:

Pupils’ behaviour is good. They enjoy coming to school and display good attitudes to their learning. This is because teachers apply systems to manage pupils’ behaviour consistently. Complex behaviours associated with the pupils’ social and emotional needs have little impact on the learning of others.  OFSTED Jan 2018

 Demographics

Most of our pupils are white, with 60% claiming free school meals and 25% with EHCPs. Scarborough as a coastal town is recognised as a deprived area and in the past has received Opportunity Area funding.

Due to the nature of our school as a PRU, we do not have a stable school population. This can present challenges as dynamics can soon change and de-stablise when a sudden influx of pupils arrives.

Our Curriculum

At SPRS, we are devoted to ensuring our pupils receive the very best chances of success when they leave our school at the end of Year 11 or following their transition back to mainstream education. We endeavour to provide independent, impartial and up-to-date careers advice and guidance in order for them to make informed choices and decisions about their future education, training and employment. We provide a planned programme of activities that supplies pupils with a breadth of opportunity to guide them in the decisions they make about their future. We follow all 8 Gatsby Benchmarks and are committed to the pursuit of excellence in all that we do.

Reading is a very important part of our everyday life at SPRS. Pupils can read on various platforms and have the choice of thousands of books, The E-Platform is an online reading facility that can be accessed through our website and gives pupils the opportunity of reading in every genre. We have a well-stocked library where pupils can loan any book which interests them and take it to read at home or in school. Every term, pupils are assessed using the Star Reading programme and this enables teaching staff to monitor the progress.

Pupils are very lucky to have the opportunity to partake in various outreach activities and to have exposure to a wide range of events, visits and trips. Read more about upcoming events here.

The Management Committee‘s Role and Support

Our Chair of Governors has a robust educational background, having previously worked as a Senior Education Advisor for the local authority and is ably supported by the wider management committee. There are regular strategic meetings between the Chair and Vice Chair. The Chair is a very familiar face at SPRS and governors regularly attend school functions such as sports day and parents’ celebrations. The full Management Committee meet typically nine times a year or three times a term. Governors adopt the PRS’s holistic approach to developing individuals, ensuring regular welfare checks and providing informal coaching.

Ofsted said:

Governors have a strong understanding of the effectiveness of the school. They challenge the senior leaders systematically to ensure that they deploy staff and spend additional funding effectively to improve outcomes for all pupils. Performance management is in place and effectively supports the professional development of the headteacher and wider staff team. Support, challenge and encouragement leads to effective teaching throughout the school. OFSTED Jan 2018

Read more about our Governors here.

Our Team

Our collaborative and friendly staff work tirelessly as a team and are viewed by pupils equally irrespective of job title. They have their best interests at the heart of everything they do.

Our Acting Headteacher is currently the SENCO and will retain this position upon her return to her substantive post as Assistant Headteacher.

‘Teachers are passionate about their jobs, the school and the pupils’. OFSTED Jan 2018

Staffing structure

• Headteacher (DSL)
• Assistant headteacher
• 3 FTE teachers for Maths, English and Science and RE( all upper pay scale)
• 1 part time teacher (PHSE art, humanities UPS) SLT = HT and AHT at present
• Support staff (support learning and management of behaviour and SEMH needs of pupils.
• 1 Behaviour support manager (also Health and Safety) FT
• 1 Behaviour support assistant FT
• 1 placement support officer (0.8 FTE) and Careers Lead DDSL
• 1 SEMH lead (FT)
• 1 HLTA FT
• 2 ATAs FT
• 1 GTA FT
• 1 School Business Manager and exams officer
• 1 school administrator

Read more about the fantastic team here.

Here at SPRS, we provide a welcoming, nurturing, environment where we can develop good emotional health and well-being to re-engage pupils as learners. This will enable them to gain the skills and confidence to maximise their potential.

We recognise the multi-cultural, multi faith and every changing nature of the UK, and key ‘British Values’ form the basis of what we stand for:

Staff promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development exceptionally well. British values are at the heart of the school’s work. Pupils and staff live the values of respect and tolerance. All speak openly about religion, anti-bullying and drug misuse. Pupils are particularly proud of their charity and community work, for example visiting an old people’s home, carol singing and raising money for cancer research. OFSTED Jan 2018

Our last OFSTED inspection in January 2018, rated us as ‘Good’.

• Overall effectiveness – Good
• Effectiveness of leadership and management - Outstanding
• Quality of teaching, learning and assessment – Good
• Personal development, behaviour and welfare – Good
• Outcomes for pupils – Good
• Overall effectiveness at previous inspection – Good

Current school strengths:

Our holistic and child-centred curriculum is a real strength, with personalised learning at the heart of our learning. As a nurture school, we focus as a team on enabling pupils to move on to their next stage of learning and future employment.

Our teamwork is a key strength underpinning our community, reinforced through relationships with pupils and parents, developing pupil strategy to manage own behaviour and positive reinforcement through a points system.

 Ofsted said:

Pupils say that they feel safe in their school. Relationships between pupils and staff are strong and based on mutual respect and care. Parents fully endorse this view.  OFSTED Jan 2018

Current areas identified for improvement:

Attendance is an ongoing challenge for us – many pupils arrive with a history of non-attendance.

We are also keen to develop our wider curriculum, including developing skills for employment, building learning and improving reading – many pupils are reluctant readers and have gaps in knowledge and key skills.

We are also keen to develop emotional resilience of our pupils; this includes raising expectations of staff so that pupils are challenged effectively.

Networking is a key part of our community responsibility, led by the Headteacher.

We work in partnerships with local secondary schools to the benefit of all our pupils, ensuring standards of education delivered align with mainstream provision. We have visited Caedmon College to support the development of White Rose Maths and Scalby School to support moderation of English.

Our Head meets regularly with other PRUs in North Yorkshire to support and strengthen leadership and has visited Selby and Northallerton and York PRUs.

There are also strong links with Youth Justice, the Police, Children Social Care and North Yorkshire Council to support our pupils and their families.

We have also built collaborations with local community organisations such as Arcade Arts and North York Moors National Parks to broaden pupils’ horizons through cross-curricular projects. We also hold regular charity mornings such as Macmillan coffee mornings.

Within the county of North Yorkshire are the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors National Parks, three Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Pennines and a stunning coastline around Scarborough and Whitby. The area hosted the opening stages of the Tour de France in 2014, and due to its success has created the Tour de Yorkshire with global recognition. There are ruined castles and abbeys, serene gardens, unique breweries, thrilling rides and industrial heritage. Something for everyone!

For outdoor enthusiasts North Yorkshire has plenty to offer. From the hard gritstone of Almscliff and Brimham Rocks to the limestone of Malham, Gordale and Kilnsey, climbing venues are in abundance. Within 2 hours’ drive, the Yorkshire Dales is a premier area for caving, while for mountain biking there are the bridleways of the Dales and North York Moors as well as the renowned trail centre at Dalby Forest.  Further afield, the Lake District and the fells, crags and coast of Northumberland are all easily accessible for days and weekends away.

There are a small number of sailing clubs on reservoirs around the county and fantastic, if chilly, surf sport venues, outdoor swimming 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 Knaresborough, Ripon, Malton, Helmsley, Northallerton and Skipton, the traditional seaside towns of Whitby and Scarborough, as well as the ancient city of York, the most visited city outside of London. With a wide range of shopping, leisure and cultural facilities including the Northern Ballet and Helmsley Art Centre, 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 close proximity to metropolitan cities of Leeds and Newcastle and a journey time of under two hours by rail from York to London. We border the Lake District, Lancashire, County Durham, and Yorkshire and Humber regions with all they have to offer.