Pastoral care
The Academy is divided into three schools: Lower (up to year 4), Middle (years 5–8) and Upper School (years 9–11).
Pastoral Care is provided by dedicated teams attached to each year group.
In years 7–11, each team consists of one Head of Faculty and one Director of Learning who oversee the academic progress of each student; one pastoral leader (Head of Year) and one Senior Leader who heads the team.
Additionally, all students entering the Academy from Reception upwards are placed into one of three houses: Mandela, Romero or Teresa. Siblings are placed in the same house. Each house has a Head of House, who is not a teacher. These Heads of House are also Heads of Years 9, 10 and 11 respectively. Houses come together for celebration and sporting events. In addition, we have an Inclusion Withdrawal Programme in each phase where children are able to spend time on a pro-active programme of personalised activities and supported in anger management and ‘catch-up’ learning programmes. The Academy operates a zero-tolerance behaviour for learning policy.
Special Educational Needs
We have a very experienced and well-qualified SENCO who has a large team of staff to support and develop children who have special educational needs and those struggling to acquire basic literacy and numeracy or join us with little English. Her team operates across the academy with specialist Learning Support Assistants, EAL teacher, drama therapist and two other SEN teachers working from Reception to Year 11. Our Inclusion team also has good links with external agencies across several boroughs supporting young carers and children at risk or in care.
In the Autumn term 2011-12 we created the post of Outdoor Inclusion Mentor for the primary phase. Students who are identified as struggling to engage in learning and are disruptive in their behaviour have been withdrawn from lunchtime to work as a group to develop social, interactive skills and self-esteem. This has proved successful and will be the basis for a similar Inclusion Withdrawal Programme which will continue to run in the secondary phase.