Step-by-step transitions
Once a referral has been agreed, our Head of School will put a transition plan into place which may include transition visit days and/or a transition timetable. This is developed on a case-by-case basis and is very much lead by the individual student’s abilities, preferences and the nature of their difficulties.
Transitions will look very different for each student who is attending Sheridan School for the first time. Some pupils will gradually build up their attendance over the course of a whole term, starting with just two mornings per week, increasing to three then four mornings, until finally becoming full time. Other times, students are ready to go straight into full time education.
We carefully monitor transitions and maintain flexibility so that we can be responsive to the young person’s needs, for example reducing attendance back down if the student finds it too much.
Structured transitions
When a young person is moving out of Sheridan School, we have a meeting with the Local Authority to decide what the transition plan will look like. We then use this plan to start putting the measures into place that will give the young person the support that they need. We also have a range of systems in place to help our young people who are transitioning out of Sheridan School and onto the next stage of their life. These include:
- Individual careers guidance for all pupils
- Careers education during PSHE lessons and cross-curricular learning opportunities
- Transitional reviews for pupils in year 9
- Access to Work Related Learning/World of Work wherever possible in Years 10 & 11
- Organising college visits
- Support for those attending college interviews
- Small tutor groups mean tutors are very knowledgeable about their individual students and work on a 1:1 basis with them to help with transitions
Preparing for adulthood
We believe that a meaningful educational experience is one of the best ways to support young people move more confidently into adulthood and, as such, we expect all of our pupils to participate fully in school life. The school runs a number of programmes which are specifically designed to help our young people develop the necessary life skills to become confident adults who are active members of their local community. These include:
- A weekly pop-up school café every Thursday morning where students bake goods and serve whoever goes in
- Friday SMSC sessions where students go out into the community and participate in activities which help the local area (e.g. cleaning graffiti, picking litter). This helps to build their social skills and ability to work as part of a team