To encourage and develop relationships between home, parish, school and the wider community in order to prepare our pupils to become responsible, caring citizens.

Communications and Relationships

To develop an effective system of communications and relationships which is based on the Gospel values of mutual respect, tolerance, care and understanding towards all members of the school community. Individual Support and Development

To celebrate the unique nature of each person and to encourage their development as individuals. Curriculum

To introduce all pupils to a broad, balanced, relevant and differentiated curriculum and to equip pupils with the necessary knowledge, skills and Christian values required in a rapidly changing society. To provide a curriculum for our pupils which develops them academically, spiritually, morally, culturally and physically.

Our AimsIn accordance with our Mission Statement the School’s aims are:

Faith and Worship

To help us to grow spiritually as followers of Christ and as members of a Catholic community: to make prayer, worship and liturgy central to school life.

School and Community

To ensure that all pupils receive their entitlement to a first class education our school recognises that additional provision of support and guidance may be required to further enable some pupils who have particular needs. Our Special Educational Needs Policy is designed to precisely identify and match specific individual needs to appropriate help and support.

The school operates a staged approach to special educational needs in accordance with the Code of Practice document on the identification and assessment of Special Educational Needs as outlined by the Department of Education.

St Ambrose Barlow School fully endorses and adheres to the Government’s Inclusion Development Programme which focuses on supporting, training and empowering staff to identify pupils’ specific needs and support those pupils in the most effective ways in the classroom.

Whilst each pupil is at St Ambrose Barlow School, their progress is carefully monitored through our detailed assessment and reporting procedure and use of tests which can identify special abilities or difficulties.

At St Ambrose Barlow School we have a Learning Support Centre in addition to our Special Educational Needs Department, this is to support pupils on a short term basis who may have particular difficulties which prevent them from accessing the curriculum effectively at certain times throughout their school career. We also offer some alternative qualifications in key stage 4 to pupils who may have difficulties with traditional optional subjects.

If a pupil is identified as requiring additional support, an assessment is made in consultation with parents and all those concerned with that particular pupil’s education. An individual education plan is then devised where targets are set and a review date arranged to ensure that progress is being made. We regard the parental partnership as vital in ensuring that pupils are successful in achieving their targets.

In most circumstances our procedures and support occur in the classroom under the direction of the classroom teacher.

We feel that our experience of tactfully and sensitively responding to a wide range of different pupils’ additional educational requirements has contributed to the educational achievement at St Ambrose Barlow School.

Special Educational Needs Statement

St. Ambrose Barlow RC High School

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

JANUARY 8TH 2016 Issue 6

A National Teaching SchoolA National School of Creativity

ST AMBROSE BARLOW RC HIGH SCHOOL

open eveningdepartmental information

IMPORTANT DATES & FORTHCOMING EVENTS

School reopens January 4th 2016 8.45 am Headteacher’s Surgery January 7th 5 pm Year 11 GCSE Drama Practical (this week) January 11th Year 11 Reviews January 11th - 13th Year 9 Retreat January 14th Year 11 GCSE Drama Practical (this week) January 18th Year 11 Meningitis Immunisations January 20th

Year 9 Parents’ Evening January 20th 6th Form Parents’ Evening January 20th English GCSE resit results January 20th Year 11 reports published January 22nd Year 11 GCSE Drama Written (this week) January 25th HT Surgery January 25th PSHE Super Day January 11th Burns Supper January 29th 7 pm Year 11 Parents’ Evening February 4th Year 8 Reviews February 8th - 10th Ash Wednesday February 10th

Celebrating 60 Years of Outstanding Learning

60

I love coming to work here each day.

Often it doesn’t feel like work. We are a Catholic community of faith where it is a privilege to see our young people flourishing, to speak with them, to learn their ways and watch them grow in confidence. They are an inspiration. Every day, every lesson great adventures and stories unfold born out of curiosity, imagination and creativity. Our equally inspiring staff are dedicated to nurturing every young person in their care. They may get outstanding results, but their commitment brings so much more to the education of our students. We believe in doing things differently so that every child can realise their gifts and talents and celebrate who they are. Doing this means that we are bringing to life the Catholic mission and ethos of the school.

There is great spirit and energy in this school. You can see it in the range of extra-curricular activities, in the array of research projects undertaken by staff and in the creativity that flows through our learning. There is also support and care: no-one is left behind, no-one is left out. Visitors often comment on the quiet sense of purpose they find in the school; this comes from outstanding relationships, particularly those between teachers and pupils.

We thrive on connections: with parents and carers, with parishes, with businesses. We love to look out and have give our pupils a global perspective on learning. By doing this our students can see a higher purpose in their learning. It isn’t just about passing exams, getting a job or going to university. It is about pursuing passions, developing new skills and building character so that life after school can be rich and fulfilling lived in the service of others. Our pupils go out into the world with the capacity to contribute, to lead and to play their part in the community with joy and hope. The greatest measure of our success is seeing students who have the capacity to take charge of their future (at a time when the world is changing faster than ever), to be curious, make change and be comfortable in their own skin. As a parent myself I hope for the same for my own children.

If you like the sound of this, please come and see us. Everyone is welcome here. I look forward to meeting you and saying, ‘This is Ambrose...’

Ben Davis

Headteacher

Celebrating 60 Years of Outstanding Learning

1955 - 2015

On Wednesday we were visited by Peter Gibson, one half of the entrepreneurial duo behind Manchester’s Grindsmith Coffee company. Peter came in to advise us on setting up a coffee business in the Sixth Form run by students for the school and the local community. This is something we will be working towards over the next few months. As part of this process Grindsmith will be running a coffee cart at the Year 9 Parents' Evening and working with students from across the school throughout that day. We also have more exciting enterprise plans for Year 7 building on the enormous success of the Christmas Fair.

GRINdSMITHs partnership

On Thursday we welcomed staff and students from Abraham Moss High to speak to our staff about British Values. This is an issue on which we have been working for the past year and we were very impressed with the ideas from the students and the confidence with which they presented. As a result of the activities we are developing further our implementation of British values using some of the creative and pupil-led ideas from Abraham Moss. It is always great to collaborate with another school in this way.

british values evening

Tuesday saw all of Year 7 assemble in the Hall for the last two periods of the day to take part in the 100 Word Challenge. This is an international literacy project that allows students of all ages to post their 100 word responses to a starter word, theme or picture online and receive comments from other users. The challenge was co-ordinated by Mrs. Tulloch who earlier in the year had arranged for Year 7 pupils to train with the creator of the challenge as Literacy Ambassadors. English classrooms were abuzz with the white heat of creative writing. At the end of the afternoon the year group shared their pieces in the Hall and really enjoyed hearing their peers read aloud. They were even better than Mr. Davis’s effort!

year 7 100 word challenge

2016 begins: HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It has been great to welcome our students back this week after the Christmas holidays. It has been a pleasure to see each year group in assembly, hear and take part in talk

about presents, family gatherings and resolutions already broken and it is always a delight to go around the school and witness some of the outstanding work being done

by our young people. Many students remarked on how pleased they were to be back at school, despite the early start and the inclement weather!

The last two weeks of the Autumn term saw a number of exciting events and initiatives take place: the Barcelona trip, the talent show, the launch of an additional school bus,

the Year 7 Enterprise Fair, the Advent Liturgies and the MADD Evening and much more besides.

As we start this term we are looking forward to unprecedented numbers of students being recruited for our 6th form in response to our A-level and BTEC offer with over 180

applicants already. We also be continuing our work to challenge the stigma around mental health. In all of this the support of parents and guardians is vital - please do

contact me about any matter or attend one of my HT surgeries. I look forward to meeting you and offer you and your families every good wish for the year ahead.

Ben Davis, Headteacher