Acorn Newsletter

The Acorn Care & Education Newsletter

Thank you for taking the time to read our first newsletter and taking an interest in Acorn Care and Education.In making an introduction to the Group it is quite difficult to cover

the range of needs we meet, from very clever children experiencing

transient emotional, behavioural or social difficulties that can be

substantially reduced in one of our day schools, through to children

with severe and enduring learning disabilities or autism that are

currently in one of our residential schools. However, whatever their

needs children are children first and we aim to give each one a positive

experience of childhood and adolescence and the best possible

preparation for adulthood.

We hope you will see the many examples of this within the newsletter.

IN THIS ISSUE:

Acorn Care and Education invests £1 Million in Acorn Park School.

The most extreme classroom on Earth!

Nathan’s Story - an inspirational look at one young person’s life with Acorn Care and Education.

Logically illogical - Ros Blackburn speaks at Kestrel House School.

The Ofsted Journey.

ACORN NEWS

Acorn News The Acorn Care & Education Newsletter

Oakfield school shows its green streak with help from the local community

A day of fun & hard work!Having recently gained silver eco-award status and in a final push towards the coveted Green Flag the school have recently opened their doors to the local community for an eco-day where staff and students worked alongside local schools and neighbours to start work on building an eco-garden with play equipment from completely recycled elements. The designs for the garden have been submitted by the children and they had great fun seeing their ideas take shape.

As an eco-school, children at Oakfield House School can access peaceful nature trails, vegetable patches, orchards and outdoor sports spaces surrounded by wildlife and bird song to supplement the excellent work that takes place inside the school. All children are encouraged to take responsibilities around school to work towards maintaining the eco-school status, whilst learning about the world that they live in and their impact on it.

To follow the success of the new eco-garden please visit our website www.oakfieldhouseschool.co.uk

Gill, Head Teacher ”“We invited families and lots of groups from

our local community who brought things with them and we have had lots of items kindly donated to us such as the use of a mini digger for free to prepare the ground. We also invited some of the local schools who we have been sharing best practice with to help them gain their Green Eco-School Flag too.


Nathan was standing with a teacher

and good friend. He shook my hand

firmly and then over hot tea and

homemade cakes he started to tell

me, quietly and politely, his story,

and how he’d ended up “in the

system”.

Impressed and influenced by the

older boys in a gang which terrorised

the streets of Stoke-on-Trent, he was

already taking drugs and carrying

knives by the age of nine.

In one year he was shifted around 20

schools and care homes. He went to

bed with a crow bar under his pillow

and a knife hidden in his mattress.

Bad behaviour, he soon worked out,

was the quick escape from a school

or home he didn’t like.

Two and a half years ago the police

drove Nathan up the long drive into

Underley Hall; yet another placement

with unpleasant first memories of

trying to attack a member of staff

with a knife and chewing glass.

Nathan, with a sense of calm, told

me how anger had filled him with

everything the world had to offer.

I wondered if this quietly spoken 15

year old realised the enormity of

the task ahead of him – to tell his

own life story under bright lights on

camera and in his own words. No

script. No autocue. No rehearsals.

My production brief was to ensure

that the film was credible and

real. Acorn Care and Education’s

Marketing Manager Hannah Fellows

charged me with the task of showing

Underley Hall as it really is, and

how the staff, the teachers, and the

whole support network, manage to

turn children’s lives around.

Nathan painfully recounted his early,

crazy life. By the age of 11 he was

almost beyond help. His support

network, as well as his own family,

didn’t know what to do with him.

At Underley Hall, after several

outbursts of anger and attacks on

his teachers and care workers, he

realised that the staff simply weren’t

going to give up on him.

Today with exam success in the

classroom and his peers admitting

that Nathan’s a “great lad”, the

shame he feels about his own ways

is being replaced by a truly inspiring

sense of self worth he now feels.

“Before I came here I didn’t even

know I had a brain,” he laughs as he

talks of his hopes of university and

a career, and – one day – a family of

his own. Underley Hall has turned

his agony into aspirations.

In more than 25 years producing

short factual films – mainly for

BBC and ITV television, I’ve met

murderers, muggers, lifers and

paedophiles. I’ve filmed on picket

lines, in palaces and inside prisons.

I’ve interviewed prime ministers,

princes and paupers. I’ve met dozens

of the victims of young people like

Nathan, and watched as social

workers and care teams try – in spite

of cutbacks, low morale and almost

impossible workload to do their very

best for youngsters just like him.

Nathan and the others we filmed at

Underley Hall were a credit to their

school, to their teachers and care

workers, to their families, and to

themselves. Nathan is rightly proud

of what he has achieved.

He is adamant that if he can do it, any

other young person in the system can

do the same.

He’s polite, helpful, well spoken

and easily builds a mature and co-

operative working relationship with

the film crew and it’s easy to forget

that he’s still only 15.

His greatest happiness is that he

has rebuilt a relationship with his

Mum and family. When she watches

Nathan’s story – and witnesses her

son’s integrity, credibility, his new

character and confidence, she might

not recognise the boy who left the

family home, but she might just burst

with pride.

For me, Nathan’s story has been a

privilege to tell.

Nathan’s Story was produced by blueQuail media. blueQuail is run by two award winning TV & Radio journalists. Mark Saggers is one of the UK’s most talented sports broadcasters and currently hosts the weekend breakfast programme with Micky Quinn on talkSPORT. Jane Saggers is an award winning journalist who has worked as a News Editor, Reporter, and Documentary maker for BBC and ITV.

My first glimpse of Underley Hall School from across the fields near the Cumbrian village of Kirkby Lonsdale, was as majestic and imposing as the Acorn Care and Education brochure had promised. Inside its walls, 15 year old Nathan waited to meet me for the very first time.

Nathan lives & studies at Underley Hall School, one of Acorn Care and Educations many UK schools and homes.

View Nathan’s Story on YouTube www.youtube.com/acorncare

NATHAN’SSTORYBy Jane Saggers of blue Quail Media


Five boys from The Grange Therapeutic School recently spent a weekend in the Brecon Beacons after successfully being shortlisted for the second stage of the Hottest Classroom on Earth challenge. The challenge will see 8 young boys from across the country take place in a 9 day trek in July across the floor of the Great Rift Valley and will be followed by a BBC film crew. This unique and physically challenging expedition will be guided by members of the Maasai community and supported by Alan Chambers veteran of Britain’s first unsupported expedition to the North Pole and Dr Ed Coats who rose to fame in the race to the South Pole with James Cracknell and Ben Fogle. The challenge will culminate in Jamie Oliver flying in to cook the final camp meal.

The second stage saw the boys spend four days at a training camp in the Brecon Beacons where they were put through a very challenging yet rewarding programme. The judges were looking for individuals who were able to form part of a strong cohesive team which can work together and support each other in what will unquestionably be a life-changing experience in Tanzania. All boys were commended for their outstanding attitude and behaviour on the weekend and we are delighted that pupil Chris Downie will now be one of the lucky eight finalists taking up the challenge in July.

As part of the preparations for the expedition The Grange will host a weekend of team building events for all the pupils and staff taking part.

Most Extreme Classroom on Earth!


The last few weeks have been a busy time for Acorn’s Care Division with the opening of our two new Children’s homes, South View and Middle Carr Farm.

Acorn Care and Education Open Two New Children’s Homes!

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We are delighted to announce that Longdon Hall School successfully opened on Tuesday 6th September. After 18 months of planning it was a fantastic moment for all of the staff to welcome the first cohort of young people through the doors. Term started with a multi-activity induction week combining class based learning tasks with a range of outdoor adventurous activities including climbing, abseiling and BMX biking.

As a staff team we are delighted with how well the pupils have engaged in all aspects of the curriculum and have made the most of the variety of learning opportunities on offer. Notable achievements to date include pupils gaining a number of AQA Unit Awards in a range of subjects and activities from Maths, English, Science, Outdoor Learning and Garden Maintenance. In PE three pupils have achieved their Bronze Rookie Lifeguard Award whilst another has progressed from being a virtual non swimmer to achieving his 200m award.

As part of the PSHE programme the pupils learned about the significance of Armistice Day. The highlight of this unit of work consisted of a whole school visit to the National Memorial Arboretum. Pupils also prepared and sent 4 shoeboxes filled with Christmas gifts to Zambia in support of the Samaritan’s Purse Shoebox Appeal and as part of our commitment to the International School Project we are currently in the process of setting up links with a secondary school in Zambia.

The pupils have worked together on a number of different assignments as part of Anti Bullying Week (November 14th -18th). This week concluded with the pupils discussing, designing and signing up to a Longdon Hall School Anti Bullying Pledge. As a result of this work Longdon Hall School has now been accepted onto the Staffordshire Schools Anti Bullying programme.

Longdon Hall School has now achieved the Bronze award for ECO schools and we have already started to work towards achieving the Silver award. As part of this process we have created an ECO schools committee and have created an action plan to help us progress to Silver.

As part of the ongoing build up to the Olympics this year we have been making links within our lessons to the Olympic Values. To showcase all the fantastic work that the pupils have been doing we have been sending regular blog posts on the Schools ‘Get Set’ Network site. As a result of some outstanding work from the pupils, we were voted School of the Month for December.

We were selected out of 10,000 schools across the country, what a great achievement for all staff and pupils with us only being in operation for 4 months! As part of this award we have received a signed letter from Lord Coe congratulating the school on its great work and commitment to the Olympic values and we are also going to be visited by ‘Wenlock’ the Official Olympic Mascot in February.

This has provided us with an excellent opportunity to develop links with local primary schools in the community and to invite them to join us for this visit and celebration.

Finally, to accommodate the growth in pupil numbers, a fourth learning space has been developed and is fully operational as the Key Stage 4 classroom.

Matt Storey – Head Teacher

Longdon Hall School

Acorn Care and Education opens Longdon Hall School.

A signed letter from Lord Coe congratulating the school on its great work and commitment to the Olympic values!

South View, located in Stamford and Middle Carr Farm in Rawtenstall will both provide residential accommodation 52 weeks a year for boys 10 – 17 years of age who have particular needs arising out of their social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties. As with Acorn Care and Educations existing children’s homes each young person placed at South View or Middle Carr Farm will have a placement at The Grange Therapeutic School or Belmont School available to them, offering unrivalled care, education and consistency across a 24 hour curriculum.

UNDERLEY HALL SCHOOL UNDERLEY GARDEN SCHOOL CROOKHEY HALL SCHOOL OAKFIELD HOUSE SCHOOL WATERLOO LODGE SCHOOL BELMONT SCHOOL HALL CARR FARM LONGDON HALL THE GRANGE THERAPEUTIC SCHOOL THE SHIRES SOUTHVIEW ACORN PARK SCHOOL BRAMFIELD HOUSE SCHOOL KESTREL HOUSE SCHOOL HEATH FARM SCHOOL THE OLD SCHOOL

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RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS DAY SCHOOLSCHILDREN’S HOMESSCHOOLS WITH CHILDREN’S HOMES

This map shows our variety of schools and homes across the UK


Waterloo Lodge School last hosted Ofsted inspectors in April 2008, and received a judgement of Good with one element of Satisfactory. I took on the position of Acting Head in May 2008, becoming substantive in the role in June 2009.

My first job as Head Teacher was to write a Post-Ofsted Action Plan for approval by the inspectorate; and then the journey began to improve the school’s practice, with the ultimate aim of improving outcomes for our young people.

In April 2011, with the three year Ofsted deadline looming, our thoughts turned to the impending inspection. One can’t help but experience feelings of trepidation; would we be able to demonstrate just how much we had developed and improved in the preceding years? Had we gathered enough evidence to support my judgement of our school?

In October 2011, when I received a phone call explaining that our Ofsted inspectors would be coming to school the next day,

the overwhelming first thoughts of all the staff was that of relief! We had worked so hard and were keen for the opportunity to share our good practice, and to receive validation for our efforts.

I was so proud of all of the pupils and staff of Waterloo Lodge during the three days that the inspectors spent with us. The young people were an absolute credit both to themselves and to the staff who unfailingly support them in their endeavours to achieve success. We welcomed our visitors with an openness and warmth that is often commented upon, and it was indeed a pleasure to be a part of such a rigorous yet supportive inspection process.

Julie Taylor,Head Teacher

‘Waterloo Lodge provides an outstanding quality of education; the curriculum, the quality of teaching and assessment and the provision for students’ personal development are all outstanding. The staff understand and make exemplary provision for the individual needs of each student under the highly effective leadership of the headteacher and senior staff. Arrangements for the safeguarding of students and promotion of their welfare, health and safety are outstanding and students respond with an outstanding quality of behaviour and respect. As a result, and despite the difficulties experienced in their earlier education, students make good, and often outstanding, progress with their learning. The school, especially the curriculum, has improved since the last inspection; the school fulfils its aims successfully and now meets all the regulations for registration as an independent school.’

Ofsted 2011

Waterloo Lodge School: The Ofsted Journey

Ros Blackburn is an adult with autism. Very early in her life she was described as withdrawn and isolated and very much in a world of her own. She was diagnosed with autism when she was 18 months old but with an average intellectual ability. She is now a national and international speaker giving professionals and parents an insight to her experiences of care and educational settings.

Ros shows great courage and a very strong sense of humour delivering her talk. Although she feels that many areas of her autistic condition have remained very severe, others, such as her severe language delay, have disappeared almost completely. While she is dyslexic, Ros Blackburn is gifted with a fluency in spoken language that allows her to clearly convey her thoughts and experiences. This is one of the reasons she lectures educators, carers, families and people from the autism spectrum. During the talk at Kestrel House School she draws upon her own experience of living with autism and shares experiences as a recipient of various services but also as an observer of educational and care approaches. Ros describes the approach taken by her Mum and Dad as the ‘veneer of social competence’ that has been the core of her ability to engage and manage in a greatly autism-unfriendly world.

Ros’s talk is extremely open and humorous and she retells and shares the ‘mistakes’ that has made her learn. She also delivers an insight to some of her own coping strategies. She offers useful advice on practical strategies but also straightforward and perceptive information on what not to do when working with people with autism! Ros relays some of the issues caused by an uneven profile of strengths and weaknesses – especially when the strengths masks the very real difficulties an individual diagnosed with autism might present. Ross truly tells it as it is and she does not camouflage the anxiety and limitations which are a part of her daily experience, yet she is also able to transfer her wonderful capacity for fun and passion for life as well as her total refusal to accept ‘second best’ for herself as well as others. She does not promote any specific approach to autism but puts cross that we should all remember that people with autism are people too and that ‘common sense’ should apply. She insists on the need for high expectations for people with ASD and these expectations need to be linked with an equal level of support.

We have had amazing feedback from all attendees and I would highly recommend anyone who has the opportunity to attend one of Ros’s talks to do so. I don’t think anybody left the event that evening without feeling enthusiastic, enlightened and equipped with innovative awareness of autism.

Kestrel House, London

Never, never make excuses for autism, but help the person overcome the problems caused by it.Ros’s Mum

I have to work out theoretically all the things that you just land yourselves at instinctively.Ros Blackburn

To me the outside world is a totally baffling incomprehensible mayhem which terrifies me. It is a meaningless mass of sights and sounds, noises and movements, coming from nowhere, going nowhere. Ros Blackburn

Logically

Ros Blackburn at Kestrel House School, December 2011

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The Education facilities are being completely refurbished to provide an ‘autism friendly’ teaching environment. Specialist classroom furniture will act to help the children engage in a range of activities. Individual work stations will create a distraction free work area, different combinations of tables and other furniture will allow us to accommodate changes in the children’s needs.

Acorn Care and Education have a brand new website, our aim was to make the site fun and simple for visitors to find what they are looking for. We have also introduced a section that showcases all of our videos.

Google ‘Acorn Care and Education’ today and take a look!

A pupil from Underley Hall School, who plays for Kirkby Lonsdale Rugby Club, Devonte Cantrill has made the training squad for the Under 15 Cumbria representative 11! This is a fantastic achievement for Devonte and he has the chance to go to Ireland on tour with his Kirkby Lonsdale team at Easter.

Well Done Devonte!

A range of subtle blue and green hues were selected as the main colour palette for the classrooms to help create a sense of calm and to reduce stimuli. A pastel pink was chosen for the corridors as studies have shown that many children with autism favour pale pink.

The decorative wood flooring in the corridors and the micro-granite design in the classrooms will act to tackle noise transfer by absorbing sound.

We will pioneer the use of Philips School Vision lighting in an ‘Autistic Friendly’ setting. School Vision allows lighting to be modified to the preferences and needs of the children, delivering improved focus, concentration and behaviour.

Acorn Park School Features

Acorn Care and Education is investing £1 million in Acorn Park School...

Acorn Care and Education Limited.1 Merchants Place, River Street, Bolton BL2 1BX

Tel: 01204 558038Fax: 01204 558059Email: [email protected]: www.acorncare.co.uk

A Brand New Acorn Website!

Rugby star in the making!

You can also find Acorn Care and Education on Facebook, YouTube and Flickr.

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