Our Facilities

Our Facilities

Our school is located on two sites, our main site on Crawlaw Road in Easington has young people up to Year 11, spread across three departments; Foundation hub,  primary and secondary departments and our Edenhill site in Peterlee has young people in our Sixth Form department. All young people have access to a range of facilities onsite and offsite in the local community, community engagement is a key part of our curriculum and young people regularly access community facilities.

 

Foundation Hub

We currently have two classes within our Foundation Hub provision, the classrooms are designed using a continuous provision model allowing children to explore independently with adults supporting the facilitation of engagement with different learning activities, the classes are set up into a number of different areas, such as construction zone, quiet zone, sensory space, reading zone and so on. Within this area of the school is a large accessible outdoor space accessed directly from the classroom and children are encouraged to access outdoor play as much as possible. The Foundation Hub has two built in bathrooms to ensure easy access to toilets to support personal care needs and any toilet training needs a child may have. The department is staffed by a range of professionals including teachers, teaching assistants, health care assistants as well as visiting professionals (internally and externally), for example, physio, speech and language therapists, communication assistants, occupational therapists, all of whom work in a team way to ensure individual children’s’ needs are met in the most effective ways possible.

Primary

We currently have nine classes within our Primary department, with two of these being located within our Autism Hub. The classrooms are designed with young peoples’ need in mind, most of our classrooms provide a low stimulus environment which supports sensory regulation needs and all classes have access to sensory equipment within the classroom to support regulation. Toilets are located at the end of primary corridor and two classes have their own internal bathrooms. Usually, we would have between five and ten young people within our Primary classes dependent on individual need and curriculum pathway they are following. Our classes based within Primary department are named after colours, for example Orange Class etc and those based in the Autism Hub are named after trees for example Maple Class.

Each class has their own class charter which is a visual document that establishes an agreed set of rights-based principles upon which relationships can be based and which provide a language for shared values. The department have access to an occupational therapy suite, sports hall and dining hall inside the building and outside access to Forest School, an outdoor classroom and an outdoor trim trail.

The department is staffed by a range of dedicated professionals including teachers, teaching assistants, health care assistants as well as visiting professionals (internally and externally), for example physio, speech and language therapists, communication assistants, occupational therapists and our student support team all who work in a team way to ensure individual student needs are met in the most effective ways possible.

Secondary

We currently have fifteen classes within our Secondary department. The classrooms are designed with young peoples’ need in mind, most of our classrooms provide a low stimulus environment which support sensory regulation needs, all classes have access to sensory equipment within the classroom to support regulation. Toilets are located in both downstairs and upstairs, a short distance from classrooms. Usually, we would have between eight and twelve young people within our Secondary classes dependent on individual need and the curriculum they are following. Our classes in Secondary department are all named after local Durham landmarks or locations, for example Castle class, Cathedral class, Elvet class etc. Each class has their own class charter which is a visual document that establishes an agreed set of rights-based principles upon which relationships can be based and which provide a language for shared values. The department have access to an occupational therapy suite, sensory room, food technology room, sports hall and dining hall inside the building and outside access to Forest School, an outdoor classroom, outdoor reading area, outdoor gym, outdoor climbing wall on the Secondary yard. Our Secondary young people frequently access local community facilities in Easington and Peterlee, for example the local library, gym, public transport, parks, East Durham coastal path as well as other facilities. The department is staffed by a range of dedicated professionals including teachers, teaching assistants, health care assistants as well as visiting professionals (internally and externally), for example physio, speech and language therapists, communication assistants, occupational therapists and our pastoral team all who work in a team way to ensure individual needs are met in the most effective ways possible.

Sixth Form

We currently have three classes within our Sixth Form Department, we are situated in our own building in the Eden Hill area of Peterlee. The classrooms are designed with young people’s need in mind, most of our classrooms provide a low stimulus environment which supports sensory regulation needs, all classes have access to sensory equipment within the classroom to support student regulation. Toilets are located in on both floors, a short distance from classrooms. Our class sizes are dependent on individual need and the curriculum pathway they are following. Each class has their own class charter which is a visual document that establishes an agreed set of rights-based principles upon which relationships can be based and which provide a language for shared values. Our Preparation for Adulthood plans are displayed in the classrooms to demonstrate how students prepare for life beyond Sixth Form and the world of work.

Our building is in the heart of the community and allows us access to so many exciting opportunities, we house a Durham Trussell Trust Foodbank and use this to develop young people’s employability skills through volunteering. We access the local community facilities to develop our independence, employability and social skills – young people regularly visit the local library, leisure centre, supermarkets, rugby club and social club. Developing skills within the community is a very important part of our study programme, we travel train regularly, and some students go as far as Newcastle and the Metro Centre. We are working hard to develop work experience opportunities relating to aspirations so that young people are well prepared for the world of work, this includes external visitors coming in to practice team building and interview skills. The department is staffed by a range of dedicated professionals including teachers, teaching assistants, health care assistants as well as visiting professionals (internally and externally), for example physio, speech and language therapists, communication assistants, occupational therapists and our pastoral team all who work in a team way to ensure individual needs are met in the most effective ways possible.

Mobile Education Service

Our mobile education service was developed in conjunction with the local authority in 2022 following the global pandemic and the issues faced around an increasing number of young people being extremely anxious about attending school.

This service operates for a small amount of young people across school who are physically and emotionally unable to access the traditional school setting and therefore they access their education offer in a mobile and very personalised way. By this we mean in their homes, in the local community and overtime beginning reintegration into school.

The mobile education team of three colleagues work in a multi-agency way to ensure all agencies who are needed to support the family are effectively engaged and in place in order to support improvement of outcomes for the young person and their family.

This is what our families say about the Mobile Education Service

“I can see a big difference in H since he began his mobile education. He is more confident in his maths as it was a lesson he didn’t really like.  He really enjoys his lessons with Beth and Sue. He’s coming on great, I can’t thank them enough.”

 

“I think it has made me more smarter.  My brain is getting more calculated.  I don’t want them to come but then I have so much fun!”

 

“T loves his visits from Beth and Sue. He is recognising his numbers a lot better and using his phonics more. [He] is a lot more settled after his visits.”

 

“S is doing really well, completing his ‘jobs’ and enjoying his activities.  Beth engages with him well and he has a trusting relationship with her. Very happy to see that he is now receiving an education.”

 

“We are really pleased to see how G is progressing in Sixth Form. She is always so keen to attend the sessions and it is great she is willing to increase the number of sessions she does.  Its really great to hear how well she is doing and seeing her confidence increase from working with Beth and Sue.”

 

“B has made brilliant progress. he has started to engage with both Beth and Sue which I am thrilled about. Both Beth and Sue have been lovely with him and with myself. They are both so understanding and have lots of patience when it comes to B. He enjoys his sessions and everything is going so well.”

 

“It’s great to see S improving each time he meets Beth. There are direct positives, such as how much his reading is improving, however we are also seeing secondary benefits such as S enjoying the routine that comes with each visit.”

 

Outdoor Facilities

We are blessed to have small yet well designed grounds in the academy, we have invested significantly to ensure all young people have regular access to outdoor spaces. Onsite we have a number of outdoor classroom spaces, an outdoor gym, a MUGA area, climbing facilities, reading huts and our most popular resource of fantastic yurt. The yurt provides a calm space which is accessed by young people for a range of different purposes. Outside of the school grounds young people regularly access the local community, we have fantastic access to the East Durham coastline, local denes and trails, our local mining heritage in Easington and the surrounding ex-mining communities, shopping facilities further afield at Dalton Park, Peterlee, Seaham, Sunderland and Durham. We regularly access local leisure facilities as part of our preparation for adulthood including the local gym, leisure centre, swimming pool, horse riding centre as well as other outdoor spaces. We are served well by public transport links and young people regularly access buses for travel training as we as sometimes the Tyne and Wear metro slightly further afield.