Page 30 - SEN115 - November/December 2021

PMLD
How commitment and compassion kept a SEN school running during coronavirus
Cheryl Smith recounts her experiences of working with young people with PMLD when a pandemic is thrown into the mix.
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Working with young people who have special educational needs and complex mental health issues can be challenging at the best of times, but what happens when a pandemic is thrown into the mix? Cheryl Smith recounts her experiences.
Cheryl Smith has more than 25 years’ experience working in education, but has only been in the Headteacher role for 18 months which meant she took on the role at the start of the pandemic.
“To say it was tough starting a new job during a pandemic, which already had many demanding requirements and complex constraints, is probably an understatement,” Cheryl says.
“I didn’t have the luxury of a slow introduction to the job, I literally had to hit the ground running because my primary aim was to ensure we stayed fully open throughout so our young patients still had access to quality education. Fortunately, I know St Andrew’s very well, so I was already familiar with how things ran on a day-to-day basis. Alongside maintaining an excellent education provision for our young people, I had to focus on introducing all the COVID-19 safety measures so staff and patients were well protected.”
Mental Health Act
St Andrew’s College caters for children aged between 13 to 18 years old who have been sectioned under the Mental Health Act to receive treatment for their mental health. This means the students are often very unwell and presenting with risks to themselves and/or others.
“Thinking even more ‘creatively
and flexibly”
“So, this means my team have to be highly skilled mental health practitioners,” Cheryl says.
“They also need to be resilient compassionate carers as well as educationalists, to meet the needs of our pupils fully and ensure they feel safe and supported.”
But throwing COVID-19 into the mix meant Cheryl had to dig deep and start thinking even more “creatively and flexibly” when it came to delivering lessons, even when wards were in isolation due to outbreaks of the virus.
“We had a few staff teaching from home on occasions, which meant they had to work extra hard at keeping the students engaged in their learning,” Cheryl explains.
“When on site we ensured all our teachers were in full PPE, following our COVID-19 protocols and carrying out extra hygiene routines throughout the day.”
Unannounced inspection
If that was not enough to contend with, in June 2021 Ofsted turned up for an unannounced inspection!
“I don’t think any Headteacher in the world would choose to have Ofsted in for an inspection straight after a pandemic and national lockdown, but we rose to the occasion and got on with it, doing what we do best. Teaching, caring and educating,” Cheryl says.
Thankfully the hard work paid off and the published report rated the school ‘Good’ overall and ‘Outstanding’ for behaviour and attitudes.
Trauma informed approach
The school was also praised for its trauma informed approach which is about providing individualised care and education
■ Creative thought process.
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