Explore | Nurture | Grow
Who We Are:
Head Start Primary is an alternative provision provider for Reception, KS1 & KS2 children based in Cramlington, Northumberland. We specialise in providing short & long term support for young people who have not been able to maintain a placement in their local school either due to a social, emotional or behavioural difficulty or a medical condition.
We are a close-knit and supportive setting where every child is valued and individuality is celebrated. We recognise that happy children who feel confident and supported will grow to reach their full potential. Head Start’s unique family feel, and nurturing environment enables every child to succeed.
Ethos:
At Head Start we strive to provide the best possible environment for children to learn and develop, as well as to cultivate a sense of wonder, empathy and understanding of the world around them.
Aims:
As a team we aim to stimulate re-engagement, development, and achievement by providing bespoke educational intervention programmes. We offer pupil centred planning and solution focused support so that they can successfully return to mainstream education or transfer to other suitable long-term provision. We endeavour to provide a safe and nurturing environment that facilitates a personalised holistic approach to learning enabling our children to reach their full potential.
Students at Head Start Primary are encouraged to explore, discover and question through a range of exciting learning opportunities both within and outside the classroom. We aim to provide a calm and stimulating environment where good behaviour and mutual respect is modelled, and where everyone is valued. We provide a broad and balanced education with the talents of each child recognised and celebrated, thereby enabling all our children to grow in confidence, develop a sense of responsibility and achieve their personal goals. Every child is an individual.
About us:
Head Start Primary recognises that children in our care have experienced difficulties in responding to the day-to-day challenges of a mainstream school. They require personalised support in extending their range of emotional, social and behavioural skills and achieving appropriate learning outcomes. We are passionate about providing an exciting, purposeful learning environment for all our children. We recognise the responsibility to nurture and develop each child; we view each child as unique and offer a bespoke curriculum to meet their individual needs and interests
Our Primary setting adopts the ‘Thrive approach’ led by a qualified Thrive practitioner. This underpins how we educate and develop our students to become more emotionally resilient. This approach helps us identify gaps in children’s emotional and social development so that the staff working with them can help them to progress and engage with education and with life.
Head Start Primary can support and contribute to a child’s EHCP process by completing referrals including CYPS and the COSA application. Every child when they arrive has an SEN support plan created, which sets out their specific targets to meet their needs in education. These are assessed on a half termly basis. This information then feeds into the EHCP application process. Once the EHCP is granted, Head Start Primary can continue to educate the child for one or two cycles of the plan – giving stakeholders an opportunity to see if the child will return to mainstream or specialist provision.
It has been great to find somewhere which we could trust to meet the needs of a pupil who we could no longer safely accommodate. The transition plan worked effectively, and since moving to Head Start the child has been able to access full days of provision with the appropriate level of support – thank you!
Head Teacher, Eastlea Primary School
