Learning for Life

CAMHS Phoenix School

Learningfor Life

Our vision is to provide a welcoming and positive learning environment that empowers the individual to find joy in learning.

We aim for students to make personalised academic progress and to find and believe in their own voice. We firmly believe that our work in CAMHS Phoenix School is an integral part of each young person’s recovery.

About Us

a wall display of the book clubs reviews of the maze runner

Quality ofEducation

The school is a nurturing environment where support for mental health issues is paramount.

Our staff are highly skilled, knowledgeable and experienced. We identify a student’s talents and learning styles and plan our teaching accordingly. Our school has a maximum of 12 pupils and the equivalent of 3 full time teachers and one teaching assistant, which allows us to offer students a high level of teacher attention. In this small setting, we are able to discover each student’s personal interests and help them to pursue them.

Our students have a broad curriculum and opportunities to develop a wide range of skills. We liaise closely with home schools to ensure that young people keep up to date with their work. As our students come from a range of schools across a vast area their curriculums and interests can be infinite and hence so is our curriculum. No intake of students is the same and we make a bespoke programme for the young people we are teaching. We have a flexible, creative and adaptable approach to teaching and learning and we aim to develop the students’ joy of learning and ability to have a go. We link to real life situations, topical events and competitions to instil a thirst for education that will be with them as they move forward.

Our Work

plaster displays made by the students for the queens jubilee

Behaviour and attitudes

Our aim is to cultivate an atmosphere of kindness and respect in our school.

We provide a welcoming, safe and comfortable environment for our young people. It is important to us that they see school and education as a positive and worthwhile experience and that they understand how education is part of their recovery and future. We want our young people to feel supported, connected and interested in the world around them. We encourage them to develop their understanding of how they learn and to set their own targets for learning.

We have regular contact with parents, carers and home schools and our school is a place where we respect each other, understand the needs of others and accept ourselves for who we are.

About Us

Our Policies

Leadership and Management

We work as a team to support our young people

We have regular individual supervision meetings, team meetings and SLT meetings. We also liaise closely with the NHS staff in the unit through daily handover meetings, weekly clinical team meetings and monthly care plan approach meetings.

Our team work together on new initiatives, share school development targets as a team and regularly reflect and review our practice. We are always learning and moving forward.

We are supported by our management committee and our Friends group. We are also part of the NAHE, allowing us to network and train with other education staff in similar settings.

Our Policies

an image for ideas to use for better mental health

PersonalDevelopment

We teach our young people how to learn and try to prepare them for adult life.

We want them to continue to be curious and enjoy learning long into the future. We promote independent learning skills and prepare them for their next stages in education, training or work.

The nature of our young people and their difficulties means that Personal Development is a focus for us and one of our many strengths. We tackle head on issues in RSHE lessons through teaching, debate, discussion, including British Values and developing understanding of protected characteristics in the 2010 Equality Act.

Our curriculum includes enrichment opportunities through school sessions such as RSHE, the Arts Award, Life Skills, Music and Creative Writing.

We also create real-life experiences such as charity fundraising and running a “Christmas shop”. Our ‘quiz of the week’ keeps young people up to date with current affairs and weekly community meetings allow them to have a ‘say’ in how the unit is run. We bring in visitors such as poets, UK Government speakers, apprentices, artists and writers to engage young people and excite their interest. In response to the change of designation of our unit to less severe mental health needs, we are now pleased to start planning educational visits.

As part of their stay in the unit students receive weekly 1:1 sessions with a psychologist, weekly group sessions on motivation and resilience and twice weekly sessions on managing moods. The improvement of their mental health is the main aim of the unit and the strength of the provision.

About Us

Our Policies

wall displays from multiple classes showing the countries that make up the UK and all there achievements

examples of a science experiment for Osmotic using carrots

Our Curriculum- intentimplementation and impact

We provide interesting, enjoyable and relevant learning opportunities for all young people.

We aim to keep our students up to date with their school work so that they can have a smooth transition back to their home school. Education is part of the young person’s recovery and we instil a joy for learning, curiosity and an interest in the world around them. We develop the students’ confidence and relationships with others and encourage individual talents.

CAMHS Phoenix unit is a place where lives are changed and our school is a fundamental part of this. We are able to identify gaps in their learning and fill these gaps. Students leave having made academic progress, social progress and having developed skills to reintegrate successfully and continue their education. We help them to see how education is part of their future and they leave with goals to work towards; hope and guidance for the future. Students develop skills for life and learn to understand themselves as learners and as people.

Our Policies