To encourage and develop relationships between home, parish, school and the wider community in order to prepare our pupils to become responsible, caring citizens.

Communications and Relationships

To develop an effective system of communications and relationships which is based on the Gospel values of mutual respect, tolerance, care and understanding towards all members of the school community. Individual Support and Development

To celebrate the unique nature of each person and to encourage their development as individuals. Curriculum

To introduce all pupils to a broad, balanced, relevant and differentiated curriculum and to equip pupils with the necessary knowledge, skills and Christian values required in a rapidly changing society. To provide a curriculum for our pupils which develops them academically, spiritually, morally, culturally and physically.

Our AimsIn accordance with our Mission Statement the School’s aims are:

Faith and Worship

To help us to grow spiritually as followers of Christ and as members of a Catholic community: to make prayer, worship and liturgy central to school life.

School and Community

To ensure that all pupils receive their entitlement to a first class education our school recognises that additional provision of support and guidance may be required to further enable some pupils who have particular needs. Our Special Educational Needs Policy is designed to precisely identify and match specific individual needs to appropriate help and support.

The school operates a staged approach to special educational needs in accordance with the Code of Practice document on the identification and assessment of Special Educational Needs as outlined by the Department of Education.

St Ambrose Barlow School fully endorses and adheres to the Government’s Inclusion Development Programme which focuses on supporting, training and empowering staff to identify pupils’ specific needs and support those pupils in the most effective ways in the classroom.

Whilst each pupil is at St Ambrose Barlow School, their progress is carefully monitored through our detailed assessment and reporting procedure and use of tests which can identify special abilities or difficulties.

At St Ambrose Barlow School we have a Learning Support Centre in addition to our Special Educational Needs Department, this is to support pupils on a short term basis who may have particular difficulties which prevent them from accessing the curriculum effectively at certain times throughout their school career. We also offer some alternative qualifications in key stage 4 to pupils who may have difficulties with traditional optional subjects.

If a pupil is identified as requiring additional support, an assessment is made in consultation with parents and all those concerned with that particular pupil’s education. An individual education plan is then devised where targets are set and a review date arranged to ensure that progress is being made. We regard the parental partnership as vital in ensuring that pupils are successful in achieving their targets.

In most circumstances our procedures and support occur in the classroom under the direction of the classroom teacher.

We feel that our experience of tactfully and sensitively responding to a wide range of different pupils’ additional educational requirements has contributed to the educational achievement at St Ambrose Barlow School.

Special Educational Needs Statement

St. Ambrose Barlow RC High School

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

APRIL 7TH 2016 Issue 13

A National Teaching SchoolA National School of Creativity

ST AMBROSE BARLOW RC HIGH SCHOOL

open eveningdepartmental information

IMPORTANT DATES & FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Year 10 Retreat April 15th

Year 8 Girls’ HPV injections April 21st

Staff Training Day April 22nd

Year 8 Parents’ Evening April 28th

Bank Holiday May 2nd

Year 7 Parents’ Evening May 18th

School closes for half-term May 27th

School re-opens June 6th

Year 9 Retreat June 7th - 10th

Year 10 reviews June 13th -15th

Y6 Transition Days June 16th - 20th

Sports Presentation Evening June 16th

Malham Trip June 20th - 24th

New Intake Parents’ Evening June 22nd

Y7 Conway trip July 4th - 8th

Year 10 Plas Menai July 11th - 15th

School closes July 15th

Celebrating 60 Years of Outstanding Learning

60

I love coming to work here each day.

Often it doesn’t feel like work. We are a Catholic community of faith where it is a privilege to see our young people flourishing, to speak with them, to learn their ways and watch them grow in confidence. They are an inspiration. Every day, every lesson great adventures and stories unfold born out of curiosity, imagination and creativity. Our equally inspiring staff are dedicated to nurturing every young person in their care. They may get outstanding results, but their commitment brings so much more to the education of our students. We believe in doing things differently so that every child can realise their gifts and talents and celebrate who they are. Doing this means that we are bringing to life the Catholic mission and ethos of the school.

There is great spirit and energy in this school. You can see it in the range of extra-curricular activities, in the array of research projects undertaken by staff and in the creativity that flows through our learning. There is also support and care: no-one is left behind, no-one is left out. Visitors often comment on the quiet sense of purpose they find in the school; this comes from outstanding relationships, particularly those between teachers and pupils.

We thrive on connections: with parents and carers, with parishes, with businesses. We love to look out and have give our pupils a global perspective on learning. By doing this our students can see a higher purpose in their learning. It isn’t just about passing exams, getting a job or going to university. It is about pursuing passions, developing new skills and building character so that life after school can be rich and fulfilling lived in the service of others. Our pupils go out into the world with the capacity to contribute, to lead and to play their part in the community with joy and hope. The greatest measure of our success is seeing students who have the capacity to take charge of their future (at a time when the world is changing faster than ever), to be curious, make change and be comfortable in their own skin. As a parent myself I hope for the same for my own children.

If you like the sound of this, please come and see us. Everyone is welcome here. I look forward to meeting you and saying, ‘This is Ambrose...’

Ben Davis

Headteacher

Celebrating 60 Years of Outstanding Learning

1955 - 2015

At the tail-end of last term our Year 10 Young Enterprise Team participated in the regional finals. These were held at the HSBC Bank building in Spinningfields, central Manchester. They were the only team who were not from a Sixth Form and also the only state school represented. Their presentation was polished, their stall was high quality and the conducted themselves with poise and confidence. The judges were very impressed with our team, recognising the unique social nature of their product (unlike all the other teams) and the excellent concept. At the end of the evening we were delighted that the team were chosen to receive a special award: the Company Journey Award. The recognises the team who have made the greatest developments as a team and have grown in skill, experience and maturity. For the Year 10s this is just the start of a promising career in business and enterprise. Credit must go especially to Mrs. Cheshire who worked with the team over the last few months.

YOUNG ENTERPRISE

EASTER SPORTS CAMP Following on from the success of our Summer Sports Camp Mr. Morrison ran an Easter camp for 6-12 year olds in the second week of the Easter holidays. The camp was oversubscribed and extremely busy with over 50 children participating and making the most of our facilities. It was especially pleasing to see the a group of our Year 10s took on the role of sports leaders helping the younger ones participate in a wide range of activities.

EASTER LITURGIES Prior to the Easter holidays we postponed our planned liturgies as we felt that they were too early to be meaningful. Since the season of Easter continues after the holidays we held the liturgies this week celebrating the joy of Easter through readings and bidding prayers as well as through the words of Pope Francis. The services were led by Year 11 students and Mr. Davies.

We were delighted to see former pupil Sophie Downes featuring on the One Show this week. You can watch the clip on the BBC iPlayer by following this link http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b075tdvc/the-one-show-06042016

Sophie’s appearance is around 11:40. Sophie left St. Ambrose Barlow in the summer of 2015 and is now studying Drama at college.

FORMER PUPIL ON THE ONE SHOW

Over the Easter holidays an intrepid group of students and staff led by Miss Hyland headed off to Italy to enjoy some early spring snow. They were not disappointed! A week of excellent skiiing ensued with plenty of additional activities and social time included. They returned on Good Friday in time for the Easter weekend with friends and family after an excellent trip.

EASTER SKI TRIP

CURRICULUM PLANNING DAY

While all the pupils were enjoying the last day of their holidays the staff were hard at work reviewing the Key Stage 3 (Years 7-9) curriculum.

This process was greatly assisted by pupils and staff from St. Edmund’s Primary School in Little Hulton who came along to present their work and explain better the level of challenge expected in Year 6. The three pupils who spoke were excellent and really gave the staff an insight into the curriculum in primary school.

We are now working on developing the level of challenge in KS3, building links between subjects and reviewing assessments.

WELL DONE BRENDAN! Congratulations to Brendan McCarthy of form 10F who passed his Grade 6 Piano exam with Merit recently. This is a very considerable achievement and worthy of celebration. We are always keen to hear of the personal achievements of pupils and will include them in this newsletter when possible.

SCIENCE CELLS! It’s not often that you hear how great homework is! However, Miss Moore’s Year 9 Science class could not stop celebrating their work this week. They had been set the task of creating interesting visual presentations on cells as their Easter holiday revision homework. The results are dazzling with 3D pieces, posters, booklets and more besides. A fantastic example of inspiring learning and teaching in action.

I AM CREATIVE SKILLS LADDER Three Year 9 and 10 pupils attended an Ideas Foundation workshop at Manchester marketing and communications agency BJL during the Easter holidays. The worked on branding and business development skills as part of the skills ladder that helps young people develop into a career in the creative industries.

OUR SCHOOL THIS WEEK THE EXCITEMENT OF CELLS IN SCIENCE. WHO WOULDN’T DO A HOMEWORK THIS GOOD?!

OUR SCHOOL THIS WEEK THE EXCITEMENT OF CELLS IN SCIENCE. WHO WOULDN’T DO A HOMEWORK THIS GOOD?!

OUR SCHOOL THIS WEEK ON SLOPES OVER EASTER. WHO IS THE EDDIE THE EAGLE IMPERSONATOR IN THE BOTTOM PICTURE?

OUR SCHOOL THIS WEEK ABOVE: THE YOUNG ENTERPRISE TEAM; BELOW: OUR LATEST MY AMBROSE POSTER AND FEATURE http://www.stambrosebarlowswinton.org/my-ambrose/jacob-farr/