Category

The Bridge

Give Me Shelter

15th December 2022Website Admin

With thanks to High Tech High for allowing us to share their student’s beautiful work.

In this project we discussed the issue of homelessness and poverty to encourage students to develop empathy and to see the world from different perspectives. Students took a closer look at the underlying issues of homelessness. We examined the issues of resource availability, equity, and access. We grappled with questions about over represented populations. Students took a hard look at their own biases and misconceptions and developed a better understanding through community service. Students created change with public service announcements, demonstrations holding cardboard signs with facts and statistics, and the creation and implementation of community food pantries.

Teacher’s Reflection

“We saw a tremendous shift in our students’ thinking and perceptions about what it means to be homeless. Throughout the process it was evident that students were growing as empathetic individuals who wanted to create change in their local community. Each student worked to help the homeless population in our community gain access to much needed resources.”

Student Reflection

This project was based on empathy and helped us see how the other half of the world lives, and that we can do so much to change the world if only we try.

— Emersyn

The campout made me realise that the homeless live in harsh conditions, like cold, rain, and hard places to sleep. Having to build our own shelters helped me understand because ours fell down in the middle of the night.

— Ashby

I had seen some homeless people in the park in Escondido but it was drastically different to see the camps downtown.

— Bree

To learn more visit: Mrvisser.weebly.com, Mrscasciato.weebly. com, or Charleyjacob.weebly.com

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Issue 02

15th December 2022realsmart admin

Issue 02 Articles

Issue 01

15th December 2022realsmart admin

Issue 01 Articles

Ditch the Green Paper ….

2nd November 2022Ali Durban

by Ali Durban, Co-Founder Gesher School.

With the constant merry-go-round of Education Ministers and no appointment of a SEND minister since Kelly Tolhurst, we have been looking at what has progressed with the Green Paper since its submission in July. The answer is not much – other than an exchange in the form of a letter to current Minister of Education MP Robert Halfon, (and former Chair of the Education Select committee) from former Minister of Education, Kit Malthouse who writes:

‘We are proposing to establish local SEND and AP partnerships. These partnerships would be responsible for delivering a local inclusion plan which sets out the provision that will be made available in line with the national standards.’

To be clear, the Children and Families Act 2014 is the national standard (as opposed to a local inclusion plan), it already sets out a legal duty on LAs to secure and maintain Special Educational Provision through an EHCP. If provision is specified and quantified properly in an EHCP and the general principles of section 19 upheld (the need for the LA to have regard for what will help the child or young person to achieve the best possible educational and other outcomes), then an inclusion plan is not necessary.

What does need to be established is a clear accountability framework. Local Authorities need to be held to account when they do not uphold the legal standard (namely the Children and Families Act). At present the only setting for this is tribunal. It can take parents years to reach tribunal level, and the journey to get there is arduous, exhausting and often quite traumatic. Shockingly, around 95% of tribunals are upheld. This stark figure reflects that one of the biggest weaknesses of the system is in fact Local Authorities not doing what they should do legally. Establishing ‘new partnerships’ to deliver what is already written in statute will without doubt add another layer of delay to families trying to achieve the appropriate provision and outcomes for their child.

Tragically the human cost in all of this is the child or young person, who is at this point often in crisis.

Kit Malthouse goes on to write ‘The local inclusion plan will inform the tailored list of settings from which parents and carers are able to choose provision where their child requires an education, health and care plan (EHCP). The expectation is that all schools on the list will be settings that can meet the child’s special educational needs as identified in their EHC needs assessments. This aims to give parents and carers clarity on what is available locally which may still include mainstream, special, independent, or out of borough provision. Our intention is that this will lead to greater transparency about what is available for children and young people in their local school and greater clarity about how it can be provided. We also aim for this to improve the choice offered to parents and carers by suggesting options they may not have otherwise considered’.

This ambiguous statement shows a deep lack of knowledge of the SEND system. It infers freedom of choice.

However, choice is something that many families of children with SEND have never had.

The tailored list that Mr Malthouse refers to already exists in the form of a local offer. This list is drawn up by the Local Authority and typically based on cost. It does not and could not list a school to meet each and every need because:

● There is a lack of provision across the UK and the quality can differ hugely between LAs. Figures obtained by the newspaper ‘Schools Week’ show that over half of special schools had more pupils on roll than the number commissioned by their council. This was a 15% rise from 2017-18. There simply isn’t enough provision in-borough or nationally to meet need.

● Much of the provision comes out of the independent sector. In order to make the local offer list, a school must agree to section 41 – reciprocal duty to co-operate with the local authority on arrangements (admissions); this means that LA’s loosely control admissions and could see a school end up with a very mixed and challenging cohort of children. For this reason, many independent schools choose not to be part of the local offer.

There is no indication of what will happen if there isn’t an appropriate school on the list. Will parent’s once again need to battle to reach a tribunal to access the provision they need, whilst, once again, (same story here…) the child is left in crisis?

There is no mention in Kit Malthouse’s letter of placing the child and their needs at the centre of decision-making. A true local inclusion plan would see a timely and thorough multi-disciplinary assessment, followed by the family and LA working together to find the right placement with the child’s needs at the centre of all decision-making.

The reality is a 2-3 year wait for a full assessment, which is often not accurate because there is a vested interest to keep ‘need’ to a minimum (if at all) in order that there is less of a requirement to procure an EHCP and LA spend. When it comes to placement, the LA’s decision-making is based on budget and very often they will write “mainstream school” or the next cheapest placement in Section I.

Kit Malthouse’s letter highlights the disparity between what the central Government thinks inclusion is, versus the reality of what children, young people and their families face.

We know the system is broken. Report after report after report has evidenced that children with SEND and their families are being consistently damaged and failed by the system. Much of it might be legally questionable. The proposed changes in the Green Paper continue to raise significant concerns as to the future of SEND provision.

What we need is a long-term plan for education, designed with those who bring their lived experience to a collaborative and inclusive process. We need to take the 7000+ responses from the Green paper review, analyse and publish the responses, as Tania Tiororro of Special Needs Jungle recommends. She also writes:

‘DELAY further plans for improvement, DITCH the Green Paper in its current form and PUBLISH a straight analysis of the consultation as soon as possible

And perhaps most importantly, we need someone bold and brave who is willing to make real change and for once, put this group of children and young people and their needs first.

Our journey to Outstanding: How our second Ofsted inspection has proved real change is possible.

12th October 2022Ali Durban

by Ali Durban, Gesher Co-Founder

Gesher School started life almost 10 years ago. An idea driven by a difficult lived experience of the education system for our own children and a vision and desire to create something better for many other children. The first couple of years were intense. Sarah, my co-founder, and I met in a school playground, at the time we had children in the same class at the school. We both had full time jobs, young families and, although we were educated, neither of us had a background in education.

It was an ambitious project.

And so, we educated ourselves, researching data, visiting schools across the UK and understanding the daily struggles of the unmet needs of what we discovered to be thousands of children and young people with mild to moderate learning differences.

We knew there was a desperate need for change, something transformative. We began a dialogue with our local Jewish community in North London, and advocated that, with the right start in life, this marginalised group of children and young people, who were typically under-served and failed by the current education system, could have different outcomes in life.

We surrounded ourselves with experts and poured the very best of our shared knowledge into our collective vision. However, translating an idea into a reality needs more than passion, purpose, and knowledge, it needs funding.

So, at the same time we learnt to fundraise and to share our vision with people who cared about this group of children and their outcomes in life as deeply as we did. They too believed that real change was possible. We call them Gesher Champions and together we raised £2m to kickstart Gesher.

In 2017, Gesher opened as a primary special school in Cricklewood with seven children who were differently able and who had learning differences. Seven families who had taken that leap of faith with us. These children were going to have a different educational experience. The feeling on the first day of seeing those children was immense. A year later OfSTED visited and judged Gesher to be Outstanding in all Areas and, as the inspector shared his views, we all cried tears of joy.

The school continued to develop and grow until eventually our site was full, with waiting lists and our primary children who were graduating had no specialist secondary schools to progress onto. Then the pandemic hit, and amidst the challenges of supporting our children and families we were desperately looking for premises to expand and once again the funds to support our growth.

The universe tilted in our direction and in 2020, Gesher relocated to Pinner and opened as an all-through school, at full capacity it will be a school for 120 students aged 5 to 16. To date we have raised over £5m with our Gesher Champions to support this second phase of growth. Our vision remains the same, to build upon the success of the primary school and deliver an exceptional learning environment for children and young people who are differently able.

We have been working hard over the last two years to create a new evidence-based model of teaching and learning for students with SEN that is academically rigorous with the long-term ambition of sharing our practice with other schools and learning communities. Joining the dots and creating system change from the ground upwards.

This September, Ofsted visited a second time and, under the new inspection framework judged Gesher to be Outstanding in all Areas again. Given that we were expecting a ‘Good’ under the new framework, once again we were floored and in tears. In particular, the inspectors noted:

Pupils receive an exceptional quality of provision. Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum which is taught by the school’s expert staff.

Together, the curriculum and therapies encourage pupils’ independent living skills and emotional well-being very successfully.

Therapists, teachers and teaching assistants work together seamlessly as one team. They truly understand how to meet pupils’ varied special educational needs. While staff are nurturing, they also have high expectations of all pupils. As a result, pupils work hard and learn well.

We are all immensely proud of this.

Gesher is a learning community filled with agency, purpose and passion which puts children and young people at the heart of school life and this achievement is more than an endorsement.

This is a signal of hope for thousands of differently-abled children and young people and perhaps most importantly – an offering of what is possible in education.

-ends-

‘Life Changing’ Gesher School maintains its Outstanding rating

12th October 2022Website Admin

Gesher School in Pinner is delighted to share it has maintained its Outstanding Ofsted rating after an inspection in late September.

Gesher is an all-through school for young people with mild to moderate learning needs. The school was last inspected in 2018 when it only had 13 pupils aged 4 to 7 based on a smaller site in Kilburn. This inspection was conducted at the school’s new site in Pinner with more than 50 pupils aged 4 to 14.

This is the school’s second Outstanding rating since opening. Ofsted recently changed its inspection framework making it much more challenging for schools to achieve this status.

Based on the latest inspection, Ofsted said:

Pupils receive an exceptional quality of provision. Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum which is taught by the school’s expert staff.

Together, the curriculum and therapies encourage pupils’ independent living skills and emotional well-being very successfully.

Therapists, teachers and teaching assistants work together seamlessly as one team. They truly understand how to meet pupils’ varied special educational needs. While staff are nurturing, they also have high expectations of all pupils. As a result, pupils work hard and learn well.

Ofsted also drew attention to positive comments made by parents through the online survey they were asked to complete: “Parents often commented that their children are thriving at Gesher. They described the school’s work as ‘in a different league’ and ‘life changing’”.

Download: Gesher Ofsted Report 2022

Leadership at Gesher was also described by Ofsted as “exceptionally strong” with “senior leaders are supported and challenged in equal measure by the school’s governing body”.

Gesher’s Co-Heads, Tamaryn Yartu and Nikeisha Webb-Hardy said ‘We are extremely thrilled and proud of the hard work and commitment that our staff has shown resulting in such a phenomenal achievement. Our students have made us very proud, and we are delighted to share in this outstanding achievement with our parents and wider community. We remain resolute in ensuring that we remain a flagship school- leading the path to success for all our students.

“What began as a small project and primary school has grown into a thriving all-through school. Under Tamaryn and Nikeisha’s stewardship the school’s innovative approach to education has taken root with students happy and flourishing. This recognition by Ofsted is important in cementing Gesher as an exceptional school in the community and we are truly thrilled and excited for what the future holds for our students” say Ali Durban and Sarah Sultman, Co-Founders Gesher School.

Under the Sea Project

28th September 2022Website Admin

This half term Zayit and Seorah classes have been focussing on the topic of ʻUnder the Seaʼ and the big question: ʻHow can I create my own story?ʼ

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In our launch week we visited an aquarium, read, listened to and talked about a variety of Under the Sea-themed books and explored the ocean through virtual reality. The classes then made their own story by creating characters, writing and recording the narrative using technology and this was then edited for a book launch to the school. During the project the children used Seesaw as a way to give their peers feedback on their stories. In art, we designed and created characters for our stories. In music, we made percussion instruments and recorded the audio to play as background wave music for the entrance to our exhibition. The book launch was very successful and the pupils then shared their story maps and books with other pupils in different classes.

Teacher’s Reflection

“Overall this was a successful project! All pupils were given student voice throughout, from creating their story to their own characters, and coming up with an ending independently. One of the highlights of this project was the children’s use of technology throughout the project. They all seemed to really enjoy it and it allowed children of all abilities to participate. Next time I would ensure clearer audio or that subtitles were added to ensure all children’s parts were able to be heard. I am most proud of how well the children all worked together to create their stories using story cubes, as this was a really collaborative project and the end project shows this.

The best part about the project was seeing the children’s faces when they saw they got to use iPads in the lessons and how much they loved using the Chatterpix app. Another thing that was the best was watching them watch their own videos back and recognising which of their friends were talking. They kept asking to rewatch it over and over again.

I found it challenging to record all the audio in only a week. I felt that if I were to do it again, I would allow longer for the recording of the narrative to allow pupils more time to practice and rehearse their lines.”

— Leigh Kennedy

Student Reflection

“I thought the project was fun. The highlight was using the iPads and I learnt all about sea animals!”

– Zephania

“This project taught me about teamwork and how to create a story.”

– Eli

“The highlight was the aquarium trip and the fish shop as it taught me all about sea animals, fish, octopus and whales!”

– Dylan

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Animals in the Wild Project

28th September 2022Website Admin

Gefen was very excited to do our project on Animals in the Wild. We answered the big question of ʻWhat do we know about wild animals in our community?ʼ

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To do this we looked at what makes an animal a wild animal! We also found out many facts about wild animals that live around us. Gefen used their literacy skills to write non-fiction texts about their animals and then put this information into a short animated video. We were able to take a trip to the zoo to look at wild animals and have animals come to our school! At the end of the project, we held a Go Wild Party which the parents and other classmates we invited. During the party the children played the wild animal games they created as well as showcased their animations, pictures and models they made.

Teacher’s Reflection

“I think the project went well as it was a topic the children were interested in. It was good for them to find out facts about animals that they could see in their area. They were engaged in the trips we went on, particularly the zoo trip and they enjoyed looking at the different animals. The visit from Wild Fangs was also a great experience as the children were able to hold and touch the animals and find out different information about them. Many of the children were initially reluctant to hold the animals but their confidence increased after they spent time with the animals. They enjoyed presenting their findings in a different way, such as through animated videos and by creating their own games which they presented during the Wild Party to their parents and other children.

I would like to continue to use more ICT in future projects. It would have been nice to have seen some wild animals in our area but unfortunately, on our walk, we did not see any!”

— Stephanie Sungtong

Student Reflection

“My favourite part was the trip to London Zoo. I learnt about what animals eat and where they live.”

– Leon

“I liked the project because we got to use Chatterkids (animation app).”

– Ari

“I liked the project as I liked learning about the animals and I liked the ants at London Zoo.”

– Yoni

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Electricity Project

28th September 2022Website Admin

This term we explored electricity and why electricity is important to everyday life. We looked at the science behind electricity and learned how to make our own circuits, how to be safe using electricity and how to encourage others to do the same.

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We wrote ʻA Day in the Lifeʼ explaining all of the technology we used and why it makes our lives easier. We had photographer, Jeremy Coleman, host an Expressive Arts workshop on how to take photos with different light sources. We also built our very own electronic toys and created Dragonʼs Den pitches to try and sell our toys to the Senior Leadership Team. Their Speech and Language sessions focussed around developing their presentation skills, whilst OT helped develop strength in their hands, to be able to use crocodile clips to make circuits!

Teacher’s Reflection

“The pupils were really engaged doing a science-based project as it was different from previous ones. They were able to do fun experiments and learn about a variety of different scientific theories. It was a great one to link in with literacy and OT skills, especially when making the toys.

Another highlight was the way we created companies and the pupils worked really well as a team most of the time. They took the roles seriously and were all invested in creating quality work. Originally, we wanted the pupils to make their own toys, but in hindsight, this worked a lot better. We created posters and manuals to go along with the toys, but next time I would get them to do that independently to allow a variety of different ways of working.

I really enjoyed their pitches for their Dragonʼs Den episodes. All pupils got a role to play and worked together as a ‘company’ using simple business skills. It was great to see how much they enjoyed it.”

— Leah Coombes

Student Reflection

“I thought it was fun — although I wished to have learned more about how to set up appliances.”

– Francesca

“I learnt how lightning is made and that was fun! The highlight of the project was the exhibition.”

– Daisy

“The highlight of the project was the Dragonʼs Den pitch which taught me how to present.”

– Ben

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Life in the Rainforest Project

28th September 2022Website Admin

During this half of the term, Tamar class have been answering the big question ʻwhat would it be like to live in the rainforest?ʼ

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For this, they researched the life of tribes that live in the rainforest and used this information to create their own ʻstop-motionʼ films, which were set in the rainforest. This involved them creating a storyboard and mini-set, as well as filming and editing their films using an app called StickBot.

Teacher’s Reflection

“I enjoyed this project as it allowed the students to learn a new skill and demonstrate their creativity through a different creative media. The students loved making and editing their films and it was wonderful to see how proud they were of their work when their families came to the exhibition. This was the first project where parents came to see the exhibition and the students loved this. If I did the project again I would ensure that more time was spent at the start of the project exploring how life is different in the rainforest.

What was the best thing about the project?

— Students having ownership over how they produced their work (e.g., poster, presentations, videos).

— Students having the opportunity to learn the skill of filmmaking.

— Hosting the awards ceremony as the exhibition of the project.

What did I find challenging?

— Supporting students in making their own films without taking the ownership and agency away from them.

— Films were not focused enough on the big question.

— Found it challenging to refer to the big question throughout lessons and for students to understand how life would be different. This was most likely due to the fact that we were unable to do the trip due to the lack of time.”

— Sam Dexter

Student Reflection

“I think it went great. It was hard to come up with the idea but even harder to create! I learned that people cut down rainforests to get wood to build houses, tables, paper, chairs, but it endangers animals.”

– Noah

“Best project ever because we made our own films and got to show them off to parents at the Gradu-Oscars.”

– Yitzi

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