VISION

Our vision is to change our pupils’ lives for the better through personalised learning, nurture and preparation for life

Thank you for visiting Castles Education in Gainsborough, as Headteacher it is a delight and a pleasure to welcome you to our school. I’m pleased to be able to share with you information showcasing the service our dedicated staff offer our wonderful children.

I’m incredibly proud to lead Castles, where we serve a vibrant and unique community of children. Our staff team of highly skilled and caring professionals go above and beyond to deliver the best education experiences for each of them.  Every child here has their own interests and talents that we encourage and nurture. Our children and staff’s passions contribute in making our school the vibrant and exciting place it is. We celebrate and take pride in their achievements as a school community, we value everyone’s contribution.

Over time we aim to give our pupils the skills, knowledge and confidence to be successful in reaching their own aspirations and goals. Our specialist staff work hard to identify these personal goals and as a school we endeavour to create opportunities to support them on their journey. We’re lucky to work with such wonderful aspirational young people and it is gratifying to see them develop their confidence over time, build relationships and make progress whilst they are in our care.

All of our staff, throughout the school genuinely care about the education and welfare of our pupils and they work incredibly hard to ensure their needs are being met. Our staff build positive relationships throughout your child’s time at Castles Education through the use of mentoring and coaching.

This approach is built on our PRIDE values:

Purpose. We work together and maximise our learning experiences every day we are in school.

Respect. We treat all members with fairness and dignity. We are a polite, gentle and supportive with others, it is reciprocal.

Integrity. We are honest with one another, trustworthy and fair in our actions with each other. We show courage when we face adversity.

Determination. We’re a team here to help, guide and learn from one another. We persevere and try our best.

Excellence. We take pride in the outcomes we create and work hard to improve and reach our goals.

HEADTEACHER'S WELCOME

We’ve been on an exciting journey of renewal at Castles School since March 2023, with our most recent monitoring visits from Ofsted and Local Authority Partners showing great progress against our targets. Our staff have risen to the challenge and brought about significant change in a short space of time, placing a huge emphasis on developing our new curriculum and in collectively improving our approach to teaching and learning.

Led by our Wider Leadership Team, our staff are working tirelessly to continue this transformation. We are making great progress and are excited for the future.

This is a great time to be part of our school.

With best wishes,

Andrew Fyfe
Headteacher

To provide a welcoming and purposeful environment where young people can flourish and where their needs, and aspirations are met. 

Our curriculum is designed to achieve this for all of our pupils, whatever their starting point, abilities or needs.

We provide a safe and nurturing environment for our pupils, in which they can learn and develop socially and emotionally.

We work to ensure that our staff and pupils have excellent relationships with each other. We work closely with our families to support our pupils.

MISSION

OUR PRIDE VALUES

Our PRIDE values inform everything that we do and are at the heart of our school family.

We find our values provide our anchor for who we strive to be in our daily interactions with others. Our values are shared by our young people and by our team of dedicated professionals. 

  • We aim to ensure that children have a clear purpose in all they do. That children know what they are learning in all lessons and why it is important. Activities and events are purposeful and enhance the learning experiences of every child at our school.

  • We teach that respect does not just mean being polite and careful but making sure that your surroundings, learning environment and fellow classmates are happy, safe and have a great place in which to learn and thrive.

  • We guide our students to make ethical choices, uphold honesty, and foster a sense of responsibility. By instilling integrity, we cultivate individuals who contribute positively to society. Integrity is at the heart of everything we do.

  • Determination is the driving force behind success. We encourage our students to set ambitious goals, work persistently towards them, and embrace the journey of learning with determination and purpose.

  • Our children are taught to aim high in their learning and to achieve their full potential in life. This means using all of their PRIDE skills to take pride in themselves and their work and to encourage and help others to do the same.

OUR VISION

  • High levels of collaboration within the school ensure the very best possible range of learning opportunities are provided for our young people. 

  • Well-planned, sequenced and purposeful teaching leads our young people making good progress in all aspects of their learning. 

  • Focused and caring support in partnership with our families leads to highly effective partnerships which benefit our young people through their learning. 

  • Our young people are supported and encouraged to communicate their needs, wants and opinions and we work hard to ensure their voice is heard. 

  • We support our students in developing their self-confidence and independence. 

  • We ensure, by focusing on our young persons needs, that students leave Castles Education effectively prepared for the next stages of their life. 

  • Young people actively engage in their community, becoming agents of change and ambassadors for the SEND community. 

Our pupils have a very wide range of abilities and special needs, and come from many different starting points. There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach and so we adapt the learning that each child receives so that it is accessible and appropriate, while maintaining the highest expectations in terms of outcomes.

The pathway that each Castles pupil follows is designed to be the most appropriate in terms of both learning style, curriculum and challenge for that student. For example, some pupils will flourish in a nurture group where they stay in the same classroom with the same teacher whilst others will succeed best in a more mainstream environment where they study a wide range of qualifications with different teachers. Others will be best suited to experiential learning and outdoor education. There is no single educational approach suitable for everyone.

At Castles, in all cases, we assess every pupils’ progress against a range of different measures throughout their academic journey. These measures are not just in relation to academic attainment. Depending on each individual pupil’s specific circumstances we would expect progress to be made in one, more or all of the following categories too.

PATHWAYS

Wellbeing
Including attendance, emotional regulation and behaviour

Social & Emotional

EHCP Targets

Academic progress
Including typical assessment data and obtained qualifications