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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
The way that we operate our school is defined by our desire to focus our efforts around a handful of specific proven and complementary special educational methods.
ETHOS
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
We care for and protect our pupils while they are with us. We recognise that the social environment and the relationships within it are fundamental to our pupils’ learning, mental health and happiness.
NURTURE PRINCIPLES
We work tirelessly to create conditions in which our pupils feel safe, cared for and supported. Many of our pupils are taught within nurture groups, where they stay in the same room and have the same teacher for most subjects.
We apply the following six nurture principles across our entire school.
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Children’s learning is understood developmentally.
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The classroom offers a safe space.
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Nurture is important for the development of self esteem
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Language is understood as a vital means of communication
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ALL behaviour, good and bad is a form of communication
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Transitions of any kind are significant in the lives of children
TRAUMA-INFORMED PRACTICE
We recognise that many of our pupils have had significant Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) that can affect their chances to achieve.
When our students are facing challenges in managing their
emotions, we create a nurturing environment where they feel understood and supported. We ensure that there is always an emotionally available adult who can provide guidance and care. We work closely with our students, helping them develop effective strategies to regulate their emotions and behaviour. Encouraging reflection and fostering restorative practices, we aim to rebuild and strengthen relationships, promoting healing and growth
We have adapted our pedagogy to be trauma aware and to support pupils who may not be able to cope with a mainstream type of learning environment.
RESTORATIVE PRACTICE
Restorative practices help us to build a positive and supportive school community where everyone feels valued and respected.
Restorative practice in a special educational setting such as ours means focusing on repairing and healing relationships and finding ways to resolve issues by promoting dialogue, understanding, and accountability. Instead of just punishing or blaming students,
When conflicts occur, our approach is always to support our pupils to help them to make good any harm that has been done. As well as resolving the conflict, this helps pupils to understand each other’s difficulties and differences and to make them feel part of the school community, It also builds relationships, a wider social responsibility and mutual respect.
MEETING SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL NEEDS
Our therapeutic and skills curricula supports our pupils’ social and emotional development and helps them to develop emotional resilience.
We assess social and emotional development and identify any areas that need addressing. A number of stages are identified and children work through these using play-based and creative activities to support their development. Gaps in knowledge and skills are addressed during this process.