Ethos & Aims
At The Mark Way School we aim to support, nurture, inspire, motivate and challenge our young people to achieve their very best; we believe this is important for social, emotional and academic success. The school works hard to develop student aspirations and self-belief so they recognise they can do well and succeed in life. We like to see our students ‘fly high’ and enable them to do this in a supported and controlled way.
Underpinning our practice is recognition for the basic needs of all of our students to be met; this is before we even get to academic education. We ensure on young people’s basic needs are met before approaching academia, seeking the support of other agencies to achieve emotional well-being as required.
We recognise our students require strong links between home and school and aim for a unified approach to meeting the needs of our young people by working together. Our home/school contract supports this collaborative work.
The school recognises that a young person with Special Educational Needs and their family can face challenges. We offer support in the home through our Family Support Worker who can guide and advise families as well as signposting and facilitating access to other agencies. In return we work with parents/carers and aim to gain advice and knowledge from the people who know their young person best, the families.
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We know that not every person learns in the same way and have very personal and individual needs. To support this, we personalise provision as required to enable our young people to achieve their very best. This personalisation is a part of learning for our students and these tools support students in gaining independence and confidence that can be taken with them beyond school age.
We recognise that some of our students have special talents and always strive to ensure these are highlighted and addressed; for some this could include integration into a mainstream setting with support to ensure they gain access to these areas of the curriculum.
We believe students have the right to be taught well and to these ends our students make good and often outstanding progress with their learning. The school is passionate that all students should be given the opportunity to gain accreditation at a level appropriate to them in order that doors will open in their chosen area in the future; this supports students’ gaining the self-belief and the confidence that they can do well and do contribute to society. Students access accreditation across all subjects through focussed teaching and learning opportunities delivered by professional staff who are knowledgeable and experienced in a range of Special Educational Needs.
Social skills, life skills, careers and sustainability education are taught throughout the curriculum to ensure that students are well prepared for life beyond school. Opportunities to experience these personal development areas in real life situations prepare and equip our students for life beyond school.
Our students often refer to the school as being like a ‘big family’ where you know everyone and feel safe, The Mark Way School has significantly expanded but has maintained its sense of a small community which is important to our students. Every student is known individually, what they need and what helps them to succeed. Students have an excellent understanding of each other and an ethos of caring and compassion is instilled in all with opportunities to reflect.
We believe the school belongs to the students who are in it, therefore the students have a big say in their school overall. This includes the education they receive and the developments and improvements we make as a community. We believe it is important to listen to what the students have to say and act upon these comments appropriately.
Even after our students have left the school we stay in touch with our families. The aim of this is to ensure they are accessing their Post-16 placements and to offer support to families after their time with us. It is also important to us to hear the many successes of our young people after they have left us. The students know they will always remain a part of our community. Post-16 placements are carefully thought out with the students and their parents through independent careers advice, seeking the course that inspires them and will allow them to continue to achieve their very best.
Our Aims
The Mark Way School aims for our students:
• To make excellent progress and achieve well.
• To feel safe and secure.
• To have special educational needs met.
• To feel part of, and care for our community and environment.
• To achieve emotional health and well-being.
• To experience success.
• To grow and develop personally building good resilience.
• To experience support, inspiration and nurture.
• To know that home and school work together to get the best outcomes.
• To experience excellent teaching and learning opportunities.
• To build self-belief, self-worth and confidence.
• To develop aspirations that consider individual and collective responsibilities for environmental sustainability.
• To understand and apply good social skills and organisation
• To develop courage, independence and life skills.
• To experience as many things as possible to inform future decision-making, career options and develop understanding of personal responsibilities for sustainability.
The Mark Way School aims for our staff:
• To feel well supported in carrying out their work seeking working practices, technology and other resources that are efficient, reduce workload and consider environmental impact.
• To have a positive and comfortable working environment and culture that is based on the actualisation of a team that work together for the good of the children that they serve.
• To have a culture that is developed through openness, honesty, integrity, trust and professionalism without question.
• To provide an exciting, high-quality curriculum that is engaging and provides learning opportunities that enable excellent progress, consideration of careers, sustainability and the environment.
• To be given the school environment and resources that enable an organised classroom environment that supports young people with SEND to access their learning.
• To be supported and facilitated in reaching their individual aspirations in an environment where every member of the community is a learner and is given the opportunity to progress and succeed in their educational careers.
The Mark Way School aims for our staff:
• To feel well supported in carrying out their work seeking working practices, technology and other resources that are efficient, reduce workload and consider environmental impact.
• To have a positive and comfortable working environment and culture that is based on the actualisation of a team that work together for the good of the children that they serve.
• To have a culture that is developed through openness, honesty, integrity, trust and professionalism without question.
• To provide an exciting, high-quality curriculum that is engaging and provides learning opportunities that enable excellent progress, consideration of careers, sustainability and the environment.
• To be given the school environment and resources that enable an organised classroom environment that supports young people with SEND to access their learning.
• To be supported and facilitated in reaching their individual aspirations in an environment where every member of the community is a learner and is given the opportunity to progress and succeed in their educational careers.
Our Virtues
The Mark Way School Virtues:
- Communication
- Responsibility
- Tolerance
- Respect
- Resilience
- Independence
- Courage
- Organisation