Teaching Assistant

Park House School is a small registered, independent educational provision in Barnsley for pupils with Social, Emotional, and Mental Health (SEMH) needs. We believe that every pupil has the right to appropriate and relevant educational provision that allows them to achieve their full potential.

Our intention is to replace a downward spiral of educational failure with a cycle of achievement, building on and reinforcing self-esteem.

Aims

The pupils at Park House have often faced negative educational and social experiences prior to their arrival, which can lead to challenging behaviours. It is our aim to provide a quality education for even the most challenging pupils.

What Sets Us Apart from Other Schools

We are committed to each and every one of our pupils, providing specialist support tailored to each individual’s unique needs and helping all pupils achieve their full potential. We currently offer the opportunity for all pupils who are working at that level to achieve nationally recognised accreditation in English, Maths, Science, Computing, Citizenship, MFL, Music, Humanities, PE, RE, PHSE, Art/Design Technology, Food Technology, ASDAN, and Functional Skills. This runs alongside our own internal accreditation for academic progress and achievement.

To meet the diverse needs of the children at Park House School, we ensure that the staff-to-pupil ratio is very high. The school is registered for 24 pupils and currently has a Head Teacher, Deputy Head, Teachers, Pastoral Lead, Educational Support Workers, and a School Administrator.

Pupils

Park House provides education for pupils aged 7-17 years old with Social, Emotional, and Mental Health needs who require a smaller, more specialised intervention than can be provided in a mainstream school.

Areas of Expertise

Pupils arrive at Park House School with a history of disrupted schooling. The school seeks to re-establish the concept of learning as a positive and enjoyable experience and ensure each pupil reaches their true potential. Pupils are actively engaged as partners, fostering a sense of mutuality about their work. The treatment of both pupils and staff exemplifies good equal opportunities practice.

The curriculum provided is broad-based to ensure that each pupil takes part in the full National Curriculum, which is differentiated to meet individual needs. We aim to introduce pupils to a wide range of knowledge, skills, and experiences. The curriculum emphasises the need to acquire basic skills in literacy and numeracy, with carefully planned Maths and English schemes of work to ensure full coverage of the National Curriculum at a level appropriate to each pupil’s ability.

A message from the Headteacher

Welcome to Park House School, a truly special place.  It is a privilege to be Head Teacher and to work with such a specialised, committed, and passionate staff team. We are proud to provide a small, safe nurturing learning environment. We firmly believe positive relationships are the key to unlocking young people's full potential. The adults are continually developing as trauma informed educators so that we can provide the very best personalised education for all our young people.

At Park House School we ensure a calm purposeful learning environment that develops young people not just academically but in their social and emotional skills preparing them for adult life.

Ann-Marie Oliver, Headteacher