Qetaf Prospectus

Specialist provision for children with special educational needs

Specialist Provision for children with Special Educational Needs

Inspire. Believe. Succeed. www.sherborneqatar.org/qetaf

Contents

Welcome from the Founding Headteacher 4

Our Mission 6

Our Unique Values 8

Specialist Learning Environment 10 A Curriculum for Life 14 Specialist Support

Shared Learning with Sherborne Mainstream Pupils

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Educational Visits 20 Extra Curricular Activities 21

Family Support 22

Sharaka Education 24

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Welcome from the Founding Headteacher

Samantha Campion-Gibson

On behalf of our whole community, I am very proud to welcome you to Sherborne Qetaf.

We are a specialist provision located at Sherborne Qatar Preparatory School, Bani Hajer and support children aged 3 to 19 years of age who have a wide range of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including autism, Down Syndrome, global developmental delay, intellectual disabilities and speech and language difficulties.

Sherborne Qetaf is a place where children will flourish and be at the heart of everything we do. Our pupils will laugh, learn, explore and succeed as cherished members of our school community.

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Samantha has over 25 years’ experience working in UK and international mainstream and special school settings, including teaching in and leading Ofsted rated Outstanding special schools in the UK supporting pupils with a range of needs – autism, severe learning difficulties, Down Syndrome, social and emotional difficulties as well as children with hearing and visual impairments.

Samantha is a Specialist Leader in Education for Special Educational Needs, holds her National Professional Qualification for Headship and is an EarlyBird Plus License user, which is a National Autistic Society UK programme for parents of children with autism.

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BIO

Samantha Campion-Gibson is the Founding Headteacher of Sherborne Qatar’s new special educational needs provision, Qetaf. Having completed her BA (Hons) Psychology major, at Leicester University she then completed her PGCE (primary) at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Our Mission

To inspire our young people to believe in their potential and help them to succeed.

Inspire our young people to dream big by providing role models and experiences that support their aspirations. .

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Believe Believe that our pupils can fulfil their own potential by surrounding them with an optimistic, committed and creative team of staff who display an inclusive approach to teaching and learning.

Succeed Help our young people to succeed through a bespoke, individualised curriculum for life and by providing a stimulating, child centred and nurturing learning environment.

We recognise that every child matters, and that each pupil should be respected as an individual, of equal status and value, regardless of gender, race, ethnic origin, disability or learning difficulty.

We believe that this should be evident in the curriculum we provide.

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Our Unique Values The ethos and culture of our school as well as the core offer in our provision makes us unique. Our Mission is to support children with special educational needs by: • providing a Curriculum for Life and ensuring that all pupils fulfil their potential, regardless of their disability

• providing a curriculum that promotes communication, independence and the development of self- help skills with a focus on supporting mental health and well being We passionately believe in developing our pupils’ skills for life and supporting their transition into adulthood with a real focus on career progression.

To facilitate this, the school is fully inclusive and provides barrier free learning by supporting shared learning opportunities with the Sherborne mainstream school.

Supporting our families is fundamental to our school community and we work in partnership with parents and the wider community to enhance life outside school.

Our school facilitates a range of outdoor learning and extra-curricular opportunities and links to wider business communities which in turn supports community education leading to understanding and acceptance of our young people and their valuable skills and strengths.

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Specialist Learning Environment

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Our learning environment includes a Total Communication approach with a range of specialist learning spaces provided such as an Occupational Therapy gym, a Music Therapy room, a Multi Sensory room and a Soft Play room. The environment also provides well researched and specialised approaches, in response to individual pupil need. These include: TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication handicapped Children) This approach is based upon using structure and visual instructions to support children’s understanding of verbal language. It promotes the use of symbols and photographs to help children understand what is going to happen during the day (schedules), to anticipate change (transition) and to understand when an activity has finished. We also use visual sequences to support independence e.g. when getting dressed and going to the toilet. We use visual structure in the environment including positioning of workstations, furniture arrangements and the use of reward systems.

Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) (Bondy and Frost 1994) PECS is used to teach a child to spontaneously initiate communication. This is achieved by using specific teaching strategies which limit any cues or prompts to the child. At the early stages children learn to exchange pictures for desired items and in the later stages it can be used to develop sentence structure, concepts and commenting.

Other Approaches include: • • • • • • • •

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) A reduced language environment Use of Social Stories Intensive Interaction Music Therapy Sensory Integration Lego Therapy IABA (Institute of Applied Behaviour Analysis) non-aversive approach to behaviour management • SCERTS (Social Communication, Emotional Regulation, Transactional Support)

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Music Therapy

Multi-Sensory Room Page12

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Occupational Therapy Gym

Classroom

Watch Video

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A Curriculum for Life We endorse a Curriculum for Life and provide a curriculum based on the National Curriculum in England and ASDAN, modified for the special educational needs of the pupils as well as adaptations to support the teachings of Qatari heritage and culture.​ ​ Our curriculum is designed to:​ • inspire, motivate and nurture children’s curiosity and love of learning​ • make connections between areas of learning in ways which relate to developing independence and key skills for life ​ • promote and facilitate communication skills​ • provide learning activities that are motivating and meaningful and where skills are acquired in a flexible manner​ • be bespoke to the individual needs of children​ • develop a culture where achievements are shared and celebrated​ • employ specific teaching approaches to address each child’s individual learning style​ • include autism specific approaches to learning​ • equip pupils with the skills and knowledge required to keep themselves safe and healthy ​ • work in partnership with parents​ • enable pupils to engage with learning so they remain committed to learning throughout their school lives and beyond​ • provide broad and balanced learning experiences that meet statutory requirements​

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Curriculum for ​Life​ Communication Independence

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Specialist Support Specialist support is provided for children regarding the development of their communication, sensory, social and emotional needs with the provision of Specialist Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Music Therapy as well as Educational Psychology.

The therapists work with individuals and groups of children to support class teams in the delivery of the curriculum. ​

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Shared Learning with Sherborne Mainstream Pupils Our pupils take part in weekly shared learning sessions with Sherborne mainstream children.

The sessions support our pupils in learning key social skills whilst our mainstream pupils learn acceptance whilst developing their understanding of different learning needs.

As we deliver the same curriculum, our teachers can plan shared topics and themes within curriculum areas such as music, PE, art and maths.

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Educational Visits

LEARNING OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM​ Within our commitment to providing a curriculum for life, all pupils spend time learning outside of the classroom. These lessons encompass a variety of outdoor activities and focus on teaching the children key life skills by developing their self-confidence and tolerance within a range of social and community situations. All learning outside the classroom lessons are planned around a structure based on meeting the individuals’ needs and are an integral aspect to the curriculum. Activities may include weekly educational visits to edutainment organisations such as KidzMondo and Kidzania, farms, shopping malls, local cafes and national museums. In this way the curriculum will be enhanced through practical and fun activities such as growing fruit and vegetables, role playing a visit to the barbers, planning and then using the metro to visit a local café and using a set budget to buy key items from a local supermarket. These key activities will develop our pupils’ lifeskills by enabling them to be independent, confident, safe and successful young adults of the future.​ Learning outside the classroom also encompasses the use of the learning spaces within the school grounds, such as soft play room, light and sound room, lifeskills room, library, playgrounds and outdoor learning environments immediately outside classrooms. Daily planned sessions include the use of the appropriate learning space dependent on the curriculum area.

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​Extra Curricular Activities LEARNING OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM

Embedded within our day to day learning, we facilitate a range of extra-curricular activities such as Lego Therapy, Music Therapy, Equine Therapy, Rebound Therapy and Falcon Therapy. We also facilitate a range of sporting opportunities such as swimming, football, cricket and playball. Other clubs offered may include film, IT, arts and craft, girls’ club and robotics.​ These opportunities will be offered to all pupils or occasionally specific groups of pupils.

These clubs reinforce a range of skills; communication, social, physical, sensory, emotional and well-being.​

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Family Support​

Parents are partners in their child’s educational journey and will be encouraged to take an active role in their child’s learning. A Family Partnership Agreement will be signed by parents outlining how school and home will work together. ​ ​ Families are supported by:​ • Provision of regular termly workshops, for example, “Autism for friends and family”, “Sensory differences”, “How to use visual supports at home”, “Supporting behaviours at home and in the community” and “Supporting sleep difficulties”​ • Providing regular “Siblings Support” when siblings of the pupil will be invited into school to learn more about their brother or sister’s condition and to take part in shared fun learning activities​ • Employment of a Family Support Worker so that families can be supported at home with key issues such as sleeping, eating and behaviours ​ • Families being invited into school for coffee mornings and shared learning experiences with their child​ • Establishing a Parent and Teacher Association which will support our community​ • Providing training and workshops for nannies and drivers so that they can have a full understanding of the child’s needs​ • Delivering accredited training such as the National Autistic Society’s EarlyBird, EarlyBird Plus and Teen Life Programmes​ • Partnering with national organisations so that parents can be fully supported within the community​ ​ Page22

Watch Video

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SHARAKA EDUCATION Sharaka Education, the education flagship of Sharaka Holdings, one of Qatar’s foremost business conglomerates, is an educational pioneer with a resolute commitment to shaping the future through quality learning.

With exclusive rights to franchise the renowned Sherborne brand in the MENA region, Sharaka Education is dedicated to creating distinguished educational pathways.

Our Founder: H.E. Sheikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Thani A visionary who is passionately committed to enhancing educational opportunities in the MENA region, H.E. Sheikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Thani believes in making quality education accessible to all, including children with special needs. This vision led to the formation of Sherborne Qetaf, a specialized school in Qatar that caters to children with special educational needs.

Our Vision: Raising Educational Excellence At Sharaka Education, our vision is clear. We aspire to deliver internationally recognised, technologically advanced, and globally certified educational opportunities to Qatar and the MENA region. We believe in equipping the youth with the tools to dream, create, and achieve.

Our Purpose: Inspiring the Next Generation We’re here to inspire the dreamers. Sharaka Education aims to provide role models and experiences that fuel young aspirations. By sowing the seeds fostering an environment for future generations, we’re dedicated catalysing positive change and contributing to a better world. .

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and to

DOHA

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Inspire. Believe. Succeed.

Inspire. Believe. Succeed.

Inspire. Believe. Succeed.

Inspire. Believe. Succeed.

www.sherborneqatar.org/qetaf