Introduction:

The Centre was built to provide additional support for 16 young people with Language and social communication needs. These needs will have been identified by the Local Authority through an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). We offer additional support and specialised interventions to enable the young person to develop socially, academically and enable them to enjoy the benefits of being part of the college community.

Generally, students join the SSC from their primary schools at the end of Key Stage 2. Currently, there are 18 students benefitting from the additional provision and personalised interventions that are on offer.

Students will spend approximately 85% of their time with other students in mainstream lessons in the College. During these lessons, they will follow the same curriculum as the others, however, it will be scaffolded and adapted to help suit their needs as far as possible. Students in the SSC are expected to do homework like all the other students at Bourne Community College. We have high expectations that all our students will achieve to their full potential.

How we support the learning needs of young people at the Centre:

The Centre is led by the Teacher in Charge, Mr Mike Wickham, there is a Team Leader, Mrs Fabiola Knowles and team of Teaching Assistants, some full-time and some part-time, who support students from the SSC and SEND students across the College.

The Centre has an outstanding transition programme for students joining the Centre. Parents/carers, students, primary school staff, centre staff, the Local Authority and supporting agencies are closely involved in the transition process. We start transition days early, late in the Spring Term and aim to have 5 transition days plus the Year 7 welcome day before the students start with us in the September.

As students reach Year 11, there is another transition programme to support the transition into the next stage of their education or training. Again, parents/carers, students, Centre staff, College staff and the Local Authority are closely involved in the transition process.
Centre staff work closely with other staff in the main College, to ensure the young people are supported in the best way possible.

What we offer students at Bourne Student Support Centre:

Before the start of the Autumn Term, a discussion will be held with Parent/carers and the student about their personalised timetable. This will mean that certain subjects will be removed from their timetable and replaced with the appropriate intervention sessions to enable the outcomes from their EHCP to be address. These interventions could include the following, depending on the young person’s individual needs, and will be delivered by trained staff generally in one to one sessions or small groups.

Social communication skills
Numeracy
Literacy
Emotional literacy
Fine and gross motor skills development
Relaxation and self-regulation techniques
Life Skills
Language development
Speech and Language programmes
Keyboard skills

We can also offer homework support during break and lunchtimes for those young people who find doing homework at home difficult.

Progress Data for Students who have attended the BSSC:

Our first cohort of students completed Year 11 in 2017. These students and every student since, has gone on to further education and one of the local sixth forms or colleges.
All of our students have completed their GCSE’s with very good results.

	% of students gaining at least their expected grades in English	% of students gaining at least their expected grades in Maths	% of students gaining at least their expected grades in Science	Number of Students
2017	100%	100%	100%	2
2018	66%	66%	66%	3
2019	75%	50%	100%	4
2020	100%	66%	100%	3
2021	100%	0%	0%	1
2022	75%	75%	75%	4
2023	66%	66%	33%	3
2024	50%	50%	50%	2

Additional resources available to our students:

In addition to the college facilities and resources, the Centre offers:

Our own ICT suite
Kinect physical activities
Our ‘Chill out’ room
Quiet room
Private garden area
Social/dining area for break and lunchtimes
ELSA
Social Communication and Speech and Language room
1 small group working area.

Inclusion into the College community:

We pride ourselves on being a fully inclusive College, in April 2023, we as a College gained the Bronze Autism Aware Award and all our students are encouraged to take part in all aspects of College life. We have had students who have been Prefects, Year Council Members, Librarians and Mentors. We encourage them to join extra curricula clubs such as Science club, Lego, Dance, Football, Basketball etc. They have taken part in College Concerts, Dance shows and theatre productions. They take part in the many trips that are available to all College students, including day trips and residentials. Some of these are residential and have included going to Auschwitz (5 days), France for the Christmas markets (3 days), Skiing (10 days) and Spain (7 days)! We will endeavour to provide Centre staff to support them on these trips (if needed) wherever possible.

Admission into the Bourne Student Support Centre

Admissions to the Centre are decided by the Local Authority in consultation with the Teacher in Charge, Headteacher and Governors at the College. Interested parents should contact the Teacher in Charge of the Centre to arrange a visit to the Centre to enable them to establish if they feel that it is the correct setting for their child. If after the visit, Parents/carers wish to pursue a place for their child, the Teacher in Charge of the Centre will want to visit the child in their current school, if at all possible, to do an observation. The parents/carers and child will then be invited back to the Centre for the student to see what we have to offer. If all parties agree that stage 2 should be implemented parents/carers will need to contact their Local Authority for a Governors Consultation to take place.