Homefield College - Specialist College

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Homefield supports young people aged 16 - 25 with a wide range of special educational needs and disabilities. The majority of our students are autistic. 

We focus on three main learning pathways:

  • Personal Development
  • Skills for Life & Work
  • Mission Employability

As part of these pathways, we offer social and life skills, vocational training, employability qualifications and therapies, with English, maths and communication embedded into every lesson. 

Our individualised education pathways focus on the outcomes of improving personal care skills, learning how to live independently and finding a place in the world of work

Our Personal Development Pathway is for students who may be reliant on support, are unable to self-manage, face communication difficulties and have narrow interests and experiences. We help them to develop social skills and the ability to look after themselves. We embed therapeutic interventions and enrichment activities into the learning and offer transferable work skills through vocational sessions and structured work place visits when appropriate.

Our Skills for Life & Work Pathway is for students who want to be more independent in their lives but are lacking in practical, living and work skills. They will learn how to look after themselves with minimal support, identify transferable work skills and experience vocational sessions to help them in identifying future careers. They also have access to enriching sessions to develop their ability to be resilient in the world.

Our Mission Employability Pathway is for students who have work aspirations and are committed to achieving future goals, are able to manage anxieties through coping skills and have worked towards qualifications in Functional Skills. Mission Employability students can gain accredited vocational qualifications in their designed areas, attend career workshops and work experience as well as be encouraged to make their own decisions including risk-taking. They attend guidance interviews with a careers practitioner, and have lessons on CV writing, interview techniques and job searching.

We also offer:

  • Supported Internships - for those who feel ready to enter the world of work but would benefit from wrap-around support
  • Traineeships - for those who feel ready to enter the world of work requiring minimal support
  • Bespoke Provision - for those who are not yet ready to access our main learning pathways

Our Supported Internship Pathway is a structured study programme based primarily at an employer. Students work with a Job Coach at the employment site to gain training, support and work skills needed to get a job. The Job Coach helps the student settle in, liaise with the employer and learn the job. Once confident, the Job Coach provides less hands-on support so that the student works independently. Students are expected to comply with real working conditions including time-keeping and dress codes whilst interning at the company. They have tailored learning goals set which include continual development of their English, maths and communication skills. The end goal of a Supported Internship is for the student to enter employment, whether at the company if a suitable position is available or elsewhere using the skills learnt on the job.

Our Traineeship Pathway lasts 6 weeks to 1 year. It aims to secure progression to a positive outcome as quickly as possible, with an external work placement that gets students ready for work or an apprenticeship. Students receive help with applications, interviews, employability skills, and finding a job or apprenticeship. They also develop digital and functional English & maths skills. Work placements last at least 70 hours, and students receive feedback from the employer.

Our Bespoke Pathway offers specialist support packages for those who would benefit from Bespoke & Outreach provision; this may be due to their social anxieties, complex health needs, or poor previous experiences with education providers. This can include working with students at their home or in a community location, reduced days, additional staffing and tailored learning routes. We help students develop at a pace that suits them. Where suitable, students can transfer across to a main learning pathway when ready.

We have partnered with organisations to ensure vulnerable young people can access learning that is suitable for their needs and interests:

  • Macintyre 'No Limits' - Helping us meet need of those with more complex needs.
  • Enstruct @ Homefield - Perfect for young people interested in construction, the environment & conservation.
  • T.E.C.K @ Homefield - Tailored for young people keen to enter the automotive and engineering industry

For those aged 16 - 25 who are not interested in further education, or for adults aged 25+ in the local community, we also operate Day Services provision. 

Last Updated

Record Last Updated On:

Contact Details

Telephone
01509 815 696 01509 815 696
E-mail
contactus@homefieldcollege.ac.uk
Website
Homefield College website
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Where to go

Name
Homefield College
Address
217, Loughborough Road
Mountsorrel
Loughborough
Leicestershire
Postcode
LE12 7AR
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Time, Costs and Availability

Time / Date Details

When is it on
Office hours 9am – 4pm (Monday – Friday)
Session Information
Study programmes run from 9.15am – 3.45pm (Monday – Friday)
Day Services are available 10am - 3pm (Monday - Friday)

Availability

Referral Required?
Referral required
Referral Details

Students are funded by their Local Authority to attend Homefield.

To apply, follow the admission steps below:

  1. Attend an Open Day
    Our optional Open Days are a chance for you to meet our teaching staff and current students, who can tell you all about the sessions we provide that interest you, as well as answer any questions you or your family may have. It’s a way of exploring our College offering and making sure you feel certain that Homefield is the right place for you.
  2. Name us at your review & fill in a form
    You need to say at your EHCP review meeting that you want to go to Homefield College and tell the Local Authority this as well. Please also fill in an initial interest form at our Open Days or on our website. This information gives us an idea of what you are interested in learning at college and your needs.
  3. Await a consult & College decision
    Once we receive your interest form, we wait for a consultation from the Local Authority. Our Admissions Team will consider whether we can support you. This may involve a member of our team visiting you at your current school, or you attending an interview.
  4. Confirm with the Local Authority
    If we can meet your needs, we tell the Local Authority that we can offer you a place. The Local Authority then decides with you that Homefield is your main choice for continuing your education, and to fund your place with us.
  5. Fill in your Student Information Pack
    Once your funding has been agreed by the Local Authority, you will be sent a student information pack. This contains forms asking for further details in order to make sure we have the most up-to-date information to support you fully. It also contains information about bursaries, and a welcome guide to answer any questions you may have.
  6. Come on a Transition Visit
    You will be invited to attend an optional transition visit which could be supported by your current school. These transition visits give you the opportunity to join in with sessions, get to know fellow students and meet tutors before term starts (subject to risk-assessments and capacity).
Additional Local Offer Information

Local Offer

Description

Curriculum

All our pathways are tailored to the needs of each student, making sure they feel safe in the environment they are in and developing their skills to enable them to be more independent once they leave our College.

Our curriculum is designed to cover all aspects of daily life to prepare them for adulthood through vocational experiences. This includes how to stay safe at home / work, out in the community and online.

Each student has an individualised study programme that helps them progress in key areas, including:

  • literacy & numeracy
  • employability & vocational learning
  • independence & life skills
  • healthy living, fitness & wellbeing
  • Safeguarding, British Values & Prevent

Employability & Careers

Employability and career development are important parts of being a Homefield student. We believe that good careers guidance connects learning to the future – it motivates students by giving them a clearer idea of the routes to services or employment (voluntary or paid) within their community that they will find engaging and rewarding.

In each of our tailored pathways, we take into consideration each student’s individual needs and put support in place to help access these opportunities.

We offer work placements in a wide range of vocational areas in order to enable our students to experience working environments and correct any misinterpreted beliefs within different sectors.

Our enterprises and vocational classes help develop transferable skills that can be used across several sectors. We make sure our students can make informed choices around their chosen career paths, whether that’s to go on to further educational training or enter the world of work.

Current employers include:

  • Imago Group
  • Co-op
  • Loughborough University
  • Great Central Railway
  • Leonard Cheshire
  • Timpson's

Therapies & Wellbeing

Our therapies team help students improve their quality of life, become more independent and gain a sense of belonging and purpose. All our therapists are registered professionals and they work closely with the curriculum team for a fully-integrated approach to learning, behaviour and wellbeing support.

We support mental health and wellbeing by offering interventions, support, advice and information to students and their families.

Contact Telephone
01509 815 696
Contact Email
contactus@homefieldcollege.ac.uk

Schools Extended Local Offer Response

1. What kinds of special educational needs does the school/setting make provision for?

Homefield provide specialist education including independent living skills to young people aged 16 - 25 with a range of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) including:

  • Autism Spectrum Disorders
  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
  • Down’s Syndrome
  • Social, Emotional and Mental Health
3.a) How does the school/setting evaluate the effectiveness of its provision for pupils with special educational needs?

Tutors and Progress Mentors make sure students are getting the most out of their study programme and any concerns are quickly addressed. Curriculum Managers hold half-termly timetable reviews to ensure the lessons students are on are helping them to achieve their goals.

We have a Lead Practitioner for Teaching & Learning who works with the Head of Curriculum & Quality to ensure the quality of our provision. Our latest Ofsted inspection also rated Homefield as GOOD. 

3.b) How will both the school/setting and I know how my child/young person is doing and how will the school/setting help me to support their learning?

All students are allocated a Personal Tutor or Progress Mentor who will be a staff member involved with the student’s teaching and learning. They will meet with the student on a weekly basis to offer guidance and support, as well as monitoring their progress and ensuring the educational programme is addressing their needs.

We also have Daily Reflections as part of the timetable, allowing for recap of learning but also a time for students to express any concerns.

Parents / carers are welcome to raise any concerns or positive feedback with our Reception staff who will pass on your message to the relevant teaching staff, or contact the student’s Personal Tutor / Progress Mentor directly.

We provide students with a termly report detailing their progress in each session, along with English and maths target achievement. In the second term, there will be a chance to talk with tutors over a parents’ evening.

There will also be annual reviews, where the student, parents / carers, social workers, careers advisors and College support staff come together to discuss the EHCP. These reviews provide an opportunity for all involved in the student’s learning and care to discuss their progress.

3.c) What is the school's approach to teaching pupils with special educational needs?

All our pathways are tailored to the needs of each student, making sure they feel safe in the environment they are in and developing their skills to enable them to be more independent once they leave our College.

We focus on each individual's needs and what provides the best holistic learning experience. For many students, this is using the Recognising and Recording Progress and Achievement (RARPA) model - it enables students to work on targets that are really important to them and informed by their EHCP. 

Therapeutical support

  • Our Speech & Language Therapy team work with students to identify their communication needs and develop personalised strategies, so that we can put support in place to help engage them in a way that is accessible and appropriate.
  • Our Occupational Therapist helps students to be as independent as possible and we embed independence skills into the curriculum, which can then be used beyond college. 
  • We help students when they experience difficulties or changes to their behaviour presentation. Our Behaviour Support Specialists work with students and their staff team to identify the causes of distress and develop strategies that will support the student effectively, so that they feel able to safely engage in the learning programme.
3.d) How will the curriculum and learning be matched to my child/young person's needs?

Our students follow a study programme that enables them to build upon and learn new skills and knowledge in order to achieve their future goals. Each study programme includes core elements of our curriculum along with vocational learning and work experience opportunities suitable for each pathway. We adapt our teaching and support to meet our students’ individual needs and strengths. 

3.e) How are decisions made about the type and amount of support my child/young person will receive?

Before a student starts with us, we gather information from their EHCP, last school setting, parents / carers and the students themselves on their support needs, creating behaviour support and care plans for our education staff to follow.

The first half-term at college we baseline assess students to be able to see for ourselves their learning levels and support needs, adjusting plans as appropriate from this. 

Each year there are annual EHCP reviews which gather all relevant parties to discuss how the year has gone, learning goals, support levels and any changes needed for the next year.

3.f) How will my child/young person be included in activities outside the classroom, including school trips?

The majority of learning at Homefield takes place out in the community, so students will be supported by staff to learn to their full potential on outings and trips, whilst teaching students how to keep themselves safe.

3.g) What support will there be for my child/young person's overall well-being?

We support mental health and wellbeing by offering interventions, support, advice and information to students and their families. We create an environment where students feel able to openly discuss their mental health concerns and get access to the right support. As well as offering drop-in sessions once a week for one-off support and self-referrals, we provide targeted 1:1 and group interventions as required.

Our Counsellor provides counselling, therapy and general wellbeing support for students to enable them to fully participate in an educational programme that prepares them for adulthood.

Our Mental Health Practitioner delivers cognitive behavioural therapy-based programmes where specified in areas such as anxiety and anger management.

We can provide a range of low-intensity interventions, and have access to external therapists for art and music therapy to help students talk about their worries, develop communication skills, manage behaviour, increase happiness, and overcome problems.

5.a) What training have staff supporting special educational needs had and what is planned?

Our education staff are qualified to support students with special educational needs. Training and qualifications (role-dependent) include:

  • Teaching qualifications
  • Certificate in Behaviour Management
  • Communication Skills
  • Level 2 LDAF Certificate in Working with People with Learning Disabilities
  • Level 2 Learning Disabilities Qualification (LDQ)
  • Level 2 Understanding Autism
5.b) What specialist services and expertise are available or accessed by the setting/school?

In house, we have access to:

  • Speech & Language Therapy
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Behaviour Support Specialists
  • Mental Health Practitioners
  • Lead Practitioner for Teaching & Learning

Where necessary, we contract services as and when required, such as:

  • Sensory Practitioners
  • Dysphasia Experts
  • Visual Impairment Trainers
  • Advocacy Services 
6. How will equipment and facilities to support pupils with special educational needs secured? How accessible is the school/setting?

Our College facilities include:

  • Village takeaway café
  • Village coffee shop
  • Commercial kitchens
  • Woodwork workshop
  • Vocational Centre
  • ICT suite
  • Smart boards and iPads in classrooms
  • Horticultural land
  • Small animals
  • Residential experience rooms
  • Sensory Room

At all sites there are sensory boxes for students to access. We have SALT, OT and Behaviour Support resources available to all staff and students.

Where needed to support specific students, we order in or hire specialist equipment. 

Assistive Technology

Technology is an inevitable part of modern life, so we make sure our students can access these in the safest way possible. We view technology as an additional way of supporting our students’ independence.

All our tutors have access to technology which helps support learning in practical ways, such as assisting with spelling or using maps to find locations. Technology can also help students with communication difficulties.

We use technology to support lessons as it can be used for finding out information independently. For example, telling the time, finding the correct spellings or giving the current weather forecast.

We encourage our students to learn to use their own mobile phones safely to enable them to be more independent in everyday life.

In some of our classrooms we have large touchscreen computers which can be used as the focal point of a session, but also enable our students with poor fine motor skills to use computers more easily. We can also provide a range of keyboards, mice and other technology to help and support their needs.

7. What are the arrangements for consulting parents of pupils with special educational needs? How will be I involved in the education of my child/young person?

We treat our students as adults, and we respect their choices.

The transition to college is an important time for any young person and signals their growing up and development of independence. Unless presented with a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), we assume capacity in all of our students to make their own decisions when they first arrive with us. During the first term we will carry out capacity observations and raise any potential concerns.

Once a student turns 18 and they are deemed to have capacity, they have full control over what information they would like their parents / carers to know. Whilst we will always inform you of medical emergencies and other such serious scenarios, we will follow the request of the student if there are some aspects of the College day that they prefer not to share with you.

Our students are free to make their own decisions. Whilst we will offer guidance and advice, the ultimate decision is theirs to make. Some of these may be unwise decisions, but this is how they learn and know how to make better decisions the next time round.

We encourage our students to achieve through experience.

We implement student learning with practical experiences. Whether that is through practicing making a bed and making a meal, to undertaking work experience, we make sure our students give it a go.

Learning is an inclusive and ever-happening process, and we will often need your help in continuing the good work our students are doing whilst on site. This may be in the form of assignments to complete, or just by encouraging them to carry out living skills independently when at home.

Discussing student progress

Parents / Carers are welcome to raise any concerns or positive feedback with our Reception staff who will pass on your message to the relevant teaching staff, or contact the student’s Personal Tutor / Progress Mentor directly.

We provide students with a termly report detailing their progress in each session, along with English and maths target achievement. In the second term, there will be a chance to talk with tutors over a parents’ evening.

There will also be annual reviews, where the student, parents / carers, social workers, careers advisors and College support staff come together to discuss the EHCP. These reviews provide an opportunity for all involved in the student’s learning and care to discuss their progress.

8. What are the arrangements for consulting young people with SEN and involving them in their education?

Individual Views

Students have an allocated Personal Tutor or Progress Mentor, who will be a staff member involved with their teaching and learning. They will meet with the student on a weekly basis to offer guidance and support, as well as monitoring their progress and ensuring the educational programme is addressing their needs. 

Students have 1:1 tutorials. This is time to reflect on the past week and talk about any worries with a staff member who is not their tutor. This means students always have a key staff member they can talk to away from the education setting if preferred. We also have Daily Reflections as part of the timetable, allowing for recap of learning but also a time for students to express any concerns.

There will also be annual reviews, where the student, parents / carers, social workers, careers advisors and College support staff come together to discuss the EHCP. These reviews provide an opportunity for all involved in the student’s learning and care to discuss their progress, and is very much focused on the student's views and what they want to get out of coming to Homefield.

Timetable Reviews

Curriculum Managers hold half-termly timetable reviews to ensure the lessons students are on are helping them to achieve their goals. This takes into account student voice and students' views on their study programme.

Student Voice

We are part of the National Union of Students (NUS). Our Student Union meet in person once a month and develop working groups that meet online and face-to-face throughout the year to achieve specific student-led goals.

Student Union members represent Homefield at events such as Natspec's Student Voice Parliament and NUS events. Our members want to improve the learning experience at Homefield and provide a voice that is recognised and listened to all College staff and Trustees.

Our Union is open to all students who would like to make their voices and opinions heard, and the Chairperson is elected democratically via a voting system in line with the Government National Parliament week initiative.

9. What do I do if I have a concern or complaint about the SEN provision made by the school/setting?

Your first point of call is to talk to the student's Curriculum Manager to iron out any concerns regarding a student's education. 

Should the concern not be resolved or the outcome not be satisfactory, you can follow our complaints procedure: Complaints - Homefield College.

10. How does the governing body involve other organisations and services (e.g. health, social care, local authority support services and voluntary organisations) in meeting the needs of pupils with special educational needs and supporting the families of such pupils?

Health, Social Care & Local Authority Support Services

Annual reviews bring together the student, parents / carers, social workers, careers advisors and College support staff to discuss the EHCP. These reviews provide an opportunity for all involved in the student’s learning and care to discuss their progress, and is very much focused on the student's views and what they want to get out of coming to Homefield. We also hold emergency MDT meetings where there is cause for concern. 

Advocacy Service

We work with an independent advocacy service to ensure our students can access support from another person to help them express their views and wishes, and help them stand up for their rights.

11. How does the school/setting seek to signpost organisations, services etc who can provide additional support to parents/carers/young people?

For students

In Personal, Social, Health & Citizenship Education (PSHCE) & tutorials, we focus learning on key aspects of preparation for adulthood and being able to be safe in all aspects of life, along with enriching the knowledge and understanding that students have. All students are supported by tutorials with an allocated member of staff who will have time with the student on a one-to-one basis. This can include signposting to specific services.

We also have collections of resources available for staff to support in the signposting of services for students, and student-focussed booklets too (especially when it comes to mental health services). 

For parents / carers

We publish monthly the latest ‘Homefield Happenings’ (during term-time) to every parent & carer of current students. This is our parent / carer bulletin communicating important college information and updates, and contains signposting to resources or organisations where relevant. 

Parents / carers can also make referrals to our therapies team who can then signpost them to the most relevant organisations and services for support.

12. How will the school/setting prepare my child/young person to: i) Join the school/setting?

During the first week at College, we will provide an induction. This means that the students will meet with their teaching staff, get to know the students they will be learning with and going over basic rules and health & safety procedures. It is a settling in period of the students getting to know us, and us getting to know the students.

ii) Transfer between phases of education (e.g. early years to primary, primary to secondary etc)?

Before students start at Homefield, we offer transition visits to help students transfer between school to college. We also send out welcome guides and transition resources, hold an enrolment event for new starters, and parents / carers are welcome to contact us for bespoke transition resources to assist in this change. 

iii) Prepare for adulthood and independent living?

Our curriculum is designed to cover all aspects of daily life to prepare them for adulthood through vocational experiences. This includes how to stay safe at home/work, out in the community and online. 

13. Where can I access further information?

Please view our website for the latest information (Welcome to Homefield - Homefield College), request a copy of our prospectus or get in touch with any queries - we are happy to help!

SEN Information Last Updated On: 02/09/2022

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