School Profile

Coppice School Profile

Coppice School Profile


What have been our successes this year?

Coppice School has continued to build on links from Foundation stage to Key stage 2 at various local Primary schools where the pupils have a chance to interact with other pupils and take part in a range of activities. The younger pupils from Key Stage 1 continue to attend a local church playgroup.

At Key Stages 3 and 4 links have been built upon with classes attending Ash Hill Academy for Physical Education, Art and Horticulture and pupils from the Academy coming over to work with Key Stage 4 pupils and join in activities such as Sports Relief. Links with Goole College have continued with a group of KS 4 pupils who are enjoying attending on a weekly basis to participate in drama and art activities.

Regular horse riding sessions on a rota basis at RDA have been expanded to include pupils from Key Stages 3 and 4. Swimming has continued to be an important part of the PE curriculum and Lower school continue to enjoy the benefits of having an on-site pool while pupils from Primary 3 and 4 and Key Stages 3 and 4 attend Thorne Leisure centre on a rota basis for structured swimming lessons. Links continue with a local gym for Key Stage 5 pupils to use the cardio vascular equipment and to learn the importance of staying healthy. Key Stage 5 have also been using the facilities at Doncaster ten pin bowling as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Award.

A Summer School was run for the middle two weeks of the summer holidays which was open to ten pupils each day and staffed entirely by school staff. There was an overwhelming response to this new initiative and all pupils who applied were offered a place. The pupils engaged in lots of different activities including circus skills, craft activities, cookery and visits and parents and pupils have all requested that it be held again this year.

A whole school visit to Ledston Country Fair was a great success for all pupils and staff. Pupils had the chance to try different country crafts and watch sheepdogs, sheep shearing dancing sheep and birds of prey. Parents were invited to attend this event if they wanted to.

School responded to parents’ requests for more residential visits with pupils enjoying residential visits at Hatfield Water Park, Kingswood Peak Venture Centre at Penistone, Oaklands Outdoor Pursuits Centre at Buxton residential visits this year and further visits planned to Condover Hall and on a residential visit to Merkplas in Belgium.

A fantastic high spec new sensory room has been installed in Upper School which all pupils enjoy the use of. Individualised programmes are on offer for pupils and banks of resources are being built up for different subjects. The room is available all day and is bookable for groups of pupils.

The school student council asked if school could have some pets and after extensive research, have got two rabbits which the pupils throughout school enjoy looking after, feeding and playing with.

The Lower School playground has had a pirate ship added to it which is well used as an outdoor classroom by the pupils. The Upper School outdoor Gym has continued to be well used by the older pupils at break times and as part of their PE curriculum. There is more playground equipment for the older pupils to use with continuing training for playground staff.

Pupils have been involved in inter-school activities, again gaining medals at the Disport Athletics Festivals at Sheffield and Leeds. They have also taken part in Boccia tournaments and tournaments at Danum School and at Adwick Leisure Centre with the other local special schools.

We have continued to build on the use of Makaton with bespoke training for staff and the continuation and increase in attendance at the regular Makaton User Groups held half termly for parents, carers and professionals. Staff have attended training and are now working on using the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) with identified pupils in order to initiate communication from pupils.

Drama has continued to flourish throughout school with built on its successes from last year with a fantastic school production of Toy Story from Lower School and Oliver from Upper School in the summer and separate Christmas Carol Services for Upper and Lower Schools, both of which involved all the pupils in some way. The Christmas Concerts were again followed by a Christmas Fair outside the Hall, manned by KS 5 pupils. Drama has now been built into the Upper School Curriculum and is offered as AQA Unit Awards at Key Stage 4.

A wider range of accreditation has been offered at Key Stage 4 since September 2011 including Drama, Physical education and RE.

Fobbed doors have now been installed in Lower School which benefits the safety of the pupils. More seating areas have been put on the playgrounds for the pupils at break times.

School continues to offer a variety of lunchtime clubs and 2 after school clubs per week which are very popular with the pupils.

Although Family Learning is no longer on offer due to the withdrawal of funding, a group of parents have started meeting on Tuesday mornings to offering support to other parents and raise funds for school. All parents are welcome to attend.



What are we trying to improve?

Accreditation is being changed with a new examination board to be used for Entry Level work for the pupils. A wider range of subjects can be offered in order to meet the changing needs of the pupils.

Work is continuing to enhance the school environment with the replacement of lights, fitting of new doors and redecoration of areas of school.

The new sensory area which was being planned in the Upper School area has had to be put on hold. We continue to aim towards implementing the sensory garden which is planned to be built in the area near the tennis courts and will provide different sensory stimuli for pupils with various impairments.

The school council would like to look into the possibility of getting some hens for school to be kept in the Upper school for pupils to look after.






How much progress do students make?

Achievement is measured using the Pivats sub-levels for all year groups and accredited work for Key Stage 4.

Progression guidance is used to look at and evaluate the progress made by groups of pupils in core subjects. BSquared has been introduced as an assessment tool for the non core subjects and is being run alongside Pivats. Individual targets are set annually in the Summative assessments and at the Annual Review and termly in the pupils’ individual education plan.

Using the progression guidance to assess the progress that pupils make in school it can be seen that;

A wider range of accreditation has been continued to be offered at Key Stage 4 since September 2011 including Drama, Physical education and RE. Key Stage 5 pupils are working on the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme at Bronze and Silver award level. They have completed AQA Unit Awards for World of Work, EDI Numeracy and Literacy and Asdan Life skills.



How have our results changed over time?

Coppice School opened on the 1st September 2008. There are now three complete school years (2008 – 2009, 2009 – 2010 and 2010 - 2011) data available.

Previous analysis did show that there was uncertainty in the reliability of some of the earlier assessments. Staff have worked together to overcome this by holding staff meetings about Assessment and Moderation. Class teachers assess the pupil’s work termly using Pivats for English, Maths, Science, ICT and PSHE, and non- core records are currently being moved into the B Squared assessment tool. Digital portfolios are under development and storage capacity ensured by a new network server.

After analysing the Pivats data in core subjects over the three years we can see that the pupils are generally meeting or exceeding the targets that are set for them with only a few exceptions for which reasons have been identified and addressed. As staff have become more confident in their assessment and target setting using Pivats, BSquared, progressions guidance and CASPA, pupils are set individual targets that are challenging yet achievable.






How are we making sure that every child gets teaching to meet their individual needs?

Better differentiation within lessons, an increase in the use of Makaton signs and symbols and staff making lessons more visual and practical have all contributed towards pupils enjoying their lessons more, making better progress and being taught to meet their individual needs.

Teaching in key stage 3, 4 and 5 is almost entirely from subject specific specialists. Subject specialist teaching has been introduced into Key Stage 2 and to a lesser extent, Key Stage 1. All accredited work is set at the correct entry or pre entry level for the individual pupil – not class. Throughout the school lessons are planned and differentiated to at least three groups in each class in order to meet the wide range of abilities. Pupils are supported in all lessons by Special Needs Assistants who are aware of their needs and work closely with the pupil to support them as necessary in order for the pupils to achieve their potential. All the staff use a wide range of information on pupils, using Pivats information, previous lesson evaluations and knowledge of the individual to plan appropriate work and this is linked to IEP’s and SEN statements.

The Senior Management team and subject coordinators regularly review planning to ensure that work is appropriately differentiated and best meets needs. One to one teaching and withdrawal from the group are used as necessary to support pupils who are having difficulties and staff use a wide variety of strategies to support pupils with behavioural difficulties to ensure that their learning and that of the other pupils is not affected.

The school is keen to involve outside agencies in the development of our children. We have close links with Connexions, EWO, Speech and Language Therapists, Educational Psychologists, Physiotherapists, Autistic Services, Respite Carers and Social services amongst others. In addition we value the views and opinions of parents.

We have continued to maintain and extend the links with the local secondary school, primary schools, Doncaster College and Goole College.

What have students told us about the school, and what have we done as a result?

We take account of pupil’s views and have established good procedures for hearing their comments and what they have to say about the school. In addition we have a school council that meets regularly, making suggestions and involving itself in various aspects of school life. As a result we have:



How do we make sure our pupils are safe and well supported?

The health, safety and individual needs of our learners are carefully catered for by:


What activities and options are available to students?

The school provides a wide and varied range of activities for learners including:



How are we working with parents and the community?

We give the highest importance to involving parents in the education of their children to ensure that the learners are happy and make good progress. To ensure this we have:



What do our students do after leaving this school?

When our pupils leave us at the age of 19 they join a range of colleges and Social Education Centres including:



Transition to colleges and SEC is aided by:



Transition plans are formulated with the help of Paula Dickson from Connexions at annual review meetings



Ofsted view of this school?

Ofsted says:

“Coppice has taken great strides forward since it opened, with significant developments made on all fronts. As a result, this new school already has some good features…the care, guidance and support provided is effective and involves strong partnerships with a range of agencies and close working relationships with parents and carers…there is clear evidence of the school’s capacity to sustain improvement.”



What have we done in response to Ofsted?



If you would like any more information about school policies, admissions, finance, school meals and our complaints procedure, please contact us:

By telephone: 01302 844883

Our Website: www.coppicespecialschool.com