At Acre Rigg Academy, we consult with a wide range of external agencies and we maintain a close working relationship in order to access the best professional advice to ensure the emotional and social development needs of SEND children are effectively met.  Through our Commando Joe's work, children are developing their resilience and character education skills. Mrs Evans, our Behaviour and Pastoral Manager, leads several pastoral interventions throughout the week which can target a range of social, emotional & mental health difficulties. These interventions can take the form of 1:1 sessions or small group. Our school has also developed a small nurture provision which children identified through assessment can access for long term blocks of intervention. We also work closely with the Local Authority and private providers of additional services, such as Educational Psychologists, Occupational Therapy, CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) School Nursing Service, Social Services and Medical Professionals. We hold multi-professional meetings in school so that parents can access easily, where they are comfortable in the school environment and pupil participation or pupil voice is sought whenever appropriate.

We are an inclusive school that welcomes and celebrates diversity. All staff believe that children having high self-esteem is crucial to a child’s well-being. We have a caring, nurturing team looking after our children. The class teacher has overall responsibility for the pastoral and social care of every child in their class so this would be the parents’ first point of contact. If further support is required, the class teacher liaises with the SENDCO for further advice and support.

We firmly believe at Acre Rigg Academy that the most important part of behaviour management, is developing positive relationships with pupils, parents and carers. We strive to work in partnership with parents and carers, and share success and praise. We believe in developing classroom environments, to encourage positive behaviours, establishing rules and routines, and setting clear boundaries. To motivate and engage children, we believe in rewarding positive behaviours and using sanctions consistently, when negative behaviour is displayed.

Home School Agreements are signed initially in Year 3, this can be found in our School brochure which also contains our admission forms and other useful information about the school. 

After any behaviour incident, we take a restorative approach. We expect the children to reflect on their behaviour with an adult and/or peers. This helps to identify why the incident happened and what the children need to do differently next time to change and improve their behaviour.

Attendance of every child is monitored on a daily basis. Lateness and absence are recorded (with reasons) and reported upon to the Head Teacher. Support is given through an incentive scheme where good attendance is actively encouraged throughout the school. We award children weekly, termly and annually on their attendance rate. Where attendance becomes an issue, our Safeguarding, Welfare and Attendance Officer, Mrs Lythgoe will invite parent(s) to an attendance meeting to discuss any issues and how the school can give support in improving the child's attendance.  Where attendance does not improve school will seek support from the Attendance Enforcement Team.