Emerald Pathway

At Sirius Academy North we are committed to meeting the needs of all students in order to support them in achieving their optimal potential throughout their lives. Some students require support academically, some with regards to their communication and some with their social, emotional and behavioural difficulties which can create a barrier to learning within a mainstream class.

Our Emerald Pathway is very carefully designed to meet these students needs whilst providing them with the tools to self – regulate, become emotionally literate and ultimately reduce and remove any barriers to success. Our Emerald Pathway is a short-term, focused intervention for students with these identified needs, which are stopping them from succeeding within the main classroom environment. It provides a safe, predictable environment where the unique developmental needs of each child are met. At SAN, our aim is to equip the students within our Emerald Pathway with resilience, improved communication skills and self-regulation so that they can access Ruby Pathway successfully; no child will remain in the Emerald Pathway indefinitely.

There are a variety of ways in which we achieve this:

All students accessing the Emerald Pathway will be integrated into the main school for some lessons. This gives them the opportunities to practice and generalise the skills that they have learned in the Emerald Pathway, whilst also allowing them to continue to be part of the wider school setting.

All Emerald Pathway staff work extremely closely with the students class teachers to share planning, resources and progress. This ensures that when the students are working within the main school their work is pitched appropriately, the teachers have strategies in place to support their individual needs and there is consistency in approach, allowing the students to succeed.

Class teachers and Emerald Pathway staff work collaboratively to complete Pupil Profiles of the students who access the Emerald Pathway. This ensures that all staff that may come into contact with these students are aware of the strategies, triggers and resources needed to support the child.

Our Emerald Pathway staff are highly trained in a variety of conditions which may affect the social, emotional and communication skills of a child. This includes: Attachment disorder, Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, Asperger’s and Autism Spectrum Disorder and Oppositional Defiance Disorder as well as many more. Furthermore, the Emerald Pathway is overseen by the school Special Educational Needs Coordinator as well as our Educational Psychologist to ensure that provision is correct and effective for all Students.

At SAN, we feel that there are six key principles of the Emerald Pathway which are fundamental to ensuring that the provision is effective in the setting:

– Learning is understood developmentally.
– The classroom offers a safe base.
– Nurture is important for the development of wellbeing.
– Language is a vital means of communication.
– All behaviour is communication.
– The importance of transition in the lives of children and young people.

Our Emerald Pathway allows the students to access their academic learning at a developmentally appropriate level for them, in a safe, calm and nurturing environment.
Furthermore, the provision ensures that key points of transition in a vulnerable child’s life, such as moving key stage, are dealt with appropriately, taking their individual needs into account at all times. We understand that students are not ready to access their learning fully if they do not feel safe, able to communicate and able to regulate their behaviour, and we support them in achieving this, and therefore allowing them to achieve throughout life.

Assessment and Progress

Some students within the Emerald Pathway have Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and therefore have bespoke Long Term Outcomes that they are continuously working towards. In conjunction with these, the students with EHCPs also have a Curriculum Assessment Toolkit file (CATs) which breaks down all of the objectives in the
National Curriculum into small steps and a LUCID assessment. This allows the teachers to identify increments of progress and identify the next step for the child moving forward.

Any child accessing the Emerald Pathway who does not have an EHCP has their work pitched at the appropriate level for their ability, potentially from the CATs curriculum is they are working below ARE. This allows the students to continue to work towards Age Related Expectations, whilst also having their work carefully planned to ensure that gaps in knowledge are being plugged simultaneously. Many students accessing the Emerald Pathway also receive support from external agencies. This may include: IPASS, physiotherapy, Autism Outreach, Northcott, Behaviour support outreach, occupational therapy among others. Any reports and assessments undertaken feed into the students targets and provision, ensuring that a holistic approach is taken to allow the child to progress in all areas.

Organisation

The Emerald Pathway follow the TEACCH approach (Independent time, Teacher time, Choosing time) for all students. Highly structured learning is at the heart of the approach, which is designed to build the child’s resilience, independence and academic ability. The students work through the cycle of independent time, choosing time and teacher time, allowing them to access social and academic tasks independently