Highbury College

What does Highbury College do?
Highbury College is a large general further education establishment that provides a full range of courses and Student Support Services including Additional Learning Support. It offers support for students with learning, emotional, behavioural, personal and mental health difficulties.

Who does Highbury College provide for?
We provide education to young people with a wide range of behavioural emotional and learning disabilities. Students may be working at pre-entry level right the way up to level 6 (degree equivalent) in a wide range of subject areas.

How can I find out more about Highbury College?
Contact us at www.highbury.ac.uk to discuss a visit and to learn more about what we can offer. A placement at Highbury College will usually start in September but we do take students throughout the year.

How are decisions made about who can come to Highbury College?
The decision about a placement at Highbury College is usually made via a Support Review which includes parent, carers, Highbury College staff and relevant outside agencies. Applicants are invited to the meeting to discuss their SEND needs.

How does Highbury College know if students need extra help and what should I do if I think my young person needs extra help?
When a student joins Highbury College the Learning Support team undertake regular reviews of the students’. Some of these are more formal than others. Parents and other people who support the student have lots of opportunity to meet the team working with the student. Any change in needs is identified as part of this process and we will work to implement them where possible.

Regular review
We have a number of ways in which we formally and informally review student progress throughout the year. These include:
• Annual review meetings
• Parents’ evenings
• Updated Personal Learning Plans (PLPs)
• Updated Educational Health & Care plans

How will the curriculum be matched to the student’s needs?
Highbury College enables behavioural, emotional and disabled students to access the curriculum by providing fully accessible facilities and equipment, adjusting the timetable and lessons to meet learning and care needs and by providing the appropriate technology and adaptations to encourage independence.
• Read & Write Gold 10
• Dictaphone
• Laptop
• iPad
• Coloured overlay
• Dictionaries
• Zoomtext Keyboard
• Braille labeller & sense note taker
• Magnifier
• JAWS software

How will both you and I know how the student is doing and how will you help me to support my young person’s learning?
At Highbury College every student will have an individually agreed programme which integrates their education, independence skills and other support. These will be delivered holistically for each individual student  Each student’s programme is broken down into a system of aims, objectives and targets, which are all recorded. In addition to the normal system of annual reports and reviews we are able to provide information on a young person’s curriculum progress and achievements to parents at parent’s evenings. We operate an open door policy for parents/carers to discuss their young person’s needs at all times. We encourage parents to get involved in a young person’s education where relevant.

What support will there be for my young person’s well-being?
Each member of our staff has the student’s well-being at the centre of their role. Students are supported by a multi-disciplinary team of professionals on site, we also have sensory rooms on 2 centres.

Highbury’s Learning Support page can be found here

Our Multi-Disciplinary Team consists of the following staff:

Teachers
Learning Support assistants
Mentors
Health & Wellbeing Team

SEN & Disability Advisor
Dyslexia Support
Speech & language support

ASD support
In addition many students will be involved with other specialist staff such as:
Careers advisors
Job coaches
Specialist tutors
Visual impairment advisors
Assistive technologists

Educational psychologists
Counsellors

Emotional Literacy Support Assistant

What training are the staff supporting students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) having or have had?
A full programme of mandatory training is in place for all staff covering all the essential skills for their roles. Teaching staff are qualified and hold a range of specialist qualifications.
All our care and class support staff have an appropriate Level 2 or 3 qualification or are working towards achieving this. All have Level 2 Maths & English and some have a SEN Level 5 Specialist Educator qualification and Level 7 Certificate in Psychometric Testing, Assessment and Access Arrangements. There is also an extensive programme of specialist qualifications and training available which enables all staff to be more effective in working in the student centred manner.

How accessible is the Highbury College environment?
Much of Highbury is accessible to people with disabilities, and where ever possible the College uses accessible rooms for groups which include a student or students with disabilities.

How will Highbury College prepare and support my young person to transfer to the next stage of life?
We work closely with both feeder schools, families and external agencies to ensure that students are supported to take their next steps. As students approach transition points we work closely with Student Central.

Who can I contact for further information?
For a College prospectus, application form or to schedule a visit, please contact our advice & guidance team on 023 9238 3131 or at info@highbury.ac.uk