Admissions Procedure
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About our school
The Greater Horseshoe School is an independent special school situated in a peaceful woodland setting near Newton Abbot in Devon. Our school facilities are complemented by our nearby care farm, where we offer animal care, horticulture and a wide range of outdoor educational activities alongside academic and vocational programmes.
We are committed to providing the best education for young people with complex needs. We offer a unique tailored programme for every child, combining a therapeutic approach, outdoor learning and individual academic and vocational programmes to suit each young person. Everything that we do is based on thoroughly understanding the needs of our students and how we can best support them in achieving positive outcomes.
Our approach is caring, positive and adaptable, and is underpinned by a thorough theoretical knowledge. Our staff come from relevant educational and therapeutic backgrounds and have extensive experience of supporting young people with a range of needs.
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Our Facilities
The school is situated in an attractive Victorian school building constructed in a traditional local style. In addition to the original schoolhouse, our learning space includes an ICT suite, food preparation facilities, an art/DT studio and an outdoor therapeutic classroom. Our tree-fringed grounds feature a beautiful yurt together with a fire pit and pizza oven. We will soon also have a pond and an enclosure housing a variety of birds and animals for our students to look after and enjoy.
Virtual Learning
We know that as a result of Covid-19, some of our students aren’t able to attend school in order to take part in their education.
Visit our Virtual Learning page for more information on how to stay up to date with your child’s education.
Careers Programme
At the Greater Horseshoe School, we believe that a carefully-planned careers programme is essential to support pupils to;
- choose pathways and next steps that are suited to them
- have high aspirations
- plan to sustain employability throughout their lives.
Our provision is based on the Gatsby benchmarks. We have a cross-curricular approach to careers as well as specific objectives taught in PSHE lessons and Steps 4 Life lessons. Our B Squared assessment tool contains Steps 4 Life modules which allows careers progression to be evidenced in line with other subjects taught at the school.
Our pupils are offered individualised work experience placements and vocational options in Year 10, 11 and Post 16 depending on their strengths and preferences. These are documented through work experience booklets to evidence development and successes and to allow pupils to self-evaluate.
We work alongside Careers South West who offer independent careers advice to the Year 7 upwards and carry out our work experience safety checks.
The Careers lead at The Greater Horseshoe School is Louise Davey. Please get in touch with any queries;
louised@enhancedlearningservices.co.uk or 01626 782038
This information will be reviewed on 1.12.22
Edtech 50 Schools award
We are very pleased to share that the Greater Horseshoe School has been celebrated and acknowledged by Edtech 50 Schools for the work that we do using the Thrive Approach. The Edtech 50 Schools is a celebration of the work going on in schools throughout the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland that use education technology to support great teaching and enhance learning. This award highlights digital flagship schools who demonstrate a focused sense of what is useful to them in terms of technology – whether it be in supporting teaching, cutting teacher workload, collaboration across staff teams or consolidating knowledge, enhancing creativity and broadening experiences across the curriculum. The 12 judges from the Edtech50 Schools nominated staff at the GHS for the way they incorporate the Thrive Approach into the whole school day. We are also pleased to announce that the Thrive Approach have written a case study on our school and the work that we are doing with the Thrive Approach. Jason Goddard and Laura Griffin have been interviewed for a podcast to explain how we do it.
BBC Radio Devon Interview with Peta Hustwayte
Peta Hustwayte (Teacher and SLT) on BBC Radio Devon talking about how the Greater Horseshoe School support our young people and their families during difficult circumstances.
Complaints
Complaints received in 2020/21: 0
Exam results
In the academic year 2020 to 2021 no exams were taken.
