Copleston Connect Unit
Copleston High School has worked collaboratively with the Raedwald Trust to develop a 12-week programme for a small group of students to develop resilience, confidence, and self-esteem, as well as an understanding of mental health and how this can be managed independently to improve wellbeing. The Copleston Connect programme enables students to gradually increase their school attendance in a supportive environment and works in partnership with families to ensure that students are at the centre of every decision.
Aims of the Connect Unit
To support students to understand and manage anxiety with increasing independence and enable them to apply a range of strategies to self-regulate in challenging situations.
To develop students’ areas of strength and resilience to promote school attendance by:
- Developing ambition, aspiration, and motivation
- Increasing confidence, self-esteem, self-efficacy, value in themselves
- Developing feelings of safety, security, and a sense of belonging
- Having positive experiences where they can succeed
- Holding positive relationships with peers and staff
- Feeling listened to and understood
- Understanding the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behaviour
- Developing a willingness to work in partnership between school, family, and external professionals
- Developing parenting skills and understanding
- Providing flexibility of approaches within school, person centred listening to the voice of the child
Who does the Connect Unit support?
Students are identified by Copleston High School and allocated to one of three tiers of support, based on their individual needs:
The Tier 1 early help offer is aimed at students identified as showing indications of difficulties with their attendance and who would benefit from early intervention. Tier 1 students will be supported during periods 1 and 2 on Monday – Wednesday for 4 weeks. They will complete the ‘My Journey’ induction lessons with RT teachers and their progress will be reviewed after 4 weeks.
Tier 2 support refers to the 12-week programme described in this document. All groupings are agreed between Copleston High School and Raedwald Trust.
The needs of Tier 3 students are managed by Copleston High School. For example, they may already be accessing alternative provisions. The progress and needs of Tier 3 students will be reviewed regularly by Copleston High School to determine if the Connect programme would meet their needs.
