Cloughside College is a community hospital special School based in Bury. All of our students have mental health presentations and are referred to Prestwich Hospital for medical, psychiatric care with some sectioned under the Mental Health Act. All of our students are hospital patients.
We work on a number of CAMHS units at two different hospital trusts. These include units at Junction 17 and the Gardener Unit in Prestwich as well as the Hope and Horizon Units at Fairfield hospital. Admission lengths vary and can be as short as a few weeks on the acute units. Admissions to the college on the medium secure unit are usually longer and for at least 6 months.
We work closely with multidisciplinary team in both of the hospitals where we work. This team consists of nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, and therapists.
The students that attend our college are extremely unwell as a result continuity, recovery and next steps are the corner stones of our curriculum.
We always aim to meet the spiritual needs of our diverse student population and chaplains of all major faiths are available to visit young people on their units.
Our mission is ‘Inspiring young people to achieve a brighter future'. This reflects our commitment to providing learners with the care and educational support they need to enable them to move on from Cloughside and the hospital environment successfully and in a much improved state of emotional well being. We aspire to equip our students with the necessary skills for their next stage of education, employment or training and to provide them with extra opportunities they may not have had whilst in mainstream education or other settings.
This mission statement was developed in consultation with all stakeholders. Staff and governors worked together to consider the feedback from students, parents/carers and the multi-disciplinary team to agree on a statement that reflected our core purpose. We feel passionately that the mission statement should reflect why we are all dedicated to Cloughside and how the impact on students is our top priority. Our collaborative work with the clinical team is crucial for assessing students' well being, risk management and readiness for learning. Our core purpose is learning - especially through education as part of the recovery process.
Our vision is to inspire young people to achieve a brighter future by:
Our values have been developed in discussion with governors, staff and young people who have had inpatient admissions across both of our hospital settings. We have a commitment to our values of partnership, inspiration, kindness, adaptability, creativity and respect.
Our Colleges are based in CAMHS hospitals and we will work in partnership with hospital trust staff, social workers and home schools to achieve the best outcomes for young people. We will support other schools by providing CPD and advice on request. We will support the Local Authority, where there is capacity, in the development of an educational offer for those young people who are not well enough to attend school.
We believe our students can achieve and we will go the extra mile to support students to see they can make progress from their starting points. We will provide high quality careers information and guidance to help students to focus on their next steps.
Creativity can improve mental health, increase motivation and reduce stress. It can also help young people express themselves. We will aim to give students access to creative experiences which have a positive impact on mental state. We will aim to provide them with creative skills that they can use after discharge.
We are understanding of the significant challenges people face and will support people who are experiencing difficulties.
Personalisation is essential in this setting. Our education pathways (nurture, engagement, flourish and energise) are adapted to meet the needs of the learner.
We liaise closely with student home schools and our hospital staff to adapt to the changing needs of the patients.
We will treat everyone with respect and treat them in a way we would wish to be treated ourselves.
We will promote respect and tolerance of others and the environment.