As young people grow up they often make mistakes and get things wrong. This is a natural part of developing as a person. Some young people find this more difficult than others for a variety of reasons. There are times when this makes a full time placement in a mainstream school inappropriate.
Tor School is part of the continuum of provision for vulnerable children and young people in the Mendip Area of Somerset. It is an alternative to mainstream school and we work together alongside our partner schools to build Learning Plans for children and young people who may be struggling to cope in their current placement.
We are a school built on core values that permeate throughout the organisation.
Very often the reason young people find it hard to cope in mainstream schools, is that despite all the wonderful support they receive, staff do not have the time to build relationships and truly understand what makes them tick. Here at Tor School we take the time to invest in those relationships and see them as the foundation on which everything else is built. Some of our young people have early experiences that lead them to behave in particular ways to protect themselves from harm. Others have learned to behave in a manner that creates a sense of self-worth. Others are still emotionally at a much younger age than they actually are. We see behaviour as mostly a form of communication as well as learned responses. We work hard to understand the causes of social emotional and mental health issues and develop support for the child or young person holistically through a plan involving expertise from across the school. We ensure our young people feel safe and secure, making them feel welcome and wanted as part of a school community. Warmth, humour and unconditional regard are inherent aspects of our provision here.
We firmly believe that these same principles also apply to the adults who work here. We cherish and value the staff; appreciating that there are people who work really hard in the background as well as in the classrooms, to ensure our pupils get the best life chances they can. We have an extensive staff training programme and keep up to date with current trends in Social Emotional and Mental Health.
We were previously a number of different centres that were brought together as one school and in February 2018 we moved into new premises. This is one of the first fully integrated PRUs in the country. As such we try to avoid labelling young people in simplistic ways and we put the needs of the child at the centre of the learning plan we develop. There are no islands in our organisation and we work together to meet the needs of the wonderful creative young people in our care.
Our last Ofsted Inspection took place on 23rd January 2020 when the school’s overall performance was judged as GOOD.
