During term-time, there is a soft start to the school day at 9:15 when children can come in, check-in with staff and engage in a range of activities. The group activities start at 9.30 with a fitness session. After this, the children go into their working groups, with lessons covering all aspects of the National Curriculum. They may also have individual sessions receiving specific interventions, for example to help develop their literacy skills. The children are also regularly included in educational visits and off-site activities, such as trips to museums and galleries.
There are two short breaks in the morning and a third after lunch, during which structured activities are led by adults to promote the children’s health, social, physical and play skills. The children and staff have lunch together.
“The social and emotional aspects of learning underpin everything the school does” (Ofsted, 2023)
In addition to the more academic sessions, each child has at least one session weekly with their Learning Mentor, which is more specifically focused on work to promote their social, emotional and behavioural development. Most children will also have a session of psychotherapy each week. Other activities may include group work with our psychotherapist, psychologists and speech and language therapist.
The school day finishes at 3.00 pm.
Children at Robson House thus receive education for 28 hours a week. The school day at Robson house starts slightly later and finishes slightly earlier then mainstream schools because our parents and carers often need to drop their other children at their local mainstream school and collect them from there.
Both play times and lunch times, however, are included as teaching time; these times of the day, which are staffed by our specialist staff including mentors and social workers, are used to support children in the development of a range of skills related to our bespoke, integrated curriculum. These include play skills, collaborative skills, social skills, and executive functioning skills (such as impulse control and flexibility of thinking) as well as behaviours related to the physical health. These times are also used to develop language and communication skills.
Where children have been unable to access a full day of education in a mainstream setting and have needed bespoke timetables before joining us, our specialised offer means that our children are almost always able to access a full time timetable.
In addition to our term-time offer, Robson House families are supported year-round by our specialist team of social workers and mentors. This means that families can be supported to access opportunities to engage with visits and experiences that are often denied to children with SEMH needs. In addition to weekly activities throughout the holidays, contact with families is maintained throughout the weeks when most schools are closed.