Communication and Interaction Hub

Copleston is proud to have partnered with Suffolk County Council to open the purpose-built Copleston Communication and Interaction Hub in September 2021. This specialist provision is for up to 18 pupils in Key Stage 3 and 4 who have Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND).

Pupils join the Hub having been diagnosed with communication and interaction need by medical professionals. All pupils have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) before coming on roll at the school. All pupils follow an admissions process through a local authority panel where their needs and aspirations are taken into account before joining the Hub. No pupils come to the hub without EHCPs or on assessment placements.

Leaders at Copleston have thought deeply about the opportunities the hub provides for this specialist group of pupils. The key driver of the hub is that wherever possible pupils learn to cope and thrive. Hub pupils are supported to re-join their mainstream peers. All students take part in mainstream lessons around the school site.

Staff in the hub are trained specialists who provide a safe and caring environment where pupil anxiety can be reduced to a point where their receptive and expressive communication can be developed.

Lessons are presented in a way to maximise pupils' opportunity to understand what is expected of them and what they need to succeed. Every step forward for every pupil is recognised and celebrated. At this point, the curriculum at the hub is a mixture of academic and therapeutic learning.

Staff at the hub are specialists chosen because of their commitment to supporting pupils with SEND. Specialist training for hub staff ensures that the level of safeguarding reflects the pupil’s additional vulnerabilities.

Parents, carers, other professionals and specialist services are brought together through the hub to provide the support pupils need to succeed. For example, leaders know that more pupils than average have speech and language therapy plans that need to be delivered, and more pupils than average have support for their social, emotional and mental health. All staff use 'trauma informed’ practice.

The vision of leaders at Copleston is exceptionally ambitious. Using the methodology outlined above, teachers in the hub have a solid handle on pupils' starting points and a constant focus on the pupils' aspirations for the future.

As a specialist unit, the progress made by the pupils at the hub is not directly comparable with pupils with SEND in the mainstream. To this end, staff have developed means of evidence gathering to show their progress. These can be found in the pupils' learning journeys, EHCPs, annual reviews, pupil progress reports and is reflected in their pen portraits.

The pupils at the hub are not automatically included in the government's ambition for the EBacc for mainstream pupils; neither are progress eight measures useful for most pupils as a performance indicator. Leaders at Copleston know the real evidence of each pupil's success at the hub and in the wider life of the school is how well each pupil is prepared for the next stage of their education, employment and/or training.