'Anything is Possible' A warm welcome to the new Pendragon website. Pendragon School is a secondary school, with Humanities College status that caters for students with a range of additional needs: moderate learning, speech, language and communication, autism, complex needs and, in some cases, associated behavioural and emotional difficulties. It is situated in Downham, which is in Lewisham Educational Authority. Students benefit from the small group setting of no more than 13 students with at least one Learning Support Assistant.  Mr Pancho Martinez Headteacher

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Pendragon School Information For details of terms dates, school day and general information. Click here

PENDRAGON SCHOOL MISSION STATEMENT IS:

"Anything is possible"

All students are encouraged to broaden personal horizons and expectations by participating in the full range of activities on offer both in and out of school. They are set and expected to meet both academic and pastoral challenges.

Students are encouraged to view their period at Pendragon as an opportunity to receive appropriate support, gain in confidence and develop their individual strengths as well as confront their weaknesses with a view to moving on positively to the next stage of their lives.

The emphasis within the school is on developing students who are making appropriate choices, both with their learning and behaviour. This is supported by the development of close links with students' parents/carers; termly Individual Education Plans; and the school's emphasis on the acknowledgement of all achievement made by students however apparently small through the school's rewards framework.

We aim to make students feel more confident, valued and able to play a useful part in the wider world. They are encouraged to take part in Further Education so that they can make better use of opportunities after they leave school.

Key Stage 4 students take courses leading to either GCSE or the Entry Level Certificate in English, Maths, Science and Design and Technology.
Food Technology, RE, and MFL are all offered to at least Entry Level Certificate standard.

ICT accreditation is being developed so that all students are able to gain eDCC qualifications at either Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced levels.
An options scheme also enables pupils to choose from Unit Award Schemes in Music, PE, Art and the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award.

In addition, the ASDAN Youth Award is taken in Key Stage 4. A strong focus is placed on the development of literacy and numeracy across the school.

Overview

We cater for students who require: pace and style of delivery of the full range of the National Curriculum geared to the learning style and academic level of the individual; this is supported by small classes with lower staff-student ratios. in some cases, predominantly students with more severe autism, structured teaching programmes using TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic Children with Communication Handicaps) with the use of visual timetables; individual work stations; also PECS (Pictorial Exchange Communication System) as an augmentative aid to communication. All students follow the National Curriculum and are taught by specialist subject teachers who are experienced in ensuring that students can access, succeed and make progress in a range of subjects. In addition, the school’s new Humanities College status has enabled the development of its Creative Arts, Citizenship and English curriculum. Recent noticeable initiatives have lead to Year 8-11 students writing and publishing their own book of poems, In Our Own Write’. This project was supported by the school’s in-house poet-in-residence Dino Jacovides. Year 10 and 11 students are also putting the finishing touches to their own CD called ‘Self-Songs’, supported by our in-house composer, Chris Bangs. The school is in its second term of running its Communication Awareness Project. This involves weekly workshops where Pendragon students together with small groups of students with SEN from neighbouring mainstream schools use Music, Drama, Art and physical activities to explore and develop a range of communication skills. The school has an ever-increasing group of students who supported by our ICT and English subject leaders have been developing their journalists and news researchers skills. Their latest Summer 2007 edition is a credit to their commitment and enthusiasm. Please do contact the school for a copy. The newly-built Media Centre is now also available to support our other initiatives like film-making and the developing use of video especially with our students with ASD to explore emotions and feelings. We have also been using the Media Centre’s recording facilities for the creation of an Arts Review programme where a range of students share, discuss and review their own creative work. Teachers’ record-keeping and curriculum assessment frameworks show individual student’s achievements and progress using value-added subject assessments frameworks, Individual Education Plans and lesson-by-lesson Merit Comments. We encourage parents and carers to become involved with the progress of their children through the Home/School Agreement, Student Planner and attendance at Academic Review Days, Awards and Presentation Ceremonies. We also encourage parents/carers to support students’ completion of Independent Study tasks. In addition to some of the initiatives and projects described above a range of teaching approaches are used with an emphasis on meeting the different learning styles of our students. To support a more these all departments also have Interactive Whiteboards and the use of two ICT Suites. We also have a dedicated ILS (Integrated Learning System) Suite that specifically supports students’ literacy and numeracy.

Any child who has an appropriate statement of need that is issued by a Local Education Authority, is able to come to this school. We can only admit students whose statement states that they have learning difficulties that fall within the range for which this school caters. Normally we have some 24 places available annually. We try to see that forms do not have more than 12 or 13 students, unless we have combined two or more forms for a brief time, due to the activity involved.

At Pendragon School we:

Regard all students as being of equal value and importance. We expect everyone to value others regardless of age, creed, race, gender, or any other general characteristic. Expect all students to work hard at all times, to behave well and to encourage others; we help and encourage students to take active responsibility for their work and behaviour. Aim to identify the challenges faced by each individual student and to use the whole curriculum, including the National Curriculum, to provide a variety of learning experiences designed to help meet these challenges. Aim to work in partnership with parents and carers and the wider community to develop the social, academic and practical skills students need to play a full part in society. Aim to recognise, encourage and celebrate all student achievements. Aim to work with the wider community to develop opportunities for all students to be able to continue their education and training in the future. Aim to provide a safe, secure environment that encourages students to want to learn.

WHAT WE ARE HERE TO DO

We are part of the Secondary provision within Lewisham. For some students, learning can prove too difficult in a mainstream setting. We have smaller classes and more adults are available per student to help them meet their challenges. We encourage students to concentrate upon what they can do, using these skills to help them tackle their difficulties. We encourage students to learn to get on with other people within school and outside.  We focus on learning based on what can be achieved. We try to recognise all achievements and encourage students to try to do their best without worrying about honest mistakes. We aim to make students feel more confident, valued and able to play a useful part in the wider world. They are encouraged to take part in Further Education so that they can make better use of opportunities after they leave school.