What is Compass?
We understand that for some young people, going to school can be a huge challenge. They may have had negative experiences at school in the past, may struggle with their mental health or may have additional difficulties that make it hard to access education.
Compass is an educational pathway designed for these students. It is a part-time, temporary programme with small classes of students who have similar struggles, and friendly, understanding staff who want to help the young people in any way they can.
On Compass we aim for students to:
- Build good relationships with members of staff.
- Form appropriate relationships with peers in their class.
- Become used to attending school every day.
- Gain new skills and knowledge in a variety of subjects.
- Work towards qualifications when they are ready to.
- Transition to a new permanent school placement when the time is right.
- Have a positive experience of school!
To come to Compass, students must be in year 10 or 11, live in the local authority of Wandsworth, have an EHCP, and have had mental health difficulties that have stopped them being able to access education.
What is an EHCP?
An EHCP is an Education, Health and Care Plan. It is a big document that gives anybody working with you information about your strengths, difficulties and ways to help you. It is issued by the special educational needs department at the local authority and will get you access to extra support throughout your education, potentially up until the age of 25.
What happens on Compass?
Compass is based in classrooms on the playground of Ernest Bevin College. Whilst we are on the site of Ernest Bevin, we are a separate provision.
Below is the classroom we are based in:
Compass Timetable
Your timetable is built depending on how ready you are – we have three phases on the programme. We start with phase 1, where we will meet you in the community – either at your home or in a place close to your home, such as a library or cafe. This will be with a teacher or an educational care coordinator from the programme and you will spend the time getting to know one another and building up to coming into school.
Phase 2 will be when you are ready to start coming into school on a very reduced timetable. You and your teacher can decide together which subjects and times they think will work best for you. We are really flexible so this can change depending on how you feel. Below is an example.
Phase 3 will be when you are ready to join us every day for our whole programme. You will participate in maths, English, science, PSHE, citizenship, STEM and humanities. You will also have a pastoral session, which will be for half an hour with a member of our team. In the afternoon you will have independent work to do that our teachers will set for you.
At Compass, we are very casual. We don’t wear a uniform and we don’t have a strict dress code. We want you to wear clothes that you feel comfortable in and we are happy for you to express yourself if you wish. We don’t ask for piercings to be taken out or nail varnish to be taken off!
You will work quite closely with either Sophie, Claire or Hollie, who are pastoral leads on the programme: