Welcome to Inspire Academy
Inspire Academy is a special school based in Chatham and every pupil that attends has an EHCP (Educational, Health and Care Plan), with SEMH (Social, Emotional and Mental Health) as their primary need. All pupils are treated as individuals, which means staff work hard to deliver a curriculum that will suit each need, helping them to progress, not only academically, but socially and emotionally on their journey through school.
Our staff team at Inspire are passionate about providing the best possible opportunities and education for each individual. We celebrate difference, we constantly challenge and resolve conflict, always having high expectations about pupil behaviour, relationships and attainment. Supporting the individual can be a challenge, but this is far outweighed by the pleasure we get as educators seeing them grow and progress in all aspects of their lives.
The pupils SEMH need means that some exhibit very challenging behaviour and Mainstream schooling is not always the most appropriate setting to deal with this, as they may require some extra support. Sometimes their first encounters of education has been chaotic and certainly challenging, many have had a fragmented education and have fallen behind their peers academically. This often results in self-esteem issues and anti-social behaviour.
With small classes and amazing staff that truly understand SEMH, we feel that once a pupil starts at Inspire, they have every opportunity to turn their lives around. Every child has the right to achieve and we believe that every parent and carer has the right to expect Inspire Academy to do its very best for their child. With this in mind, we work closely with parents and carers and other agencies to help each pupil make positive choices and changes which will serve them better in their future.
A key feature that we try to adopt is teaching all pupils to take responsibility for their own behaviour and consequences. We teach them to try and put things right when they go wrong, together with learning the values of tolerance and respect for themselves and others.
We do not believe it is acceptable for any pupil to behave in an unsafe or inappropriate way without regard to others. Through clear rules, boundaries, expectations, rewards and consequences, we show our pupils how to build positive relationships. By doing all of this during the time our pupils are with us, we develop their academic and personal skills and confidence that will enable them to face society.
Mr M O'Donnell
Headteacher
