Medical Needs in Schools (MNiS) Pathway Purpose:
- School to School Support: KS1-KS4 (via Raedwald Trust Assessment Hub)
- Direct Pupil Support: KS2-KS4 (through St Christopher’s Academy)
The purpose for the Medical Needs in Schools (MNiS) Pathway is to equip mainstream education staff with the confidence to support all children within their schools who are experiencing either a physical or mental health condition and to be able to choose the best approaches, including using remote technologies, if appropriate, to support them. A comprehensive support package for schools is delivered through the Raedwald Trust Assessment Hub. Where we achieve this aim by working directly with a pupil, we are careful to ensure that we interact with the education and health systems through the pupil’s eyes, supporting professionals to better work together.
Direct Pupil Support
Schools may refer individual students for support through MNiS. All pupils need to be on a mainstream school roll. Where we work directly with a pupil, support is tailored to each individual through discussion with mainstream school; parents/carers; clinicians; pupils and MNiS representatives. Whilst we may register a pupil on this pathway, the D code will be applied for all 10 school sessions as St Christopher’s Academy does not deliver direct education on this pathway nor does it accept safeguarding responsibility.
Examples of the support for learners we provide include:
- Writing Individual Healthcare Plans (IHPs)
- Supporting schools and families with medical/mental health referrals
- Supporting schools and families with other referrals eg SEND; NDD; EHCNA etc
- Liaising with mainstream schools regarding academic work whilst pupils are unable to attend school
- Loan of telepresence remote learning resources eg AV1 robots; support with set up; timetabling etc
- Weekly check in with pupils and liaison with mainstream schools (and clinicians if required)
Timescales
Usually completed within 6-12 months, with ongoing support for individual pupils as required, dependant on progress and medical advice.
Curriculum
The curriculum offer is the mainstream offer and if/when appropriate may be facilitated by the Raedwald Trust. In some cases, the Assessment Centre may identify areas of need that could be supported and delivered as an intervention during the placement. In this case, this would be offered as part of the bespoke package in accordance with the home-school SENCo.
We work closely with mainstream schools to ensure the most impactful educational package is in place each week in line with realistic outcomes given the pupil’s medical need and following clinician advice.
Assessment
During the induction period, pupil Individual Healthcare Plans will be used to ensure educational expectations are in line with clinical advice.
It may be necessary to explore further baseline assessment if necessary to ascertain possible SEND needs. If/when the Assessment Centre identifies significant gaps, this will be fed back to the home-school SENCo who may direct intervention to be delivered by Raedwald staff as part of the pathway offer. These identified interventions will be assessed according to the APDR cycle, directed by the home-school and in some cases facilitated by Raedwald Trust staff and shared with the parents/carers.
Medical Needs in Schools (MNIS) Pathway is offered at;