Dawn Baxter
Family Worker
Hello, I’m Dawn one of the 3 family workers at Richmond Hill School.
I am also a deputy designated safeguarding officer and staff
governor.
I am the PREVENT trainer, Single Point of Contact (SPOC) for the
Operation Encompass team and am Makaton trained.
I am also First Aid trained and have completed training for Epilepsy
and Diabetes.
My duties vary from day to day. They include safeguarding the
children and checking in on them all daily.
Phone calls, home visits, form filling, medical duties, covering class,
meetings with professionals and coffee afternoons.
I have been at Richmond Hill School for 6 years now and previously
worked for the Special Educational Needs Service as a Home Portage
Worker and before that worked at Lady Zia Wernher School for 11
years as a Teaching Assistant 3.
I have 3 children (one of which has special needs and is non mobile)
and 5 grandchildren who keep me busy.
I enjoy walking, gardening, keeping fit and can also hula hoop!!!
Michelle Halfpenny
Family Worker
Hello, I’m Michelle one of the three Family workers at Richmond Hill School. I am
based at East, but at times will visit the West site. I am in regular contact with the
other two Family Workers’.
My duties vary from day to day. I am one of the six designated safe guarding officers.
I check on all the children at East every day visiting the children in the class rooms.
My role can be phone calls, meetings with other professional, form filling, medical
duties and generally sign posting families.
I am First Aid, Epilepsy and Diabetes trained and can be called upon to support our
staff at any time.
I also trained to level 2 in British Sign Language (BSL). This can help at time as it can
overlap the Makaton used in school.
I have worked at Richmond Hill for 3 years and enjoy every day and feel privileged to
be in this role and part of the school family.
I started my working career training to be a nurse, then moved on working in
different roles within leisure. When I become a mum I started a new adventure
working in schools. I trained as an Educational Communicator supporting Deaf
children, I supported in a behaviour unit for children with challenging behaviour, a
Family Worker in a behaviour unit then on to Richmond Hill.
I have two grown up sons with my husband and one grandson who brings us joy
every day.
We also have two dogs that we love to walk across the hills every day.
I also enjoy keep fit, swimming and gardening.
Every excuse to be outside in the fresh air is taken.
Family Workers: Dawn, Michelle & Clare
Our role as Family Workers is to be your link between home and school! We want you to feel part of our wonderful school and we are here to support you and your family with anything we can. If we can’t help straight away, we will do our best to get back to you as soon as possible.
As most of our children come to school on the school buses, we encourage parents to come in as much as they can. We invite parents in for coffee mornings, meet the teacher sessions, lesson demonstrations, behaviour management training, parents evenings, school productions and exhibitions. These are great opportunities to learn how to support your child and to meet other families.
We can direct you to other services, provide information about what is available such as holiday clubs, respite and short breaks, and help you with filling out forms e.g. Disability Living Allowance, Family Fund, and referrals if necessary. You might be looking for some help with your child’s eating, sleeping, behaviour or progress for example. As part of our role, we are also Deputy Safeguarding Officers.
You can call us anytime or arrange a time to pop in and see us in the Family Room. If you have any concerns or would like some advice from your class teacher, then please get in touch. We are more readily available during the school day than class teachers, so we can pass on information and then get back to you. We also arrange home visits on some occasions.
We look forward to working with you,
Dawn Baxter (based at West site)
Michelle Halfpenny (based at East site)
Clare Abella (based at East & West site)
Family Room at West
Family Room at East
