Westleigh Methodist Primary School recognises that children have special educational need or disability (SEND) if they have a learning difficulty e.g. dyslexia that calls for special educational provision to be made for them. 

We recognise that a child has a learning difficulty if he/she:

• Has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age.
• Has been identified as having a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia, dyspraxia etc….
• Has a disability that prevents or hinders the child from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same age, in schools within the area of the local education authority.

We recognise that a child has a disability if they have:

• Difficulty getting to and from school, or moving around school
• Manual dexterity; holding a pen, using tools or throwing or catching a ball
• Difficulty carrying objects
• Difficulty controlling the need to go to the toilet
• Difficulty hearing or seeing

All children will have equality of opportunity to achieve their potential in all subjects. All children will be expected to participate in the full curriculum. In planning and teaching subjects, teachers will have due regard for the following principles:

• Setting suitable learning challenges
• Responding to pupils’ diverse learning needs 
• Overcoming potential barriers to learning and assessment for individual and groups of pupils
• Ensuring challenge and extension when and where appropriate.

Where children continue to have difficulty after interventions have taken place, or require a high level of support to access the curriculum, they are considered to have Special Educational Needs (SEND) and will be placed on the SEND register. Parents/ carers will be informed.

Children working lower than the national expectation for their age and/ or require support from staff in school are identified as having a Low Level Need (LLN). This may involve:

• Extra help from a teaching assistant in class
• Small group or individual support out of class
• Alternative resources such as access to ICT or visual prompts.

Children at this stage may have smaller targets to achieve, and a provision map is drawn up by the class teacher to evidence extra provision.

Children who have external agencies supporting them also, are placed at High Level Need (HLN). For example, speech therapist, educational psychologist, sensory support or Outreach.

We aim to ensure that a child with special educational needs and disability have his/her needs met by:

• Prompting early identification and assessment of children’s needs
• Enabling pupils with SEND to receive opportunities to develop to their full potential in all areas of the curriculum
• Providing a consistent framework of support to teaching staff to enable them to respond quickly and appropriately to children’s needs
• Working in partnership with parents, valuing their knowledge, views and experience in relation to their child’s needs
• Valuing children’s individual achievements and promoting their self esteem
• Liaising with appropriate support/children’s agencies such as the TESS teacher, Speech and Language therapists, Educational Psychologist, health and social services etc…
• Providing teachers and teaching assistants with support, expertise, resources and training in order to assist them in planning and providing a relevant and differentiated curriculum for all pupils.
• Monitoring and reviewing provision on a regular basis and looking at the impact of provision on raising standards

Children at HLN will have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) or Individual Behaviour Plan (IBP) with individual targets. A provision map will also be drawn up to evidence extra support. These are working documents and are reviewed regularly.

Where provision and support for children exceeds £6,000 per year, an Education, Health and Care Plan may be considered for additional funding. This majority of this process is completed by the school, but parents are kept up to date throughout the process an EHC Plan can be applied for at any time, following the Graduated Approach.

Westleigh Methodist Primary School operates an open door policy, and we encourage parents to be fully involved in the life of the school. Parents are welcome to discuss their child’s progress with their class teacher at any time. They are also welcome to meet with the Headteacher, SENCo or Pastoral Manager.

Parent’s evenings are held twice a year to share your child’s current attainment and progress, and you will receive a written report at the end of the year.

The building is fully wheelchair accessible, either from the inside or outside. Classrooms are adapted to ensure that a wheelchair can move around the room. There is a disabled toilet in the building, where changing can take place. For children with hearing impairments, staff will use the relevant equipment and strategies. For children with visual impairments, relevant equipment will be used in the classroom. Where children cannot effectively communicate verbally, signs and visual resources will be used to ensure the child’s needs can be met. Where families have EAL, we use services from the Local Authority to translate where necessary.

An audit of the accessibility is carried out every 3 years by an external company. If you wish to see the audit report, please contact the school.

From the audit report, an accessibility action plan is developed with key actions. This can be access below in the downloads section.

Our accessibility plan can be downloaded below

For further information please see the Equal Opportunities Policy:      

Your child’s class teacher is your first contact if you wish to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns you may have. Alternatively, you can arrange to speak the SENCo or Pastoral Manager. Please contact the school office on 01942 702967.

For information about the support the Local Authority provide, please click the link below.

Wigan Local Offer 

Wigan Local Offer provides information of services which could support children and young people with SEN:

The Autism Pathway and Service work with schools, teachers and parents to help support children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC), you will find further information at the link below:

https://www.wigan.gov.uk/Business/Professionals/Educational-support/ASC-Pathway-Service.aspx

Or if you prefer to speak to someone please call Wigan SENDS team on 01942 486136.

As a part of the SEND Transformation programme we are looking to improve our offer of support for families and the services they currently receive in the Wigan borough. A questionnaire has been developed and the consultation period will be taking place over summer and early into the new school year.

I would be grateful if you could let parents and families know through your website, newsletters and discussions with them, about the survey, so that they are able to contribute their views.

The survey is available online now  and will be available until the 30^th September. If families would like it in a different format please contact Rachel Derbyshire (Rachel.derbyshire@wigan.gov.uk).