SEND Provision

Overview

SEND Team

  • SENCo: Mr J. Woodcock
  • ALG Link for SEND: Mr A Haslop
  • Link Governor for SEND: Mrs J Walker

SENco Contact Details

SEND Provision at West Lakes Academy

Our academy is fully inclusive and students with additional needs are included in all aspects of life here.

All staff, including the learning support department, work with those students who need additional support within school either academically, socially, emotionally or physically.

This support is largely offered within mainstream classrooms to ensure that all students are able to access inclusive learning at an appropriate level. Tasks may be modified or differentiated for individual students. Students are also supported at social times if appropriate.

The students’ needs cover reading, writing, spelling, numeracy, understanding, communication, self-esteem, self-confidence, behaviour, hearing impairments, visual impairments, co-ordination, mobility,  learning difficulties, autism, physical and medical difficulties.

Some students may have the protection of a Statement of Special Educational Need or an Education, Health and Care Plan – legal documents which the school has to honour. Others may be identified by the school or by their parents as requiring extra support.

Please refer to our full SEND Policy  and SEND Information Report for more information.

Key Stage 3

Most support is provided within mainstream classes by learning support assistants who work closely with the class teachers. The curriculum may be modified or differentiated for these students. Some 1 to 1 and small group work is also carried out when this is thought to be appropriate and is led by our senior LSAs.

Some students are withdrawn from some classes to work on basic literacy skills in a small group. A variety of literacy interventions are available to develop decoding and comprehension skills. It is expected that all students will acquire independent learning and working skills which they will then carry on into the future.

Key Stage 4

Students may be supported in mainstream classes in some subjects or they may be taught in smaller groups where greater individual tuition can be given and courses can be tailored to their needs.

West Lakes Academy’s SEN Offer

Click to read Special Educational Needs policy

Dyslexia Support

At West Lakes Academy we provide tailored support for our dyslexic students. They receive small group intervention once a week and have access to an individual learning ‘app’ called IDL to work on their literacy skills. We also share student passports with staff which detail students’ strengths/interests, weaknesses and strategies to help. The students are involved in creating these passports and they also have a key worker to go to if they need any help or are worried about anything.

Additional Services

The Local Authority has produced The Local Offer where parents/carers and young people can find out about more specialist provision available. Please follow the link below to find out more information:

Families Information | SEND Information Hub (Local offer) (cumberland.gov.uk)

Cumbria SEND information, advice and support service

Complaints Procedure

If you are unhappy with the way West Lakes Academy is managing your child’s learning needs you should:

  1. Contact your child’s form tutor, subject teacher, or head of year with your concerns by telephoning the academy on 01946 820356 to talk about your concerns on the phone or to arrange a meeting at the academy.
  2. If you still have concerns, please contact the academy’s SENCo who will try to help resolve the problem. Mr Woodcock can be contacted on 01946 820356 or via his email address: woodcockj@changinglives.education.
  3. If you are still unhappy then you should ask for a meeting with the vice principal responsible for SEND, Miss Relph to talk about the issue. Miss Relph can be contacted on 01946 820356 or via her email address: relphm@changinglives.education .
  4. If, after completing these steps you remain unhappy with the responses then you should ask for a meeting with the principal, Mrs Deeks to discuss the issue.

If you feel the problem has still not been resolved by the academy, you may then contact the academy’s governing body by emailing governors@changinglives.education