|
SEN at Hadley Learning Community Diane Withers, Special Educational Needs (Secondary Phase) |
Our learning community is an all inclusive school that values its diverse range of Students. One of the true strengths of HLC is its mixture of Students from a range of academic and emotional backgrounds. As a result the school and its systems have been created to support every Student individually and it is this focus on the individual that allows Students of all backgrounds to succeed.
The heart of HLC is its ability to care for and support our learners and in the October 2010 Ofsted the school was graded as outstanding in this area. This ability to cater for all learners is highlighted by the range of individual Student needs, from moderate learning difficulties to acute medical support and to physical disabilities.
HLC has created a large dedicated team of staff who cater for Students with a Statement and those on School Action and School Action plus. The team is headed by our experienced SENCO, Mrs Di Withers who manages the teaching staff in their delivery as well as a team of Teaching Assistants to support learning. In addition to this team of people we have non teaching members of staff, Student Support Managers, (SSM) whose Primary role is the care for each of our Students and offer outside support from various Local Authority and private agencies.
We support our SEN Students by making sure that they have the right curriculum and the right support staff in place to ensure they achieve their full potential. These areas are complimented with high quality teaching and learning and the use of data to track individual performance. We recognise that supporting our staff is vital in the success of any learner and we provide our staff with Provision Maps which offer guidance on how to deliver to a wide variety SEN needs.
As a Secondary school we employ more Teaching Assistants than any other school in Telford and their role is to support the learners and the members of staff, in their delivery. All of TAs have SEN training and many have specialised knowledge in a particular area of SEN. Their priority role is the support of Students with SEN and this is done in a variety of different ways. We employ TAs who work on a 1 to 1 basis and others who are fixed in departments who develop a strong subject knowledge that they can share when working with our SEN Students. The final intervention is small group extraction from lessons where well prepared TAs can work with a small group of Students to maximise learning.
Our SEN provision does not start on the first day of year 7. We pride ourselves on our prior knowledge of our SEN Students and this is done through close liaison with our feeder School. This knowledge is achieved through our SENCO and Student Support Managers going into each one of our 21 feeder Schools to gather information on their year 6 Pupils and also make future preparations for any younger Students on the horizon.
We recognise the importance of communication with our parents. One of our key strengths is that our Students with a Statement each have a mentor that meets with them regularly and can act as the parental point of contact on any number of issues.
Energycare, 1A Hallchurch Road, Dudley, West Midlands, DY2 0TG Tel: 01384 482123 - Fax: 01384 75448
Hadley Learning Community, Crescent Road, Hadley, Telford
Tel: 01952 387000 - Fax: 01952 387007