Most Inclusive Practice Across a School
Penwortham Primary School
Judges comments: A school, who the judges felt made a real effort to be inclusive for all types of need, not just focussing on those with the largest or most complex needs.
Context
Penwortham SEND vision statement:
Community: Everyone is included.
Unity: United by our school’s values.
Opportunity: Aim for happiness and success.
Penwortham Primary School is bigger than average – 3 form entry mainstream primary school. It is situated in South West London. There are 647 pupils on roll; 33% are EAL learners and 39 different languages are spoken. 18% of children are entitled to Pupil Premium funding. Currently there are 17 pupils with EHCPs and there are 79 pupils on the SEN register for SEN support. The most significant need is speech, language and communication (8%) followed by ASD (1.5%), SEMH (1.4%) and specific learning difficulties (dyslexia) (1.2%). Ofsted judged the school as good in November 2017.
In 2017 the new SEND team structure was introduced. SEND team consist of:
Head of inclusion – Deputy Head, SENCo, Class teacher, SEN administrator. The SEND team is actively supported by: Headteacher and Governing Body (SEND Governor).
Partnership with Parents
Penwortham Primary School
Judges comments: The judges were impressed with the school’s commitment to working in partnership with parents. There were clear signs that they are thinking about coproduction with parents, as opposed to broadcasting to parents.
Context
Penwortham SEND vision statement:
Community: Everyone is included.
Unity: United by our school’s values.
Opportunity: Aim for happiness and success.
Penwortham Primary School is bigger than average – 3 form entry mainstream primary school. It is situated in South West London. There are 647 pupils on roll; 33% are EAL learners and 39 different languages are spoken. 18% of children are entitled to Pupil Premium funding. Currently there are 17 pupils with EHCPs and there are 79 pupils on the SEN register for SEN support. The most significant need is speech, language and communication (8%) followed by ASD (1.5%), SEMH (1.4%) and specific learning difficulties (dyslexia) (1.2%). Ofsted judged the school as good in November 2017.
In 2017 the new SEND team structure was introduced. SEND team consist of:
Head of inclusion – Deputy Head, SENCo, Class teacher, SEN administrator. The SEND team is actively supported by: Headteacher and Governing Body (SEND Governor).
Inclusion in Early Years
Lanesend Primary School
Judges comments: We were impressed with the fuller transition programme they offer into Reception. It is clear that transition is a gradual process, not just an event.
Context
Love Learning – Our Teachers Love Teaching and Teach our Children to Love Learning.
We do what needs to be done for every child.
Lanesend Primary School is a large Primary School in Cowes on the Isle of Wight. We currently have 437 children on role, 35% of these children are currently on the SEN register. The school currently has 28 Education Health and Care Plans across all year groups.
We are a highly inclusive school and have become the ‘Go To’ primary school for families of children with special educational needs from across the Isle of Wight.
Our largest ethnic group is White British followed by White with Any Other White Background. Our context published for the primary data report comments that we have children from five out of a possible seventeen ethnic groups. The average number of groups for Primary School is nine.
On PLASC day (16th January 2020) our number on roll was 439. We are now at 437 with two children having recently left.
The percentage of boys is higher across the school
We currently have a waiting list of 13 children, 1 for Reception, 4 for Year 1, 6 Year 3 children, 2 year 5 children. We have 64 children in first choice for September 2019 including 3 children with EHCPs in place , 18 second preference and 15 third preference.
Inclusion in Further Education
Beechlawn School
Judges comments: We felt that this entry showed much more than other sensory gardens that we have seen, so much of it done by the pupils. We were particularly impressed with the engagement from pupils in developing and maintaining their sensory garden.
Context
Beechlawn school is a special school which is recognised as an outstanding school by the educational inspectorate. The school has over 200 pupils and caters for a variety of varying needs and abilities. Beechlawn Sixth form department is currently in its seventh year (2019) and its growing in strength and developing to meet the needs of the pupils from year to year. As the school is situated in a landscaped 7-acre site on the outskirts of the historical village of Hillsborough. Pupils use the school environment to investigate all aspects of the Northern Ireland curriculum including History, Geography and Science.
After discussion involving the pupils in Sixth form, Our Key stage five felt that we should utilise the environment to create a stimulating and safe space which would benefit the whole school and staff. Especially as we as a school want to promote emotional wellbeing and positive self-esteem, whilst developing the full potential of our wonderful pupils.
Support into Employment
Oldham College
Judges comments: The judges were impressed by what has been achieved, with all staff involved working extremely hard to establish links with a very large number of employers. This has enabled students to choose from a wide range of pathways. Being able to follow a route that matches their interests and ambitions may well be one of the reasons for early signs of excellent outcomes.
Context
Oldham College is a technical and professional college in the heart of the town centre. This is a borough with more challenges than many other regional and national areas in terms of deprivation (56 per cent borough-wide) and education and skills levels (only 56 per cent at Level 2 or above).
These levels of deprivation are ranked among the highest in the country. The linkages between deprivation, social mobility and educational attainment in Oldham are currently the focus of a Department for Education ‘Opportunity Area’ initiative. They include the prevalence of low skills, low prior achievement and the interconnection between these and other complex issues, such as mental health, drug and alcohol misuse, workless-ness and similar challenges.
Contribution to the Sector
Nicola Fisher
Judges comments: This person does not just do a job, she has an impact on her surroundings and others in the school. Someone who is not in leadership, not a super head, nor a member of trust staff, this person is an ordinary person doing their job, but in a way that means others are learning from her.
Context
The Barlow RC High School is a secondary school that works in an extremely challenging context. Although from the ‘outside’ we are situated in the leafy Didsbury, 44% of our students are classed as ‘disadvantaged’ which is almost double the National Average. Our profile shows that students come from areas with the highest social deprivation in Manchester. Despite this, we are committed to removing barriers to learning for all our students, so they can reach their full potential and be the best that they can be. Our mission is: “If you believe you can achieve”.
We live our mission out each day in our school so we can improve the life chances of all our pupils. This mission shines through in the way our SEND Department looks after SEND pupils with a range of needs. The SEND register at The Barlow is made up of 153 pupils, which is above the national average. 24 of our pupils are designated as having complex needs and receive additional funding from the LA. Again, this is significantly above the national average. 62% of our SEND cohort are classed as Pupil Premium, meaning that they have double the barriers to overcome. Our SEND pupils are our inspiration and we strive, in everything we do for them, to give them the best opportunities in life that we can. We are massively proud of them and all of the work we do for them, in order to allow them to be important contributors to society as they grow older.
