Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) - Introduction

At Our Lady of the Wayside School we believe that everyone is created in the image of God and should be valued and respected. As a fully inclusive school, we welcome all children, with their individual strengths and needs and strive to help them to make good progress in their spiritual, moral, emotional and academic development. We recognise that many pupils may have a special need at some time during their school life. Whilst many factors contribute to the range of difficulties experienced by some children, we believe that much can be done to overcome them by parents, teachers, support staff and pupils working together.

Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) can affect a child or young person’s ability to learn.

This can affect their:

• behaviour or ability to socialise,
• achievement in reading and writing,
• ability to understand things,
• concentration levels,
• physical ability.

Here at Our Lady of the Wayside we aim to:

• Ensure all pupils have access to a broad, balanced and relevant curriculum.
• Provide a curriculum appropriate to the individual's needs and ability.
• Ensure the identification of all pupils requiring SEND provision as early as possible in their primary career.
• Ensure that SEND pupils take as full a part as possible in all school activities.
• Liaise with outside agencies, when this would be beneficial, in order to access further specialist support for pupils and parents.

The main methods of provision made by the school are flexible and are tailored to the needs of the individual child,  as far as possible.  Staff are experienced in working within areas of SEND and are committed to developing children personally and academically.  Examples of SEND provision include:

• Adaptive teaching which responds to the strengths and needs of all pupils.
• Additional intervention work with a teacher or support staff, either individually or in a small group,
• In-class support, with adult assistance where appropriate,
• Support from specialists using specific programmes and training.

Our Lady of the Wayside School firmly believes in developing a strong partnership with parents/carers and that this will enable children and young people with SEND to achieve their potential.  The school recognises that parents/carers have a unique overview of their child's needs and how best to support them, and that this gives them a key role in the partnership.  Parents/carers hold key information and have a critical role to play in their children's education.

As of September 2014, all schools are required to publish details of what SEND provision is available through an information report which details the support for pupils with special educational needs and/or a disability. Please click on the links below to find further information regarding SEND provision here at Our Lady of the Wayside School and across Solihull Borough.

SENCo Contact Information:

Mrs Gray/ Mrs Sparkes

Email c/o: office@ol-wayside.solihull.sch.uk

Tel:          0121 744 6852