6th Form College at Woolston Learning Village

Schools Extended Local Offer Response

How does the setting/school/college know if children/young people need extra help and what should I do if I think my child/young person may have special educational needs?

All children / young people who come to Woolston 6^th Form College will have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan).Students mainly come from Green Lane School and Fox Wood School but also may join the college from across schools in Warrington with a very small number of young people coming from neighbouring Local Authorities.  A panel from within the Local Authority would then make a decision as to the most appropriate provision for meeting the needs of students.

The college currently caters for 37 students.

Parents/carers and young people are invited to look around the college (if they haven't already done so). All of our young people are working at levels of attainment significantly lower than their peers within mainstream settings. All new students/parents complete application forms detailing extra help and support that is needed.

How will early years setting/school/college staff support my child/young person?

All students will be supported based on their individual needs.

All classes are staffed by at least one teacher and teaching assistant with some classes having additional staff dependent on student need. Individual speech and language programmes are delivered by speech and language therapy teaching assistants.

Students are set termly targets and these are evaluated and shared with parents on a termly basis.

How will the curriculum be matched to my child's/young person's needs?

In college students are given choices as to what courses they would like to participate in. The curriculum is then matched to student abilities and students are enrolled on courses that will challenge them.

How will both you and I know how my child/young person is doing and how will you help me to support my child's/young person's learning?

We are very keen to ensure that all our students enjoy their time with us. Pastoral care is a very large part of the role our staff play in the lives of our students. The social and emotional aspects of our students are addressed throughout the curriculum as well as through discrete PHSE curriculum. We have a safeguarding team that monitors closely safeguarding and child protection within college.

All staff receive regular training around safeguarding and child protection. Concerns are passed through to the Safeguarding team with the Local Authority. We have policies for the administering of medication and regular training from NHS colleagues on issues such as Asthma, allergies and specific medical conditions. Those staff involved in Intimate care of students receive manual handling training, correct use of hoists and changing beds and wheelchair training.

Each class within college elects its own College Council representative to meet with the staff to discuss issues that may be affecting them and to give them a voice as to developments within college.

An annual parent and student questionnaire is sent out every June to gauge parent/carer and student views and perceptions of what is happening in college.

What support will there be for my child's/young person's overall well being?

Currently we have a number of staff who undertakes specialist roles within the college.

We have a teaching assistant that has been trained to deliver speech and language programmes that are written by the speech and language therapist.

The college has also invested in the services of an Occupational Therapist who carries out assessments, particularly of our ASD children/young people, then writes sensory programmes to meet the sensory needs of those children/young people. These programmes are delivered, on a daily basis, by the class based teaching assistants.

We have also employed our own family support worker (FSW) and their role is to attend Child in Care, Family support and child protection conferences and to support children/young people and their families and liaise with colleagues from other services.

All of our teaching and support staff have regular training in areas of special needs to allow them to best support the needs of our children/young people .

What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by the setting/school/college?

The college is committed to the professional development of all staff.

Recent training has included Team Teach; TEAACH; Administering of medication; ASD; Manual Handling as well as curriculum development training.

We have a range of facilities in college: a sensory room, access to a sensory kingdom; a hydropool; access to speech and language therapists; access to occupational therapists; access to music therapist

How will my child/young person be included in activities outside this classroom including school trips?

 All students participate in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. This involved 1 or 2 residential activities each year where students will stay away from home. This is fully supported by college staff.

On a half termly basis we run social nights in college where students have the opportunity to meet with friends and staff outside of the normal college day. A range of events go on throughout the year- some utilising the college building and some visiting other venues. Students are again fully supported by staff at these events.

How accessible is the setting/school/college environment?

 

The college was designed to be disability friendly from the outset. It is a single storey building with full access.

 Colleagues from the Visually Impaired (VI) and Hearing Impaired (HI) Teams have been involved in the design of the building to ensure it is disability friendly.

Corridors are wide to allow the easy movement of wheelchair users.

A quiet and multi-sensory room have been constructed to offer additional areas and facilities for those young people who require them.

We have shared access to a Hydrotherapy pool. Changing areas are disability friendly and we have disabled toilet and changing facilities placed strategically around the college.

 

How will the setting/school/college prepare and support my child/young person to join the setting/school/college or the next stage of education and life?

Transition into college at 16 and out of college at 19 are heavily supported for all students. All new parents and students are supported fully through the process.