Aspirations Faculty - Send

Our Values

Pupils to have the life skills for adulthood.

Pupils to become independent lifelong learners.

Pupils to have the resilience to achieve their aspirations.

Pupils to experience and celebrate their successes.

Our Ethos

To Shape Resilient, Independent, and Skilled Pupils for a Successful Future.

INTENT

At Woodlands, we want all our students to learn important skills for their future, become independent learners, be resilient in pursuing their aspirations, and celebrate their achievements. We believe that everyone is unique, and we embrace and value those differences because life would be boring if we were all the same.

The Aspirations Faculty helps our staff provide an inclusive education for all students, no matter their abilities or disabilities. We identify students who face challenges in learning and give them strategies to overcome these challenges. We also make necessary reasonable adjustments and use different approaches to support their education and well-being. We work closely with families and regularly meet with students on the SEND register to involve them in planning and implementing support both in and out of school.

IMPLEMENTATION

The Aspirations Faculty staff will communicate with your child's primary school to understand their needs and ensure we can fully support them at Woodlands School. We offer specific interventions to our students based on their needs. These interventions may include.

Extra support in class from Co-Educators
Individual pupil passports
Help with literacy and numeracy
Social skills groups
Learning about emotional regulation
On-site counselling
Speech and language therapy
Clubs during breaks and lunchtime
Homework assistance
Mentoring
Extra support in the curriculum
Improving handwriting
Touch typing
Exam access arrangements
Tools like timeout cards and laptops
Support with attendance
Referrals to specialists like Educational Psychologists and Occupational Therapists
Referrals to external support

The progress of your child will be monitored by tutors, class teachers, the head of year, and the SENDCo, who will provide feedback through phone calls, emails, meetings, or annual reviews.

Enhanced Provision for Speech and Language

Woodlands School has an onsite Enhanced Provision for students with speech, language, and communication needs. Click here for more information

IMPACT

We strongly believe that with the right support and guidance, all our students can achieve not only their potential. Our goal is to prepare students for adulthood by helping them reach their aspirations. We take pride in creating an inclusive environment where every child is included and where we maintain high standards for work, attendance, and behaviour. We want our students to become lifelong learners who can make positive contributions to society. Many of our students have successfully continued their education in colleges, apprenticeships, and universities, thanks to the strong foundation they built at our school.

Our SEND Policy can be downloaded below.

Aspirations Faculty – Key Contacts

Mr Dean O’Connor: SENDCo

Miss Billie Coates: Assistant SENDCo

Mrs Sam Heley: Speech and Language Therapist

Mrs Jo Mason: Aspirations Faculty Coordinator

Mrs Nicola Moran: Aspirations Faculty Administrator

Mrs Wendy Rouse: Assessment Lead

Miss Maisie Metcalf: Numeracy & Literacy Intervention Lead

Mr Mick Nixon: Physio Intervention Lead

Miss Madeline MacLeod: Wellbeing & Attendance Lead

Contact email: SEND@woodlandsschool.essex.sch.uk

Special Educational Needs Support for Parents

https://www.essexsendiass.co.uk/

SEND Information, Advice and Support Service (SEND IASS)

https://www.snapcharity.org/

Autism

https://www.autism.org.uk/

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance

Dyslexia

https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/

ADHD

https://adhdfoundation.org.uk/

Speech, Language and Communication

https://www.afasic.org.uk/about-talking/what-are-speech-language-and-communication-needs-slcn/

Emotional and Mental Health

https://youngminds.org.uk/

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/for-children-and-young-people/

https://healthyyoungmindspennine.nhs.uk/resource-centre/external-links/kooth/

Parental Referral

A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:

has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or
has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post 16 institutions.

If you believe that your child has SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) needs and you would like to get in touch, please complete the questionnaire below or click here.

The following documents can be downloaded by clicking on the link:

Equality Act

Woodlands School is committed to meeting its responsibilities in relation to the Equality Act of 2010. In all we do we endeavour to ensure that the 3 aims of the act are upheld and that we:

Eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Act.
Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and people who do not share it.
Foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not share it.