The Academy of Woodlands

The Local Offer was first introduced in the Green Paper (March 2011) as a local offer of all services available to support disabled and children with SEND and their families.  This easy to understand information will set out what is normally available in schools to help children with lower-level SEND as well as the options available to support families who need additional help to care for their child.

The rationale for this document is to provide parents/carers with information regarding the provision available to support families.

The Academy of Woodlands constantly strives to promote and provide an environment which is positive, supportive, inclusive and regards all our pupils and their needs on an individual basis.  We take a pro-active approach to teaching and learning, providing support for children who display learning difficulties.  These can be long term or more transient in nature.  To this end we regard all children as needing ‘special’ attention to their learning.

Children may experience difficulties that affect their ability to learn, these may include:

These difficulties may arise from a short term difficulty or be due to a more long term or permanent difficulty.

How do we decide if a child needs extra help?

As parents/carers you may raise any concerns around your child’s learning with the class teacher, Mrs Viney (Head Teacher) or Mrs Long/Ms Pang (SENDCO).

What happens when a child is identified as needing support?

A full and comprehensive list of the provisions is at the end of this document (Appendix A)

Will the curriculum be accessible?

How do we keep you informed?

How can we help you to support your child’s learning?

What can we do to support the overall well-being of your child?

The school is aware of the need to consider the pastoral needs and emotional well-being of the children in our care; to that end we provide extensive support.

Pupils with medical needs

How do we provide specialist services and expertise?

We as a school recognise the importance of consulting with outside agencies, in some instances, to provide the best possible outcomes for your child.  We are able to refer to and seek advice from the following agencies:

An Educational Psychologist is allocated to each school.  He/she would normally only work directly with pupils whose needs are felt to be quite considerable and have not responded will to the interventions previously put in place.  The Educational Psychologist will be instrument in supporting such a child by observation, assessment and suggested strategies, to best support the child to move their learning forward.

How do we provide the best support for your child?

We realise the importance of having staff that are able to support each child as an individual, we therefore provide training for all staff.  Some training is appropriate for all staff while others may also develop a deeper knowledge in specified areas.  Training has been offered in the following areas:

How do we ensure the school environment is accessible?

We have a number of measures in place at present, but we are always open to discussion surrounding individual access requirements.

What can we do to support your child transferring to or from another school?

Moving between schools may be necessary at any time during your child’s time at primary school.  We appreciate this can be stressful for both you and the child and will endeavour to make the transition as easy as possible.  To enable this we will:

For September intakes in Reception there is planned programme of visits and information visits for prospective parents/carers and children. 

Children moving to secondary education at the end of year 6 are provided for in conjunction with the future school and their specific programme for transition.  The children have access to a mentor.

Will your child receive any additional resources?

In addition to extra support, your child may need resources specific to his/her needs.  While assessing the learning needs of each child, the need for material needs will be considered.  These may include:

Each child is assessed individually and the appropriate resource provided.

How much support will your child receive?

We continually assess and monitor the progress of each child and provide support when it is needed for however long it is needed.  This may be short term intervention accessed once in his/her time with us.  Or the intervention may be recurrent depending on the specific needs of your child.  We provide a wide range of support as evident in Appendix A., and includes:

How will you be involved with your child’s education?

As parents/carers you will be actively encourage to become involved with your child’s education.  Our school offers an ‘Open Door’ policy which welcomes you to discuss any aspect of your child’s school life.  We also have planned access to allow you to discuss progress.

Who should you contact for further information?

Contacting the School Reception will enable you to make contact to the person who can best answer your query.  Some useful names are:

It is hoped that this information will help to answer some of the questions you may have, should you need any further information please contact the school SENDCO, Mrs Long or Ms Pang.
Please refer to our policy page to view the Special Educational Needs Policy.

Appendix A

T - Teacher

T.A. – Teaching Assistant

F.L.O. –Family Liaison Officer/Family Support Worker

S.T.A.- Specialist Teaching Assistant

Our SEN information is in line with Medway council's local offer 

link to medway council local offer