To view our SEND Information Report and SEND Policy please go to our Policies page by clicking here.

Being an inclusive school is at the heart of life at Our Lady and St Chad Catholic Academy. All professionals strive to cater for the many and varied needs of all the students in our care. Each student is treated as an individual and receives specialist support to match their needs.
Pupils access most of their support in the classroom through high quality, adapted teaching, but it may be that they require some additional help from the team in St Joseph Centre. St Joseph Centre is the new base that sits alongside the THRIVE room to better offer pupils with additional needs the support they require in the different areas of need.
 The SEN Department circulates all relevant information to staff at the beginning of the academic year in relation to a student’s needs, stage of assessment and strategies for support based on the Code of Practice. Information is updated on a regular basis and all pertinent changes are shared with staff.
 All staff are involved in the identification of students with additional needs in their mainstream classroom and appropriate assessments are then carried out by the SEN Department to determine the level of support. This may involve a referral to the Local Authority for a statutory assessment to be carried out.
Each Curriculum Area has responsibility for:
  • determining procedures for SEN identification
  • provision for the needs of SEN Students by planning appropriately differentiated lessons
  • evaluation of the progress of SEN Students in their teaching groups through the graduated response.
The SEN Department policy reflects the current practices required by the SEN Code of Practice and other legislation, such as the 2013 Equality Act. The support provided for students at any SEN stage, including students with an EHCP, is often supplemented by in-house support and additional external agencies. Some of these include:
  • Local Authority support
  • MAST support, including behaviour support and Educational Psychologist Service
  • Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
  • Physical and Sensory Team
  • Speech and Language Therapy Service
  • Tettenhall Wood Outreach Service
  • Connexions
  • School Nurse
  • Access to counselling and therapy services
  • Mentors including boxing and football
  • THRIVE assessment and sessions
  • Curriculum Mentors in the core subjects including English, Maths, Science and RE
Learning Support Assistants (LSAs) within the department are deployed to support in lessons according to the requirements as outlined in a student’s Statement of Educational Needs. They are allocated to work within the St Joseph Centre as well as in class for pupils who require some targeted support in lessons. In addition, they also lead on small group interventions for students with a focus on literacy, numeracy and social skills.
Meet the team:
  • Mrs. J. Bartlett – DSEN Administration Officer
  • Mrs. J. Matthews – Literacy HLTA
  • Mrs. K. McLachlan – LSA
  • Mrs. L. Nicholls – LSA
  • Ms. H. Leitch – LSA

Lexia Powerup Literacy

Lexia PowerUp Literacy™ is a program for non-proficient readers in grades 6 and above that accelerates the development of both fundamental literacy and higher-order thinking skills through adaptive learning paths. PowerUp addresses the instructional needs of a wide range of students by identifying skill gaps and providing personalized, systematic instruction in Word Study, Grammar, and Comprehension. Embedded progress monitoring, actionable data, and scripted lessons empower teachers to deliver the exact instruction each student needs.

Lexia Powerup

 

Wolverhampton Outreach Parent Workshops 2022-23

Autism Outreach Support for Parents 2022/23

 

SEND Resource Posters

Please find attached a suite of posters designed to support both parents/carers and professionals in implementing a graduated response to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND in early years and school settings. These resources have been co-produced by Wolverhampton Local Authority to promote inclusive practice and early identification.