Consultation on Enhanced Learning Provision for Chester-le-Street CoE Primary and Leadgate Primary Schools

Background

We have a duty to keep our special education provision under review and make sure that there is the right type of provision and enough places to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND.

Our vision for children and young people with SEND is the same as it is for all children and young people in County Durham: that they are safe and part of their community, have the best start in life, have good physical and mental health, and gain the education, skills and experiences to prepare them for adulthood.

We know that there more children and young people are being identified as having special educational needs in County Durham and we expect this increase to continue. We need to make sure that we have the right type of education, in the right place to meet their needs.

We have previously carried out consultations on our SEND Strategic Plan in 2019 and 2020 about ensuring more, higher level, specialist support for children and young people with SEND, in a mainstream school (Targeted Mainstream Provision).

What we are proposing

Chester-le-Street CoE Primary and Leadgate Primary Schools are wanting to include Enhanced Learning Provision in their schools. We want your views on these proposals to provide extra support for children and young people with SEND.

Chester-le-Street CoE Primary School proposal

Since September 2021, Chester-le-Street CoE Primary School have supported the inclusion and learning of an increased number of children with complex needs, predominantly in the areas of communication and interaction, and cognition and learning. This has been achieved through actively developing the provision. These identified children have access to this provision (referred to as the 'Pioneers' class), which has given access to a personalised curriculum designed to support their social, emotional and academic development, aligned to their Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) identified needs and the preparation for adulthood guidance. This is part of the wider school provision which is judged to be 'good' by Ofsted.

The school is committed to working in partnership with us to develop Enhanced Provision for children and young people in their broader community. This fits with the areas' needs that we have identified. Further development would allow the school to build on the Pioneers provision, including up to eight Key Stage 1 and eight Key Stage 2 children with a range of complex social communication and learning needs. There would be a separate teaching base and opportunities for inclusion with their age-appropriate fellow children through the week as appropriate.

Leadgate Primary proposal

Leadgate Primary School aims to provide young people in their community with the high quality provision, resources and support they need to succeed and thrive in a local mainstream school. They intend to specialise in supporting pupils who face challenges with social communication and interaction as their primary area of need. The school culture and the fundamental principles reflect the promotion of inclusive communities by working together, communicating positively with a commitment to working collaboratively to overcome challenges. Through the Enhanced Provision, the school will:

• develop a social and academic curriculum that equips pupils with life skills that enable them to succeed in the wider world
• develop a curriculum that develops pupils' independence, self-confidence and promotes positive attitudes towards learning
• develop a purposeful nurturing learning environment built on mutual respect and a shared positive attitude encouraging pupils to become resilient individuals
• develop opportunities for pupils to discover their own health needs and how to live an active, healthy lifestyle
• provide rich learning opportunities to enable pupils to learn fundamental reading, writing and maths skills that are usable in real life situations such as shopping, economics and self care
• remove barriers to learning ensuring pupils make progress from their own starting points, have good social and emotional health and be prepared for the next steps in their education
• provide the best educational opportunities tailored to individual needs so that all children can achieve the best outcome
• offer high quality provision that meets pupils' individual needs and enables them to thrive whilst attending a local school so they can make friends and be part of their local community
• develop opportunities for increased parental engagement within the school community

The school will establish a low arousal, low stimulus environment with a highly structured and predicable routine to support the unique pattern of thinking and social behaviour of children with social and communication needs face. They will create a nurture base that provides children with their own entrance, space, and fully accessible toilets, which will remove additional transitional anxiety. Access to designated toilets and cloakroom will remove barriers for children enabling them to meet their own intimate care needs. Working in partnership with parents to understand and facilitate the meeting of needs will be undertaken at every opportunity.

When would it start

Places will be offered at both schools from January 2024 onwards.

The expected impact

This proposal will allow children with complex needs in the local area to access a high quality provision nearer to home, reducing pressure on special school placements and transport budgets. It will bring with it significant additional benefits in allowing these young people to remain part of their local community life, and make access and involvement for parents and carers easier. It will allow a wide range of typical school experiences for these young people, while also being able to provide more specialist provision than is typically found in a mainstream setting.

Teachers will be able to more fully adapt the curriculum on offer and extend the experiences possible through creating a continuous provision. This will include increased opportunities for pupils to gain the skills they need to prepare them for adulthood through providing a creative curriculum developed to meet the needs of the individual pupils.

Have your say

What happens next

Once the consultation has closed, we will review all of the responses and create a report with recommendations. Should the report recommend that the proposals are approved, we will then make the necessary arrangements to officially change the status of the school.