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Inclusion Department

The Inclusion Department works alongside all teachers and staff in the school to provide access to the curriculum for those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). 

The Weald provides additional and/or different provision for a range of needs, including:

Communication and interaction, for example, autistic spectrum condition and speech and language difficulties.  

  • Cognition and learning, for example, dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia  
  • Social, emotional and mental health difficulties, for example, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiance, attachment difficulties, Tourette’s and anxiety  
  • Sensory and/or physical needs, for example, visual impairments, hearing impairments, processing difficulties and epilepsy

The Inclusion Area (rooms C3-C6) is a multi-purpose space which can provide a quiet learning environment, with dedicated areas for private conversations, to enable students to feel secure and to receive appropriate support.  There are areas for self study, and support for young people who need to calm and ground themselves to enable them to rejoin their classes and focus on their learning. The Weald prides itself on being inclusive, and the commitment to provide targeted support to the mental health and wellbeing of our whole community.

Our Inclusion Team

The Inclusion department consists of a highly experienced and committed team, including a Director and Deputy Director of Inclusion who are both qualified SENDCOs. The Director of Inclusion also has a Level 7 certificate for psychometric testing. 

Our Inclusion Manager oversees our Inclusion Room (C3) and supports the SENDCOs and SLT to ensure that the school meets its responsibilities under the Equality Act (2010) with regard to reasonable adjustments and access arrangements including keeping records of all children with SEND up to date.

Our Lead Inclusion Teaching Assistant manages in-class support timetables and oversees the SEND Mentors, who maintain regular contact with students who have high needs (those going through an EHC Needs Assessment or who have an EHC Plan).

Our Literacy and Numeracy Tutors provide targeted provision for those students who require additional support to strengthen their core skills in order to better access all aspects of the curriculum.  The majority of our intervention is delivered to small groups of students, but we are also able to support students on a one-to-one basis. 

Our Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) and School Counsellors support students with a range of needs such as emotional and mental health, low self-esteem, bereavement, attendance and gender and sexuality image.  Much of this support is offered on an individual basis.  We also support students returning to school after lengthy absences for medical reasons and help those who are reluctant to attend to reintegrate back into lessons.

We have a team of Teaching Assistants and Learning Mentors who work with teachers and students in lessons and during specific intervention time, to ensure all students have access to the support they need.

Transition from Primary School

In the Summer Term of each year, the Inclusion team visits primary schools to liaise with SENDCOs and class teachers about new year 7 entrants. Existing primary school SEND Registers are used to help identify pupils with additional needs and to prepare for a smooth transition to The Weald.  We offer enhanced transition programmes for new entrants with multiple and complex special educational needs and/or disabilities.   

We liaise with the Year 7 Director of Learning in order to place the new entrants into form groups and learning groups that are socially and academically diverse. This is done in order to promote an environment for the new students that is both happy and secure, while fostering a positive learning environment at the same time.

Support for students with SEND

At The Weald we have a three-tiered approach to supporting students’ learning needs:

  1. Universal: At The Weald we believe that your child’s learning needs will first and best be met through the high quality teaching delivered by subject teachers. We provide all teachers with information about the learning needs of individual students with SEND, along with strategies they might use via a Pupil Passport (profile page). Subject teachers will plan lessons in accordance with this information to match your child’s special educational needs and/or disability. 

  1. Targeted: We provide targeted support when we consider it appropriate to make additional short-term special educational provision to remove or reduce any obstacle to your child’s learning, or to help them catch up when they have fallen behind their peers. This takes the form of a graduated approach known as ‘Assess, Plan, Do, and Review’.  (Targeted one to one or small group interventions may be run outside the classroom. These will be limited to a number of weeks to minimise disruption to the regular curriculum.) 

  1. Specialist: We provide specialist support when we consider it necessary to seek specialist advice and/or regular long term support from a specialist professional outside The Weald in order to plan for the best possible learning outcomes for your child.  A small number of students with SEND may require long-term alternative provision.  

Examination Access Arrangements

Access Arrangements allow students with SEND or temporary injuries to access assessments without changing the demands of the assessment, for example: word processing, using a reading pen, having rest breaks or extra time.  Access Arrangements are based on evidence of need and normal way of working. 

  • Key Stage 3: Access arrangements will be determined by our initial testing of students on entry to the school.  Receiving access arrangements in Key Stage 3 is no guarantee that this will lead on to formal access arrangements in Key Stage 4.
  • Key Stage 4: Students who require access arrangements are formally assessed in order to determine their eligibility for access arrangements for examinations.  The criteria for these arrangements are set out clearly in the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) booklet which is published and updated every year.  The school is subsequently inspected and required to present evidence in order to confirm our adherence to the regulations.
  • Key Stage 5: Students may need to be assessed again in Year 12 to determine the need for access arrangements for examinations.  Students transferring to The Weald Sixth Form are required to inform us of any access arrangements agreed by their previous setting upon entry to The Weald.    

West Sussex Support Services for SEND

West Sussex’s Local Offer shows what services are available in the local area and how to access them