West Gate School

SCHOOL

PROSPECTUS

Contents

SECTION 1Page

The School3

Ethos and Values4

Facilities4

Organisation5

Parents and Carers6

Voluntary Work and Work Experience7

List of Governors7

Staff List8

Multi – Professional Support9

SECTION 2

Teaching, Learning and Achievement11

Teaching and Learning12

Provision for Pupils with Autism13

RE, Collective Workshop and Assemblies14

Sex Education15

Inclusion15

Assessment, Recording and Reporting16

SECTION 3

Pupil Care 17

Child Protection18

School Meals19

Clothing20

Personal Property21

School Security21

SECTION 4

Important Information21

SEN Policy22

Further Education and Leaving School22

Complaints23

Charging for School Activities 23

School Transport24

Car Parking24

Mailing Address24

How to find us25

SECTION 1

The School

West Gate is a special school for students aged from 5-19 years who have a broad spectrum of learning and physical needs.

The school also includes the City’s only DCSF recognised specialist autism provision for both primary and secondary aged pupils.

West Gate is situated on a split site separated by Glenfield Road in West Leicester.

The two buildings are known as the LowerSchool and the UpperSchool. Primary aged pupils are educated in the LowerSchool and secondary and Post 16 students in the UpperSchool.

WestGateLowerSchool WestGateUpperSchool

WestGateSchool is one of only twelve special schools in the country to have ‘trailblazer’ Specialist Status for special educational needs. West Gate’s specialism is in cognition and learning.

We received financial sponsorship for our Specialist Status from Crown Bevcan, The Rotary Club of Leicester, Next PLC and the Alderman Newton’s Trust.

Ethos and Values

Our school vision is to be a centre of excellence where everyone is enabled and empowered to strive to achieve their potential, within a relevant, caring and supportive learning and teaching environment.

We are committed to a high quality of education and care appropriate to individual needs.

We aim to:

• Provide a safe, happy and stimulating learning environment.
• Make learning rewarding and fun.
• Work with the wider community in order for our pupils to become valued and valuable members of society.
• Be a friendly and welcoming place where all feel valued and work together in partnership and with respect for one another.

Facilities

As well as our class teaching areas:

The Lower School building has a library area, a room for speech and language professionals, a therapy room, a sensory room, a small ICT suite, a cookery room, studio and a meeting/group room.

The Upper school building hasa library area, a sensory room, a therapy room, a DT room, a hydrotherapy pool, a meeting room and an outdoor canopied work/play area.

Facilities in both buildings are shared by the whole school. Both buildings have disabled access and conform to requirements in The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and 2000.

We are proud to have a newOutreach Centre, the focus for school and community meetings and our extended schools activities. We are awaiting the arrival of a further building for our Secondary Autism provision.

Organisation

All primary aged pupils are taught in the LowerSchool including our specialist autism classes. All secondary aged students are taught in the UpperSchool with Post 16 being taught in their designated area on the UpperSchool site.

Pupils are grouped according to age within national curriculum Key Stages. Class sizes are small with a maximum of5 per class in the specialist autism classes and up to 10 per class in the main school classes. On the rare occasions where numbers exceed 10, additional staffing is allocated.

Classes work as teams within their key stages which allows for ability groupings for the core subjects and for targeted multi sensory work.

Parents and Carers

WestGateSchool is totally committed to a policy of working together with parents and carers in order to provide a happy and successful education for their children.

Parents are welcome into the school and the classroom. We are also grateful for offers of help and involvement in school activities such as swimming.

Pupils have ahome/school diary which is a way of communicating at the beginning and end of every day.

Parents and carers are encouraged to ring school if there are any queries or worries. You are invited to share in special events and assemblies and our termly newsletter will keep you informed about the school.

We have a thriving parents group which meets in a local community centre and also at the Outreach Centre and you are welcome to join it.

SpecialistSpecialSchool Status has enabled us to fund the post of Inclusion and Outreach Manager, Caroline Weatherhog. Caroline arranges parent coffee mornings, inviting visiting speakers on topics of interest to parents. Information about play schemes and activity groups is also distributed by her. Caroline also organises and supports individual pupils on mainstream inclusion placements.

The Friends of West Gate committee is a small group of parents, staff and volunteers who work to plan the monthly meeting and school activities. A School Fayre is organised every year and is a fun event for all the family. Money raised contributes towards projects within school. Currently we are fundraising for equipment for our playgrounds.Every parent, carer and member of staff is automatically a member of the Friends of West Gate and is always welcome to any of the meetings.

Voluntary Work and Work Experience

WestGateSchool welcomes students on work experience placements from local schools, colleges and further education establishments. We encourage the students on work experience to participate fully in all areas of the school curriculum and to take part in activities involving the pupils both in and out of school. Students are offered a full induction and have support from the student placement co-ordinator. Work experience placements can last anything from a few days up to one year dependent on the individual course needs. We also welcome offers of voluntary help from the local community, subject to the usual police checks.

List of Governors

Multi – Professional Support

School nurse:

WestGateSchool has a school nursing service provided by Leicester West Primary Care Trust.

Currently Joanne Glover, trained healthcare assistant, isbased at the school in a specially designated room.

Speech and Language Therapists:

The children’s Speech and Language Therapy Service has 3 therapists working in the school: Rosemary Leavesley, Nicola Bellis and Claire Neaves. They visit the school weekly during term time. Rosemary works with the specialist autism classes, Nicola and Claire work with students in both the lower and upper schools including Post-16. The therapists work closely with school staff on all aspects of communication as well as, for some students, eating and drinking skills. The aim of speech and language therapy support is to enable the students to access the curriculum, to participate to the best of their ability and to make and maintain relationships with others. Therapists contribute to IEP planning as well as assisting in the assessing and monitoring of the students’ progress.

Physiotherapists:

Julie Harvey and Jo Cotton work closely with staff, parents and carers on programmes of exercise and activities.

Occupational Therapists:

Nicky Moore and Jane Smith are concerned with helping pupils to make progress with seating and positioning, self help skills and perceptual skills. The therapists will assess, advise and organise the provision of specialist equipment for both home and school.

Educational Psychology Service:

Our school educational psychologist is Karleni Bains. She supports the school in undertaking observations and assessments of pupils and offer advice to staff about how best to help pupils learn.

Special Needs Teaching Service:

We are fortunate in having the support of specialist teachers of the Visually and Hearing ImpairedService and from the Behaviour Support Team and Learning and Autism Support Team. Their input into our teaching, classroom management and pupil IEP’s helps us to make the best possible provision for our pupils.

SNTS staff currently working at West Gate are:

Chris Avard Teacher of the Hearing Impaired.

MirandaBrooks and Cherry WhatmuffTeachers of the Visually Impaired.

Alison BradleyBehaviour Support Team.

Jenny HubbardLearning and Autism Support Team.

Many of our pupils have the support of more than one of our multi–professionals. We are fortunate in having a team at the school who are committed to working closely together to the benefit of our pupils’ health, well-being and educational progress.

SECTION 2

Teaching, Learning and Achievement

The Curriculum

The Curriculum at WestGateSchool has been, and continues to be, developed collectively by the teaching staff in the school drawing upon advice from external advisers and from our multi–professional team of advisory teachers and therapists.

We have used the following sources in developing our curriculum.

• The DCSF curriculum for the Foundation Stage.
• The National Curriculum now called the National Primary and National Secondary Strategies.
• The National Literacy and National Numeracy Strategies.
• The Qualifications and Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCA) Schemes of Work and ‘Guidance for Pupils Attaining Significantly Below Age Related Expectations’.
• The ‘Equals’ curriculum for pupils with learning difficulties.
• The Barrs Court curriculum for pupils with profound and multiple learning needs.

The following subjects are taught: literacy, communication, numeracy, science, information and communication technology (ICT), humanities, art, music, physical education (PE), personal, social and health education (PSHE) and design and technology (DT). An Early Developmental Learning Curriculum (EDL) underpins the above subjects enabling access for students with profound learning difficulties.

The curriculum that we teach at WestGateSchool is carefully planned to make sure that individual pupils are able to access all aspects at an appropriate level. Each pupil has an Individual Education Plan which is incorporated into their Personal Profile. This is reviewed monthly and agreed with parents/carers. Each subject has a curriculum leader who is responsible for the policy document, describing how the subject is taught and the scheme of work, which details what should be taught and when. Subject leaders monitor and evaluate teaching and learning in their subject to ensure high standards.

The curriculum for our senior students is planned to support them in preparing for adult life. 14-19 students are taught using the ‘Learning for Life’ scheme of work which has been developed by school staff and is accredited by AQA (Assessment and Qualifications Authority).

Teaching and Learning

Pupils are taught individually, in groups and as a whole class depending on the curriculum area and content.Teachers are aware of how pupils in their class learn best and present what is to be learned in small, achievable steps. For some students multi-sensory approaches to learning are appropriate and necessary.

Multi-professionals work closely with our teachers so that we can make sure that pupils’ specific needs are met and that they can learn effectively.

For more detailed information about Teaching and Learning at WestGateSchool, the following policies will be helpful and are available in school:

• Teaching and Learning Policy.
• SEN Policy.
• Subject Policies

We believe that we should be regularly reviewing our school curriculum and the way that we teach so that we can respond to and adapt new initiatives and best meet the needs of our pupils.

Provision for pupils with Autism

WestGateSchool has specialist provision for primary aged children with autism which is an integral part of the school. This is the only DCFS recognised provision in the Local Authority. Secondary provision will be opening in September 2009.

The pupils in the specialist provision have a wide range of ability but all are on the autistic spectrum and consequently have impairments in the areas of communication, social interaction and flexibility of thought as well as some sensory impairment.

The curriculum is modified to take into account the very specific needs of children with autism. Emphasis is placed on addressing communication, imagination and social interaction. These are incorporated into all aspects of the curriculum. Children are both taught and encouraged to communicate their needs through whatever means is appropriate to their individual capabilities. This can be through speech, signing, and the use of symbols or written word.

Both the timetable and the classroom environment are highly structured using visual timetables, signs and symbols and PECS. This enables the children to understand what is expected of them, where it is to be done, with whom and when. Elements of the TEACCH approach are incorporated into the school day.

Students’ needs are addressed in a variety of ways from individual interaction sessions to structured play sessions. All pupils have a daily 1:1 teaching session and spend time working independently in their work stations. We aim to undertake at least one community visit per week.

In the afternoons, pupils in the specialist classes are split into topic groups according to ability. Activities include social communication, topic work, swimming and community visits.

There are opportunities for inclusion into the main school and/or a mainstream placement. This is done on a planned individual basis.

Every aspect of the child’s education is discussed and shared. Each child has a daily diary which is sent between home and school. Detailed IEP’s are shared with parents who are encouraged to add their aims. The IEP covers social interaction, imagination and communication as well as curriculum areas. Parents are encouraged, if at all possible, to purchase a school sweatshirt. This visual cue is very useful in preparing the child with autism for the school day. Different clothes for school help them to differentiate between weekdays and weekends.

Many students at WestGateSchool have an autistic spectrum disorder but are not placed within the specialist classes. We aim to adapt the classroom environment and use specialist approaches such as an individual visual timetable and work space and use of PECS, in order to provide support.

RE, Collective Workshop and Assemblies

All schools are required to carry out a daily act of collective worship and to offer a Religious Education curriculum which recognises and celebrates the religious and cultural diversity of our society. The RE curriculum is based on the Leicestershire Agreed Syllabus. Further information about RE curriculum at WestGateSchool can be found in the RE policy.

Whole school assemblies take place twice per week in the LowerSchool on Wednesdays and Fridays. On Wednesdays, each class takes it in turn to present an assembly. The Friday assembly is a celebration of achievement. In the UpperSchool, a full assembly takes place on a Friday afternoon.