Our aim is for every pupil to fulfil their potential in all areas of development. We achieve this via early needs identification and providing support as necessary in response to these needs. We believe that all teachers are teachers’ of SEND.
Our key principles are:
- To identify, at the earliest opportunity, barriers to learning and participation.
- To enable all children, whatever their special educational need or disability, to receive appropriate educational provision through a broad, balanced curriculum.
- To involve parents/carers in planning and supporting at all stages of their child’s development.
- To ensure that pupils with SEND have a voice and are given opportunities to express an opinion and that this opinion will be taken into account in matters affecting them.
- To work closely with external support agencies, where appropriate, to support the needs of individual pupils.
We implement an Early Identification Pathway. Early identification and adaptations to teaching ensure that most children’s needs can be met as part of the school’s normal provision.
A child is classed as having Special Educational Needs if they have a learning difficulty or disability that requires special educational provision to be made for them.
They have a learning difficulty or disability if they have:
- A significantly greater difficulty in learning than most others of the same age, or
- A disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools.
Special educational provision is educational or training provision that is additional to, or different from, that made generally for other children or young people of the same age by mainstream schools.
We review the support children receive and the progress they make regularly by assessing pupils needs, putting plans in place, delivering support and then reviewing this support. This creates a review process we call our graduated approach.
Enquiries about a child’s progress should be addressed to the class teacher in the first instance since they know the child best.
The School’s SENDCO is Mrs Rachael Lewis.
She is responsible for the day to day operation of the school’s SEND Policy etc and can be contacted by phoning the school office or emailing senco@wheelock.cheshire.sch.uk.
SEND Policy
Our SEND Policy contains information on how we aim to support children with special educational needs. It states the school's vision and aims for SEN and includes information about the principles that shape the day to day processes of the school.
SEND Information Report
The SEND Information Report explains how the school's SEND Policy is used at Wheelock Primary School. It explains how help and support works for children with SEND at It details what happens and how.
Accessibility Plan
The school’s accessibility plan indicates the actions we are planning to take to make our school as inclusive as possible.
Other useful sources of information
Cheshire East Local Authority publish a Local Offer. This offer has links to the support available in this local area related to special educational needs. It can be found here Local offer (cheshireeast.gov.uk)
Throughout our Preparing for Adulthood (PFA) curriculum we meet the needs of all children, in particular complex SEND.
We focus on the provision needed to achieve and develop EHCP outcomes and we broaden the pupil’s development, enabling them to develop and discover their interests and talents.
Our provision is imaginative yet achievable which is effective at giving our pupils the skills, knowledge and experience they need to progress.
Regularly we liaise with outside agencies, such as the speech and language therapists and the autism team where we discuss how we can support the pupils in making progress and achieve their potential.
Our aim is to raise aspirations and expectations and encourage as independent a life as possible where we focus on outcomes that are transferrable to the real world.
Following the SEN Parent Survey completed in Autumn 2024, we gained some very positive feedback:
Parents agree that Wheelock Primary staff value their views, wishes and feelings; and that the SENCO is approachable and supports their child’s learning in school.
Parents feel that Wheelock Primary staff value the views, wishes and feelings of their child; provide children with the necessary information and support; and are approachable about any concerns that I have.
Parents comment that Wheelock Primary staff involve parents as fully as possible in decisions about their child.
Parents suggested that Wheelock's greatest areas are:
Listening to what the child wants aswell as the parents
- The support given to my children for their specific needs.
- The separate parents meetings specifically for SEN, this has helped with staying informed of my childrens development and progress as well as the opportunity to speak about our concerns.
- The SENCO and class teachers understand my son and his needs, they have gone to great lengths to make their school environment inclusive and provided adaptations, so he is able to communicate by alternative methods when he is not able to do so verbally. They have worked hard to build positive relationships with my son and as a result he has a strong support network throughout the school and there is always a "safe" person he can go to when dysregulated.
Areas for improvement suggested by the parents are:
- More funding for resources to have additional equipment and support that would benefit SEND children.
- The SENCO be present at parental consultations. Give advice on services that could offer support.
- Communication, more choice of appointment times for sen consultations. Email updates and more advice on how to support learning at home.
