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Wolverhampton Information Network

Specialist Learning Support

What does the service do?

We work with children, parents/carers and schools to raise the attainment of children and young people with special educational needs (SEN), allowing them to achieve as much as possible in their education.
All schools in Wolverhampton can buy support from our service.

Our service is made up of teachers who are very experienced and have post graduate qualifications in SEN. We are all passionate about promoting inclusion and supporting children and young people who may find school difficult.

We give advice on what a child needs to learn or practise and how parents/carers and school staff can help them. We support school Special Needs Coordinators (SENCos) to ensure that they are following the SEND Code of Practice

Who we are and who can use the service

We are a team of seven Specialist Teachers and two SEND and Inclusion Officers. The Specialist Teachers work as a traded service which schools can refer into to work with individual pupils, whereas the SEND and Inclusion Officer’s support is a core offer to all schools at a strategic level. As a team, we work together to promote the use of the Graduated Approach to SEND, following the SEND Code of Practice (2015)

If you have concerns about your child’s progress you should first discuss this with their class teacher and/or the school SENCo. They may feel that a referral to our service would be helpful.

How do you access the service?

If a school wants support from us to help your child, they will discuss this with you. We always obtain parent/carer agreement before we work with your child and keep you informed along the way.

Usually we can see a child in school within a few weeks of receiving the referral.

If your child has an education, health and care plan, if appropriate, it may be possible to agree on the involvement of our team. This could be anything from annual monitoring and advice, to regular teaching.

We usually arrange our meetings in your child’s school, so that school staff can attend as well, but we can arrange to see you at home or at one of our offices around the city if you prefer.  

How are people who use the service involved in decisions and kept informed?

We put children and young people at ease by explaining what our work will involve, why we are doing it and what will happen next. They always have opportunity to ask us questions. You will be sent a copy of any reports and targets that we write and will be invited to discuss the findings with school staff or us directly. If necessary, we can arrange for a translator to help you understand any part of the process and you are welcome to bring along a friend or relative if it would help you feel more comfortable at any meetings.

What people think about us.

Schools are invited annually to give feedback about our service via an online survey.

From last year’s survey,

  • 100% of respondents from last year’s survey would recommend our service to a friend or colleague.
  • 83% of subscribing schools rated us 'very good' or 'excellent'.

 

Here are some of the comments received in our annual survey in March 2021.

All support we have received from [Name] and the service in the last 12 months has been excellent. We will (most likely) have been out of school for 2 of the 3 terms of this SLA but [Name] has kept in touch, offered support and continued to support school in a timely and much appreciated manner. I don’t think we could have had better service given the circumstances.

[Specialist Teacher] has always been extremely helpful to me as a class teacher and a SENDCo. During lockdown she has made phone calls to parents and supported me by sending me resources etc.

I feel incredibly well supported by this service, I have learned a lot from our Specialist Teacher [Name] and as a new SENCo she has been incredibly helpful throughout.

This year [Name] has worked with our school. She has been amazing. Genuine care and consideration shown for the children and their needs through the way she works with them and speaks about them. [Name] is incredibly knowledgeable and feel I learn something new every time I speak with her about a child.

How do I give a compliment or make a complaint about your service?

If you have any feedback, whether good or bad, you can contact:

Who to contact

Contact Name
Louise Phillips
Contact Position
Specialist Learning Support Team Leader
Telephone
01902 550609
01902 555934
Mobile: 07387 236520
E-mail
louise.phillips2@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Where to go

Name
Inclusion and Empowerment Service
Address
Warstones Primary School
Warstones Rd
Penn
Wolverhampton
West Midlands
Postcode
WV4 4LU

Other Details

Availability

Age Ranges
6- 10 years
11-15 years
16-18 years

Record Last Updated on: 02/05/2023

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